SOUP!
Have you had much rain in February? We may very well reach last February's record breaking rains here in Nashville.
And a cold rainy day is perfect for soup. Did you notice that the 1938 ad for Campbell's Vegetable Soup above says "a steaming plate"? I've noticed in many of my vintage magazines that a soup bowl is called a plate.
I make a big pot of vegetable soup regularly, every time I want to use up everything in the produce drawer of the fridge before a trip to the grocery store.
We have to have a pot of chili once...
and chicken chili...
But vegetable soup appears at least once a week around here and is my personal favorite. We also have some type of legume soup every week, and chicken one night, and fish several nights a week.
But there comes a day when RH asks "Where's the beef?"
That's when only the old beer-braised roast beef from an old Bon Appétit recipe will do and I cook a bottom round roast.
After searing the roast I take it out of the pot and sauté a chopped onion and shallot in the drippings. Then I add a large can of fire-roasted diced or crushed tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.
Then add one bottle of Guiness Stout, oregano, bay leaf and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Put the roast back in the pot and stir in beef stock to cover.
Bring just to a boil, cover, and reduce to simmer for about two hours. Add one cup chopped parsley and cook 30 minutes more, or until fork tender.
I made this last week and the first meal of it was delicious, as were the sandwiches I made of it for three people for lunch, but the best meal of all was the vegetable-beef soup I made from the sauce the roast was cooked in. I make two other recipes for roast beef but the soup made from the leftovers of this recipe is the best. RH even eats it leftover for breakfast.
A favorite easy bread we like to go with both the first meal and then oven-toasted for the soup are rolls made from frozen Bridgeford rolls. Have you ever tried them? I think they're the best frozen rolls you can buy. They need to rise at least 5 hours so I put them in a pan early in the day.
Last week I tried a trick I read in the February 1944 Woman's Home Companion. After putting the rolls in the pan to rise and brushing them with melted butter, I sprinkled celery seed and celery salt on them. They were delicious and reminded me so much of the salty yeast rolls I ate at Wednesday night supper at church when I was growing up, a little different from my mother's good homemade rolls recipe.
I like to use Mikassa's Black Forest plates in winter after I put Christmas china away. I only have three plates of it, all from Goodwill, but it seems perfect for January and early February with my old USA soup bowls.
It's fun to use these old Arby's glasses with them too, with their Currier & Ives prints.
And I just have to show you my new green Staub Dutch oven with a pine tree etched in the lid. Isn't it cute? And it's just right for a small pot of soup or a small pot roast without having to get out my huge fennel green Le Cruset.
Has soup been on your table lately during a cold rainy or snowy winter day?
What is your most special soup? Will you tell us about it?
Thank you!
Your green dutch oven is so so prety!!--love that color. I do love vegetable soup too...homemade or canned. And I do love to make big pots of soup, stews, and chili. So I love this post. That is strange how they called it a "plate of soup"--I've never heard that one before. LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the new Staub pot! I got it on clearance with Williams-Sonoma and it's small enough to keep sitting out on a stool in my kitchen. The plate of soup is odd to me too but I have seen it referred to as that in old books. It certainly is soup weather, isn't it? But I admit to loving some soups even in summer.
DeleteWe had homemade vegetable beef and barley soup tonight. It's a favorite of ours!
ReplyDeleteYum! Jan, I put Bob's Red Mill Barley in almost all soups now. It sticks to your ribs, doesn't it?
DeleteSoup is on the menu here for tonight! Bacon Cauliflower Chowder. I love soup and you've listed some delicious ones here. Your pot roast sounds delicious! Hope the rain stops soon. We've been waterlogged for weeks, months, but are currently on Day 4 without rain. It's marvelous to see the sun shining!
ReplyDeleteWe love cauliflower soups! I'm always looking for new soups to use cauliflower in so will have to check your archives to see if the recipe is there. I have a pot of Great Northern beans cooking all afternoon that we'll have with cornbread tonight and then the leftovers will go into baked beans for tomorrow night.
DeleteOh my goodness, Dewena, all of your soups, as well as both chilis and the beer-braised roast beef look mouthwatering!! The Arby's glasses are so cute and your new, green Dutch oven is beautiful. I've never used a Dutch oven, although I have a few recipes that call for it.
ReplyDeleteSoups are so delicious and easy, aren't they? And, I find them immensely satisfying, although my husband doesn't consider them a meal, on their own. However, I find that, like you, accompanied by a favourite bread or roll, (I love sesame sprinkled sourdough!), spread with good butter (French, for me, thank you!), or a few pieces of cheese, a 'plate' of soup can really hit the spot, especially on a cold, winter's day. Maybe they called it a plate back then because they were thicker soups, or chowders? Just a thought.
I don't really have a favourite soup; it depends on my mood, or if I've had too much meat and I want to detox, eat lighter fare for a few days, to cleanse my system, and when that's the case, I prefer a veggie soup, with dashes of different herbs for aroma and extra zing. There is a Greek style, meatball soup, we love, which calls for a meat mixture containing lean ground beef (we prefer veal), rice, grated onion, finely chopped parsley, dill and mint, olive oil, salt and pepper. You let the pot of broth or water come to a boil, drop in the meatballs and simmer until they're cooked through. Remove from heat source. On most occasions, I stop there, but sometimes, I will beat an egg or two with the juice of two lemons, gradually adding hot broth to this, so that the egg cooks and doesn't curdle the broth. Last step, pour everything into the pot and stir. This addition, which resembles the custard making process, gives the broth a more velvety, silky texture, and a refreshing, lemony taste! I'm curious: have you come across it in your Mediterranean cookbooks?
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Poppy
I want to try some French butter! I haven't seen it in our markets here. I tried Plugra but didn't like it nearly as well as the Irish Kerrygold butter I use all the time. You might be right about the bowls being called plates back then because of the soups being thicker. They would have used bouillon cups for clear soups. I love your touch of adding the egg and lemon slowly, have meant to try it every time I see a recipe using that technique. "Velvety, silky texture" sounds delicious. And I have seen recipes in my Mediterranean cookbooks for meatball soup! RH would love it as he loves meatballs anyway. Will have to try it!
DeleteNot that my meatball soup would be as delicious as yours, with all those fresh Cretan herbs!
DeleteI won't blame you, because it is my own besetting sins that have taken something excellent and turned it into LUST. Gluttony and greed, for some roast beef and -- that green pot!!! All is beautiful... I might print out a picture of your pot as an example the best kind of kitchen art, or buy one as a gift for someone who likes to cook. I have my own similar pot that my daughter gave me, and I rarely use it!
ReplyDeleteBut you reminded me that I plan to eat soup today :-) and I will be spending time cooking. Thank you, Dear Dewena! XOXO
Gretchen, you're so cute! Well, lust for roast beef or a green pot aren't too bad of a sin, I'd say. I've found that the secret to using something in the kitchen is not to put it away in a cabinet. Happy soup days!
DeleteHi Dewena,
ReplyDeleteI love soup especially during the winter months. This one is a great one. I am so hungry after seeing your pictures and reading the recipe. Have a great week.
Hugs,
Kris
Hi to Bree and John Mason from Buddy.
And hello back from my doxies to your Buddy, Kris! Around here it looks like there's going to be plenty of winter left to cook soups, rain too. Some of our county schools are closed for several days due to flooding warnings.
DeleteOh, Dewena...you are making me hungry! Your soups and roast beef sound so good! I must try your recipe for the bottom round roast. So you actually cover the entire roast - up over the top - with beef broth?
ReplyDeleteI make a lot of vegetable soup here, too. It's such a good way to get your veggies in and use up what's in the fridge. I sometimes put some leftover meat in it or rice, or even the other night - tortellini.
That Staub pot - be still my heart! Was that a Christmas gift?
Yes, Melanie, it seems to tenderize it even more. Of course you already have quite a bit of liquid in it before you add the broth, from the tomatoes and bottle of stout. And if adding the broth doesn't quite cover it I just add water to the broth box and shake it up and use that instead of opening up another box.
DeleteThe Staub pot was a gift from myself to myself!
I was digging through my freezer earlier today searching for soup I'd made ahead of time to pop into a pot on a busy rainy day like today. Couldn't find it anywhere. I guess it' time to make more - fresh this time. Thanks for the good idea!
ReplyDeleteHmm, Leslie Anne, I wonder who ate the last container? And as your days are very busy, I wonder how you even have time to make soup for the freezer! I wish so much I could be in Pensacola for your appearance there!
Deletei could live on soup every day. even in the summer actually.
ReplyDeletemy favorite is one my mother made. only three vegetables that I recall and a golden rich broth of chicken. the secret of it was the fact that all the veggies were finely shredded: potatoes. carrots. cabbage. and also onions very finely chopped. it always smelled heavenly to me as a child. I swear mine never tastes as good as hers did. but then hers also had a good dose of her love in it.
Tammy, I know I would have loved your mother's soup too. I prefer my veggies minced, not in big chunks. I blame it on the very strong gag reflex that my dentist said I had when I was growing up. Well what else was I supposed to do when he stuck his hand in my mouth, I ask you?
DeleteI miss my Mama's cooking too, Tam, and the love that went in it.
This is so timely Dewena! Every Wednesday we get a box of veggies delivered from a company called Misfits Market. They send veggies and fruit that might otherwise be thrown out, though I’ve yet to see why because everything seems fine to me. Many times they include veggies I wouldn’t normally buy like turnips. squash and celery (which they did today). I’ve been known to throw out a few things, particularly the celery, or give them away, and truth be told I have been thinking about cancelling because of that, but you’ve inspired me to make veggie soup. I love almost all kinds of soup and make it often, just not veggie soup for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI had to smile at Poppy’s comment about her husband not considering soup a meal. Ditto! And that’s true even if there’s chicken, rice and carrots in the soups, and if you think about it those are the components of a well-rounded meal. I guess it’s just something about eating with a spoon rather than knife and fork?!
I never heard of Bridgeford rolls. I wonder if they’re even sold here.. My personal favs are Hawaiian bread, although in general I steer clear of bread.
Off to Pinterest for veggie soup recipes :).
What a wonderful idea, Doreen, I haven't heard of that here. You throw out the celery? Honey, celery is marvelous in soups! And turnips give a little tang to soups without anyone even knowing that they're eating turnips. And a great trick for adding depth to vegetable soups is to buy the dried porcini mushrooms found in the produce department and pulverize a few of them in a mini Cuisinart and add the powder to the soup. I found that in a recipe from an old Cook's Illustrated magazine and use it all the time in vegetable soups now. Really adds some oompth! I wouldn't be surprised if the stores there had Bridgeford bread and roll dough. It's also used for making cinnamon rolls recipes.
DeleteI fixed vegetable soup over the weekend. It has been raining so much here and it is now cold. Nothing better than soup on a cold and rainy day.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Betty! Nothing better!
DeleteI love soup and stew on a cold winter night and lately it's been miserable weather here so we've been eating a lot of it. The rain just keeps coming and it's been so damp, I can't ditch the chill. I haven't had strictly vegetable soup in a while, since my husband is a big meat eater. I usually toss some beef or chicken in the the pot, but it's mostly veggies. Yum!! I hope you get some sunshine soon...and then send it up here!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is the same way, Kim. I would even be happy having just a bowl of good guacamole and chips one night every once in a while for supper like blog friend Melanie and her husband did this week. I think if I fixed a good homemade dessert to go with it I might could get away with it, but dessert is the only thing that makes him happy about a soup meal.
DeleteRain and cold near the shore where you are must make you feel chilled to the bone! Hang in there!
Deweena, I make vegetable beef soup with chuck roast, and cook it until it falls apart... or, to make a variation, I make beef noodle soup, I take both of these to the shelter I help. I also make lasagna soup with meatballs, and that's on the schedule for next week. As an aside, at the National Agricultural Center where I volunteer, we used an old Royal typewriter in our Christmas display. I went to move it when we were finished, and I literally could not lift it!
ReplyDeleteThat was one heavy typewriter! I remember some heavy ones but of course in those days I probably had no trouble picking one up and moving it. Your soups sound wonderful and I'm sure they are much appreciated.
DeleteHello, Taco Soup is a favorite here, and we had that last night. Chicken Dumpling is another favorite. My husband makes the best potato soup. We love soup over here in this neck of the woods. :-)
ReplyDeleteDo you like to add crackers in your soup?
I have got to make taco soup sometime, never have but keep hearing how good it is. RH loves chicken and dumplings but I have an idea if I did make that it would not compare to what his mother made when he was a child.
DeleteWe do have crackers sometime with soup and especially with chili. Do your boys like crackers with their soup?
Soup plates and soup bowls - different shapes! I usually use soup plates when the soup isn't too soupy, and bowls when crackers are called for. Lovely post to whet the appetite - for soup, to get us through the rest of February!
ReplyDeleteOh, these soups look delicious, Dewena. The chicken chili looks especially good. And those rolls! I really like your green pot with the lid, and the color is so pretty. Soups are perfect on cold rainy days, and I just had a bowl of minestrone today.
ReplyDeleteWhat is my favorite soup?.....I'd have to say tortilla soup. : )
I hope the March days bring you much joy, Dewena.
~Sheri