Snow Day Vegetable Soup

 

Snow Day Vegetable Soup

So, this is called "Snow Day" vegetable beef soup because my mom would often make this when we were snowed in (as much as anyone is "snowed in" in NC). She would never make a tiny 7-quart pot full like I'm doing here, it was always a turkey roaster that fit over two burners (I have no idea how many quarts that would have been).  On reflection, given the amount of peeling and chopping that goes into this soup, i can understand why you'd want to make a huge batch at a time.  Speaking of, this soup is where I learned how to peel and chop potatoes and carrots, as my sister and I got pressed into service while warming up between playing in the snow. Once we'd eaten it for dinner that day, leftovers were frozen and saved for later snow days  Pre-microwave, I remember cylindrical soup ice cubes (freezer container shaped) slowly melting in a pan on low heat before dinner. 

Recipe

Ingredients 

• 1.5-2 lbs cross cut beef shanks with bone   (I got about 1.25 lbs meat off mine…I think you could also substitute beef stew meat)
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped (8-9 oz whole carrots)
• 1 cup celery, chopped (3-4 large stalks)
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen cut green beans
• 1 cup frozen shoepeg corn
• 12 oz red potatoes, cubed (you could also use peeled, cubed russets, I think that’s what Mama used)
• Vegetable oil

• Salt and pepper 

•  Bay leaf or two
• Optional- can beef broth?

Directions

1. Season beef shanks with salt and pepper. 
2. Heat 2-3 tsp of vegetable oil in a 5-7 qt dutch oven (I use enameled cast iron) over medium high heat,  add beef shanks in, and brown well, 4-5 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add chopped onions, sauté 2-3  minutes (season with salt and pepper).
4. Add celery and carrots and sauté 4-5 more minutes. 
5. Add tomato paste and stir until it mixes w/ sautéed veg.  
6.  Add two cans chopped tomatoes (with juice), and stir, scraping bottom of pan to remove as much of the browned bits as possible
7.  Add two tomato cans of water and one can beef broth (could just use 3 cans water).   
8. Add bay leaf, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.   
9. Return beef shanks to pan, submerge and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.   
10. Add green beans, corn and potatoes.  Return to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer of another hour or or so.
11. Adjust seasonings to taste (I tossed in a tbs of worchestershire sauce and a tbs of soy, b/c I thought it didn’t have quite enough flavor…would probably be fine w/o it.)
12. Before serving, remove meat, debone, cut meat into chunks and return to soup.

This makes about 18-20 cups of soup (about 5 quarts), serving size about 2-2.5 cups. Freezes very well.

Notes

• You could add more or less of any vegetables, I don’t usually measure, but this seems like a good ratio.
• Mama would sometimes sub ground beef for shanks, but I don't like that as much 
• To be truly authentic, quadruple or triple recipe and make in a turkey roaster placed over two burners on the stove. ;-).
• Umami Notes: add soy?  Add parm rind?