Steak Soup
Our nickname for a delicious savory beef stew!
Can be kept basic "meat and potatoes" or add any veggies you like.
Basic recipe serves 4-6
Ingredients
1.5 lbs of beef stew meat, or can cut your own, from an inexpensive cut
Dredging mixture:
2/3 cup flour
2 tsp Mrs Dash no salt Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Mrs Dash no salt Table Blend
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper
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4 Tbsp Olive oil (Veg oil is fine)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced celery
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped to bite size (1 inch - ish)
6 cups no salt beef stock (or broth)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/3 cup red cooking wine
Bay leaf
Better than buillon beef paste (optional)
Salt (optional)
Additional black pepper (optional)
Dried parsley (optional)
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Veggie options:
Carrot
Peas
Mushrooms
Kale or Cabbage
Instructions
Set out a 5qt dutch oven or a large soup pot. Drizzle a Tbsp or two of olive oil and begin to heat on medium.
Chop onion and slice celery, add to the pot. Mince garlic, add in.
Sautee this mixture until the onions soften and start to become translucent (about 3 min)
Turn off heat, set pot aside. Spoon the veggies out of the pot and hold aside for now.
Make the dredging mixuture in a bowl or pie plate, sift and mix well with a fork or whisk.
Get out your beef stew pieces, or cut from your chosen beef. Watch that they are not too big, cut chunks further if needed. Going for about an inch or "large bite" size. You will sear these in batches so each piece can get well-browned.
Turn the heat back on under your pot (medium high), drizzle more oil (1-2 Tbsp)
Dredge a batch of beef chunks in the flour mixture, turn and coat them well.
Drop them in the hot oil and cook just long enough to brown all sides, then remove the chunks and set aside with the veggies from before. Continue until all beef chunks have been seared. You'll need to drizzle more oil between each batch. After all chunks are browned, you can discard the remainder of the dredging mixture.
Reduce the heat under your pot to medium-low. Return the veggies and beef chunks to the pot and add the beef stock, red wine, worcestershire, liquid smoke, and bay leaf. Stir, and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot to mix into the soup. Bring to a simmer while prepping your potatoes.
Peel and chop the potatoes, add them to the soup.
If you are using other veggies, this would be the time to chop and add them.
Cover the soup with a lid and gently simmer for about 30 minutes, with an occasional stir. Once the potatoes, carrots, etc are cooked (tender to a bite), then you can make final flavor adjustments:
Is the soup too bland? Does it need saltiness, more beef flavor, or more heat?
You can add salt (1/2 tsp), beef buiilion paste (tsp), or more black pepper (1/8 tsp) - don't overdo it, and stir up and taste before proceeding - also, the soup flavor intensifies as you let it simmer. I like to add some dried parsley at the end, about a Tbsp. Remember to remove the bay leaf before serving.
Don't simmer more than an hour - you don't want your veg and meat to get mushy. I HATE overcooked soups, they taste like they came out of a can!
Once you have tweaked to your liking, serve with a fresh green salad, and some kind of wonderful bread alongside. What a great comforting meal!
Filed as
Soup
