As the weather cools, here come the sniffles. But don’t worry, I am going to share with you how to make a delicious pot of soup that is guaranteed to take the chill off your bones. Nothing helps the healing process like a hearty bowl of soup when you are ill or tired.
Soup making is a skill-set that you can easily add to your repertoire by following a few basic tricks of the trade.
First thing you need is a stockpot. Of course they are available at Buchheit. What you are looking for is a heavy base with a core of metal that is encased in stainless steel. This allows for an even distribution of heat as you cook. I use my large stockpot since I love sharing my soups with friends, so most of this potful will go into the freezer.
Today I am cooking up a pot of beef vegetable barley soup. Everything but the barley has been grown within walking distance of my kitchen and the barley is a non-instant type I buy in bulk. Start with fresh water and wash the beef soup bones. Place the bones in the stockpot and fill with water to about half full. Add 4 to 6 bay leaves and a tablespoon of fine grain pepper but no salt. If you want to leach more of the minerals and vitamins out of the soup bones, add a couple tablespoons of vinegar.
You never want to boil soup. A simmer is all you need, just barely bubbling is a simmer. Another reason you simmer is that beef shanks are a less expensive cut of meat so it is tough unless you allow the sinew to soften which takes time. Put that pot on when you have time to spend in the kitchen and let it cook all morning on the stove. I add to the stock pot, half filled with water, 2 quarts to one gallon of tomato juice. I have processed much of this season’s tomato harvest up to the juice stage and froze it in clean gallon containers. I add one of these to my large stock pot. I am making a large quantity of soup as it freezes well. You can also pressure can it if your freezer space is limited. Buchheit has an entire line of freezers in their Sparta, IL store or they can order them at all of the other stores for you. I have several medium size units and one upright freezer that I see as an essential homestead management tool.
Now for the best trick that will give your soup an amazing taste! I am going to teach you how to sweat the veggies. No, I am not taking them out jogging. Sweating them is a technique that releases their flavor without losing their nutritional value. Start by dicing the vegetables. Some good choices for this soup are squash, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions, carrots, cabbage and green beans. We will add white potatoes later when we add the barley if we are serving this to hungry men as it adds more carbohydrates. I like a hearty soup in winter but you can easily modify this to make it lighter for summer by not adding the barley or spuds.
Get out that large Lodge skillet you found at Buchheit and add about a ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the pan, heat for several minutes to warm the oil and then add the vegetables. Cook the vegetables over medium heat, listening for the sizzle. Just let them slowly cook in the oil and gauge the temperature to keep the cast-iron skillet hot. This process will draw the moisture out of the veggies and pre-cook them before adding them to the soup. It makes a great difference in the overall taste of the soup. When the onions and celery are transparent and you can cut through a piece of broccoli, turn off the heat and leave them for a moment.
With a slotted spoon, remove all the meat and bones from the liquid. Allow them to cool on a plate. Shred the meat into small pieces and remove the fat as you go.
Add meat back to stockpot along with the vegetables, 1 to 2 cups of barley, ½ cup dried eggplant, 1 cup frozen okra (used as a thickener) and 2 to 4 cups of white potatoes washed and chopped. Simmer for at least one more hour, but do not boil. This allows all the flavors to mingle. I only use black pepper and bay leaves because the soup has several layers of flavor already. A mistake many cooks make is adding too many different spices or flavors. Just like food coloring, mixing too many flavors makes mud. I did add some egg noodles for my aunt who loves this soup.
I love serving this with warm homemade whole wheat or oat bread and butter. Hope you will try this soon. If you have any questions as this is an old fashioned method of sharing a recipe, please let me know in the comment section and I will be glad to get back with you. Enjoy the nip in the air! Be blessed! Anne May
