Er…give me your hearty soup and stew recipes PLEASE.
It is rainy and wet and cool outside. I am craving something warm and comforting like whoa. I like thicker, creamy, heavy stuff, but any kind of soup recipe will do. The only requirement is that it be tasty. 
I’m making my chicken tortilla soup right now.
Shred some chicken meat; from a rotisserie chicken or a cooked chicken breast or whatever. Put it in your soup pot along with:
A couple of diced onions
A couple minced cloves of garlic
A can of diced tomatoes
A can of Rotel
A can of refried beans
A can of black beans
A can of hominy
Simmer for an hour and season to taste. Serve with tortilla chips or strips, shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, whatever floats your boat.
Another very EXCELLENT soup I like to make in chilly weather is my friend’s version of minestrone.
Cut up some onions and garlic and sautee them in oil in the bottom of your soup pot. Then add 6 cups of chicken stock, and…
Some carrots
Some celery
Some butternut squash
Some potatoes
A can of diced tomatoes
A small can of tomato paste
Dried basil
A can of cannellini beans
And finally, just before you serve, some torn-up kale. Season to taste, of course.
Ooooo, this sounds fabulous. And appropriate because we have some leftover rotisserie chicken. (Don’t have the Rotel, though a quick run to the grocery store would remedy that.)
Keep 'em coming!
In that case I’d just find some peppers to add to the mix. Sweet, hot, whatever.
My chili recipe…
I start with a pint jar of Alton Brown’s salsa (easy to google). If I didn’t have that, I’d use, err, Rotel. To that I add:
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
Season to taste
This simmers on low for several hours. I usually make it in the crock pot. I serve it with sour cream and my grandmother’s corn bread:
1 c white flour
1 c corn meal
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 c oil
Pour batter into greased baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. No, it’s not sweet cornbread.
I have a lot of spinach, potatoes, and chicken, so I used the ingredients search on allrecipes.com and got this:
West African Chicken Stew
diced chicken, browned
onion, potatoes, garlic, pepper (black and red) coriander, cumin-- all browned after the chicken
then add chicken broth and water, 3/4 c peanut butter, and 2 c chopped spinach. Cook.
I have all the ingredients, so I’m going to try it. Minus the red pepper and the coriander–not sure I have any coriander.
My other special recipe is Potato Chili, which is just whatever basic chili you make with the addition of a lot of cubed potatoes. It’s the kind of recipe you come up with when you have to feed 7 people with 1.5 pounds of ground beef. 
But it turned out to be one of my favorites, so I make it a lot in cooler weather.
My gumbo recipe (more dicing and chopping than the others) (not authentic)
1 lb chicken breast, chopped
1 lb smoked sausage, chopped (this is VERY IMPORTANT for smokiness and lubrication)
6 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
2 green peppers, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 T Cajun seasoning
1 bag frozen chopped okra
Put everything except the okra in the pot and simmer for several hours (good crock pot recipe). About 30 minutes before serving, add okra. Season to taste (wait till around the time you add the okra, because the sausage will do a lot for the stew).
I serve this over white rice, with lots of buttered french bread.
I haven’t made this, but I’d like to when the weather gets cooler.
Bergen Fish Soup
Soup
3 qts fish stock
4 carrots; cut into 1-inch by 1/4-inch slices
1 large celeriac; peeled and cut into 1" x 1/4" slices
2 small parsnip; peeled and cut into 1" x 1/4" slices
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine
Sea salt
1 1/2 lbs mixed fish fillets; cut into 2" chunks – salmon, cod, halibut, or other
3 large egg yolks
1 container (8 oz) sour cream
Chives; chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; optional (for thickening)
Fish Dumplings
1 lb cod fillet; skin and bones removed
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
Bring fish stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the vegetables, reduce the heat, and let simmer for 5 minutes.
If you are using the flour, whisk in flour together with the cream in a small bowl, add the cream to the soup, and bring to a boil. Add the sugar and vinegar to taste; the soup should have a subtle sweet-and-sour flavor. Add salt to taste. Add the fish and fish dumplings, bring to a boi, reduce the heat, and simmer for 7 to 8 minutees, until the fish is just cooked.
In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks and sour cream in a small bowl. Pour the soup into bowls, dividing the fish and dumplings evenly. Gently stir 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sour cream mixture into each bowl. Sprinkle with chives, if desired, and serve.
Fish Dumplings
Run the fish through a meat grinder twice: it should be very fine and smooth. (You can also use a food processor, although it can be more diffiicult to get a smooth consistency that way.)
In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the cornstarch, salt, pepper, and fish and mix well. gently fold the cream into the fish mixture, trying not to deflate cream.
With a spoon, form the dumpling mixture into small balls.
I don’t often make soup. I’ve never made fish soup. I’ve never cooked ‘sweet and sour’ – especially not ‘subtle sweet and sour’. Celeriac is not something I see just sitting in the Produce section of the supermarket – and the one time I looked for it at Pike Place there was none. I’ve never made fish stock (since I’ve never made fish soup), but Pike Place Fish Market says that if I give them advance notice they’ll make me a package of bones and whatever so I can make it. This is going to take some planning. So when I finally make it, it will be an experiment. I expect it will be a nice soup for a cold night, or an expensive failure.
Chicken, Peanut and Yam Stew: this is some seriously good stuff
2 pounds chicken meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp salt
1 15 oz. can whole tomatoes in juice
¼ cup water
2 TBSP tomato paste
¼ cup peanut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed into paste with 1 tsp salt
1-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
½ cup smooth peanut butter at room temperature
1-3/4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 lb sweet potato or yam, cut into 1 inch chunks
Sprinkle chicken with salt and let stand for 30 minutes.
Pulse tomatoes with juices in a food processor until finely chopped.
Stir water into tomato paste in a small bowl until smooth.
Pat chicken dry. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high until hot, then brown chicken. Remove from pan. Pour off excess oil, leaving about 2 TBSP, then add onion and cook over medium heat until lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste mixture, garlic paste and cayenne to pan (or use a pot, if needed).
Whisk together peanut butter and one cup broth in a bowl until smooth, then add to chicken along with remaining ¾ cup broth, stirring to combine well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, about 30 minutes. Add yam chunks and simmer until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Serve over rice, if desired.
Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon
Sattua: While I understand that everybody’s tastes are different, I think your chili is seriously under-spiced. At a minimum, for a pound of meat, I’d increase the ancho powder to 2-3 tablespoons, the cumin to at least one tablespoon, the beans to 2-3 cans, and chop some chile peppers into the mix.
Chefguy, did you look at Alton Brown’s salsa recipe? It’s got jalapenos and dried ancho chilis in it, along with tons of sweet pepper, garlic, and onion.
1 cup lentils + half cup lentils
1 onion chopped coarsley
3 stalks celery chopped coarsley
2 cups cabbage chopped coarsley
2 or 3 large potatoes, washed and chopped coarsley [peeled or not, your choice]
2 or 3 large carrots peeled and chopped coarsley
1.5 liters chicken stock
3-4 frankfurters or bratwursts, or whatever sausagy meat you want cut into bite sized pieces. Todays has leftover keilbasa.
put the 1 cup lentils and all the veggies in to simmer until the veggies are almost soft. This will make the lentils start to dissolve. About 15 minutes or so before serving toss in the last half cup of lentils so they are not as dissolved as the original cup of lentils.
I use Penzeys italian herbs as my preferred seasonings with a few good grinds of black pepper. Use whichever herb blend appeals to you.
I like the African Peanut Soup at Colophon Café. Here’s the recipe.
Quite nice.
Spanish-Style Lamb Stew - I link this recipe all the time because it’s so good.
Customizable Soups - tons of different base soups that you can customize by adding meats and other fun stuff.
ChefGuy’s cassoulet - shares a lot in common with the lamb stew recipe, but it’s quicker and easier.
Not a stew or a soup, but I made this last year. Perfect for a cold Winter’s day.
I used all four meats, and used four duck legs instead of three. Be warned: This is a HUGE recipe. I had to make it in two pans.
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I see that it would make up for what you lack. 
I have made this recipe many times and it is awesome. I use vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth to keep it vegetarian. It is SO flavorful.
I made this today. SO GOOD!
Somewhere I have a recipe for a harvest soup: sausage, squash, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips, tomatoes, etc. Very good and very rich.