At our house, we call this skeleton soup. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving weekend without the lush aromas of this broth filling the kitchen. My mother says she started making it back in the Depression. "We couldn't afford to waste anything. Besides, the soup is delicious." You could freeze the broth, to use later in homemade soups. But usually, it's so good on it's own, we finish it all up by midweek.
Anything you do with this broth will make you proud. Sip it by the cup for a lift; simmer it into soups, stews, pilafs, curries and sauces.
When I was a kid and my mom made tomato soup, she would cut buttered toast into squares and float them on top of each bowl. My twist on mom’s toast is to make brown butter croutons, though when I'm really feeling feisty I go all the way and make grilled cheese croutons to float on the soup. to cut the bread for the brown butter croutons, take a 4-inch chunk of rustic bread (5 to 6 ounces) and cut off and discard the crusts using a serrated knife. Cut the bread into 4 slices, then cut the slices into 3 1/4- to 1-inch cubes.
There's nothing quite as homespun as a bowl of tomato soup with a classic grilled cheese sandwich.
We all need a great beef stew in our cooking back pocket, and this one’s mine. It’s fairly classic in its preparation — the meat is browned, then piled into a sturdy pot and slow-roasted with a lot of red wine, a splash of brandy, and some onions, garlic, carrots, and a little herb bouquet to keep it company. It finishes spoon-tender, sweet and winey through and through, and burnished the color of great-grandma’s armoire.
What's not to love about a tomato soup spiked with orange zest, spices, sweet onions, and garlic? Simmer it with vegetable broth instead of chicken and everyone, no matter what their eating proclivities, will enjoy it.
For fast suppers with sensational flavors, think Thai-style curries. Contrasts really fly in curries. For instance finish a curry of leftover chicken and roasted vegetables with a few chunks of pineapple and a lot of lime juice. Use this Winter Squash Curry as your basic formula and take off from there.
You can serve this soup chunky with a clear broth, or blend it to create a smooth purée.
Ingredients
Given 15 minutes for prep, a slow cooker, some dried beans, garlic, onions and whatever seasoning moves you, you can launch a bean stew or this Quick and Spicy Bean Soup. Take off to bed and wake up with a couple of days of good eating ready to go.