Filed under: Books, Cookbook of the Day

While I could eat soup on just about any day of the year, I have to admit that when the weather is cold, I have a bias for soups over other dishes. There are so many different types of soups to make and they usually require minimal hands-on time, so they are incredibly appealing when just don't feel like doing much because the weather is less than perfect. The Daily Soup Cookbook is a book of recipes from the Daily Soup, a New York restaurant that specializes in soups. The NY Times calls the restaurant the "antithesis of the so-called Soup Nazi experience," an attitude that is apparent even in print from the book's clear instructions and friendly voice. The recipes use high-quality ingredients and the techniques used are thoroughly explained in the beginning of the book, providing a solid foundation to the science of soup-making. And the quality of the soups, such as Mexican Tortilla Soup, Four Bean Vegetarian Chili, New England Lobster Chowder and Brazilian Chicken Stew, make the experience of making them even more pleasurable.

The only thing that might stop some soup-lovers from picking up this book is that fact that most all the recipes call for using homemade stocks, which improve the taste but are not typically required of the home chef who might rely on canned stock more often than not. Honestly, you can make the substitution and still get good results, but if there was ever a time to start making stocks this is it because they are quite simple, straightforward and really take the soups to a new level.