Welcome to What’s Helping Today, a newsletter about the everyday work of staying alive on earth — written by author and journalist Sandy Ernest Allen. This is an installment of my series called Sandy’s Recipe Club.

Hey all,

It’s been snowy and cold here in the Western Catskills so far this winter. Today we’ve got yet another big dump of snow. I’ve wanted to share a fourth installment of Sandy’s Recipe Club with you all. I played around with various themes in my mind but … ultimately decided all I want to share are some favorite soup and stew recipes.

I love stews and soups. Especially throughout the fall and into the winter, I like to make big batches of whatever and to freeze what I can. Soups and stews are a great way to feed our future selves — and to “use up” any homegrown produce I have around that won’t last forever. I’m also a big sourdough baker so, soup and bread, it’s classic for a reason … (Just in case you didn’t know: Back during COVID lockdown, I taught these sourdough bread baking instruction classes. [Other than the my-gender of it all, they’ve held up!])

Sometimes I cook or bake things to travel to other times and places in my memory … Like there is a random roadside restaurant in California called Pea Soup Andersen’s. Folks who’ve driven between the Bay Area and So Cal will probably be familiar. I recall driving by if not stopping there a time or two, as a kid. And I went to the one in Buellton like ten years ago, on a trip to the Santa Barbara wine country (before I quit drinking).

Upon review, their actual pea soup was, to my mind, pretty unremarkable. But I always admired the restaurant for its whole retro vibe and its many highway signs. It reminds me of other “famous” (and "are they even good?”) type stops in California … Like Ikeda’s on I-80, on the drive to and from Tahoe, their dried fruit for sale and hamburgers for lunch.

Or like Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero, a small coastal town nearish to Santa Cruz. I went there for the first time at 18 or so with an ex. I think of their cioppino. I think of their asparagus soup. I think of their sourdough and their rhubarb pie. It all feels like several lifetimes ago, but still, sometimes I do make asparagus soup from my own garden here in spring in upstate New York, and I think back …

Or yesterday, as I was stirring a pot of pea soup and thinking about Pea Soup Andersen’s pea soup, amongst other soups of yore … And I recalled back to when I was first living in Iowa City and this tremendous blizzard we had there. As the storm hit, I texted the friends I knew who lived within a few blocks of my studio apartment, inviting them by for drinks and stew. I said to bring whatever they could, stone soup vibe.

The stew I made that blizzard night had beef and if I recall correctly carrots and a lot of port, maybe whiskey as well. It was very dark in color and sort of intense tasting. A few intrepid friends appeared shivering at my door and together we drank my entire liquor cabinet, more or less, hanging out late into the night. (Probably if I were to recreate that blizzard stew nowadays I’d just make this instead.) I’ll always recall one pal appearing at my door that night, announcing what he’d brought (what he had):

“I have weed and a banana.”

A couple years ago, a DJ friend heard me tell this tale and later made me a playlist …

Alright, that’s enough reminiscing from me for today … I’m going to share a duo of original soup/stew recipes I’ve invented lately and then links to a few others I enjoy … These first two are both inspired in part by my having many small home-grown potatoes left, ones I wanted to use up …

Yesterday’s soup was a play on split pea. I admit I was doubtful it’d come together but it wound up being so delicious I wanted to share it with you all …

Split Pea-Ish Soup with Sourdough Croutons

I started with these three frozen “ham stock” cubes a neighbor had left in my freezer when I had surgery a year ago and I haven’t known what to do with … Sub veggie stock if wanting to do this soup vegetarian.

Into my biggest stock pot, I added those and a whole bag of split peas (rinsed first) and a bunch of water, probably too much. I let it come to a boil and then it simmered it all a long while. I eventually added lots of small potatoes (peeled and halved or quartered, depending on size). I salted it to taste, and added plenty of fresh-ground pepper.

Separately, in some olive oil, I sautéed several shallots I’d peeled and minced, some sliced celery, and a few large carrots I’d peeled and diced. I then added all this to the big pot and kept simmering. I tossed in some frozen peas towards the end, just for attempted visual appeal mostly.

I had a few bags of sourdough cubed in a chest freezer (extra loaves I’d baked that didn’t become stuffing during Not Thanksgiving) so I decided to make croutons for this kind of thin-seeming soup.

In a big bowl, I tossed the frozen cubed bread with olive oil and flaky sea salt and then baked it on a cookie sheet at 300, carefully mixing it all around a few times with a spatula. I decided they were done when they tasted delicious. I added croutons to the bowls before ladling the soup atop.

A simple but hearty bowl but for a snowy winter’s evening: Absolutely perfect. Seconds were had. Lots will get frozen.

I recently adapted my favorite potato leek soup recipe (Melissa Clark’s) into more of a lentil stew, which resulted in this in my opinion phenomenal hybrid … Me being me, I grow a preposterous volume of leeks all year in anticipation of making at least one big round of this sort of soup.

Caramelized Leek Potato Lentil Sausage Stew

You’ll want to start with a LOT of leeks, which you’ll want to thoroughly clean. (If you don’t know how to clean a leek, perhaps best to look it up but: I slice off both the bottom of the root and most of the green top, and I remove the filthiest and least appealing outer laters. Then I slice the leek long ways, the green end, and soak them all in cold water awhile, cut side down.)

I then sliced up all the leeks (pictured above), and then caramelized them slowly in a generous glug of olive oil in a Dutch oven type-pot. After I added: Several cups of chicken broth (sub veg stock if doing this vegetarian) and some potatoes (peeled, sliced) and about a cup of green lentils, washed (that’s all I had; you could do more).

I let it it all come to a boil and then simmered it until the lentils and potatoes were cooked through. I salted it to taste. I separately cooked the sausages in my cast iron (these were pork sausages and quite delicious, from a farmer friend; omit if doing the recipe veg, obvs). Once cooked, I let the sausages rest a few minutes before slicing them up and adding them to the stew along with handfuls of frozen kale. I let it all come together a while longer before serving.

This fantastic vegetarian ramen recipe is a favorite around here:

As is this chicken and rice soup — very warming and comforting, cold for colds and/or cold weather:

Here’s a simple-but-classic Smitten Kitchen recipe, vegetarian, one I often remember watching a friend make in her kitchen in Providence decades ago now (I remember because it was how I learned about Smitten Kitchen itself …):

Here’s an inspired squash soup recipe via Samin Nosrat:

Finally: A bonus waffles recipe … I made these the other day (sans topping and I subbed coconut oil for butter because that’s what I had) and they were fantastic:

Alright folks. That’ll be it for today.

What are your favorite soup/stew recipes and/or other favorite things to cook during the colder months? Or for Southern Hemisphere subscribers, which summer-y recipes are your favs? You can always feel free to write me, about this or about anything. If you cook any of the recipes or have any other Recipes Club-related feedback especially, I hope you’ll write in …

Last thing, just to repeat: Those generous supporters who give $5 a month or more via my Buy Me a Coffee, here’s a short survey for you! In general: Thanks so much!

Take care,
Sandy

p.s. Once again, I’m now offering manuscript consultations to nonfiction writers. Learn more about working with me here:

p.p.s. Periodic reminder that you can also hire me to consult (for media or mental health professionals) and/or to speak. If you want to work with me in these capacities, please reach out. For potential consulting clients, I offer a free 15 minutes and am happy to chat with you to learn more …

p.p.p.s. Here again was my latest essay, just a short one:

p.p.p.p.s. ICYMI: My big new essay, me finally addressing the Harry Potter situation in depth. If you like this essay or the one above, I hope you’ll consider sharing wherever you share things. Thanks!

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