# Anyone have any good stew/soup recipes?



## Kyle (Jan 5, 2012)

I've been on a big soup and stew kick lately and I'm looking for some interesting recipes to try out. Last week I made a big ol' pot of albondigas (Mexican meatball soup) that turned out killer. I'm just looking for something different than the usual, or an interesting twist on the staples.

Thanks!


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## chazmtb (Jan 5, 2012)

I just did a stew of pork osso bucco, rough cut of mirpoix, bell peppers, and whole peeled roma tomatoes in a 8 hour slow cooker. Turned out great. Just love fall off the bone shank meat in a red stewey tomato sauce. This could also be a classified as a ragu too.


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## Andrew H (Jan 5, 2012)

Here is a recipe from Ferran Adria's Family Meal cookbook that turned out quite well (This recipe size is for 6 people as an appetizer, but if you increased the amount it could be a main course) 
Frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed - 7 oz.
Ripe tomatoes - 5
Garlic cloves - 6
Olive oil - 1/3 cup
Cooked garbanzo beans, drained - 6 cups
Ground cumin - 2 pinches (I suggest two heavy pinches)
Chicken stock - 2.5 cups
Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon
Eggs - 6

Process tomatoes into a puree using a handheld blender or food processor. Strain in a fine mesh strainer for 15 minutes, reserve puree. 
Finely mince the garlic. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot and add your garlic and reserved tomato puree. Add the garbanzo beans and cumin and cook for 30 seconds. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the spinach and season (you'll need quite a bit of salt, IMO). Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth, then add to the beans and spinach. Stir until slightly thickened. Keep over low heat to stay warm. Poach 6 eggs and place one on each bowl of soup. 

Very delicious and a nice change of pace. The cookbook itself is highly recommended also.


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## El Pescador (Jan 5, 2012)

I make chicken tortilla and thrown whatever into it.


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## Kyle (Jan 5, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> Here is a recipe from Ferran Adria's Family Meal cookbook that turned out quite well (This recipe size is for 6 people as an appetizer, but if you increased the amount it could be a main course)
> Frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed - 7 oz.
> Ripe tomatoes - 5
> Garlic cloves - 6
> ...




This sounds really, really delicious. Thank you!


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## mr drinky (Jan 5, 2012)

Here are two of my favorites. They aren't that fancy or different, but very tasty.

Lentil, Italian Sausage, and Escarole Soup.

Colombian Chicken Soup. 

And tonight I am having Thomas Keller's chicken and dumpling soup.

I haven't tried it yet, and it does have a lot of steps, but I expect it to be very good.

k.


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## Andrew H (Jan 5, 2012)

Kyle said:


> This sounds really, really delicious. Thank you!



No problem. It also is very cheap and pretty quick, unless you peel all your garbanzo beans like I did. :lol2:


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## apicius9 (Jan 5, 2012)

Recipe for soups? Aren't soups what you make with whatever you find in your fridge? 

I love rustic soups, the easiest just a potato and leek soup which would make it as a choice into my last meal. Very straightforward, leeks, potatoes, a dash of white wine, stock, salt, pepper, maybe a bit of nutmeg. Eat it chunky with a good country bread or puree with a dash of cream and add a few slices of ham or smoked salmon when serving.

I also love cabbage, so what I used to make quite often is, again, a very rustic and simple soup: Brown some ground meat (I like pork), add sliced carrots, onions, potatoes, leeks, savoy cabbage, and celery root (those I dice much smaller, they give great flavor but I don't like to bite on big chunks of them), fill up with stock & season (I often use a bit of nutmeg here also, one of my favorite spices) Eat with a piece of bread. Not very gourmet at all, especially since I like to slightly overcook it so that the potatoes just start coming apart and binding the soup a little bit. Of course, you can just play around and throw in whatever else you like. Brussel sprouts, for examples.

Dang, I thought I could skip lunch and just eat some apples, now I am hungry.

Stefan


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## rahimlee54 (Jan 5, 2012)

mr drinky said:


> Here are two of my favorites. They aren't that fancy or different, but very tasty.
> 
> Lentil, Italian Sausage, and Escarole Soup.
> 
> ...



Report back on the chicken and dumplings, I was going to make my standard recipe Sunday but if Keller's is worth the effort I may give it a try.


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## Kyle (Jan 5, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> Recipe for soups? Aren't soups what you make with whatever you find in your fridge?



LOL well, I'm 26 and live in a bachelor pad with two other guys. I can't really make soup with a case of PBR, half a bottle of Sriracha and some week old leftovers. :lol2: Seriously though, our fridge and pantry situation is pathetic; I have to go shopping for something nearly every meal. I don't really follow recipes for soup, but I like looking at recipes and then getting ideas of what I'm going to do. Given that I have no training whatsoever in the kitchen, I always end up resorting to the classics and a couple of my own personal staples. Chaz's pork osso bucco stew idea is exactly the kind of ideas I was hoping to get, I would have never thought to do something like that.

I can't wait until I have my own kitchen...


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## mr drinky (Jan 5, 2012)

rahimlee54 said:


> Report back on the chicken and dumplings, I was going to make my standard recipe Sunday but if Keller's is worth the effort I may give it a try.



I have to admit that I loved it but it was A LOT of work. 

I will prepare it again sometime just to perfect it a bit. The veggies were amazing the way he cooks them and adds them at the last step (but it is more work). The base soup was wonderful and the dumplings were super good -- but I am used to big ol' slavic and german dumplings. 

The only thing I would say is you could still do your standard recipe and just try incorporating some things into it. You could always try his dumplings versus yours. And I would recommend highly his way of cooking each veggie separately and adding them at the last moment to ensure they are done well and not mush. 

You can also make almost everything ahead with TK's recipe: soup base, cooked carrots, blanched celery, shredded chicken, and roux. I made it in the morning and in the evening all I needed to do was reheat the soup base, thicken it and make the dumplings. 

If you want to try it out, I can scan the cookbook pages and send them to you. There were three points in the recipe that referred to other sections of the book. For instance, he instructs on how to make a parchment lid, roux, and why he blanches the celery the way he does. 

The one thing I will say is that it was a great learning experience. This recipe alone felt like cooking class. 

k.


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## caseyswenson (Jan 6, 2012)

I really enjoyed this soup, but hey, I'm a sucker for sun dried tomatoes.

http://wegottaeat.com/elaine.wencil/recipes/roastedvegetable-soup-with-sundried-tomato-pesto


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## rahimlee54 (Jan 6, 2012)

mr drinky said:


> I have to admit that I loved it but it was A LOT of work.
> 
> I will prepare it again sometime just to perfect it a bit. The veggies were amazing the way he cooks them and adds them at the last step (but it is more work). The base soup was wonderful and the dumplings were super good -- but I am used to big ol' slavic and german dumplings.
> 
> ...





Thanks for the info I'll probably give it a try as I had a change at work and get to be off this weekend. I have ad hoc which is where this comes from I believe, appreciate the offer.


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## DwarvenChef (Jan 6, 2012)

Reminds me that I need to get the chicken bodies out of the freezer to make stock... no room in freezer means I almost have enough


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## PhaetonFalling (Apr 2, 2012)

I pulled one off of about.com, and then modded it some. I like the recipe a lot.

*Guinness Irish Stew*

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean stewing beef
3 Tablespoons oil
2 Tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 Tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1-1/4 cups Guinness stout beer (this is a lie, use the whole can) <-------fixed
2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
Sprig of thyme
Salt, salt, and more salt <------------fixed


Preparation:

Trim the beef of any fat or gristle, cut into cubes of 2 inches (5cm) and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture. 

Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic, and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes. 

Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the Guinness beer into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan. 

Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary. 

Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender -- 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 300 degrees F, stirring occasionally. Taste and correct the seasoning (i.e. add a lot of salt). Scatter with lots of chopped parsley. 



*Fesenjan*

I found this one on the internet somewhere... but the chick who wrote it was vegan... ignore this. Use chicken, boil it, shred it, mix it in...

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh raw walnuts
1 medium white onion, grated
¼ cup pomegranate paste*
3 TB tomato paste
2  3 cups water
1 tsp turmeric
½ - 1 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of your favorite vegan chicken (I used baked tofu, but seitan, tempeh, packaged faux chicken, or even legumes such as lima beans also work well) <--------------- IGNORE. Use Chicken, boil it, shred it with a pair of forks, mix it into the stew. 2 Breasts should be the right amount.
3 tbsp brown sugar <---------fixed. Original recipe did not call for brown sugar. But that's what the dish needs to make it taste right. Just add the brown sugar to taste. It's about 3 tbsps.

Directions:
Using a food processor, grind the walnuts until they form a paste with a smooth nut-butter consistency
Crumble the walnut paste, along with the grated onion, the pomegranate and tomato pastes, and spices into a stock pot over medium-high heat, and stir in enough water until smooth. You want a thin consistency, like tomato juice, this will thicken up substantially. Make sure to get rid of any lumps in the sauce.
Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. As the mixture thickens, the color will darken to a deep brown.

Add your baked tofu (or whatever chicken substitute you are using) at this point, and allow it to simmer for another 30 minutes. Towards the end, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of ice water to the mixture once or twice, to get the beautiful reddish walnut oil to rise to the top for presentation purposes. This step is totally optional.
Serve warm over rice. White basmati rice is traditional ( click here for the recipe for Iranian-style steamed rice pilaf -scroll down), but I also love fesenjan with my favorite brown rice. <---------FIX... no seriously, use white basmati rice cooked with a little butter, you'll have a better time of it.
Enjoy!

* Pomegranate paste is a thick, intensely sour paste that gives many Iranian dishes a distinctive flavor. You can find pomegranate paste at Iranian supermarkets, or hit up your closest Iranian friend! If you cant, however, you can replace it in this recipe with pomegranate molasses or juice, changing the amount of water accordingly. The juice and the molasses are not as tangy as the paste, however, and you should probably add some lemon or lime juice to make up for this fact.


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## Mike9 (Sep 30, 2012)

I made this pork and butternut squash stew yesterday. I was going to use pumpkin, but our garden has squash ready to use.

I boned pork chops and did a 1" dice on the meat. I diced onion, squash, and potatoes and minced a big whack of ginger, six cloves of garlic and cleaned two dried chilies.

I turned on the slow cooker and lined the bottom with the pork bones. Next I dredged the meat in well seasoned flour and seared in bacon fat in two batches then transfered them to the cooker. 

I added the veg to the pan and cooked them for a couple minutes then deglazed with a bottle of pumpkin ale. I added two table spoons of tomato paste and a can of Rotel tomatoes and transfered that to the cooker.

Next I added the two dried chilies, two bay leaves and adjusted the seasoning. Then just put the lid on and let her cook on high for 4 hours then turned it off and let it coast till serving.

I served it in bowls with French bread


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