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Summary: Pick up this book and you'll soon be in comfort-food heaven.
Review: This book is as fun to read as it is to cook from. Dragonwagon has a nice colloquial writing style and gives a lot of background on where each recipe comes from, trivia about the Ozarks and the inn she ran with her husband for many years. Although this book does have a few pages focusing on breads and salads, the soup recipes (which make up about 75% of the book) are truly the shining stars here. The recipes are divided into chapters on chicken soups, fish soups, vegetable soups, bean soups, dairy soups, nut soups, and fruit/dessert soups. There is also a chapter devoted entirely to making the ultimate gumbo, and one on a very versatile "diet" soup. The majority of recipes fall into the vegetable/dairy/and bean soup categories - making this book quite suitable for vegetarians or people interested in cutting back on the amount of meat in their diets. She doesn't eat red meat, and you won't find any recipes that call for beef, pork, or lamb... although there are a couple of exceptions. As other reviewers have mentioned, these recipes are all easily adaptable to what vegetables you already have in your refrigerator, though you will probably need to make regular trips to the store to stock up on fresh veggies if you intend to use this book often. The recipes call for lots of ingredients, but you can easily leave some out and still have a great tasting finished product. Many variations are given for each soup and some have ideas for using leftovers. Although she doesn't recommend it, bouillon cubes or canned stock could easily be substituted if you're short on time. However, if you ever wanted to learn how to make a great homemade stock, this is the place for it. The recipes themselves are excellent and I have had fabulous results and many compliments when serving these soups to others. I highly recommend the Mexican-Style The Soup, Greek Navy Bean Soup, and Pea Soup Caraway Adelle. These soups are a wonderful way to save money and eat healthy while still pleasing your tastebuds. The book has a nice design, but if you're looking for fancy photographs or art, you won't find them here.
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Summary: The soup book no kitchen should be without.
Review: This book not only contains wonderful, usuable recipes, but it also tries to show you how to cook. It gives you the frame for any recipe, and then with what you have on hand you can feel confident to vary, vary, vary to your heart's content. This is the basis of good cooking, not whether or not you can follow a complicated "conde nast" recipe. In rural Japan it is very difficult to get so many ingrediants people take for granted (fresh dill? out of the question) so this flexibility is very important.
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Summary: One of the best
Review: This cookbook is probably the most-used and best of all in my kitchen, and I have about 50. You don't need to doubt one word of what Ms. D writes, all of these recipes (I've tried almost all of them) are unbelievably delicious. All are dinner-party worthy. I have had the best compliments from guests and hubby for the soups, above any other part of the meal. My only complaint: she's such a purist about fresh ingredients, particularly broth, that I felt really guilty using canned broth. Sorry but I just don't have the time to make fresh chicken broth!! She's right of course, but not everyone can spend all day in the kitchen. This cookbook is EXCELLENT.
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Summary: Simply wonderful
Review: This is simply a wonderful book. It reads like a novel for cooking. The recipes are excellent. Sit by the fire and dream up your next meal with this book.
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Summary: Winter Bliss
Review: This is the BEST cookbook ever for soups. It has made a Sunday soup tradition in our house during the winter months. I pick out a different recipe each week and savor the leftovers throughout the week. My favorites are Chick Pea Soup Mamusia, Broccoli and potato curry, Muligatawny.....You can't go wrong with this one!
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