Easy Soup

Well, today is the first day of 2010, and we have like 2 feet of snow outside! So today is a cuddle bunny-a-thon with Chris and the girls.  I LOVE these days!  I think tonight I will make some nice hot soup made out of whatever I have in the refridgerator and freezer.  I love soup, I could live off just soup every meal.   Chris, not so much, he is definatly a meat and potatoes guy, so is my middle daughter.  But my eldest and the baby will eat up whatever soup, stew, or gumbo I mix up.  Besides it being super yummy and satisfying, soup is super cheap!  I had 6 kids in my family growing up, so my mom was a master of stretching a buck.  She would make it often for dinner.  I used to wonder how she worked her magic in the kitchen, but after a lot of practice and trial and error, I learned the ways of the stew pot!  So here are some easy tips for make cheap and easy soup!

1) First, you need a base for the broth.  You have a few different options here.  You can make your own stock (recommended),  you can use broth from a can or box, or you can use water and bouionne. Heat this up on medium while you prepare the other ingredients.

2) Next, you need a meat if you are makiing it with meat. If you are useing leftovers, just trim it and throw it in  the broth.  If you are useing fresh, chop it, then brown it in the pot with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Then put inbroth.

3) All great and cheap soup needs a filler, so this is the grain you will be putting in.  Macaroni, barley,potato and rice are all great.  Or, you can put dumplings in at the end.   You can either put the cooked grain in the broth, or you can cook it in the broth before you add the meat.  To do this, put in number 5 below, bring the broth to boil then add the grain and cover.  Cook about 20 minutes, depending on the grain.

4) Next is vegtable, a great basis for most soups is onion, carrots and celery. This trio is called a mirepoix (thats french!). I will saute the onion (and I add garlic) with the meat. I then put the chopped celery and carrot in broth to cook, depending on the size of the chop, it take about 45 minutes to get them soft. I also use frozenmixed vegtables often, becuase it is quite affordable and easy.  It does not take long to cook, usually just needs warmed up.

5) Add salt and pepper and herbs.  If it is chicken base, I add parsley and oregano. For beef base, I add bay leaf anf oregano.  I also put in garlic and onion powder to either.  I believe that herbs need at least 20 minutes to meld in a soup, and I bring it to boil first then bring to simmer.

Put lid on the pot and let the soup meld and warm.  The meat is fine in the broth for awhile, just keep in mind that the grain and the vegetables might get mushy if they are cooked too long. So, if you want the broth to pick up the herbs more, cook the broth, meat and herbs before you add this stuff.

And that's it! Super yummy soup!  There are so many different inventions you can make, and they (usually) always turn out still edible! have fun!