Soup Cookbook Recommendations?

[AlephReish]

My father recently declared his intentions to take up soup-making upon his retirement at the end of this school year.

My father does not have cooking skills. When mom is away, he lives on take out, microwave meals, and reheating leftovers. In graduate school, he opened cans very well.

Does anyone have a favorite soup cookbook I can give him? Something that covers the basics of soup-making along with some more interesting stuff to try as he gets better at it and wants to experiment more?

I am, of course, buying Soup for Dummies for him, in answer to him giving me Gardening for Dummies several years ago, but I'd love a few other good ones to go along with it.

Thanks!

[Hmmmmm]

The Daily Soup is a fun soup cookbook that is good for beginners but has enough variety for a wider audience.  Williams Sonoma and Cooks Illustrated Soup cookbooks are also good.

One that I have that I enjoy reading more than the recipes is Barbara Kafka's Soup a Way of Life.  It has a really good section on making stocks and broths.  I found a lot of her soups were great as first courses, but was less excited about her selection of main dish soups in the book. 

[Namárië]

Soups, Stews, and Chilis by America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated. Everything is amazingly tasty, and it includes detailed diagrams on things like how to cut up chicken and certain (more tricky) veggies. Some of the dishes are on the more advanced/complicated side, but they are *always* worth the reward.

[singingserpent]

I have tried several recipes out of http://www.amazon.com/The-Secrets-Jesuit-Soupmaking-Compass/dp/014219610X/ref=pd_sim_b_8 and they are all good.

[Amara]

That's so neat about your dad. I highly recommend Sensational Soup by Matthhew Drennan. It is nothing short of spectacular. Cold soups. Hot soups. Common soups. Unusual Soups. Creamy Soups. Spicy Soups. It has it all. Ans the formatting is perfect for everyone, especially a beginner. The TOC includes these:

Introduction
Cool and Chilled
East Meets West
Hot and Spicy
Rich and Smooth
Lunch in a Bowl
Soups of the Sun
Light and Healthy
The Basics
Index

Ask me for a recipe if you want, maybe with a favorite ingredient of his.

[AlephReish]

Thanks, everyone!

I love that my dad has decided that this will be his new retirement hobby. Tasty and useful!

[jmarvellous]

I'm a vegetarian, but I've found the recipes in this book will satisfy almost anyone: Molly Katzen's "Soups".


I really like, too, that the book is "easel style" so it stands up while you cook!

[sweetonsno]

Bernard Clayton has a fantastic book on soups and stews. He's also got one of the best bread cookbooks I've ever seen. Sunday Soup is another good one. I also love A Beautiful Bowl of Soup, by Paulette Mitchell. It is vegetarian, so if Dad is an obligate carnivore, he might not trust it. However, it is full of really innovative soups (pear and gouda or wild rice and cranberry, for example), so it's worth a try.