Soup of the Day: 150 Sustaining Recipes for Soup and Accompaniments to Make a Meal

by Lydie Marshall

Soup is delicious, nourishing, and endlessly versatile. Around the world and throughout the seasons, soup is a favorite pleasure. Who doesn't love a fragrant, steaming bowl of soup when cold winds howl outside? And a chilled bowl of soup can be a light and soothing meal in the hottest months of summer. Now Lydie Marshall, a beloved cooking teacher in France and America, serves up something for 140 mouthwatering recipes for soups and accompanying salads, breads, and desserts to make a meal. Lydie offers a wide range of her favorite soup recipes, from classics like New England Clam Chowder and Onion Soup to new favorites like Red Lentil Soup with Curry or Fava Bean Soup with Mint and Feta Cheese. Make a meal of Lydie's Tuscan Ribollita (the twice-cooked Tuscan bean soup), Chicory Salad with Bacon, Croutons, Poached Eggs, and a loaf of Poilane bread, finished with Vanilla Cream with Prunes Soaked in Brandy. All the recipes are here in Soup of the Day -- clear, accessible, delicious. Soup of the Day is a fine collection of inviting, simple, delicious recipes, written in the reassuring style of a longtime cooking teacher who knows what home cooks want. With a foreword by Calvin Trillin, soup lover and Lydie Marshall fan, Soup of the Day is a welcome kitchen companion.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 24, 2002

Reviews

[Jiri · Rating 2 out of 5]

The recipes seem like variations of soups from farmhouses of olden days. It does make sense when the author mentions growing up during world war 2 when some supplies were scarce .
Some of the soups seem absent of seasoning and with many soups including beans, I was surprised that the author writes that 1 lb of beans makes 6 cups or parboiled beans which she lists as serving 6-8 people and a 2 hour cooking time for parboiling as 1-1 1/2 hours until the beans are tender.
1 lb beans usually yields 12 or more portions and takes 2 1/2 -3 hour of cooking until tender.

There are variations on some classic recipes, and while I understand that every home makes a recipe slightly different depending on their liking and seasonal ingredients my feeling is that the author should have stuck more with the classic recipe rather then her version. This I say especially since she mentions having a cooking school and being a cooking teacher quite often.

With the author being a cooking school teacher I found the amount of discrepancies regarding amounts of ingredients, cooking times, absence of seasoning and cooking errors that did not make sense annoying. Many of the recipes originated from housekeepers, friends, gardeners, etc. it doesn't sound like the cooking teacher background brought much. I also find it of little use when someone lists 1 onion, 1 carrot, etc. Please list amounts like 1 cup of chopped carrots and/or 8oz onions. It makes it easier to shop for a recipe and prepare it.

This book was not for me.

[Denni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought that the recipes had ingredients that I didn't ordinarily buy- some that I couldn't pronounce. Just not to my taste...so to speak.