Your Favorite Soups and Stews

[SawyerTed]

It
<br In our area a chicken stew is both a stew and a social event/party.  Of course this year has curtailed the social side of things.  

Years ago tobacco farmers in our region of NC would celebrate the end of the crop with the hands that helped during the season.  They did so by stewing a chicken or chickens on a big cast iron wash pot over the coals from the curing flues of one of the last barns of tobacco.

The stew and the fall social events have remained while flue curing tobacco is a thing of years gone by.

We still use a cast iron wash pot and cook our stew over a propane burner.  

The recipe is simple

Stewed chicken is shedded and added back to the broth.  Milk and a thickening rue is added and stirred.

So the finished product is a milk based chicken stew.  Typically it's served outside, with saltine crackers and the hot sauce or pepper of your choice.




 
Here is our pot of stew started on Saturday night.  We stew our chicken with celery and onions and remove them before adding shredded chicken back to the broth. 

The top photo is the final product boxed up and ready for the freezer. We freeze three of four gallons every year.  It's a quick meal on a cold day. 

[69bronco]

That pot is a dandy! We had rib roast for thanksgiving, cooked the rib bones all day yesterday. Added a gallon or so of veggies from this years garden and some barley. Love soup this time of year.

[WV Sawmiller]

   My favorite is my Super Soup. I like to make it when my daughter is coming up as she loves it. Problem is I need to make it about 5 gallons at a time to get everything in and that makes my wife mad. Recipe is:

In a huge stock pot start with 2 lbs of hamburger browned with a big diced up onion
Add 2 quarts of tomato sauce then add 2 quarts diced or crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil then add
5-6 large taters diced 
5-6 big carrots peeled and cut into 1/4" rounds
A can or kidney beans
A can of black beans
A can of sliced water chestnuts
A pint can of sliced mushrooms
4-5 bags of frozen mixed veggies - assorted including oriental is fine
A can of Ro-Tel tomatoes a peppers if you feel led at the time
I used to save the green stems off cauliflower and the stems off broccoli diced and add that 

   Season to taste with salt, Black Pepper, Hot Sauce, Worcestershire and soy sauce

   When the potatoes and carrots are soft the soup is ready to eat. I prefer Ritz crackers with mine.

   Reheat for a day or two and be sure to freeze plenty for future use.

[SawyerTed]

The big pot is an antique and holds about 8 gallons.  The old wash pots in good condition are expensive and hard to find. There are new ones available.  I've cut the top out of a 55 gallon barrel and the pot sits in the hole.  Underneath is a propane burner.  The barrel has a door that allows for lighting the burner and for the propane hose.

We make low country boil, Brunswick stew and chicken stew in the pot.  Maintaining the seasoning on the pot is crucial to keeping it from rusting. It gets a coat of crisco 

[K-Guy]

A favorite of mine since childhood,  corn soup like mom made.


 

[Tacotodd]

Chicken N Dumplins'. MMMMMM....😄

Just like Momma used ta make!

Although,   those kind of dumplings DO take a while to make. I've never seen ANYBODY (including Mom, bless he's departed sole) that could, or would, make them like that. The wife came close, but NOT the same.

[sawguy21]

That corn soup is making my mouth water, just add a slice of fresh homemade bread. 8) Until I got married fairly late in life (that's another story altogether) I didn't know soups and stews were so easy to make.

[K-Guy]

My mom's cooking being so good is why I learned to cook, that way when I left home I could eat well. I've never been one of those eat fast food for lunch every day.

[Raider Bill]

I love soup!
Of course I made a big pot of turkey soup Sunday.
What we don't eat by tomorrow will get put in vacuum bags and froze for later.
I generally have 4-5 different soups frozen for whenever.
I can't remember the last time I ate fast food.
Stopped in a McDonald's about 10 years ago for a coffee.

[51cub]

I make a mean chicken and dumplings, and my chili is pretty good even if it is different every time. I'm still working on stew and dumplings

[Jeff]

I made a pot of soup today with left over turkey I had vacuum packed saturday.



 

 

[WDH]

I am a soup guy too.  I like many different ones.  Split pea with ham is one of my favorites.  One memorable bowl of split pea with ham soup came when I went to a little diner on the west side of Grand Prairie Alberta.  I was there looking at winter logging systems.  Needless to say there was a bunch of funny looking, deep, white stuff on the ground everywhere foreign to this Southern boy, and to say that it was cold was an understatement.  Sitting down in that warm diner with that big bowl of split pea with ham soup was so nice!

One of the haul roads:



 

Some Northwestern Canadian sawlogs.  I believe that these were balsam fir.



 

Winter was the time to build inventory because of poor logging condition after things thawed.  Here is the Mill logyard with just a bit of inventory.  There is a sawmill and pulpmill on the same site.



 

Here is some of that funny white stuff in Dryden Ontario. 




 

Thank goodness for split pea with ham soup ;D. 

[WV Sawmiller]

My mom's cooking being so good is why I learned to cook, that way when I left home I could eat well. I've never been one of those eat fast food for lunch every day.

Mine was a terrible cook which was why I learned to cook. : My MIL was a great cook. I bet she never measured an ingredient in her life. A pinch of this, a dab of that and a jigger of something else.

[Tacotodd]

And here I thought that a jigger was for a mouth "disinfectant".  :

[sawguy21]

@WDH Alberta certainly does get chilly in winter, that must have been a shock to yer system. Soup is a basic food group for us northern folk.

[WDH]

First time I was below 0° F.  My whole Southern body was  .   

[Tacotodd]

@WDH , I'm with you on that. AR isn't that far away from GA as far as winter climate ya know!

[Magicman]

Without question "hambone/vegetable" soup is my favorite.


 
And with yellow cornbread. 


 
It just so happens that there was a hambone boiling today so PatD will be making soup tomorrow. 

[SawyerTed]

On Monday the Doctor and I spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia.  It snowed, sleeted and rained off and on all day.  

Doctor Emily makes a fine homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese!  Some say it's a kids meal, I say it's good food after being outside in the cold all day!



 

[mike_belben]

[Raider Bill]

On Monday the Doctor and I spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia.  It snowed, sleeted and rained off and on all day.  

Doctor Emily makes a fine homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese!  Some say it's a kids meal, I say it's good food after being outside in the cold all day!

There are people that have never had grilled cheese and tomato soup. I was told once it was disgusting.
Me I like them.
There's a restaurant around here that only sells grilled cheese and soup

[doc henderson]

smoked the turkey that was still frozen on thanksgiving day.  after the main meat was off, I decided to make broth and pulled the remaining meat off.  made construction stew, which had all the leftover meats from the fridge.  so turkey, marinated steak frozen in a baggie, and a pound of ground beef.  put the carcus in a pot and boiled.  made broth with the smoky flavor, and got a bowl full of meat that would have thrown out.  added a bag of "California mixed veggies" at the end of cooking in the crock pot.  very good, hearty,  meat and veggies.  my wife does not like it if the veggies are mush, so we add them 1 hour before we are ready to eat.



 

 

 

 

 



forgot to get a final pic as we were hungry

[sawguy21]

On Monday the Doctor and I spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia.  It snowed, sleeted and rained off and on all day.  

Doctor Emily makes a fine homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese!  Some say it's a kids meal, I say it's good food after being outside in the cold all day!

There are people that have never had grilled cheese and tomato soup. I was told once it was disgusting.
Me I like them.
There's a restaurant around here that only sells grilled cheese and soup

Disgusting? They have to be kidding! That is one of my favorite lunches.

[51cub]

I'm with sawguy and Raider. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is good eats!. Next time you get to Williamsburg stop at The Cheese Shop and College Delly, too. There's a little place kind of next to Hospitality House and across the street from College Delly. Not as good as those two but it'll do

[Raider Bill]

We had stuffed pepper soup Sunday. Didn't last long enough to get a picture.

I had a friend that would not eat soup. Didn't matter what kind or thickness he wouldn't eat it.
Didn't like mashed potatoes either.

[sawguy21]

My bil is a very picky eater, people like that drive me nuts : I am not hard to please but do have to draw the line at bell peppers especially the green ones.

[doc henderson]

If I make a can of tomato soup, I also add a can if Italian diced tomatoes.  gives it a little chunk to chew on.  and some flavor.

[sawguy21]

I don't care for commercially canned soup, too salty for my taste, but homemade is so good. A local restaurant serves a tomato/basil that is absolutely delicious with a grilled cheese on sourdough. 8)

[Tacotodd]

My bil is a very picky eater, people like that drive me nuts : I am not hard to please but do have to draw the line at bell peppers especially the green ones.

Roy, they give me EXTREME heartburn, and I don't like the taste 👅 

[mike_belben]

made this one last night.  i grew the kale and butternut squash.  the rest was just what do we got?  yeah that'll do.  did some martha white cornbread too. 

[mike_belben]

Last night i made some stew from potatoes, carrots, onions and whole chicken thighs to go into the freezer while i was thawing out a pot of deer stew for dinner from the freezer.  Its become sort of a rotation to always have atleast a few days of instant food in the freezer even if the power or propane are out.  and i think it gives stews the extra time to meld and thicken like i prefer.  



This was my first chicken stew and it came out good.  I simmered until the bones just fell out with a shake of the tongs.

[kantuckid]

made this one last night.  i grew the kale and butternut squash.  the rest was just what do we got?  yeah that'll do.  did some martha white cornbread too.

My wife is arguably one of the best cooks I've known. My own Mom was in the newspaper as a cook and I gotta say it's even better at my house now. 
That said, cornbread is sort of like the air we breathe in our E KY area. 
My wife will not buy Martha White Cornmeal "MIX"-it has to be the same brand but the Hot-rize meal, no the mix! I've come to like the stuff in soups/stews and as a bread to use for a BBQ sandwich. 
What I cannot do is make a meal from a glass of milk with leftover cornbread in it as do many here. 
In KS many added some sugar and it was always yellow meal-you see both here but mostly white. When I first came to KY many of the oldtimers made their won meal but barley anyone does now. Hickory Cane corn mostly. 
My favorite cornbread is Jalapeno cornbread! 
My thoughts on the chicken soup that got this thread started- my wife would use canned chicken broth or her own to cook veggies and not toss it out. 
Kale freezes like the day you picked it-I grew up liking spinach in KS then was introduced to kale and mustard greens in KY and I have never looked back! Kale is best IMO. 

[mike_belben]

that recent pic was jiffy cornbread with some brown sugar in it.  no one complained but I'm still trying to get it to my liking. 

[kantuckid]

My Mom used Jiffy which is a sugary mix and sold like crazy when I was in the grocery business in KS. We ran it for a dime in the weekly grocery ads that people looked for every thursdays newspapers. I'd say it sells here in KY too as many cooks either don't know how or don't care? FWIW, REAL cornbread is made only with buttermilk. 
If you want to try something a bit different, look for either polenta in a regular grocery or in many states there's a Hispanic version that mostly the same IMO. it's a coarse ground meal and often yellow. On my Mexico MC rides I ridden past thousands of miles of corn that was grown for humans and livestock and as you get further south toward Guatemala it is usually old style tall flint corns. 
Back on track with soups & stews, I like polenta in a soup and also hominy too as Mexicans do. 
We make our own homemade tamales in chicken and pork and the masa thats used is a similar meal to cornbread meal except if has the cornflour in a larger proportion.

Tip of the day: don't buy stew meat-buy a chuck roast on sale and cut your own in sizes you like plus you'll know it's a flavorful cut too, not some almost off-cut. 
We make msot of our beans from dry and save some for chili and such. Lentils and Navy Beans are some we like as their own soup. This years garden I'm back to growing Aunt Violets Multi-colored Butterbean, it's a very small pole type lima with great flavor and easily subs for chili beans or we like it in Cowboy Beans. 

Talking tomato soup made at home. my next door neighbor in KS was from Mayetta, KS, she made it from mashed up canned tomatoes with some tomato juice tossed in along with a bit of sugar and when nearly done she tossed in some baking soda which reacts with the tomato acid and mellows it out nicely. If your someone who doesn't like canned tomato soup, try either the fancier paper cartons or the easily done canned tomatoes type. We use our home canned version. On that notion I have a new Brandywine Black tomato from a Taccoa, GA seller. It's a cross of an extinct heirloom black type of tomato called Brown Fejee with the Brandywine-dates to Quakers in PA in 1920. The old lady who sells the seed says it's the best of the dark tomatoes she's tasted. It is said to do well in the heat and while we liked Black Krim for flavor it cracked so bad we quit on them.  
Yes I'm sick and entertaining myself on the web...got a virus, but not THAT one. :D 

[kantuckid]

Last night i made some stew from potatoes, carrots, onions and whole chicken thighs to go into the freezer while i was thawing out a pot of deer stew for dinner from the freezer.  Its become sort of a rotation to always have atleast a few days of instant food in the freezer even if the power or propane are out.  and i think it gives stews the extra time to meld and thicken like i prefer.  



This was my first chicken stew and it came out good.  I simmered until the bones just fell out with a shake of the tongs.

Wife found a "Spicy White Bean Chicken Chili" recipe that left us liking white chili a lot!!! Which we'd stopped trying to make altogether. I'll get the link when she gets home-use dry Navy beans for the beans after first eating part of them as a meal. 

[mike_belben]

we don't really do spicy but chicken chili sounds good.  my chili game has a lot of room for improvement. i was raised on pizza mcdonalds pbj and cereal so I've come a long ways.  

[Jeff]

Made this for my Sister day before yesterday. Not heard from her since. I'm sure she must be okay.



 

[Walnut Beast]

I would say she should be okay 😂. Looks pretty good 

[mike_belben]

Ive taken to making a pot of stew that goes straight into tupperwares for the freezer. Then when i get an itch for it but dont have the time or energy for all the work, or the house is chilly and i wanna feel the oven, i just plop 2 frozen blocks in the pan and cook it again with the cornbread.  






Recent discovery, cornbread with your own really real maple syrup.  Oh dang. 

[kantuckid]

You really need to begin making cornbread in cast iron? We fight over the crusty edges it gives! 

[WDH]

Cornbread is so good.  Having it tonight with vegetable beef soup.   

[kantuckid]

Around E KY it has a similar rank with the air we breathe. I like the stuff but I much prefer Jalapeno cornbread recipe. 
Tip of the day: Cornbread makes great pulled pork sandwich buns. 
#2 tip of the day: try making cornbread with polenta or coarse meal from either an Amish store or a Hispanic grocery. Comes out similar to home ground meal cornbread. 
I have a A.H. Hatch meal grinder I don't need, cause I don't grow Hickory Cane corn now.  

[K-Guy]

We had this for supper last night and will again.

Authentic Pörkölt (Hungarian Beef and Onion Stew)

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon , diced (traditionally you would use lard (about 2 tablespoons) and many Hungarians add some kolbasz for flavor which makes a big difference)
• 1 large yellow onion , finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper , seeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 large tomato , finely diced
• 1 1/2 pounds stewing beef , cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons quality imported sweet Hungarian paprika (yes, that's TABLEspoons!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds , coarsely crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• Water

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a heavy pot or Dutch oven fry the bacon until done. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat until golden. Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook for another two minutes. Add the beef and cook for a minute until some, but not all, of the pink is gone. Stir in the paprika and remove from heat.
• Add the remaining ingredients. Add just enough water to come up to just over the halfway point of the stew mixture (in other words, not so the water is covering it). Return to heat and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 90 minutes. If the stew isn't thick enough, continue to simmer uncovered for a few more minutes so that some of the liquid evaporates. Add salt to taste.
• Serve with Spätzle (in Hungary they are shorter and stubbier, so prepare the dough accordingly or just use whatever method/shape you prefer - the texture and flavor of the dough is the same regardless). Or serve with boiled potatoes or wide egg noodles. A side salad, particularly a cucumber salad, is traditional. If desired, serve with a dollop of sour cream.

[kantuckid]

Are you Hungarian Heritage, etc.?
 We are growing a Hungarian pepper -Alba Regis variety. I got off this GA lady my age on ebay-heirloom, open pollinated changes colors from ivory to orange to red- one of the paprika peepers they grow in Hungary. It's got tad of heat and very sweet too. They sell them along the road there in huge bags late season.
I once tried very hard to find a Hungarian bean to later learn it was a group of colors of butter/lima beans that the Hungarians all seem to mix at sales tables for color effect. 
While in Hungary visiting our son we ate at a restaurant in Budapest near the State Opera House- there was a Gypsy playing the violin as we ate, priced very reasonable and what I ate seems similar to the recipe you've posted. Who knows what it was called in Hungarian lingo? :D 

[K-Guy]

Nope. My wife found the recipe online. Simple but very tasty!!

[streem26]

I make butternut squash soup every other week or so and I could eat it for every meal. It's not uncommon for me to pack it for breakfast and also have it for dinner. Sometimes I'll add spicy sausage or crumbled bacon. I don't use a recipe but what I do is kind of similar to the serious eats recipe.

[kantuckid]

We have grown butternuts many years and we always froze them once we were into a new garden season as they store well until spring. Truth is that that specific soup is one that store bought matches the real thing pretty well! Lazy boy me has switched to buying it in the paper cartons as I got other stuff to use my garden space for.
i see your not on here much-welcome back! My wife and I also ride mtn bikes and one son raced road bikes in college and our oldest son is a hard core mtn bike and road bike rider with bikes that cost more than some peoples cars...
Where are you?

[sawguy21]

My wife made butter nut squash soup, no store bought was ever that good! Also my favourite roasted. A local restarant serves an outstanding tomato/basil soup I can't get enough of but now is closed because of Covid restrictions. This is really frustrating!

[kantuckid]

Take a canning jar of home grown maters, run it in a blender and spice as you wish and call it soup. Some add soda to smooth it out. Basil we grow and dry. 
 Store bought butternut has the exact same ingredients as homemade. Very much unlike all the sodium packed soups in the rest of that section. It even comes in organic if that lights your fire.