Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Soups and Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've made at least ten of the recipes so far, from lamb stew with spinach and orzo to spicy black bean to lentil with brown rice, and every one has been tasty and straightforward to make, including the vegetarian ones. I cook once or twice a week and eat each dish for several days, so this kind of consistency is important!

Note that these are generally not quick recipes in the sense of being able to whip them up on the spot - most I've tried involve throwing things in the pot to simmer at least an hour or two before I intend to eat, and many suggest soaking beans overnight, etc. But the time spent actively preparing the food is usually not that much, and the results have always been well worth it. Enjoy!

I love soup, but I don't like to spend all day making it. Maryana has "boiled down" every recipe to the simplest yet tastiest way to make it. Try the Sunriver Soup for company...it is delicious. I have had this book for over a year, and have made over 20 of the recipes...they have all been fantastic. Both of the Gumbo recipes are super, the seafood one is divine. The Gazpacho is perfect, and I love the Mexican Chicken and Corn soup too. I like how she doesn't require a million and one ingredients but just selects the perfect combination of spices for each soup.

I'll admit..I'm mainly a soup person only in the fall and winter months when it's cooler and you don't mind a nice pot of soup simmering on the stove for several hours. Soup and winter just goes together even though this book contains many lighter receipes that can be enjoyed all year round.

This is a follow-up to the Big Book of Casseroles and contains receipes for over 250 soups, stews, and chowders. Some very elegant soups perfect for a formal dinner party to go along with stick to your ribs soups for tailgating before a big game. There's old classic favorites such as Chicken Noodle, Motzah Ball and Clam Chowder to go along with more exotic soups such as the Thai Ginger Chicken Soup and Spicy Cuban Pork Stew. One of my favorites is the Chicken with Buttermilk Thyme dumplings which is just fantastic in the dead of winter like it is now. There are several potato soup recipes which I absolutely love including the baked potato soup.

The recipes are fairly simple to make and most of the ingredients are availabe from the grocery store but a few will require a visit to a gourmet food store if you really want to do it right. This book is a soup-eaters dream!

I just recently purchased this book and have tried 3 recipes so far. They have all been very tasty and easy to prepare, and I especially appreciate that they haven't called for any exotic or expensive igredients but in no way compromise on taste! I highly recommend this book.

I got this one for Christmas and have tried perhaps 18-20 recipes since (I'm addicted to soups and stews).

Often, I have followed recipes in other books which were very disappointing, and sometimes very poorly seasoned. If I repeated the recipe, I often had to adjust seasonings, etc., to make it more palatable. However, every single one turned out perfect! Though I have a habit of improvising, I'm confident that I will not likely change these recipes.

I have slightly above-average cooking skills, and must employ them at least 5 nights a week for my 6'4" husband and 9 year old daughter who both eat like they have hollow legs. This book is extremely easy to use, which is essential for my time-strapped evenings.

After a brief introduction about technique and tools, this book is organized by food type, i.e. meat, poultry, seafood, vegetable etc., with additional brief sections about garnishes and bread-sides. The recipes are not exotic, meaning you won't need a specialty grocery for every recipe. They are however intensely flavorful, utilizing plain, old-fashioned techniques like sautee and simmer to bring the flavors together.

The editorial review of this book complains about its lack of sophistication in the descriptions of each recipe, but I prefer the simplicity. The page layouts remain uncluttered and (more importantly) un-intimidating, which is important at 6:30 pm just walking in the door from work and faced with a hungry kid and a blank kitchen!

Included in this book are several standards like chili, beef stew, chicken soup, and vegetable ministrone in addition to some surprising and refreshing ideas such as cold avocado soup with cashews, white chili with chicken or turkey, and lamb shanks with gremolata. All retain their simplicity, flavor, and ease of preparation.

There is nothing more heartening than the bouquet of steam rising from a pot of fresh, homemade soup in these cold winter months... unless it's watching your family smile around their spoons!

While I cannot say that I have enjoyed every soup and stew I've tried in this book, I can safely say that it has provided my household with some all-time favorites, which are now staples in our cooking repertoire for daily use -- and for guests.

I first bought this book as a wedding shower gift, for a friend who loved soups. After leafing through the pages, I became unable to part with it. I kept it, and bought another one for her. The recipes are clear, simple, and easy to follow. Most of the soups can be made between the time you come home from work and the dinner hour, if you have the ingredients on hand.

The Winter Tomato Soup is an example of a recipe which has become a staple for my family. I have copied the recipe onto my laptop computer so that when we are away from home in the winter (on a skiing vacation, for example) I will have the recipe at hand. The Sun River soup is a fun soup, just a bit spicy, with a variety of toppings that can be added to it. I have used it at parties. And being an artichoke lover, I thoroughly enjoy the Cream of Artichoke soup, which can be made with a single can of artichoke hearts and half-n-half instead of cream.

With many more recipes still on my list "to try," I can safely say that this book will continue to see much use.

I really like this book, for , as stated by others, it is a hearty collection of soups and stews, with a great variety ranging from vegeterian to meat-filled to cold and even some fruit. I have some definte favorites, especially the smoked salmon chowder (just straight up chowder, nothing weird like peas or cocktail onions like another recipe I have seen!), but I do have to say that not all recipes have worked out for me. It could have been my taste, but I think a little more instruction, or perhaps tips/recommendations, from the author on the selection of certain ingredients would have helped the bad recipes turn out better. I would definitely recommend this book, especially with soup season starting up soon!

I like soups and stews because they are often efficient to prepare and it's easy to make healthy choices. This book keeps you from getting into a rut - lots of new ideas and I have never been dissapointed in the recipes. 8-9 of the recipes are ones that I use regularly. Most are easy to "doctor" to direct the dish to become more of what you like or use more of what is in season. One of my favorites and highly recommended!

I spend a tremendous amount of time in the kitchen and I am always trolling for new cookbooks that are approachable, practical and produce good results. I had been researching books on soup for a while and I spotted this one here on Amazon and decided to give it a try. I am very glad that I did so.

While this is a cookbook primarily about soups ans stews, there are some additional things in this book that count toward the 262 recipe-count. These include breadsticks, biscuits and other accompaniments. As soups and small breads go together, this is a nice touch. Fortunately, the collection of this type of recipe within this cookbook is short and appropriate.

The book is laid out in a very clear and approachable manner, providing the reader a very straightforward representation of the recipe in question. The recipes are well-written, easy to follow and are formatted for ease of reading. The only improvement might be to make the print larger, but then it comes to nitpicking.

For the recipes I have tried or flagged for trying in the near future, I have been pleased that most do not require exotic ingredients or things that are hard to find. This makes this cookbook a lot more practical for the average home chef. The end results are hard to beat as well.

There is something about a hearty, hot bowl of soup that warms you to the core on the coldest of days, and this book delivers an excellent collection of recipes that should please anyone wanting to make excellent soups without buying expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. If soup is your thing, this is the book you want.