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1 cup red wine

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups Chicken Stock

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

Seared Wild Mushrooms

Horseradish Crème Frâiche

To make the dough, work the egg, sour cream, butter, chives, and salt together by hand to form a dough. Don’t worry if the mixture is not uniform and, as with pie dough, don’t overwork it. Pour the flour onto a work surface and make a well in the center. Add the sour cream mixture and mix thoroughly with your hands until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

To braise the beef cheeks, preheat the oven to 325°F.

Heat the olive oil in a large enameled cast-iron Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the cheeks with salt and pepper, and then dredge them in flour, shaking off excess. Cook them in batches, turning as needed, until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer the cheeks to a plate.

Add the onion and carrot to the Dutch oven and cook over moderate heat until softened, seasoning with salt as you do, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute longer. Add the vinegar, red wine, thyme, bay leaf, and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Return the beef cheeks to the Dutch oven, then cover, and braise in the oven for 1 hour.

Lower the oven temperature to 225°F. and cook for 4 hours, or until the meat is very tender. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and then chill in the refrigerator in the cooking liquid for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Remove the chilled cheeks from the liquid and shred the meat. Set aside the meat.

Strain the liquid into a saucepan and boil over high heat to reduce by two thirds. Remove from the heat and let cool until the liquid becomes gelatinous. Return the meat to the liquid and stir together.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a ⅛-inch thickness and cut it into 3-inch rounds. Spoon 1 tablespoon of meat onto each round. Fold the dough over into half-moons and press the edges with a fork to seal them.

Bring 2 gallons of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pierogies and wait until they float. Cook for 4 minutes, starting the timing once the pierogies float. Drain well in a colander.

To serve, heat the butter in a large skillet until it froths. Add the pierogies and cook until golden brown and hot all the way through, about 2 minutes per side. You may need to work in batches depending on the size of your pan, keeping cooked pierogies in a hot oven until ready to serve.

Serve with the seared wild mushrooms and the horseradish crème frâiche.

SWEET CORN AND WILD MUSHROOM SOUP

CHICKEN AND DUMPLING SOUP

SPICY TOMATO AND BLUE CHEESE SOUP

BBLT (BELLY, BACON, LETTUCE, AND TOMATO)

SOPPRESSATA SANDWICH WITH FRIED EGG AND SHASHA SAUCE

THE LOLA BURGER

Soup is a category of cooking that is so wonderful because it can be, must be, thought of seasonally. We eat roasted or grilled meats all year round, sautéed or poached fish in every season, but you’d never serve a fresh corn soup in the dead of winter or a hearty hot bean soup at the height of summer. You’re going to serve a corn soup when corn is abundant and delicious, in the summer. And in the fall or winter you’re going to want to make a rich chicken and dumpling soup. Soup is determined by the season.

Another thing I love about soup is that there are no rules: from vegetables to starches, meats, and fish, there’s nothing that doesn’t go well in a soup. I could look in your fridge at pretty much any time and find six ingredients that go together in a liquid to make a delicious soup. Soup gives you great flexibility as a cook.

I think stock is important—it gives a soup a base, a depth that you can’t get with canned broth or water—but the great thing about most soups is that you can create the stock as you’re making the soup. Meat and vegetables are what make stock, and they make soup, too. You can put a chicken in a pot with some vegetables and cover it with water, and if you give it enough cooking time, it will give you that