Manning - Easy soups from scratch with quick breads to match: 70 recipes to pair and share

Text copyright 2017 by Ivy Manning.
Photographs copyright 2017 by Chronicle Books LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-5672-9 (epub, mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-5502-9 (hc)

Designed by Alice Chau
Photographs by Dina Avila
Food styling by Ashley Marti & Ivy Manning
Prop styling by Ashley Marti

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It is impossible to think of any good meal,
no matter how plain or elegant,
without soup or bread in it.

M.F.K. Fisher

Ive been teaching cooking classes for over fifteen years, and some of my most popular classes focus on soups. Students tell me repeatedly that they are in need of great soup recipesthe faster the better. So over the years, I have developed scores of soup recipes that taste like theyve been bubbling away for hours, but take under an hour to make. They have always been a big hit.

People loved these classes, but something always felt a bit lacking to me. My mind would wander off from the soup pot to what Id like to crumble over the top of the soup, or dip into the bowl, or use as a sponge to sop up the last delicious bites at the bottom of the bowl. Yup, I was thinking about how homemade bread would really complete the soups and truly make them a meal.

Im not alone in my view. Nearly every culture in the world appreciates the joy of the soup-plus-bread equation. In Ireland, youll find that their famous lamb stew is always served with a hunk of dark Irish soda bread to sop up the last bites. Fly southeast to the eastern coast of Africa, and families are tucking into spicy red lentil stew with springy teff injera to scoop it up. Cross the Atlantic, and youll see the citizens of Mexico City slurping up chile-flecked pork posole, a spoon in one hand and a warm, soft corn tortilla in the other.

Bread makes soup better, no matter where you live. But when I thought about including breads in my soup-making classes, I knew that my time-crunched students wouldnt use recipes that require lots of kneading, lengthy rising, and time-consuming baking. So I became expert in quick-cooking flatbreads, savory scones and muffins, and other delicious homemade breads that could be whipped up in the time it took to simmer a pot of soup, and I added them to every soup class.

My classes and the enthusiastic feedback from my pupils became the inspiration for this book. In it, youll find forty-five recipes for easy, delicious soups and twenty-five quick bread recipes that partner perfectly with the soups to make a delicious meal. Whether youre craving a roll-up-your-sleeves supper of spicy chili with a wedge of rustic skillet corn bread, or youd rather dip your spoon into sophisticated lobster bisque with a side of airy Gruyre cheese puffs, this book has you covered. I hope the recipes will inspire you to get your own soup and bread mojo going and make the most comforting meal of allthe one that is made with your own hands. Lets get slurping and dipping, shall we?

Good food begins with good ingredients, and never is this more important than when making soup and bread. Over the decades, Ive turned to the following ingredients to turn my soup and bread flavors up to eleven. These ingredients build flavor, balance tastes, and make the process of getting dinner on the table quicker and easier.

If you add anchovies to aromatic vegetables when you begin cooking a soup, you will get a subtle salty-meaty base note, which will not taste fishy at all. If you include them in herb butter to brush on flatbread, they will transform it into an umami masterpiece. Youll find anchovies in recipes like the Creamy Cannellini Bean Soup with Gremolata . The best anchovies come packed in olive oil in small glass jars. Anchovies in oil keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

This little kitchen cheat gives quick-cooked beef and lamb soups and stews a long-simmered, beefy flavor and lip-smacking mouthfeel. Look for this very thick (gummy, even) concentrate where bouillon cubes are sold in upscale grocery stores, gourmet stores, and online. My favorite brand is More Than Gourmet Demi-Glace Gold.

Dried mushrooms contain a high concentration of glutamic acidnatures version of MSGso adding them to soups is a no-brainer. I love dried porcini mushrooms for the sweet, earthy flavor they add to soup. Dried shiitake mushrooms are great for soup as well; I find that the ones available at Asian markets tend to be of better quality than the tiny bags found in grocery stores, and they are loads cheaper. Either soaked and chopped, or just thrown whole into the soup pot to enhance the broth, dried mushrooms are powerhouses of umami flavor.

Spanish dry sherry is wine that is aged in partially filled casks to oxidize and intensify its flavor, and finished with a swish of brandy for extra oomph. Sherries range from flinty to nutty to sweet. Sweet cream sherries are for old ladies to sip; for cooking, stick with dry sherry. I always have a bottle of dry oloroso sherry in the refrigerator. The complex, nutty taste adds depth to soups with earthy flavor profiles like Many Mushroom and Quinoa Soup . Look for sherry in the wine department of grocery stores. Sherry keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

I confess Ive got an olive oil addiction. Ive got at least five bottles going at all times. I have one big bottle of everyday extra-virgin oil for sauting, a few herb- and citrus-infused oils, and a slew of finer oilspeppery Tuscan oil for drizzling on soups and bread, mild and buttery California oil for baking muffins, and sunny Spanish oil for salads. I prefer extra-virgin olive oil to regular olive oil, which tends to be of poor quality with off flavors. Extra-virgin olive oil is light and heat sensitive; keep it in a cool, dark place away from the stove.

Believe it or not, something as basic as which all-purpose flour you use really affects your baking results. I use unbleached all-purpose flour and favor locally milled brands over big name brands. When I want the flavor and extra fiber of whole-wheat flour, I include white whole-wheat flour in recipes. White whole-wheat flour, available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, is made from whole kernels of hard white spring whole wheat, which makes more subtly flavored whole-wheat flour than traditional red wheat.