Day 26: Awesome Soup

When hubby and I went out to eat in West Bend, hubby had a beef and vegetable soup with cabbage in it. He said it was delicious, and asked if I could make it. I peered over at his bowl and calculated what was in it.

"Sure, I can make that."

This morning when hubby was sleeping, I went to the store and bought this:

Stew meat (beef)
celery
carrots
cabbage
(I already had onion and potatoes)
can of diced tomatoes
tiny pasta (I bought Creamette "Rings")

I never use soup bases or flavor packets. They are full of chemicals that make me sick.

I browned the meat well, until it was brown. Non of that gray stuff, it must be brown. Don't let it burn, or the broth will be bitter. Then I added water and set the meat to simmer. I chopped onion and celery and sauted them in a little olive oil. Then I tossed in two peeled and sliced carrots. I like them cut like medallions. I set that aside to while I transferred the meat and broth into a dutch oven. I then added the veggies and the can of tomatoes. At this point I peeled and cut up two potatoes and sliced up a wedge of cabbage. After everything was simmering together for about an hour I added a handful or two of pasta rings. I added a spoon of paprika from Kosovo, which would be Hungarian paprika here in the U.S. After simmering for another hour I added some black pepper and some salt, to taste, of course.

"Red Pepper" in Europe, or at least in the Balkans, is Paprika, but with flavor. It's not hot, but it's not the flavorless Paprika we use as garnish here. Here in the U.S., "Red Pepper" is Cayenne, which is flaming hot, so don't get them mixed up!

Not much left, but you get the idea.

I served it to hubby after he woke up. He loved it! He said it was much better that what he had at the restaurant. I have to admit, it was one of the better soups I ever cooked.

Yay me!