Soups & Stews

You found it! This is the single most requested recipe in my entire repertoire. Maybe its because the sweet, sour, spicy, salty and savoury flavours of Thailand are one of my favourite ways to fill a bowl. They’re seductively addictive, always well balanced and one of the world’s great cuisines. They’re also easy! This is a very simple dish to make.

Sweet potatoes are packed with flavour and nutritional goodness. They’re one of the healthiest ingredients in your kitchen. They also purée easily, smoothly thickening this brightly flavoured soup.

You can easily fit the kid-friendly flavours of a pizza into a soup bowl. This easy-to-make soup is always a hit at our table.

You won’t believe how richly satisfying a bowl of this broth can be and how easy it is to make. Miso is a fermented paste made from soybeans. It’s very nutritious and a staple of Japanese and vegetarian cooking. If you can boil water, you can make this broth.

This classic soup is more than a meal in a bowl. It’s a way to show off the bright spicy flavours of Louisiana and the distinctive cooking style that has made gumbo one of the world’s great dishes.

A pot full of simmering chicken broth is the essence of home cooking: true flavour brimming with hearty goodness, ready to launch a thousand other dishes. Try making a batch, dividing it into easily used amounts and keeping them in your freezer, ready for whatever idea comes along. You can use any chicken, but a stewing hen will have the most flavour.

This soup is like culinary alchemy: creating gold from virtually nothing. It’s amazing how much flavour you can coax out of an onion with patience. Taking the time to slowly brown an onion is one of the most satisfying things you can do in the kitchen. It’s the key to the rich, deep flavour in a bowl of true onion soup.

The earthy flavour of mushrooms is at its best puréed into this soup. This soup’s rich hearty flavour will easily satisfy your mushroom craving, and there’s enough for seconds or leftovers. It also shows off how well meaty mushrooms and red wine go together.

Braising is my favourite cooking method. I just love the way it can transform an inexpensive, tough cut of beef into a tasty tender stew. Toss in the earthy flavours of root vegetables and aromatic red wine, and you are well on your way to a rich flavour base. But the real secret to a truly memorable beef stew is patiently browning the meat.

Who says vegetarian food has no flavour? My family enjoys vegetarian style meals several times a week and we love the rich healthy flavours. This soup features complementary legumes - the peas and lentils - and grains - the corn and rice. Together they form a complete vegetarian protein. You may use water but a quick vegetable stock will add much more flavour.

I love the way stewing transforms inexpensive, tough cuts of beef into tasty, tender stew. The earthy flavours of root vegetables combine with the full body of beef stock and aromatic red wine to form a rich flavour base. The only thing better than a bowlful of hearty stew is the same bowl with a biscuit topping!
Ease of Preparation: Moderate

The thighs of a chicken are my favourite cut. They’re inexpensive and have way more flavour than the bland breast. I usually braise them because it’s easy and they go with just about anything. I love the way they soak up the earthy flavours of the mushrooms in this dish.