Table of Contents
$3 Soups and Stews: More than 250 Delicious, Low-Cost Recipes for Family-Pleasing Meals in the Bowl
Overview:
Stews and entrée soups are essentially the same dishes; soups have more liquid and require a spoon while stews can be eaten with either a fork or spoon. It makes sense to feature them in the same volume of the $3 Meals series.
These two dish forms are great ways to feed a crowd in very little time and for very little money, and there are more than 250 recipes in this volume that accomplish that task.
Contents:
Preface
Introduction
The introduction defines the concept underpinning all books in the $3 Meals series; the recipes are for healthful, sophisticated fare made without processed foods. The “Three C’s” of the series are that you can trim costs by eliminating convenience foods that contain chemicals. In addition, the introduction will discuss the food science underpinning the genre of “wet heat food.” There are some basic principles regarding simmering and braising that are highlighted.
Chapter 1: Saving Money at the Supermarket
How to save money when shopping is a thread uniting the books published as part of the $3 Meals series. There are sections of this chapter on shopping tips, how to get the most advantage out of coupons, and other ways to stretch the food budget.
Chapter 2: Soup and Stew Secrets
It takes practically no culinary skills to successfully make a soup or stew. However both take some time, and for both using pieces of food cut to the proper size is important. The principles of how to cut poultry, meats, and vegetables are detailed in this chapter.
Other sections of the chapter include:
· Converting recipes for the slow cooker.
· The importance of browning meats prior to cooking.
· Stove-top and oven preparation methods and the benefits of each.
· Recipes for basic stocks.
· A chart with substitutions for different types of beans.
Chapter 3: Small Soups for $1
Each book in the $3 Meals series contains one chapter of dishes that cost less than $1 per serving. While in other books it’s a dessert or snack, in this volume it’s a collection of small soups to serve as appetizers. The recipes are both vegetarian and meat-based.
Examples of Recipes:
Gazpacho
Roasted Garlic Vichyssoise
Creamy Onion Soup
Cheddar Soup
Celery Soup with Tarragon
Chapter 4: Versatile Vegetarian: Soups and Stews without Meats
The soups and stew recipes in this chapter encompass a wide range of both legumes and vegetables. There are thin dishes based on vegetable stock, and then there are many filling and thick recipes using pureed beans and starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and winter squash.
Examples of Recipes:
Southwestern Vegetable Soup
Cuban Black Bean Soup
Garbanzo Bean and Kale Stew
Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Stew
Zucchini Chili
Chapter 5: Aquatic Adventures: Soups and Stews with Fish and Seafood
While crustaceans like shrimp and lobster are outside the budgetary limits of the $3 Meals series, there are myriad fish and some mollusks that can be used for soups and stews. A major principle to communicate is that the actual fish is added at the end because it cooks so quickly; the preparation time is spent creating the flavorful base in which the fish is gently poached.
Examples of Recipes:
Mussel Soup with Beans and Garlic
New England Clam and Corn Chowder
Seafood Gumbo
Nantucket Seafood Stew
Bouillabaisse
Chapter 6: Poultry Prowess: Soups and Stews with Chicken and Turkey
The definition of stew for this chapter is expanded to include dishes made with whole pieces of chicken rather than just boneless parts to cut back on both expense and preparation time. The soups and stews will all be different from those appearing in $3 Chicken Meals.
Examples of Recipes:
Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
Eastern European Chicken and Cabbage Soup
Turkey Stew with Sage Cornmeal Dumplings
Chinese Black Bean Chicken Chili
Spanish Chicken Stew with Olives and Oranges
Chapter 7: Meaty Matters: Soups and Stews with Beef, Pork, and Lamb
It’s the less expensive cuts of beef, pork, and lamb that create the best soups and stews because they become meltingly tender when slowly simmered – the way soups and stews are created. The introductory materials include a chart of cooking times so that one meat can be substituted for another.
Examples of Recipes:
Tuscan White Bean Soup with Sausage
Beef and Barley Soup
Beef Stew Stroganoff
Chinese Red-Cooked Pork Stew
Irish Lamb Stew
Chapter 8: Crusty Creations: Crisp Breads to Serve with Soft Meals
Some sort of crisp bread serves as a textural contrast to the inherently soft nature of soups and stews, but buying flavorful breads at a bakery can markedly increase the cost of a meal; some breads are now $6 to $8 a loaf! The recipes in this chapter are selected to coordinate with the international cuisines represented in the other chapters.
Examples of Recipes:
Parmesan Foccaccia
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
No-Knead French Baugette
Quick Olive and Herb Bread
Jalapeño Cornbread
Appendix A: Metric Conversion Tables
Appendix B: Table of Weights and Measures of Common Ingredients
Index
