Colorful Carrot-Ginger Soup, sophisticated Shrimp Bisque, hearty Irish Lamb Stew — these time-honored soups and stews are favorite dishes of nearly everyone. You will soon master these classic recipes and many more with this book.

Williams-Sonoma Mastering Soups & Stews is a complete cooking course in a single volume. The opening describes the various types of soups — clear soups, purees, cream soups, chowders — and stews you can create at home. You will also learn about the basic ingredients you will need to make them and how to cook, season, and serve them, from readying your mise en place to adding a final swirl of cream or sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Basic recipes and key techniques then illustrate dozens of indispensable culinary building blocks, such as how to make stocks or how to dice an onion or carrot with ease. Troubleshooting tips show you what can go wrong and how to fix it without having to start all over again. Next the master recipes lead you step-by-step, with friendly text and instructive photographs, through every stage of preparation. These recipes include helpful advice other cookbooks assume you already know, and explain how to taste and season soups and stews as you go — one of the most valuable kitchen secrets any cook can learn. The shorter recipes and variations in each chapter encourage you to continue practicing your newfound skills, building your repertory and your confidence at the same time. Finally, a guide to equipment and a glossary of ingredients will help you stock what you need to make a great soup or stew every time.

In these pages, you will discover more than fifty classic recipes that tell you, inboth pictures and words, how every soup or stew you make should taste from beginning to end. Whether you are a novice at the stove or an experienced home cook, Mastering Soups & Stews will be a source of kitchen wisdom that will make you feel like a cooking teacher is always at your side.