Fridge-Clearing Cooking Without a Recipe | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

Fridge-Clearing Cooking Without a Recipe | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

The 2-second non-recipe recipe for fridge-clearing soup/stew:

In a pot large enough to fit your soup fry up in butter or olive oil some chopped onions, garlic, carrots and/or celery. If you have some rice/risotto and want a grainy touch to the soup, add that and cook for a minute or two. Add seasonings like ground pepper or sprigs of fresh (and wilting) herbs now, but wait on the salt. If there's meat involved, throw it in. (Break down whole chickens into parts, but keep bones. Stew meat like shoulder should be cubed.) Brown on all sides, then add liquid (broth, water, or a combination) depending on how soupy you want your dish to be. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cover. Pop in a bay leaf if there's one handy. Cook, stirring and skimming away the foam occasionally, until the meat is fork-tender. Pull meat apart if needed. If not dealing with meat but you have some potatoes, cube those and toss them in. Same thing: boil then lower to simmer and cover, cooking until fork-tender. Season to taste with salt, more pepper, shaved hard cheese like Parmesan, and a drizzle of nice oil.