RECIPE: Soup for the freezer

bayoutider

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Oct 13, 1999
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Soup for the winter or anytime. This soup freezes well. I put it up in gallon freezer bags after it cools to room temperature. It doesn’t take much more time to make a lot than it takes to make a small pot. I use a 16 qt Le Creuset Stockpot which is also my gumbo pot and shrimp boiling pot. It’s just the right size for streaming lobsters also. A very good pot that wipes clean at cleanup and has a 101 year warranty. Ask your butcher to cut the ribs in half if you are using a smaller pot. I have tried this soup using soup bones, steak bones and round steak. By far the best is made using the leftovers from a standing rib roast but these big meaty beef ribs are a very good, less expensive second best. Hope you enjoy. My kids named this:

DAD's BAMA STEW

INGREDIENTS:

8 to 10 large beef ribs
Water to cover ribs – about 4 qts
2 large onions
4-5 bay leaves
2 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper

2 – 28 oz cans crushed tomato
1 – 28 oz cans stewed tomato
3 cups spicy V-8 juice
8 cups beef broth – from above
8 red potatoes pealed and cut into 1” dice
1 stalk celery sliced
2 large onions cut in half then sliced
1 bell pepper diced
1 – 1 lb bag baby carrots or 3 lg carrots sliced
2 – 1 lb bag frozen whole kernel corn
1 – 1 lb bag frozen peas
1 – 1 lb bag frozen baby lima beans
1 – 1 lb bag frozen green beans
4 tbs sugar or splenda (I probably use twice this amount, personal preference)
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Roast ribs covered in oven at 275F for 1 1/2 hours. This is an important step because it roast the bones giving off more flavor. Next place ribs, any juice, onions, bay leaves, thyme, salt & pepper in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for about 10 minutes then simmer for 45 minutes. Remove ribs to let cool. Let broth cool before straining broth back into stockpot.

Pick meat from bones discard anything that doesn’t look appetizing. If you think you need more meat, brown stew meat or cubed round steak and add to the stock pot.

Measure 8 cups of strained beef broth into the stockpot. Add 2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomato, 28 oz stewed tomato, 3 cups spicy V8, the onion, celery, peppers, carrots and potatoes. Add the picked meat and bring back to a slow boil for 15 minutes. Next add all the frozen vegetables and allow to boil another 5 minutes before reducing the heat to a simmer. Add additional broth, water, tomato sauce or V8 to bring soup to your preferred consistency. I like mine a little thicker than a thin soup. Let simmer an hour before serving.

Good with crackers, great with cornbread. If frozen, open thawed bags and add 1 5oz can tomato sauce and 5 oz water to rejuvenate the soup.

Other things that can be added is sliced okra, chopped cabbage, Kale, pasta (shell, elbow, rotini) and barley. Pasta and barley will add a lot of starch to the soup so cook and rinse pasta before adding to the soup, same for the barley.
 
Tsk!! Tsk!! Tsk!!

My homemade soup is made with only ONE store bought product--whatever meat that is used. Other than that, it is made entirely of veggies from our garden. As I cook the veggies we've put up over the summer from our garden, all leftovers are put into a soup jar in the freezer. When it's full, soup is made and frozen. There have been occassions, though, when I'd go pull out some extra okra or corn, etc. but since we eat them several times a week, that doesn't happen too often. Canned tomatoes are sooooo good and since we usually have around 70 plants, we do a lot of canning. However, I do like some of your ingredients and just might try them in my soup. Just reading over your receipe is making me wish for cooler weather just so we can get to cooking some good ole comfort food. Love reading your receipes so keep up the good work. Ever up near Thomasville, AL drop by and I'll promise you a veggie meal (will include meat, though) straight out of heaven.
 
That sounds delicious. No problem with freezing the potatoes?

I'll be glad when it cools off here enough to really think about a hot bowl of soup!
 
Potatoes are stored in underground "shed", layered with pine straw. They'll last a couple of months that way, but when they're gone, I just don't put them in. Will use more corn. Guess I could buy them, but that's kinda like having to buy tomatoes in the dead of winter. Of course, though to be fair, potatoes are plentiful year round and of good quality so I could use them (if I ever thought to throw them in). They're just not a "must" have ingredient. But, I do love the little red potatoes when cooking the green beans. Just something about those little red potatoes in the beans that make them even better.
 
BamaLuver said:
Ok, I'm about ready for some of "Dad's Bama Stew". Don't suppose you could do it all in a big crockpot???

I never tried it in a crockpot but don't see why not. As for the potatoes, we end up having to add potatoes or maybe some rinsed elbow macaroni to the soup that we end up freezing. To rejuvinate the soup we add one small can of tomato sauce and one can of water to make it soupy again.

We have some beef rib steak bones saved in the freezer and I am making soup probably by next week. Will probably just add some browned stew meat to the broth.

Ya' know, I think I might just try the crockpot myself. :D I have only used the darned thing maybe half a dozen times.
 
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