Friday, February 4, 2011

Far Side Cooks: Vegetable Beef Soup

I like homemade vegetable beef soup, Far Guy will tolerate one bowl a couple of times a year.  Usually I make it three times a year. Spring, Fall when all the veggies are fresh out of the garden..and in the dead of winter…the extreme comfort food. 

There has been no real recipe..until now.  I made it on one of those 20 something below zero mornings when I knew I was going to need some comfort later in the day.  I took the time to measure everything. It is finally a real recipe, complete with lots of photos!  The grand girls love my soup..and will someday want the recipe.  Now they can make it “Just like Grandma used to.”

1 1/2 pounds of lean beef..like a rump roast

3 beef bullion cubes

28 ounces of whole tomatoes

3 cups of cabbage shredded

1/3 cup onion finely chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

6 cups of water (plus or minus a cup)

4 cups of diced rutabaga

4 cups of carrot coins

8 cups of diced potatoes

The very first thing you need to do is get out your Dutch oven..I have two of them..one is stainless and one is cast iron.  When I make a double batch I use both of them.  The recipe above fits nicely in one Dutch oven pot.

IMG_1202Throw the roast in the pot and add about 2 cups of water, bake at 350 degrees for about 4 hours until it is nice and tender and can be broken apart easily. Move the pot to one of the burners on your stove top..turn the burner on low.

IMG_1204 Add the three beef bullion cubes.

IMG_1205 I like these whole tomatoes..actually I prefer to cook some up that I got from the garden..but these will do.

Now pay attention this is the most important part. I do not like hunks or chunks of cooked tomato in anything, as a kid I picked them out, as an adult I still pick them out..or gag.  My children never knew there were real tomatoes in the soup…. So you have to go to an antique shop and buy yourself one of these things..I am not sure what it is called.

IMG_1209You dump the can of tomatoes in here and then proceed to make your own tomato sauce.  Now I bet you are wondering why?  Why doesn’t she just use tomato sauce.. well because she has never tried it that way and she wouldn’t want to ruin a whole kettle of soup! 

IMG_1211 All the clumpy stuff and the seeds are left in this fine antique tomato sauce maker thingy, and they get thrown out.   It is the pits to clean..but that is a small price to pay for no clumps and no seeds.

 IMG_1213  Stir..and this is what it looks like.

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Shred the cabbage first. You will not need all of a small head..you can make coleslaw with the remainder of it.

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Then add the finely diced onion.

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Then add the brown sugar, salt, pepper and about 4 cups of water.

IMG_1226 Rutabagas..one of the veggies that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside:)

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Carrots..see the pot is getting fuller!

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Last but not least the potatoes.  I like red potatoes and use them almost exclusively.  Why?  Because one Fall I was a USDA Potato Inspector in a plant the took in only Russet Potatoes.

IMG_1232 Stir it all..and let it simmer until the rutabaga and carrots are done.

IMG_1233 Enjoy!! I wait for it too cool down, then it goes into the fridge and later I package it into single servings that can be frozen and then heated up for lunch or for a quick supper:)

24 comments:

Muffy's Marks said...

Sounds wonderful. Will have to try this soon! Thanks for the recipe.

Judy said...

Just like Grandma used to make...unfortunately, my Gram didn't write recipes down...they were all lost when she died...now we keep trying to make things without success...

An English Shepherd said...

Sounds very tasty :-)

Lanny said...

Ahhh yum! That's a food mill you're using, fairly typical one, a person could use the cone type on a stand and even a good ricer would work. There would be a difference between canned sauce and what you've done here. Sauce would be more concentrated. Paste even more so. I used to make my own paste and then freeze it in cubes. One pot of soup would only need one cube. Nice of you to take the time to write down the "recipe" for your grands.

Funny how seeing certain things can turn you off a particular food entirely. Surprised you just don't hate potatoes of all sorts. Have you tried fingerlings?, they are awesome little buggers. I'm a good Irish-German girl married to a Swede, there are always potatoes at the Vick household! And our middles prove it!

Rita said...

I used to have a food mill! Way back when I had a garden and made my own tomato sauce. They are hard to clean, but I don't like tomato chunks or seeds, either--hehe! I have learned to eat the diced sized over the years. So cool to see you use one. ;)

That soup looks delicious!! :):)

Lanny said...

By the way, no need to go to an antique store to get a food mill, they still make them, ones like yours and ones like mine (the cone type). Although yours is pretty interesting, rather sievey like.

Lynda said...

When we don't want chunks, we throw it in the blender - - but it probably does not eliminate the seeds. I love your step by step pictures. You could make a cookbook with them. Cabbage = YUM but rutabagas are an acquired taste!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

What is it with our guys and beef soup or stew? My man will also "tolerate" one batch if I bribe him with corn muffins too. I find it so warm and comfortin' durin' the cold, cold months!

Yours looks absolutely fabulous! Rutabaga??? I've never used it in mine...I want to try it if I can talk Hubs into it.

I'm needin' "soft" foods for the weekend. I lost a crown off and eyetooth last night while flossing...dang thing just popped right out! Hubs went to Wally~World to get me some mondo bondo stuff. The roads are so bad I can't get out...Hubs ditched the four wheel drive goin' to work and the dental crew can't get to work. I talked to my hygienist and she assured me "its no big deal". Yeah, right...unless it happens to you! Heeehehehe!!!

I'm cookin' a big old batch of Sloppy Joes for the church Sunday right now. Woohoo!!!

God bless ya and enjoy that soup for me...will ya???

Country Gal said...

mmmm Looks and sounds wonderful ! awesome photos and post I think I may just have to give your recipe a try. I do all my stews, soups and chilli in my slow cooker . I have used Alymers diced tomatoes for years in my soups , stews and chilli they are smaller pieces cause I dont like chunks of tomatoe either ! I am going to make a home made veggitable soup next week in my slow cooker ! Papa loves my soups stews, and what not ! Have a warm and yummy day !

Linda said...

Sounds like what I make......I thought you hated cooking? ;)

Shirley H. said...

Hi:
I have a suggestion for the canned tomatoes:
I use canned tomatoes when I make chili and I put the whole contents of the can in the blender along with about a half cup of water. Blend using the finest setting. This really works. You might want to try it. I don't like chunks of tomato in my chili!

DJan said...

I think I can smell it, Connie. It sure looks good! I wonder if I could make it up without the meat, since I don't eat it. I'm thinking why not?

Gail said...

Looks just like Momma used to make...I'll be right over.

Karen said...

MMMMMM, I can smell it from here. We can buy cans of that size of pureed tomatoes, not sauce. Not sure if there are seeds or not, as that doesn't bother me. Meredith though, hates chunks of tomatoes, just like you. I can eat them whole or chunked right out of the can.
We had one of those food mill things. It probably came from England with us, and I think was called a mouli-baby, for making baby food probably. My mother used to make a stew with split green peas, which made everything green and covered in mush. I hated it, so she thought I would be more likely to eat it if she put it through the mouli-baby and made it made it a total mush. Gross:(

CiCi said...

Wonderful. Great photos and instructions too. Rutabaga is better than potatoes and we eat them when we can find them. They were everywhere in CA but not here.

Anonymous said...

You - cooking? Lies down in shock... ;-)

Connie Peterson said...

What a good sounding recipe. I love soups and will try this one... thanks.

Emma Rose said...

Hi Far Side! Sorry I am commenting so late but my Duchess had to go to the store and buy all the stuff to try your soup. She has never even tasted a Rutabaga, much less bought and cooked one! She had to ask the produce guy where they were :) Anyway, I just wanted to come by and tell you how much we love you and Far Guy and Chance, just in case she poisons all of us and we croak!

Kisses,
Emma Rose

Far Side of Fifty said...

Emma Rose..I hope you survive the soup..we love you too! :)

Emma Rose said...

I'm back! Dinner is over and I didn't get any soup :( The Duke and Duchess told me to tell you that was THE.BEST.SOUP.EVER.!!! They really, really, loved it!

Kisses,
Emma Rose

Rae said...

Wow! I am impressed. I thought toast was your cooking limit and now I find out you know how to cook real homemade vegetable soup too. Sounds good. And tell Far Guy he needs those veggies. They are good for him.

PeeJay said...

There must be something in the air. I've started doing the odd bit of baking again after 20 odd years of never having baked anything! I've also started producing the odd homemade soup now and again and will be giving yours a try although it looks more like a stew to me. I had to look up what rutabaga was as it was unknown to me. Anyway, here in the UK it's known as swede and is a very common root veg indeed. Downside of all this? I dislike cooking but have chosen to do all of the above and have quite enjoyed it. I'm now having to cook because I've got to, while hubby's hand repairs itself as he's not allowed to use it unless he really has to. Difficult to use when it's in plaster anyway. Having to is a whole new kettle of fish and I hate it! Roll on hubby's hand healing .... :0)

Maery Rose said...

Okay, you supposedly don't cook but then you have these ornate instructions on how to make soup? I haven't had rutabaga since I was a kid and my Mom used to make me eat it. I imagine it's okay in soup though.

DayPhoto said...

Oh! Yummm! I copied this for myself...I hope you don't mind.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com