postponed

I love soup. I love soup. I want to make soup...all the time. EXCEPT, it's been so darn hot lately, and even tho it is what I love, I have to postpone this blog for a few weeks. Until it really feels like "fall" around here.

Is that okay with everyone?

HA....everyone exists of my family and a handful of friends, who can't figure out what I'm doing anyway. LOL
BUT....that next soup is a creamy, yummy potato soup from Jolina. :~) Mid-September, if you don't mind waiting.

Soup is Souper!

Finally a day that is below 90 degrees! It's " a bit" hard to think in soup terms when the temps are soaring near 100.
But think in soup terms I did this past Sunday!
I made my mother in law, Teresa Belcher's, famous "Beef and Barley" Soup.
I don't know if she knows it's famous, but it will be one day soon, when I open my soup restaurant.

On the menu it will say:

Teresa's famous Beef and Barley Soup or My Mother-in-law's answer to chicken soup. Or some such clever thing.

For now tho... enjoy!

BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP

1 1/2 pounds beef round steak, trim and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tblsp vegetable oil--divided
2 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup carrots--diced
1/2 cup celery--diced
1 pound mushrooms--sliced
1 tsp garlic--minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 14 1/2 oz can beef broth
1 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 tblsp fresh parsley--chopped

Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Place 1 tblsp oil in Dutch oven and brown beef until no longer pink. Transfer to a bowl. Heat remaining oil in same pot, add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring until veggies are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic and thyme; cook 5 minutes more. Combine beef and chicken broths with enough water to equal 6 cups. Add to soup pot along with barley and beef. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add more water if necessary, during this cooking time. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving


The Cast of Characters!!!

The action.....Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Place 1 tblsp oil in Dutch oven and brown beef until no longer pink.

chop your veggies....

take a good look at these three ingredients! Soup loves them. They love soup. In some circles they are called the "Holy Trinity" of soups. But Emril uses green pepper in lieu of one of them....

Add the trinity to the soup pot! Heat remaining oil in same pot, add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring until veggies are softened, about 5 minutes. (notice the sunlight coming in from the window? It will fade as we progress )

Add more.... Stir in mushrooms, garlic and thyme; cook 5 minutes more.

Combine beef and chicken broths with enough water to equal 6 cups. Add to soup pot along with barley and beef.


Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add more water if necessary, during this cooking time.

Sprinkle with parsley just before serving. Yes Indeed, I did forget the parsley. oops. :~)
We had bread and salad and wine with soup..... yummy!

Soup's On!

The launching of the soup blog. (sigh)

Long ago, I collected soup recipes from my friends--the Friday Friends, a group, MY group, of friends, whom I had an e-mail club (for lack of a better word) long before people knew about "blogs"
We were blogging before blogging was cool.

As I said, I've been collecting soup recipes from them for years. I have a lot. It was for my soup restaurant. The one I plan on having some day.
Homemade Soup, homemade cookies/desserts and books, used and new.
That's my dream!! Well, that and a million bucks.
I used to want to use the name "Stone-Soup" (after the children's book and Stone is my last name) but my cousin informed me that there are a couple of "Stone-Soups" in Southern Washington. So, I've decided on Ahhh...SomeSoups.

Now....to find the perfect place.....

But until then, I thought I'd make the soup recipes my friends have so kindly given to me for my "core" recipes for the restaurant.
I'm going to make a soup a week. I'll probably blog more than that, but a soup a week.
I'll showcase a Friday Friend. ~grins~

I plan on starting at the beginning and going to the end--EXCEPT for today. Today, I thought I'd begin with my favorite soup of all time.

Meghan's Minestrone

Sent in by my sister in law, Meghan.
I love this soup. Love this soup. Did I say that I love this soup?
It has tons of fresh veggies and a spicy Italian sausage...and it's so DARN GOOD!!!
At the end we grate a tad bit of parmiganio on top and serve with a good crusty bread.
mmmmm.......

Meghan's Minestrone
1 lb Italian Sausage (I prefer spicy)
1 large onion
2-3 carrots, sliced
2-3 celery ribs, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8-10 cups beef stock
1 leek, chopped
2-3 zucchini, sliced
2 cups green beans
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 28oz chopped tomatoes w/juice
1 cup pasta (elbow or shells)
basil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper

Sauté sausage (remove from casing and crumble) in large pot. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic--sauté about 5 minutes. Add beef stock, leeks, zucchini, green beans, cabbage and tomatoes. Simmer, covered for one hour. Add pasta and spices, simmer additional 30 minutes.

here is what we do...
get your soup pot and the Italian Sausages





put a bit of EVOO in the bottom of the soup pot, just to discourage sticking

squeeze the sausage out of the casings (not an attractive picture)

this is how the sausages look in the casing and then there is the casing with no sausage. LOL

get your first set of veggies
carrots, celery, onion and garlic

chop them up

add them to the soup pot

Sometimes I have to take the sausages out and chop them a bit, as they don't crumble as well as I would like them too.

add your beef broth and tomatoes. I KNOW that some purists will say ONLY broth or stock made from scratch will do, but come on, most of us are "home" cooks with little time on our hands. Not to say that I won't do a stock from scratch sometimes, but most of the time, a store bought broth will do.

get your 2nd set of veggies
zucchini, cabbage, green beans and a leek

the leeks hold a lot of dirt.

this is how I clean them.....slice and put in a bowl of water. the dirt sinks to the bottom of the bowl and the leek floats.

they are all chopped

add to the soup pot

stir and let simmer for one hour. Looks good.

After an hour, add the pasta. I put in sea-shells and cook for 30 minutes more.

Wah-La!!!!

First Day

Just the beginning.....getting the title I wanted. It will be the same name as my "soup shop".