Joy of Cooking: All About Soups and Stews [Hardcover]

Irma S. Rombauer (Author), Ethan Becker (Author), Marion Rombauer Becker (Author)

Book Description

Series: Joy of Cooking All About... | Publication Date: October 25, 2000

The book that taught America how to cook,

now illustrated with glorious color photography

ALL ABOUT

SOUPS & STEWS

A fresh and original way to put the classic advice of Joy of Cooking to work -- illustrated and designed in a beautiful and easy-to-use new book.

• Chapters covering vegetable soups and stews, legume soups and stews, chowders, meat and poultry soups and stews, fruit soups, and more
• More than 130 of Joy's most popular recipes -- from Fresh Tomato Soup to Mulligatawny Soup to Brunswick Stew -- plus recipes for 14 different stocks
• Easy-to-follow tips and techniques for effective storage, serving, and ingredient substitutions

Sixty years after Irma Rombauer advised new cooks to "Stand facing the stove," America's love affair with Joy of Cooking continues unabated. And why not? Joy in hand, tens of millions of people -- from novices to professionals -- have learned to do everything from make a meat loaf to clean a squid to frost a wedding cake. For decades, Joy of Cooking has taught America how to cook, serving as the standard against which all other cookbooks are judged.

All About Soups & Stews upholds that standard. While keeping the conversational and instructional manner of the flagship book, All About Soups & Stews is organized into ten chapters that cover stocks and broths, chowders, fish and seafood soups and stews, fruit soups, and more. This book incorporates more than 130 of Joy's best-loved recipes -- Chicken Stock to Irish Stew to Melon Soup. You'll also find recipes for a dozen or more condiments and quick breads, as well as techniques for straining and storing stock. Add to that more than 150 original photographs, specially commissioned for this volume, presented in the most easy-to-use design imaginable.

Whether you belong to one of the millions of American households that already own a copy (or two) of Joy, or you have never cracked the spine of a cookbook before, Joy of Cooking: All About Soups & Stews is for you. It is a spectacular achievement, worthy of its name. Joy has never been more beautiful.

The Indispensable Kitchen Resource...

All-New, All-Purpose, and now All-in-Color

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Soups and stews are much-loved kitchen standbys, and the reasons are obvious: they can be made out of just about anything on hand, they can serve as a starter course or as a nutritious one-pot meal, and most can be made ahead of time. So it's no surprise that the folks over at The Joy of Cooking headquarters thought to devote an entire volume of their All About series to these fabulous dishes.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, this volume is coauthored by original Joy author Irma Rombauer, her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker, and her grandson Ethan Becker. It retains the conversational yet instructional tone that made the original such a favorite, and covers everything a cook needs to know to become a master of soups and stews. It is a comprehensive treatment of the subject, with 130 recipes, but, more important, it carries on the teaching tradition of Joy by explaining what may seem like mysterious secrets to the inexperienced cook but turn out to be easy-to-follow rules. Once incorporated into one's repertoire, these techniques can transform a person from a novice to a truly accomplished cook. For instance, the authors point out that simmering a stock too long can result in bitterness and explain exactly how to tell when it has simmered long enough (when a piece of meat retrieved from the stock is completely devoid of flavor). Since good stock or broth is arguably the most vital element in any soup or stew, the book offers easy-to-follow instructions for all types of bases--including vegetable, fish, chicken, beef, game, and even "express" chicken and beef stocks for those short on time.

Like the original Joy, this volume covers the classics, such as Potato Leek Soup, Fresh Tomato Soup, and Beef Stew, and surprises with a delightful array of more unusual fare, such as Tomato Jalapeño Chilaquiles, Mongolian Hot Pot, and Wild Caribbean Black Bean Chili. Early editions of Joy used the phrase "making the pot smile" to describe the gentle simmering required for soups and stews. This volume gives not only the pot but the people who eat what's inside many reasons to smile. --Robin Donovan

About the Author

Irma Rombauer self-published the first Joy of Cooking in 1931 with the small insurance payout she received after her husband committed suicide during the Great Depression. Suddenly, society wives who used to enjoy a kitchen staff no longer had the money to employ them and began cooking for themselves. The instruction "stand facing the stove" was a bit more pragmatic than we realize. In 1936, the first commercial edition was published by Bobbs-Merrill. Marion Rombauer Becker, Irma's daughter, joined the Joy dynasty and revised and updated each subsequent edition until 1975. That edition was the first after Irma's death and was completely Marion's. Her son, Ethan Becker, has returned the book to the family's voice, revising the 1975 edition for the 75th Anniversary Edition.

Ethan Becker is the son of Marion Rombauer Becker and the grandson of Irma S. Rombauer, the original author of The Joy of Cooking. He attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but learned how to cook from his mom. An outdoors-man, he is a master of the grill and at cooking game. His outdoor gear and survival and combat knives are sold internationally under the brand Becker Knife and Tool. Ethan and his wife, Susan, a writer, editor, and artist, live in East Tennessee at their home, Half Moon Ridge. His website is www.thejoykitchen.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (October 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743202104
• ISBN-13: 978-0743202107
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Meals > Soups & Stews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive soup making guide, July 24, 2001

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joy of Cooking: All About Soups and Stews (Hardcover)

Finally a book on soups that feeds my passion for good soup recipes. This book contains a wide variety of soup/stew recipes. Not only does it contain american homestyle recipes, but it also contains other favorites such as egg drop soup, and other ethinic soups as well. This book is peppered with photos and illustrations that aide you in food preparation, as well as showing you what the final dish will look like. This book is enjoyable and worthwhile if you are a soup lover as I am. The book is very comprehensive, giving a wealth of good soup recipes, as well as pictures, and discussion of various soups, preparation methods and more. With this book you should be able to create some favorites of your own. I highly recommend this book to the soup lover in you.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joy of Cooking All about Soups and Stews, December 28, 2008

By 

J. Keaney "jkeaney" (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joy of Cooking: All About Soups and Stews (Hardcover)

Excellent cook book any recipes I have used so far have been easy to follow and simply delicious!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, June 6, 2011

By 

M. Roberts - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Joy of Cooking: All About Soups and Stews (Hardcover)

If you love soups as I do,this is the book for. This book has a great variety of soups.Try it you'll like it.