Along with the fall semester, so too has soup season arrived. There is something about enjoying a warming bowl at home after a day of walking through the campus’ various wind tunnels that makes it all worth it. I have a few go-to soups that I make year after year, but it’s also fun to try new recipes. When looking for inspiration, I like to browse through the cookbooks at the Library. Here are a few that I pulled out – but there are lots more to look at! The cookbooks generally can be found in the Ts but if you’re looking for soups especially, you can beeline to TX757.
Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan was not actually with the other soups, but when I think of warm comforting soup, I instantly think of Vietnamese food. The book has a section about soup – including how to make pork, chicken, or beef stock yourself. A largely inactive process, you could let the pot do it’s work while you study. The Pho Gá (chicken noodle soup) and the Cháo (chicken rice porridge) looked especially comforting to me. I like that this book includes cultural context, photos, and stories about the dishes.
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home published by the Moosewood Collective, is from its namesake restaurant in Ithaca, NY. My mom has several of their cookbooks on her bookshelf, so I associate these books with home. Also not exclusively a soup book, this one includes sections on quickbreads, dips, salads, beans, and grains as well. Many, but not all, the recipes included are vegetarian and could probably be made vegan pretty easily. I’m excited to try The Golden Cheddar Cheese Soup and the Tomato Garlic Soup with Tortellini.
I grabbed Love Soup by Anna Thomas because I saw that it won a James Beard award. I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the James Beard basket, but I was curious to see what might have elicited such praise for a book with a rather unassuming cover. The book divides up soups into fall/winter and spring/summer and also includes recipes for breads, spreads, and salads to make a complete meal (though I’m a big advocate of soup as complete meal!). Browsing through the recipes, I see a lot of intriguing flavor combinations – like Persimmon Soup, Asparagus Bisque with Fresh Dill, and Tomato and Fennel Soup with Blood Orange. I’m particularly interested in trying The Sopa de Ajo and the Farro with Stewed and Roasted Winter Vegetables. I’d also love to try making the Parmesan and Fennel Biscotti – a savory biscotti for soup sounds so fun!
The last book I chose was Soups Stews & Chilis from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated. I typically find Cook’s Illustrated recipes to be quite reliable and I like that the book includes from general tips and tricks at the beginning to help you succeed in making a soup you’re happy with. I’d like to try their French Onion Soup (I have a real weakness for French Onion), Black Bean Soup, and Brazilian Fish Stew with Coconut Milk. The book includes a chapter on curry which I wouldn’t necessarily put in the same category with soup and stew, but maybe we can just consider that a bonus.
I hope you feel inspired to make some soup this fall! You can browse through our cookbooks (which include much more than just soup of course) or, as always, ask us if you’d like help finding something specific.
