if this isn't hot soup weather, I don't know what is. I love soup. from black bean soup to won-ton and everything in between.
yesterday I went to the butcher shop and bought 5 lbs of "bowwow bones". says right on the price label "not for human consumption". the young lady running the cash register commented that my dogs would be very happy when I got home. A sly grin crept onto my mug as I looked her right in the eye and said "these bones have a much higher calling, I'm making stock for my vegetable beef soup." She smiled back and said something to the effect of nobody hardly knows that anymore, to which I replied something like it's disappointing how much of things like this are forgotten or lost altogether on younger people. $10 for 5 lbs of butchers waste is highway robbery, imo, but I paid it telling myself "it's totally gonna be worth it you cheap bastard."
making real beef stock from beef bones produces the richest, most wonderful base for vegetable soup that you can imagine. if you've never gone to the trouble, put it on your bucket list. roast the bones in a shallow roasting pan with a quartered onion and couple of chopped carrots. I threw in a few smashed cloves of garlic this time. roast at 400 for about one hour and get the bones and meat still on them very brown, but not charred. put the browned bones and veggies in a large stock pot cover with a inch or two of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lightest simmer you can, cover lightly and cook for 6-8 hours. do not stir. the idea is to keep the temp just below boiling, around 190-200*. you can put the pot in the oven set at 190, too. after at least 4 hours (8 is better) scoop out the big chunks with a slotted spoon, strain the rest through a sieve or colander lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. let cool and refrigerate over night. all the fat will rise to the top and harden. remove all of it, put your congealed stock back on the stove and reduce to two quarts.
heavily browned, cubed beef bottom round, home canned tomatoes and green beans, onion, carrot, celery, corn, cabbage, canned Chantarelles, fresh picked Bay leaves, Yukon golds and barley in mine. in a few minutes, I'll add the barley and cook another half hour, then I dine. If somebody made an air freshener that smells like kitchen does right now, I'd buy it.
bouquet garni of fresh thyme and rosemary, and fresh bay leaf floating on left side
yesterday I went to the butcher shop and bought 5 lbs of "bowwow bones". says right on the price label "not for human consumption". the young lady running the cash register commented that my dogs would be very happy when I got home. A sly grin crept onto my mug as I looked her right in the eye and said "these bones have a much higher calling, I'm making stock for my vegetable beef soup." She smiled back and said something to the effect of nobody hardly knows that anymore, to which I replied something like it's disappointing how much of things like this are forgotten or lost altogether on younger people. $10 for 5 lbs of butchers waste is highway robbery, imo, but I paid it telling myself "it's totally gonna be worth it you cheap bastard."
making real beef stock from beef bones produces the richest, most wonderful base for vegetable soup that you can imagine. if you've never gone to the trouble, put it on your bucket list. roast the bones in a shallow roasting pan with a quartered onion and couple of chopped carrots. I threw in a few smashed cloves of garlic this time. roast at 400 for about one hour and get the bones and meat still on them very brown, but not charred. put the browned bones and veggies in a large stock pot cover with a inch or two of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lightest simmer you can, cover lightly and cook for 6-8 hours. do not stir. the idea is to keep the temp just below boiling, around 190-200*. you can put the pot in the oven set at 190, too. after at least 4 hours (8 is better) scoop out the big chunks with a slotted spoon, strain the rest through a sieve or colander lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. let cool and refrigerate over night. all the fat will rise to the top and harden. remove all of it, put your congealed stock back on the stove and reduce to two quarts.
heavily browned, cubed beef bottom round, home canned tomatoes and green beans, onion, carrot, celery, corn, cabbage, canned Chantarelles, fresh picked Bay leaves, Yukon golds and barley in mine. in a few minutes, I'll add the barley and cook another half hour, then I dine. If somebody made an air freshener that smells like kitchen does right now, I'd buy it.
bouquet garni of fresh thyme and rosemary, and fresh bay leaf floating on left side