A Grand Ol' Pot of Belly-Warming Soup

I love soup.  I love to make it, eat it, and invent new ones.  My Mom made this one recipe often when I was growing up called "Autumn Soup". She belonged to this trendy Betty Crocker recipe card club in the 1980's. She would get recipes in the mail monthly on cards and store them in this golden-yellow plastic box with a hinged lid. I've seen these recipe box sets from time to time in flea markets and yard sales. There sure were some hanky 1980's recipes in there!

But I liked the soup. I've changed it around a little, added some extras or substituted other ingredients as the contents of my pantry and fridge would dictate, but the base is pretty much the same.

The basic recipe is what follows, although I will finish with variations and suggestions that make this soup better than what Betty Crocker herself would have made.


Ingredients  
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups water
1 cup cut-up carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup cubed pared potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon bottled brown bouquet sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon basil
6 tomatoes*

*1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes (with liquid) can be substituted for the fresh tomatoes. Reduce water to 3 cups. Stir in tomatoes with remaining ingredients; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20 minutes. The canned tomatoes break apart and give a rosy color.

Directions    
In a large saucepan, cook and stir meat until brown. Drain off fat. Cook and stir onions with meat until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients except tomatoes; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add tomatoes; cover and simmer 10 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.     

Ok.  So that's it.  Pretty bland, eh?  So let me tell you how I make it so much better.  First of all, forget adding water.  Use beef stock instead.  Homemade, canned, boxed...  whatever.  Just don't add 2 teaspoons of salt!  Also, you can easily substitute the potatoes with rice, orzo, egg noodles, or my favorite- BARLEY!  When I made this yesterday, I omitted the potatoes and added nice chunks of cabbage, and about a cup or so of sliced button mushrooms during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking.  If you add mushrooms, do so towards the end because they shrink up so much.  I was going to throw in some orzo, but my pot was so full of vegetables I didn't need to.


Often times when I make a crock-pot roast on Sunday, I will have a large chunk of it left over.  I will use the roast, and whatever veggies that were cooked along with it and throw in the additional ingredients needed to make enough soup.  I throw in the juices and all from the roast!  The roast shreds itself as it cooks in the liquids in the soup pot, and it is especially delicious and hearty with barley.


I also use this same basic recipe using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, but use chicken or turkey stock instead.  Same goes with chicken-  use leftover chicken or a rotisserie.


I have NEVER used tomatoes in this recipe that didn't come from a can.  The whole tomatoes are wonderful, although definitely squish them up a little.  They do no seem to break apart while cooking as the recipe suggests-  I am speaking from experience.


I have used all sorts of vegetables in this recipe; cauliflower, squash, eggplant, whatever I might have in the fridge that seems to compliment the basic soup recipe will work.  Or, if I am short of an assortment of veggies or short on time, throw in a few cups of frozen mixed vegetables 10 minutes or so before it's ready.  And think about adding some  minced garlic, or fresh herbs!  I seem to always have flat leaf parsley on hand, it is great stirred in as is Basil. 


Just make sure there is plenty of fresh bread available; French bread, Rye, Italian.  Or homemade fresh from the oven.  With plenty of butter, of course!