New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup

First, this book is so beautifully made. The pictures are great. The recipes easy to read.Second, I am not a chef or cook. This was the first and only cookbook I have every purchased. But the "Sweet Potato, Wild Barley, and Chicken" soup just called out to be made. I did it, even creating my own stock per the instructions. My wife (a GREAT cook) could not believe what she was seeing. I even bought a 20 quart All Clad stock pot. Now she really couldn't believe what was happening. But I tell you, that soup was THE BEST. Third, my wife now makes several of the soups found in this book on a regular basis.Fourth, I am now buying this book for others in my family.A gem.

I'll start by saying that I have never written a review of a cookbook, but I purchased this in 2008, and it is my go to cookbook as the weather gets cooler. My absolute favorites are....Tomato and ginger soup with grilled chicken,pumpkin and cranberry soup, sweet potato chicken and barley soup, beef and barley soup,carrot and ginger soup, lima bean and barley soup. In Winter, I make big batches and freeze some so there's always soup on hand. I don't make stocks from scratch, and find that Better Than Bouillon makes a great chicken and beef stock in a jar that stores well in the frig.

In my household, soup making is my department. This book is perfect for any serious soup maker. After you read the introductory comments you will know that a great deal of heart and soul went into this book. The harmony of such a concerted effort really touched my heart.And then there is “Stone Soup”… for years I have told that story to my family. It is one of my favorite stories to mention whenever I make soup from whatever ingredients we happen to have on hand. I began making such soups when I was about 12 years old… sigh, decades ago.I must quote from the author’s introduction because I found it to be so endearing, partly because I bought my daughter the story of Stone Soup as a toddler (she is an adult now and she keeps it still among her favorite books):“My earliest soup memory took place in kindergarten when we were reading Stone Soup. This is a tale about a hungry traveler who comes to a village and announces that he can make soup from a stone. He puts a stone in a pot of water and then asks the villagers to bring ingredients to help the soup along. One person brings an onion, another a carrot, and so on until the soup is made. After we read the story, we made stone soup in class. Each of us brought an ingredient. My mother sent me with Goodman’s vegetable soup mix: A cylinder of lentils, green split peas, barley, alphabet noodles, and a seasoning packet. This went into the big pot for our class soup.At the end of the day, when the teacher gave each of us a Styrofoam cup of soup to take home, I could hardly contain myself. “I really liked the soup!” I blurted out to my teacher. She told me that the special packet of mix that I brought was just perfect because the lentils added flavor and texture. That may have been the beginning of my career, but neither one of us knew it.”I wish I could sit down with the author and chat with her about soup.One recipe that really stood out for me is the “Potato Crab and Gorgonzola Soup.” With two cups of sherry and two cups of heavy cream, it’s definitely comfort in a bowl. I included a picture from the book. And… I’ve included a picture of my version. I only had claw meat, so I supplemented it with scallops and shrimp. I did not have lobster stock, so I used Better Than Bouillon Lobster Base. I guess this was my high end version of stone soup. It was AMAZING … really, really rich though. Probably once a year at most for that one!As a bonus, there are sandwich recipes and salad recipes. Of course, every chowder imaginable is included. One soup is called “Lusty Fish Stew.” Need I really say more?Five stars is not enough…. If you like soup, you must buy this book.

I decided to buy this cookbook after eating at the Soup Factory in Newton MA and have not been disappointed wither with the restaurant or the bookSo far have tried several different recipes, they are easy to follow with no hard to find ingredients. Dishes have been delicious.Most of the recipes take a relatively short cooking time (compared to some soups) and make great dinners.

This book came with something sticky- like at tag had been pulled off - on the cover. There are about 20 recipies dedicated to sandwiches and salads!? This book is small, about 8 or 9 inches tall which was dissapointing. The pictures are very nice, but not very many. I don't have the time to make these soups, and if I did, would not make a lot of them. While there is variety, it almost seems like things where thrown in a pot to see how it came out, which is wonderful, but didn't take into account the outcome - Fine Soup? - not in my book. There were so many great reviews, I did not think to look at the rather large amount of negative ones. My mistake.

Disappointing. The first recipe in this book says "if you make any stock from scratch, it should be chicken." However, the recipe for the chicken stock calls for....bouillon. How is using bouillon in a stock considered making the stock from scratch???This book is going to be donated to my local library. I hope it saves someone from the mistake of buying this book like I did.

We expect these will be good soup recipes, but we have not made many of them yet. But book is very nicely put together and is easy to find and understand recipes!

Unfortunately I can't buy the soups from the restaurant but now I can make new soups. We love soup & these recipes are delightful. We had chicken soup this evening. Soo good. We both have had a cold/flu & feel better after having the soup. I followed the authors' advice & enriched our soup w/ turnips, parsnips, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes & squashes. So rich & comforting. I love the seafood selections & will be using my Christmas ham bone to prepare a pea soup, & a bean soup. The exotic soups also sound very lovely and I look forward to digging in to,those recipes.The sandwich & salad sections really complete this book making soup a hearty lucious meal. I'm also big on cornbread & biscuits w/ my soups & I will add them to the recipes in this cookbook.The cold soups will be lovely in the spring & summer. Truly a beautiful cookbook. The pictures are so wonderful & truly plentiful. You can eat w/ ur eyes though this cookbook. I love the diversity of this cookbook. I often say I could eat soup every night; w/ this cookbook I truly can eat soup every week. 5 big tummies.

Full of great soup recipes, which I’m gradually working my way through. I can really recommend the Tortilla and Butternut squash soup

Really delicious soup recipes here! My favorite so far has been Mulligatawny but there are so many to choose from I intend to work my way through each recipe:) Everything is easily accessible no hard to find spices, etc. Also very easy to follow - it won't be gathering dust on my kitchen shelves!

Fairly good.

This book met my expectations. I read many reviews of soup books before I chose this one. I wanted a book of interesting soups that I could make on a daily/weekly basis using ingredients that I would most likely already have on hand. I'm very pleased with this book.It starts off covering making stock and then it follows with chapters by topic. For instance Tomato Teasers, Say Cheese Please, A Chicken in Every Pot, Under the Sea, Championship Chowders, Old World Flavours, and so on. I've found this arrangement makes it easier for me to choose a recipe based on what I have on hand.I made the Carribean Chicken Soup with Coconut and just loved it. I am no chef (I like to eat not cook) but making this delicious soup was super easy. Next I want to try Indonesian Carrot, the Spicy Chickpea & Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato & Corn Chowder. I want to put post-its on every page to try them all.Most of the recipes are on two pages, the first showing a large photo and the second the actual recipe. Ingredients are laid out for a quick read and not too much text in the instructions. The beginning of most recipes have a brief paragraph or a couple sentences to explain the soup's creation, history, etc. For instance the Carribean Chicken Soup is actually a healing soup due to its carefully chosen ingredients.The back of the book has many sandwich and salad recipes as well with great photos that make you want to make it right now. What goes better with soup than a sandwich?There are some winter stews such as Hearty & Rich Beef Stew a Vegetarian White Bean Chili and a Veal & Portobello Mushroom Stew.I can't wait to try more and will report back once I have. I love this book and I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

So many delicious sounding recipes in this book. I've only had the opportunity to make a handful of soups so far but it makes excellent reading. The hardest part is deciding which one to try next!!Even has a few non-soup recipe's towards the back of the book. Great photos throughout.