After a long day of running errands with Rob, and since it's pretty chilly here right now, Rob and I were craving a big bowl of hot soup. Here is a great soup that I put together tonight on the fly. I don't cook by a recipe (hardly ever, unless I'm baking), but I made a conscious effort to know how much of each ingredient that I used so that I could write it down and share it with all of you. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!! This made enough to feed about 6-8 people, but there are only 2 of us....we will put some in the freezer and also have plenty of leftovers the next couple of days. This is also not very time consuming to make (especially if you are using the food processor for the leeks). From start to finish, it didn't take more than about 30 minutes to make. This is not a soup that has to cook all day, especially if you use the meat that I listed, since it's a really tender meat. The leeks are not as strong as regular onion, so they really gave it a great subtle flavor of onion, without overpowering the soup (they are also less likely to make you reach for the "TUMS" afterwards).
(***Author's Disclaimer--I am NOT a food stylist with Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living or Bon Appetite. This is a pot of soup people, and it's 11:15 at night and I am tired. This is the leftover soup that has finally cooled off so that I could put it in the fridge. So, with that said, the picture below is just a picture of a pot of soup...nothing fancy. I'm just a plain ordinary southern home cook. But, if you like soup, you need to give it a whirl.)
Heart Warming Beef and Vegetable Soup
1 ½ -2 pounds chuck tender steaks, cut in pieces (this would also be good with venison)
2 leeks, chopped
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
¾ cup frozen baby green lima beans
1 box of beef stock (I use Rachel Ray beef stock, on soup isle at WalMart)
1 15oz. can of veggie broth or stock
½ cup dry sherry (or cooking sherry)
2 15oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup farfalle (bow tie) pasta (or other pasta of choice)
Coarse sea salt (or kosher salt) to taste
Cracked black pepper to taste
¼ tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. real butter
1 tsp. bacon drippings (or substitute olive oil if not available)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Several heavy dashes of Frank's hot sauce (optional)
Prep work:
• Cut tender steaks into bite sized pieces.
• Clean and chop leeks. To clean, cut leeks one time down the middle (the length of the leek). Run under cold water, making sure to get any dirt out of the stalks, since leeks will have dirt in the stalks. Cut about 2-3 inches off of the tops of the green and discard, the rest will be used in the chopping. It is easier to chop them in a food processor if you have one. If not, chop by hand making sure to evenly and finely dice them. It will appear that you have too much, but they will cook down considerably in the soup. If you do not have leeks available to you, substitute one large chopped onion.
In large soup pot, melt butter and drippings together (or use olive oil if no bacon drippings available). Once hot, add chuck steak pieces and brown. Do not cook them all the way through but only cook until browned on the outside. Once browned, use slotted spoon to remove meat, set meat aside. Add chopped leeks and 2 tsp. of olive oil to the hot pot. Cook over high medium high heat until leeks have sweated down, but are not mushy. Add garlic powder and cook another minute. Add all liquid ingredients and bring to a boil. Add frozen vegetables and stewed tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes as you stir them. Add tomato paste and stir until thoroughly incorporated into soup. Simmer for 10-12 minutes on medium high heat. Add meat back to pot and also the pasta. Cook until pasta is tender. Serve hot with saltine crackers or hot crusty bread for dipping.
Labels: Recipes, YUM-O
