Soups & Stews

Ken Anderson

Ken Anderson

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Staff member
I'll have more to say later, but I have noticed that soups and stews are not a large part of most people's diets these days, at least so far as I have seen or read. My wife doesn't like either of them, saying that she had so much soup as a kid that she doesn't feel like eating it as an adult. I also had a whole lot of soup and a fair amount of stew growing up, but I love it, depending on what kind of soup or stew it is, of course.

These were more common many years ago, I think, because they were an efficient way of making use of leftovers and of stretching a small food budget, and were sometimes made up of whatever was left over in the refrigerator that hadn't gone bad, which might account for a modern aversion to them

I like even the more basic soups, such as chicken & noodle, tomato soup, and potato soup, the latter being one that my wife likes as well, and, in fact, she made potato soup only yesterday. While I much prefer homemade soups and stews in which I can control the ingredients, the canned or bottled stuff is something that I use sometimes for something to eat during the day when no one does much real cooking around here.

I especially like making stews from ingredients that just sound like they might go good together, and they usually do, and I often use quinoa in both soups and stews, although I shouldn't, because that's among the things I'm not supposed to eat much of anymore. It's not that the quinoa adds much taste to the recipe, but it adds substance, making even a light soup look like more than flavored water.

I am annoyed by the fact that virtually everyone includes carrots in chicken & noodle soup, I would assume to add color, or perhaps texture if added late. I'd rather use bell peppers or jalapenos for that. That's a personal preference, of course, because I don't like cooked carrots. Then again, I suppose putting it in the chicken noodle soup is a way of getting me to eat some carrots because I will eat some of them, although I rarely eat all of the carrots in a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Oddly, I hate cooked peas but love pea soup. Peas taste a whole lot better as pea soup than they do as a side vegetable dish. Peas are another thing I'm not supposed to eat much of, however.
 
People often add celery to soups, too, and I'd rather not have that. I don't hate celery, but the very reason they add it - for texture - is why I don't like it. I don't like biting into something crunchy when I am eating soup.
 
I love:

1. Tomato soup as long as it’s made with milk. Add home made dumplings for another ten points. Grilled cheese sandwich work too🤠🤠

2. A long ago acquaintance made kidney bean stew in a cast iron skillet that was to die for. Add warm homemade bread slathered in butter for an extra ten points. I regret never asking the spice ingredients; it was one of those things that didn’t have a real recipe.

That’s it for my soup and stew list🤠🤠
 
Tomato soup made with a jar of marinara, chicken broth and heavy cream. Not a diet item ( and no longer on my soup repertoire because of dairy intolerance) but really good.

White bean chicken chili with half a block or more of cream cheese. See above.

"Refrigerator Soup", when you have some meat or chicken and you need to clean out the limp items in your veggie drawer in the fridge.

I had a leftover rotisserie chicken, so yesterday I boiled the bones and skin to make stock. Strained it and added onions, green peppers, celery, carrots, cabbage and kale, some Chicken Better Than Bouillon, a dash of hot sauce, ginger, curry, tomatoes, and pepper and the chicken pick'ns. I froze it in batches because we are sick of chicken after two days of it. I'll add a handful of egg noodles when I thaw it and heat it up (because I don't like the consistency of frozen noodles).

It will heal the ill and just might raise the dead.

Any soup. Any. Did I mention any?
 
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I like homemade vegetable soup during the winter. I put a variety of frozen vegetables in it but a lot of tomatoes. I either put hamburger or corned beef in it. I like Ritz crackers and peanut butter with it to make a complete meal.

I also make a concoction that includes tomatoes, onion, celery, and okra. It's my own recipe so I'm not sure if it's a soup or gumbo. I do know that it is delicious. Ditto on the Ritz crackers and peanut butter.

Ken, I cook the celery until it's soft and mushy. You don't even have to chew it.
 
Carrots - an inexpensive staple and often homegrown.
Celery - I dry parsley celery for celery salt.
Chicken soup - I make some for SO bit for me it is a hard no. Smell, memories.
Soup/stew is not leftovers here but intentional. It allows me to eat very little meat and pile it on SO’s bowl. Fresh chicken potstickers with egg drop soup, some shaved raw celery and shrimp chips or scallion pan cakes.
We did have Hochzeitssuppe at our wedding all seven additions to a good clear broth and 1959 Chateaux Neuf du Pape. Loosely translated -what you add to the soup you do not have to slice off the roast. Country folks knew how to feed a crowd and seven fillings are traditional.
https://germanfoods.org/westphalian-wedding-soup/ I still make some of the fillings such as crepes with chicken mouse baked and sliced or paper thin sliced fried pasta dough.
 
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Connie Bennett said:
I love:

1. Tomato soup as long as it’s made with milk. Add home made dumplings for another ten points. Grilled cheese sandwich work too🤠🤠

2. A long ago acquaintance made kidney bean stew in a cast iron skillet that was to die for. Add warm homemade bread slathered in butter for an extra ten points. I regret never asking the spice ingredients; it was one of those things that didn’t have a real recipe.

That’s it for my soup and stew list🤠🤠
Click to expand...
It may have been oregano.
 
Have you not looked at the “what’s for supper thread”, @Ken Anderson? :DLots of people are making soups and stews.

I make all kinds of soup, and I make them often. I make stews too, but not as many varieties of stew, as soups. I am one of those people that does not put carrots in chicken noodle soup. Like Shirley said, if you are adding veggies to soups or stews, they are cooked soft. They shouldn’t be crunchy, unless you like the vegetables that way.

Chicken and noodle, Turkey Mediterranean , Meatball, and hamburger soup is just a few of our favorite soups. Is chili considered a soup or stew? I sometimes add sea shells to my chili too, which is how my grandma always did. My husband likes beef stew really well because biscuits usually are on the side.
 
We eat a lot of soups and stews in the fall and winter months. Also chili and pots of beans with cornbread. I like a hearty one-pot meal.

I do add carrots (and celery) to chicken soup. I like the color and the added vegetables; it just looks prettier and adds a little bulk to the broth.
 
We eat stews and homemade soups in winter time. My Leftover Soup is just what the title says. Still good and usually with corn bread. Today We had chicken and sausage gumbo, is a first for lunch..was so good!
 
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