Soups Posts
Bacon & Potato Leek Soup
Ah, soup weather in New England. The air in Salem is finally turning a little colder, at least in the evenings. There are few things I love more on a nippy night than having a steaming pot of soup bubbling merrily away on the stove. For this soup, I started with Julia Child’s famous Potato [...]
Basic Homemade Chicken Stock
There are a lot of methods for making chicken stock. Some folks make it in the slow cooker. Some folks make it in the oven. This is one of the ways that I make mine on top of the stove. It’s a good, basic method and yields a richly flavored, golden chicken stock that’s a [...]
One Potato, Two Potato, Part 1: Cognac-Laced Potato Cream Soup
The humble potato is so versatile—and filling—that I’m not sure why I don’t use it more often. This soup sounds fancy, but you can whip it up in no time flat—with stuff you probably already have in your house. Loaded with potatoes and heavy cream, it’s also ridiculously decadent (no diet food today!).
Smokey Black Bean Soup with Orange & Cilantro
It’s been freezing here in Boston for the last week or so, which has put me in serious comfort-food mode. I’ve had a few days off, and have been able to flit in and out of the kitchen, tending to hearty, slow-cooking dishes. (Hehe…Hooray for vacation! I’m just sad it has to end.) This is [...]
Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This soup takes a while to make, but very little of that time is actually spent standing over the stove. Chunks of butternut squash, sweet onion, and elephant garlic are slow roasted in the oven for an hour-and-a-half, then simmered quickly with chicken broth and pureed. A cup of heavy cream added at the very [...]
Split Pea Soup with Homemade Pork Stock
This soup was a happy accident. Normally, I make split pea soup the way a lot of folks do: I simmer split peas in water with garlic, a handful of diced carrots and onions, and, of course, a ham hock. The ham hock gives the soup its signature smokey saltiness and deep flavor. Now, when [...]
Quick & Creamy Tomato Soup
I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but when the weather turns colder, my inner eight-year-old starts to crave Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese. Here’s my grown-up version. This frequently shows up on our table on weeknights when we don’t have a ton of time to cook. Because the recipe calls for [...]
Guinness Stew with Sage and Ginger
I love slow cooking because your food almost cooks itself. You do a little work, then the stove or oven coaxes complex flavor out of simple ingredients. Guinness stew is traditional cold-weather fare and a staple at most good Irish pubs. There are a million versions of the recipe. This is mine, with a few [...]
Garlicky White Beans, Two Ways: Dip & Creamy Soup
I have a great—and relatively newfound—love for white beans. (See? I do eat more than meat.) Here are two of my favorite ways to prepare them. The first recipe is for a thick dip that’s fragrant with garlic and lemon. The second is a creamy, spinach-laden soup that uses the dip as a base. A [...]
Garlic and Ginger Infused Chicken Broth
Everyone has their own cold remedy. This is mine. Make the sniffles stop! I’ve had a savage cold for the last three days. Since The Angry Chef is catching it, too, neither of us was in the mood to destroy the kitchen with a full-blown chicken soup production. No matter, though. This is the chicken [...]










