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Cold coming on? Need a nourishing meal, or even an appetizer, but not a belly buster? This wonderful Spanish soup, sopa de ajo, is just the thing. There's something wonderful about the warm egg yolk melting into the broth that makes the soup especially satisfying. Now would be the time to use purchased homemade chicken broth from a kosher deli or grocery. This version uses marjoram or thyme. A Mexican version could be made with fresh oregano.

• 4 heads garlic
• 1 bunch marjoram or thyme (about 30 sprigs)
• 2 quarts rich chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1-inch strip orange zest (optional, but good)
• Salt and pepper
• 6 slices slightly stale French bread, toasted
• 6 poached eggs (can be poached in advance and held)
• Extra virgin olive oil, for swirling on the soup

Break the garlic heads into cloves and put the unpeeled cloves in a pot with the marjoram and the broth. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.

Work the soup through a food mill or a strainer, pressing against the solids with the bottom of a ladle. Return the soup to the pot, bring to a simmer, and add the lemon juice and the strip of orange zest.

Season generously with salt and pepper. Put a slice of toast in each soup plate, top each toast with an egg, and ladle the broth over it. At the table drizzle with good olive oil.

Makes 6 servings.

-- "Cooking" by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press, 2007)

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This is the real deal. The recipe is long, but reputations have been made on this soup. It features beans in two forms -- whole, as one of the vegetables, and pureed to give the soup body and texture. Nobody will arrest you if you use canned cannellini beans. This batch makes a lot, and if you don't have the family to finish it, send a container over to a neighbor. Good soup makes good friends.

• 3 quarts water
• 1/2 head of cabbage
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves cut into strips, about 3 cups tightly packed
• 1 large waxy potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 4 medium-size tomatoes or 1 cup drained, canned tomatoes
• 1 bouquet garni (1 rosemary sprig, 8 thyme sprigs, 1 bunch parsley)
• 1 cup dried cannellini beans, soaked and cooked, about 3 cups (or use canned)
• 1 bunch spinach, tough stems removed and chopped, about 1 cup packed
• Salt and pepper
• Slices of French bread
• Grated parmesan cheese

Precook the cabbage to eliminate some of the strong taste and prevent it from taking over the flavor of the soup.

Bring the water to a rolling boil. Cut the cabbage into quarters through the core. Cut the core out of two of the quarters and discard the cores; then slice the quarters as thinly as possible. Boil the sliced cabbage for 5 minutes and drain it in a colander. Rinse with cold water and set aside.

In a 4-quart pot, cook the onion, celery, leek, carrot and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the blanched cabbage, kale, potato, broth, tomatoes and bouquet garni. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

Strain half the cooked (or canned) beans through a food mill or puree in a blender or food processor. Add the puree and the whole beans to the simmering soup. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes more. Reach in with a spoon and taste a few of the vegetables to make sure they are completely soft.

Add the spinach. Simmer soup for 1 minute more. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: The soup can now be ladled into hot bowls, but if you want to present it in the traditional style, layer it in a tureen with bread slices, alternating a ladle of soup with a slice of bread and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Pass the cheese at the table along with a cruet of extra virgin olive oil to swirl over the soup.

-- "Splendid Soups" by James Peterson (Bantam, 1993)

Devote a Sunday afternoon to make this simple broth and stock the freezer. It will be the cornerstone for many a delicious soup. Even though it involves an extra step -- roasting the bones and vegetables -- it comes out perfectly clear and appetizingly brown.

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• 6 pounds chicken drumsticks, backs, necks or bones
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
• 4 1/2 quarts cold water or enough to cover
• 1 bouquet garni (including herbs such as rosemary, thyme and parsley)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Trim extra fat off the chicken parts and spread them in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan or large skillet with the chopped vegetables. Roast until they're well browned, usually 45 minutes to an hour. Do not let the bottom of the roasting pan burn.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the chicken and vegetables to an 8- to 10-quart pot, and pour or ladle off any grease in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Discard the grease. Pour 2 cups water into the roasting pan and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to dissolve the juices adhering to the bottom.

Put the bouquet garni into the pot with the chicken and vegetables and pour over the contents of the roasting pan. Add the rest of the water, or slightly more or less if necessary, to barely cover the chicken parts.

Heat over medium heat until the water comes to a simmer. Turn the heat down low enough to keep the broth at a slow simmer and cook for about 3 hours. Never allow it to boil.

Every 30 minutes, skim off any fat or froth that comes to the surface.

When the broth is done, strain it into a clean pot or heat-resistant plastic container. Let it cool, uncovered, for an hour before refrigerating.

The next day, when the broth is cold, spoon off and discard any fat that has congealed on its surface.

Makes 3 1/2 quarts.

-- "Splendid Soups" by James Peterson (Bantam, 1993).

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Listen, Pittsburgh: When you go anywhere near a Honeybaked Ham franchise, get in there and look in the freezer. Right after most any holiday, the case is loaded with ham bones, each $4. No bone? Use ham hocks from the market. The secret to the soup is the smoky flavor.

• 2 cups dried beans, soaked for 4 hours in cold water to cover
• 3 quarts broth or water or more as needed
• 1 bouquet garni (including herbs such as rosemary, thyme and parsley)
• 1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks
• 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup dry sherry
• Hot pepper sauce
• Sour cream, optional

Drain the soaked beans and put them in a pot with the broth, bouquet garni, ham bone or hocks, salt, onion, and garlic and simmer, covered, until the beans are soft, about 2 hours. Add the sherry as soon as the beans begin to soften. Keep adding liquid as needed to keep the beans covered.

Take the ham bone and hocks out of the soup, allow to cool a bit, and pull the ham away from the bone. Chop or shred it into bite-size pieces and put it back in the soup. If you used ham hocks, pull the rind away from the hocks and discard the rind. Pull the meat away and add it to the soup.

If you like, puree the soup for a few seconds with an immersion blender to give it a little richer consistency. But be sure to keep it identifiably lumpy.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Pass the hot pepper sauce and sour cream at the table.

Makes about 2 quarts. Freezes well.

-- "Cooking" by James Peterson (Ten Speed, 2007)