Granny's Vegetable Beef Soup

INGREDIENTS

about 6 beef short ribs (bone-in)

14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 cups diced potatoes (Yukon Gold works best)

1 ½ cups of diced carrots

14.5 oz can of peas


Spices:

3 bay leaves

black pepper

salt

DIRECTIONS

Place the short ribs on a baking sheet and place in 300 degree oven. Roast meat until the bone marrow starts to melt. Transfer the ribs along with fat to a 7-10 quart pot and cover with water, add bay leaves and a some pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least two hours.

Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board. Separate the meat from the bones and trim remaining fat and other tissue. Return the meat to the pot. Discard the remainder.

Add carrots and tomatoes. Simmer for an hour.

Add potatoes. Simmer for an hour.

Add peas about 30 minutes to one hour before eating.

Season with salt to taste.

Throughout, add water to maintain the consistency of soup. Otherwise, you’ll be preparing beef stew (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

NOTES

My Grandmother, Evelyn Wear, prepared this soup as part of a Christmas Eve tradition in our family. The meal would consist of Granny’s Soup served with dinner rolls topped with melted cheese, sliced ham, and a few other condiments. A trip to church for the Christmas Eve service followed.

There’s nothing delicate about this recipe or the result. It is a hearty and wonderful soup that requires a bit of time to prepare from simple ingredients. To my mind, the bone-in short ribs are the key and, as with most soups, building a solid foundation of stock is the key to a great outcome.

SOURCE

My memory.

New Year Black Bean Soup

New Years Black Bean Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of dried black beans

2 smoked ham hocks

½ cup of chopped onions

1 cup of chopped celery with leaves

½ cup chopped carrots

1 whole clove of garlic

4 Tablespoons of butter

4 Tablespoons of flour

dry sherry


Spices

Bay leaves

salt


DIRECTIONS

Phase I

Wash beans. Soak overnight.


Phase II

Drain beans and save the water. Add enough water to make 10 cups. Combine water, ham hocks, and beans in pot. Cook covered for 3 hours.

Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and bay leaf and simmer for another 45 minutes.

Remove the ham hocks and put the soup through a sieve. Chill the soup and skim the fat from the top.

Phase III

Reheat the soup.

Melt butter in a separate pan and stir in the flour until blended. Slowly add about one cup of the soup to the rhoux, stirring with whisk. Bring to a boil and then stir into the rest of the soup.

Before serving, stir in one tablespoon of sherry for each cup of soup.


NOTES

This soup is a Wear family tradition in North Carolina. I’ve prepared this soup for several years on New Years Day. Serve with rolls, sliced ham, and boiled eggs..

SOURCE

Recipe is based on one from the Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition.