Welcome To Our Favorite Soups & Stocks Recipes!

Garlic Soup

What can one say about a truly remarkable soup, that with the addition of some bread makes a delicious meal.

This is a soup for true garlic lovers. It uses generous quantities of both regular and black garlic. While the picture of this soup isn't overly appetizing, what it lacks in appearance it makes up with excellent flavour and texture. The soup ends up with a greenie colour because of the use of the green part of a leek and black garlic.

Bacon Corn Chowder

Loraine and I came across this soup a few years ago. It is a great soup for winter, it sticks to the ribs as they say. The soup is very easy to make and cooks in less than a half an hour. It is a complete meal!

Although the soup calls for milk (we use 50% condensed milk, 50% water) we have also made it with 5%, 10% and 18% cream. It all depends on what we have in the refrigerator at the moment.

The soup will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days and you can freeze it for at least a month.

Beef Broth

Updated March/2020

We no longer make beef stock. We make beef broth instead! Yes, we buck the advice of all of the world's great chefs who will tell you that first you make a beef stock and then you turn that into a beef broth, if that's what you want. We take the approach that we want a beef broth to use in our recipes, not a beef stock.

When we make a soup or entrée that calls for beef stock we use our beef broth. We know what it will taste like when it is added to the recipe and we believe it's what makes our beef stock based soups so good! It really enhances the flavour of our pot roasts and stews.

Beef Vegetable Soup

This hearty beef and vegetable soup recipe uses lean ground beef instead of the more common stewing beef. This is a very basic soup and a great starting point for soup creativity. It can easily be augmented with a variety of seasonings and herbs.

We never make this soup exactly the same way twice. Ingredients definitely depend on what vegetables and herbs happen to be in the refrigerator and what spices are in the pantry.

With some bread this soup is a meal unto itself.

Beet & Beef Borscht

When we make our meat beef borscht we make a little more than one meal for two people. In some cases we have second helpings and finish it and at other times we have enough left over for a lunch or snack.

Although most people think that the key behind the taste of borscht are the beets, nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact there are many borscht recipes that don't even use any beets. The key to a very successful beet beef borscht lies in the flavor of the beef broth used as the base of the recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup

A few years ago we made this soup for a Thanksgiving dinner for eight. Since then it has become a favorite winter soup. The combination of butternut squash with the pancetta bacon is right on the mark.

We cheat a little bit and use fresh butternut squash that is cut into chunks and sold in a package at our local supermarket. The recipe makes a very thick soup, you can thin it by adding more chicken stock.

You can easily double or even quadruple this recipe.

Carrot Soup

We serve the carrot soup for a light lunch or as an evening snack.

This soup is very simple to make yet it is very tasty. The soup can change flavour from batch to batch depending on the sweetness of the carrots that you are using. Fresh carrots are usually the best. Although there have been times when we have been disappointed in the flavour of fresh carrots and have resorted to adding a little bit of honey to the soup.

Chicken Broth

Updated April/2020

We have completely changed our attitude towards chicken stock, we no longer make it! We know that this goes against all of the wisdom imparted by the vast majority of chefs, however, after years of making chicken stock we have come to the conclusion, that for us at least, making chicken broth makes for a better starting point for the soups and other recipes that call for chicken stock.

It is important to always remember, especially with soups that the taste of the broth (stock) that is the base of the soup recipe will make or break the final taste of the soup. In recipes we use the chicken broth as a flavour enhancer. Chicken stock does not enhance flavour no matter what anyone says!

Chicken Noodle Soup

This chicken noodle soup recipe is made with free range chicken giving it a fabulously rich chicken flavor. A small amount of heavy cream gives the broth a smooth creamy texture. This is the ultimate chicken noodle soup and it is sure to please the entire family. Serve with some fresh bread or corn muffins and you have a total meal.

The chicken stock for this ultimate chicken noodle soup is made as the initial steps of the recipe.

Chinese Chicken Broth

Chinese chicken broth is quite different from what westerner's make as chicken broth. To start with Chinese chicken broth is made from a whole chicken not just a bunch of chicken bones. The only additional ingredients added to the pot with the whole chicken, are a few scallions and a couple of small pieces of ginger.

There are many recipes for Chinese chicken broth and the only variables are the cooking time and amount of water.

Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a total meal in a bowl. Chicken, noodles, vegis and loads of flavor. What more can you ask for.

This Chinese chicken noodle soup is quite different in flavour from the western style chicken soup, primarily because the chicken is marinated, the inclusion of ginger, the taste of the dried black mushrooms and the scallions.

The noodles make this soup very filling but if you want you can increase the amount of chicken used.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

Earl is definitely a soup person, he could probably live on soups alone, if I let him.

Do not confuse this recipe for a cream of mushroom soup. This recipe uses chicken broth as its base. Whereas a cream of soup would use milk or cream as its base. This recipe is not as rich as a cream of. However, we think that it has an excellent texture due to the two egg yolks and 35% cream.

This creamy mushroom soup is based on a Julia Child recipe, but as usual Earl and I have modified it to suit our tastes and made it somewhat less complex to make.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

On a cold day, when you're really not in the mood to cook, this soup is the answer.

This is an excellent chicken noodle soup that requires very little effort and sometimes that, in itself, is important. It shouldn't take you more than 40 minutes to have a bowl of piping hot soup in front of you.

One could say that we don't even follow our own rules with this soup as we use store bought chicken broth, although we use organic, that has no chemicals added to it. The chicken used to make the broth is supposed to be antibiotic and hormone free.

French Onion Soup

One of our favorite late fall and winter time meals is our French onion soup. Our recipe is based on Julia Child's classic French onion soup, although as we often do, we have modified to suit our tastes.

Let me start by saying we try to use our own homemade beef stock which is often in whole or partially created when we make pot roasts. Hence, it's not a consistent flavor, especially with respect to salt and pepper. When used in our French onion soup we go taste the soup at various stages and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Ham and Split Pea Soup

Ham and split pea is one of my favorite soups. Although I usually try to cook for two with no leftovers, soup is generally an exception to that rule. Most soups freeze exceptionally well and it makes a great lunch or snack.

The ham imparts a lot of flavor to the soup, so it is important to choose the ham you use with care. If it is a hickory smoked ham it will impart a smoky hickory flavor to the soup. Try to stay away from hams that have been glazed with maple syrup or anything else that is sweet. Sweet doesn't really work in this soup.

Ham, Bacon & Potato Soup

This is an excellent soup for those Canadian cold winter days. It's also a good soup if you happen to have a left over piece of ham. The bacon provides a lot of the background flavour.

We used yellow potatoes, because that is what we happened to have. The recipe would work just as well with russet or red potatoes. If you want to use white potatoes you may want to decrease the cooking time, to avoid having the potatoes turn into mush.

Salt is not included in the ingredient list because the ham and bacon generally provide enough salt for the soup. However, prior to adding the potatoes you should taste the soup and add salt if necessary.

Minestrone Soup

This recipe is not for 2 servings. When we make minestrone soup, we have it as a main meal, then we use the left over soup as lunches or snacks. Put it in a cup and you can enjoy it while watching a movie (yes, you will still need a spoon).

There are probably as many minestrone recipes as there are Italian grandmas. I would be lying if I said that ours is the best because that would imply that I have tasted all of the others. That being said, I think our minestrone soup is extremely good and would rank well against most of the Italian grandmas.

Napa Cabbage Soup

This is a great soup for those cold winter days. It is a vegetable soup with the primary ingredient being Napa cabbage. You, of course, can be creative, adding and deleting vegetables; based on what happens to be in your refrigerator and pantry.

The soup is vegetarian, it would be vegan if you don't use the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to top the soup when serving.

New England Clam Chowder (Extra Thick & Creamy)

Loraine and I like our New England clam chowder to be really thick and creamy. We are sure that most people in New England would say that this is not real New England clam chowder and we really don't care. We like it.

We use tinned yellow clams, because it is difficult to get fresh clams that are really fresh if you know what we mean.

This soup can be made in about 30 minutes from start to finish. We have doubled the recipe for guests and made it the day before and it tasted as if it had just been freshly made.

Old-Fashioned Vegetable Soup

Every now and then you come across a soup recipe that has exceptional body and flavour. This old-fashioned vegetable soup is an excellent choice for those cold, damp winter days.

Although this is the recipe we used for the first batch of the soup, it changes slightly each time it is made. If we have some left over that aren't listed in the ingredients they are likely to end up in the soup.

Potato & Apple Cider Soup

What's so special about a potato soup? Our potato soup is prepared with sweet apple cider, giving it an unquestionable and unique flavour.

This recipe requires a substantial amount of dicing and chopping. If you are aiming to have it ready for a specific meal time make sure you allow enough time for the prep work. We use our food processor to dice the onions, carrots and celery but everything else is processed with a knife on a cutting board.

Some may consider the soup to be light on seasoning, but remember that we use our homemade chicken broth which is not chicken stock, it is a fully seasoned chicken broth.

Shrimp Stock

Although we call this our Shrimp Stock recipe, it does at times include lobster shells, if we happen to have them available. This shrimp stock can be used in any recipe that calls for a light seafood stock. Of course shrimp stock is not as common as chicken or brown (beef) stock there are many recipes that are truly enhanced by using a high quality homemade shrimp stock and it is one of the easiest and fastest stocks you will ever make. When a recipe calls for seafood or shrimp stock and then says you can substitute chicken or vegetable stock, someone really doesn't care how that dish tastes.

We have a few recipes that call for a light fish or shrimp stock that are listed within our favorites. I'm pretty sure we never suggest that you can substitute chicken or vegetable broth.

Wonton Soup with Bok Choy & Barbecued Pork

Chinese soups are generally very subtle in flavor. This starts with the chicken broth which is one of the simplest broths ever made and when completed has only the small flavor and nose of a chicken, it is only after you choose the soup you are making and add some seasoning, especially salt, does the chicken broth come to life, yet it is still very subtle in its overall flavor.

The chicken broth is the medium for creativity. To the chicken broth in this soup we are adding homemade wontons, baby bok choy and Chinese barbecued pork slices.