Soup-only cookbook?

[Lori Epstein]

My boyfriend recently attended a lecture hosted by Steven Shaw at the Smithsonian Institution (Resident Associates Program) in Washington,DC. He said it was great! He also told me that Mr. Shaw recommended a great cook book, specifically for soups. But unfortunately, he can't remember the name of the book. Can anyone help me figue out which book he was referring to?

I'd like to get in touch with Mr. Shaw personally to find the answer to this question, so if anyone can help me do that, that would be fantastic. In the meantime, any soup cook book suggestions you have are greatly welcomed.

Thanks very much!

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have sent you a PM with instructions on contacting Steven Shaw here, Lori.

Welcome to eGullet and I, too, look forward to his answer on a great soup cookbook! I love soups!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Two of my favorites:

Book of Soups: More Than 100 New Recipes from America's Premier Culinary Institute is one of my choices for best soup cookbook, Lori ... only $22 at Amazon.

by Mary D. Donovan (Editor), Jennifer S. Armentrout (Editor)

Splendid Soups : Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups (Hardcover)

by James Peterson

[Lori Epstein]

thanks! I'll check these out.

what kind of kitchen "tools" would you recommend? Is there a special pot that works better for cooking soups? (cast iron? non stick? dutch over(not even sure what that is!)) do you think a food processer is necessary?

hope you don't mind all the remedial questions!

thanks,

lori

[miladyinsanity]

Supposedly a claypot is best for soups. I don't know how true that is, but that's what my passel of aunts swears by.

My mom even got a separate hotplate for hers, because we usually cook on induction, and claypots don't get hot enough on them.

[snowangel]

Lori, welcome to eGullet!

Soup is good stuff, and with experience, you might find that recipes are good, but you can also rely on common sense and some great ideas.

Several soup things:

One of your first stops should be the eGullet Culinary Institute course on Stocks and Sauces. It is a three part course with accompanying Question and Answer areas.

Second stop should be the big Soup topic -- all 17 pages of it. Hot, cold, savory, quick, slow...the topic runs the gamit.

My most useful item is my 6 quart old Farberware pot. What pot is best depends on how much soup you are making, and all other accessories again depend on what you are looking for. My newest kitchen soup friend is my immersion blender (think "add immersion blender to the Xmas list!).

Soup is fun. Soup is easy or can be difficult and complicated. You should see me at restaurants and cafes with my little notepad making notes about the ingredients in the soups they offer that I don't order.

[fifi]

A warm welcome to you Lori.

I get a lot of mileage out of the Cook's Illustrated Soups & Stews book. But, I have to confess that I generally use cookbooks on the topic for inspiration rather than following recipes. I love the heavier soups and tend to improvise given what is in my fridge or pantry that needs to be used up. I am currently considering a pot of turkey pasta soup to use up the rest of the smoked turkey stock. (Most of it went into gumbo.)

And . . . Don't forget to search RecipeGullet. Entering "soup" in the search field will give you a list of about 65 excellent recipes. Our members tend to enter tried and true recipes there.

I guess I use my Le Creuset most often for soup. But, I am being won over by the clay pot crowd. Now that I have my flame tamer, I may be doing more of that. But, the LC and similar enameled cast iron is a good starting point. It provides a heavy pot and the enamel means that you don't have to worry about acidic foods. It also has other uses for braising, chili, oven cooked beans . . . Well, you see what I mean.

Please join us over in the topic Susan linked to and let us know what you come up with.

Finally! This far south, the soup season is upon us.

[chezcherie]

i hope steven shaw replies here, as i would like to know which soup tome he highly recommended. fat guy?

[Gifted Gourmet]

i hope steven shaw replies here, as i would like to know which soup tome he highly recommended. fat guy?

←

Splendid Soups : Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups, by James Peterson was Mr. Shaw's response when I asked him .. sounds like something worth having in a culinary library ... hey, that was in my third post on this thread ...

[M.X.Hassett]

This is another great thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58505

[fifi]

. . . . .

Splendid Soups : Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups, by James Peterson was Mr. Shaw's response when I asked him .. sounds like something worth having in a culinary library ...    hey, that was in my third post on this thread ... 

←

Thank you soooo very much, GG. That is just what I need. Another "must have" book.

Can anyone find that amazing mushroom soup recipe that Anthony Bourdain posted? I can't find it. That is one dynamite recipe.

[M.X.Hassett]

If it is the one from the LH cookbook I can PM it to you if you would like. I do recall a few of his recipes being posted around the time his book was coming out but I can not find them anywhere.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Can anyone find that amazing mushroom soup recipe that Anthony Bourdain posted? I can't find it. That is one dynamite recipe.

←

might this be the Bourdain recipe that we all adore??

And if you really want to ratchet your soup into pretentious (but delicious), drizzle a few tiny drops of truffle oil over the surface just before serving. Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it.

Makes 4 servings.

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook  2004

By Anthony Bourdain with José de Meirelles and Philippe Lajauni

Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it. Yep, that's Bourdain!

[M.X.Hassett]

Bingo

Edit: thanks for bringing the LH soup up I just checked the chest freezer and have a few frozen quarts. One of which is thawing as I type

Edited December 6, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[daniellewiley]

Can anyone find that amazing mushroom soup recipe that Anthony Bourdain posted? I can't find it. That is one dynamite recipe.

←

might this be the Bourdain recipe that we all adore??

And if you really want to ratchet your soup into pretentious (but delicious), drizzle a few tiny drops of truffle oil over the surface just before serving. Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it.

Makes 4 servings.

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook  2004

By Anthony Bourdain with José de Meirelles and Philippe Lajauni

Why the hell not? Everybody else is doing it. Yep, that's Bourdain!

←

Ohhhhh, that recipe is just divine. I think I need to make some SOON! It was a huge hit last year.

Any ideas on how to pitch it to the four-year-old? She only eats mushrooms when she doesn't know they are there. I'm thinking I need to call it by it's French name, perhaps??

[Gifted Gourmet]

Any ideas on how to pitch it to the four-year-old? She only eats mushrooms when she doesn't know they are there.

←

As a former school teacher, I say puree .. or just make it and strain out the mushrooms for her ... try not to smile .. that's a dead giveaway!

[Moopheus]

Two of my favorites:

Book of Soups: More Than 100 New Recipes from America's Premier Culinary Institute is one of my choices for best soup cookbook, Lori ... only $22 at Amazon.

by Mary D. Donovan (Editor), Jennifer S. Armentrout (Editor)

Splendid Soups : Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups (Hardcover)

by James Peterson

←

These are two of my favorites as well. I probably use the recipes out of the first more than the second, but Peterson's book, as is usual for him, is full of a great deal of useful information beyond the recipes.

[Sam Iam]

Two that are inexpensive that provide a lot of information are

"The Good Cook - Soups" Time Life series from 1979, available for under $5 including shipping on eBay, and Joe Famularo's "Good & Garlicky Italian Soup Cookbook", ~ $11 on Amazon.

Both are well worth the money.