I’m back in the kitchen today – well, actually I’ve been back in the kitchen all week trying to recover from the disappointment of the pork chop.
One of my friends is in the hospital in pretty tough shape following emergency heart surgery. I wish I was one of those people who always says exactly the right thing to make my friends feel better. I am not. I always say the wrong thing – my heart means the right thing, but my brain to mouth connection is askew. When my heart is saying, “I know you are hurting, go ahead and hurt I am here for you. But know it will get better”; my mouth says “quit whining this will blow over.”
So … when things are rough I cook. I know my friend is not eating. She’s barely coming home and getting a shower. Tonight I am taking her beef vegetable soup. To me, there’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of soup. It’s a little cold tonight (By Florida standards, roughly 55 degrees) and soup can warm your body and soul. I’ve been reading the America’s Test Kitchen cookbook and there is a great article on “quicker” beef vegetable soup which I used as my base. A couple tricks I really liked:
- Use Sirloin, it will cook tender in about an hour.
- Marinade the Sirloin with Soy Sauce for about 15 minutes prior to cooking.
- Use Cremini Mushrooms, tomato paste and red wine to build flavor.
One thing they suggested I didn’t like was to use unflavored gelatin to thicken the soup at the last minute. I didn’t like this for two reasons, the first reason is that while I love soup, there’s no way Bill and I are going to consume an entire recipe in one evening. I like to make a pot and have it around, gelatin gets gloppy and ugly in the refrigerator. It will reheat to the right consistency, but after I see the soup all “glopped up” I’m not as interested in it. And also, this is soup, not stew. I want a broth like consistency. I put some potatoes in to thicken it a little but not too much.
Here’s my recipe:
1 ½ pound sirloin meat cut into ½ inch cubes
3 tsp soy sauce
2T vegetable oil (or other high smoke point such as peanut)
1 Onion
1 package (8oz) cremini mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
3T tomato paste
1 cup red wine
32 oz beef broth
8 oz chicken broth
1 cup minced celery hearts with leaves
1 cup diced carrots
3 Bay leaves
3 Sprigs thyme leaves removed
3T Tamari
Marinade the sirloin in the soy sauce for about 15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven.
Brown the onions and mushrooms, when golden and liquid has evaporated remove them from the pan and put them in a bowl.
Brown the sirloin and let the liquid evaporate.
Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook about three minutes more. Deglaze the pan with red wine. Reduce the wine by half.
Add broth and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and then let the soup simmer for about 45 minutes.
I was about to take a photo of this beautiful soup which really does have a rich broth and great color when the phone rang. After I hung up, I was suddenly in cleaning mode and I had put it into storage containers and in the fridge before I realized what I had done. This blog WILL have a photo soon. Perhaps tomorrow I can take a pic of the soup in the bowl. Tonight I’m too tired.
Night all – keep wine-ing!
