Beef-Vegetable Soup No. 1

Beef-Vegetable Soup (1)     
 4lbs. beef shank  with bone

1/2 cup butter or margarine

       Salt

11/2 cups finely diced celery

2 qts. water

1 cup each, diced carrots, and potatoes

1 garlic clove, minced   

1 cup sliced green beans

1/3 cup pearl barley

1 cup medium diced, green cabbage

1/2 cup minced celery tops   

2 cups fresh peas or 1 pkg. (10 ozs.) frozen peas

2 cups diced onion

1 cup medium diced fresh spinach

3 1/2 cups (one 1 lb. +1, 12 ozs. can)

       Salt and pepper

       Tomatoes

Have beef shank cut into several pieces. Put in kettle with 1 Tbsp. salt and next 5 ingredients. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 3 hours, or until meat is tender. Skim soup. Remove bones and meat and set meat aside. Add tomatoes to soup. Melt butter in skillet. Add vegetables, except peas and spinach. Sauté, for 7 minutes, stirring, frequently. Add to soup, Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add peas, spinach, and the meat, cut into bite-size pieces. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes: 5 qts.©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Ukrainian Borscht,This Famous Russian Soup Comes in Many Flavours and Styles

Much More Than Just a Famous Russian Soup, REAL Ukrainian Style Borsch is Truly a Complete Meal-in-a-Bowl.  

·        In a soup kettle put 1 1/2 lbs. lean beef, 1 lb. lean fresh pork, 1/2 lb. smoked pork, and 10 cups cold water.

·        Bring the water slowly to a boil, skim carefully, and add 1 bay leaf, 8 peppercorns, 1 garlic clove, a few sprigs of parsley, 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, and 2 leeks. Simmer the soup, covered for 1 1/2 hours.

·        Cook 8 beets, unpeeled, in salted water for about 40 minutes, or until they are tender, peel and cut each beet into 8 segments.

·        Peel and grate a raw beet and cook it in 1/4 cup cold water.

·        Remove the meat from the soup and strain the soup stock into a saucepan. Add the cooked beets, 1 cup shredded cabbage, 2 onions, and 3 potatoes all peeled and quartered, 6 tomatoes, peeled quartered and seeded, 1 1/2 Tbsps.  tomato puree, 1 Tbsp. vinegar, 1 tsp. sugar and the meat.

·         Bring the soup to a boil and simmer it for 40 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cooked navy beans and 4 frankfurters, thickly sliced and continue to simmer for 20 minutes longer.

·        Use “manipulated butter” (1 Tbsp. flour mixed to a paste with 1 Tbsp. butter) to thicken soup, add the liquid strained from the grated raw beet and correct the seasoning with salt.

·        Cut the meat into thick slices and put it in a heated soup tureen.

·        Pour the soup over the meat and serve very hot as the main dish.

·         Sour cream can be added, if desired but is hardly necessary with this truly marvellous Ukrainian style soup.

Ukrainian Style Borscht #2

Servings: 10

1 1/2 lbs. red beets (green tops removed)

1 lb. lean beef chuck (cut into bite-size pieces)

1/2 lb. thick slab bacon (large dice)
1 cup yellow cooking onion (medium dice)

1 carrot (peeled, then cut julienne)
    
    [By simply following the above suggestions for cut size, you will add much eye appeal to the finished product; thereby having many more people raving about what a marvellous cook you are.]

2 tsps. dried oregano

1 tsp. celery seed

2 tsps. dill seeds

1 Tbsp. crushed and minced garlic

2 bay leaves

3 Tbsps. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. ground black pepper

3 Tbsps. tomato paste

2 quarts beef, or quality vegetable stock.

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large potato (peeled and; diced)

6 cups green cabbage (shredded, use mandolin)

3 Tbsps. fresh flat-leaf parsley (diced)

Sugar

1 cup real sour cream

1/2 cup fresh dill (diced)

Russian black bread

Directions:

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

·         Place the diced bacon in a Dutch oven type casserole or stockpot and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, until the fat begins to render, about 3 minutes.

·         Add the beef and continue to cook, stirring, until the beef is brown on all sides, about 6 minute.

·         Remove both meats from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

·         Add the onions and carrot to the fat in the Dutch oven or stockpot and stir to coat.

·         Cook until soft, about 4 minutes.

·         Add the garlic, oregano, dill seeds and bay leaves and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar and stir to deglaze the pot.

·         Return both meats to the pot and add the water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

·         Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beef is tender, about 2 hours.

·         Meanwhile, place the beets on a baking sheet and brush with the oil. Roast until tender and can be pierced easily with a fork or knife, about 1 hour.

·         Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.

·         When the beets are cool enough to handle, trim the stem and root ends and remove the skins.

·         Coarsely grate or dice (medium) and set aside.

·         When the meat is tender and falling apart, add the beets, potatoes, cabbage, parsley, tomato paste and celery salt or seeds and simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes.

·         Season with additional red wine vinegar, salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar to taste.

·         Ladle borsch into bowls and garnish with sour cream and a pinch of fresh dill.

·         Serve with Russian black bread.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Polish Borscht No.1

 Boiled potatoes are served. This soup is almost as much a cabbage soup as it is a beet soup.

2 qts. beef bouillon

1 cup diced carrots

1 large onion, fine dice

1 tsp. minced parsley

4 large dried mushrooms

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

3 cups grated beets

       Salt

2 cups shredded cabbage

       Hot boiled potatoes

1. Simmer beef bouillon with onion for 2 hours.

2. Strain stock and remove fat.

3. Wash, chop and soak in hot water the dried mushrooms, add them to the hot soup and boil for 15 minutes.

4. Toss sugar with grated beets, shredded cabbage, diced carrots and parsley.

5. Let the mixture stand until the sugar is dissolved.

6. Add the mixture to the soup and continue to boil for 25 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

7. Add 1 cup sour cream and 1 tsp. lemon juice to the soup.

8. Reheat without boiling and add salt, if necessary.

9. Serve a mealy, freshly boiled potato in each soup plate. ©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Polish Borscht No. 2

1 1/2 lbs. beef chuck, cut up  (sliced, diced, or small cube),

1onion, minced

1 1/2 qts. Water

4 beets cooked and sliced, diced, or julienne

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 stalks celery, diced

1 onion minced

       Salt and pepper

¼ cup cream

2 Tbsps. flour

1 egg

        Hot boiled potatoes

Put meat in kettle and add water. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, 2 hours, or until meat is almost tender. Add beets cabbage, celery, and onion; cook about 30 minutes longer. Season to taste. Blend sour cream, flour, and egg. Stir into soup and bring again to boil. Serve in hot soup bowls and pass the potatoes. Makes: 4 servings.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Simple Borscht

1bunch beets     

1/2 lb. breast of beef

1 cup tomatoes, fresh or canned

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

4 cups water

1/4 cup sugar    

1 small onion

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

Pare the beets and cut them into long julienne strips. Strain the tomatoes, over the beets, not letting any seeds through. Add water. Put in the onion and meat, cut into small pieces, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add lemon-juice, sugar, and salt. Boil 1/2 hour more. Beat eggs with a pinch of salt. Add the hot borsch to this, a little at a time, stirring well to prevent the separating of the eggs. Serve at once, while very hot.

©Al (Alex_Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Borscht, Without Meat

1 1/2 qts. Water

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

5 large beets, peeled and grated

       Salt and pepper

1 onion, diced

       Sugar

1 cup tomato purée

2 eggs

       Sour cream

1. Combine in a soup kettle; water, beets onion and bring the water to a boil and simmer gently for 45 minutes.

2. Add tomato puree, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and a little sugar.

3. The amounts of lemon juice and sugar may be varied to make borscht sweet or sour to taste. Simmer the soup gently for 45 minutes.

4. The soup may be strained, if desired and the vegetables discarded but this is not recommended. Beat the 2 eggs well add a little of the hot soup and stir the mixture into the kettle.

5. Serve hot or well chilled, with a generous Tbsp. of sour cream in each serving.

©Al (Alex-Alexander)D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

The, Average, Modern, Family Throws Away MOST(well over 60%) of Their Food and Nutritional Dollar.

An excellent stock can be made by using left-over meat scraps, and the bones, instead of the beef specified, (the juice, left in a roaster, or from a stew, is also a stock), and by substituting any available vegetables; or trimmings, such as the outer leaves of lettuce, or cabbage, celery tops, onion peel etch. for those given below.
Ingredients; To Make One Quart Of Standard Stock, Brown Stock, or Bouillon.

2 lbs. beef (1/4 to 1/2 bone)

1 1/4 quarts cold water

4 to 6 pepper corns

2 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 blade mace

1 tsp. sweet herbs

1 sprig parsley

1 Tbsp. of each, carrot, onion, celery, and yellow turnip

1 tsp. salt

 The, average, modern, family throws away MOST(well over 60%) of their food and nutritional dollar. After the stock is made\; left over vegetables, cereals, hard cooked eggs, small pieces of meat, etch. may be diced, and served in the soup.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Beef Stock

·         Put into a soup kettle 3 lbs. lean brisket, flank, neck or other of the tougher cuts, 2 lbs. veal knuckle, 1 beef knuckle, 6 chicken feet, cleaned, and skinned, 4 leeks, 2 medium sized onions, a stalk, of celery ,with the leaves, and 3 sprigs of parsley.

·          Add 5 quarts water, and bring it slowly to a boil.

·         Remove the scum, as it accumulates on the surface. Cover the kettle, and simmer the stock, gently.   
©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan) All rights reserved.

Chicken Stock&Fish Stock or Court Bouillon

Chicken Stock

·        Put into a large soup kettle a 4-lb. fowl, 1 veal knuckle, 6 chicken feet, cleaned and skinned, 2 Tbsps. salt, 4 peppercorns and 5qts.water.

·        Bring the water slowly to a boil, removing the scum as it accumulates on the surface.

·        Add 6 small leeks, 4 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, all cleaned and cut in pieces, and one onion stuck with 4 cloves and a bay leaf.

·        Add 1 garlic clove and a pinch of thyme. Simmer gently.

·        Cool the stock and chill it Remove layer of fat before using.  

      

Fish Stock or Court Bouillon

2 lbs. fish, head and trimmings

1 1/4 quarts cold water

2 pepper corns

1 clove

1 sprig parsley

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp. of each; carrot, celery, and onion

·Fish stock needs to be cooked for only half the time required for other stock.

· Fish, and sea-food, are also poached in Court Bouillon and the poaching liquid should be saved as a very rich stock.
©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Using Soup Stock

1. When ready to use stock, loosen fat around the edges with a knife, remove, and discard. If the stock is jellied, wipe off the remaining small pieces of fat and the edge of container with a cloth wrung out of hot water.  If the stock is very soft or liquid, pass small sheets of absorbent paper over the top of the stock.

 When the Stock must be used before cooling, skim off all the fat possible.

1.  Most of the remainder may be removed in one of two ways. The first way is to pass over the top small pieces of absorbent paper or blotting paper. 

2.  The second is to cool the stock as much as possible before-hand, then to wrap a piece of ice in a cloth and let it down into the stock. Move the ice around just below the surface so that the fat on the surface is suddenly chilled, and it will gather on the cloth around the ice. This must be done quickly to prevent unnecessary dilution of the stock.

For clear soups, take the stock from the top of container, being careful to avoid any sediment which may have escaped through the sieve and settled to the bottom of the container. This sediment is valuable as food and should be reserved for gravies or soups which are not necessarily clear. Clarify this stock if translucent, sparkling soup is required.

To clarify soups allow 1 egg white and shell to 1 quart of stock. Wash egg well. Separate yolk and white. Crush the shell into small pieces and mix with the slightly beaten egg white. Heat the stock just enough to liquefy it if it is jellied. Stir the egg white and shell thoroughly into the stock. Heat the stock slowly to boiling, stirring constantly, and then boil without stirring 2-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of cold water and let settle. Strain through 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth. The coagulated egg gathers around itself the particles of solid substance in the soup which otherwise would be fine enough to pass through a strainer.
©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Consommé, as Soup and as a Healthier Alternative to Commercial Soup Bases.

1 lb. lean beef

1 lb. veal

1 1/4 quarts, cold water, or, 1 pint cold water, And, 1 pint chicken stock(as below,not commercial).

2 pepper corns

1 clove

1/2 tsp.  sweet herbs

1 sprig parsley

1 Tbsp. of each, celery, carrot, and onion(mirepoix)

1 tsp. salt

Consommé, or the following white stock, may also, be reduced to a heavy jelly, then dried, and used as a better alternative, to commercial bouillon cubes.

White Stock

2 lbs. chicken or veal

1 1/4 qts. cold water

2 pepper corns

1 clove

1/2 tsp. sweet herbs

1 Tbsp. of each, onion, carrot, and celery(mirepoix)

The liquid in which a fowl or chicken is steamed or simmered is also a white stock or chicken broth.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. Allrights Reserved

Purees

Purees are made in the same way as cream soups, but are somewhat thicker. They are often served under the name of "Cream Soup" Example: Cream of Tomato.

The name, “bisque” is usually given to a cream soup made from fish, and the fish is often diced or mashed through a course strainer. A familiar example of an exception in the use of the word is mock bisque soup, or, tomato bisque, as it is often called.

© Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Chowders

True products of “The Song of The Stock Pot”, chowders were, probably, the common ancestors of the more refined cream soups, purees, and bisques. The word chowder comes from the French “Chaudière”, meaning caldron. Like the Bannock, the chowder originated as a communal dish-a community fish stew to which (as a means of survival) each neighbour contributed something; milk, fish, potatoes, crackers, pork or some seasoning. These contributions were all cooked together in the common caldron, from which chowder derives its name, and each contributor withdrew his share of soup when it was ready.

The chowder of today is much the same as the old chowder of our fore-fathers, and consists of pieces of different vegetables, or fish and potatoes (there are some that claim that a chowder must contain potatoes, onions, and celery) cooked in milk (do not use milk, if chowder is to be stored; use a Veloute instead.), with crackers added just before serving.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reseerved.

Vegetable Soups

Vegetable Soups

Most, “so called”, vegetable soups begin with a meat stock; many would be “Vegans “;who do not read labels, or enquire at their favourite restaurants, are blissfully unaware of this.

© Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Fish Stews

Fish stews differ from the cream soups in that they need not be thickened, though they may be and from the chowders in being less complex in composition. They often start with a Veloute or

Béchamel made with the juice of the fish which gives flavour to the soup. 

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Binding Thick Soups

When a vegetable, meat or fish pulp is improperly combined with milk or stock in making soups, they separate and the solid substance sinks to the bottom of the liquid. Starting out with the Veloute or Béchamel sauce (or one may add some flour or corn-starch) will overcome this. With many of these soups the reason for using the sauce, flour or corn-starch may not necessarily be to thicken a soup which the vegetable, meat or fish pulp has already made thick enough, but to blend the liquid with the solid so that all parts of the soup will have the same consistency.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

The True Greats of Every National Cuisine;

 Especially of ‘Canadian’, are Those That Serve as a Meal-in-a-Bowl.

Please note how these recipes and the soups produced-as shown in the illustrations-in no way resemble the sickly, pasty, often watery concoctions, so often served and referred to as soup by many modern, often self-labelled "gourmet" restaurants; or that quite possibly you yourself have served.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.

Stroganoff Soup

 An excellent recipe; not recommended for losing weight- Be sure to try it.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1 lb. tenderloin tips cubed

2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

12 ozs. mushrooms sliced

1 large onion, diced

1 cup shredded carrots

1 pint water

1 Tbsp. Beef base

Roux made of 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup fat

Salt and pepper

1 pint whipping cream

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup minced chives     

Method:

In a 5 qt. pot, melt the butter and add tips, garlic. Cook until meat is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add mushrooms and onions. Sauté until onion is translucent.

Add carrots, water, beef base (or good stock), salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Make roux by melting butter and adding flour to it. Stir until smooth and cook 2 minutes. Gradually add to soup, use whip to stir vigorously. Add whipping cream and taste to adjust seasonings. Remove from heat and add sour cream.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with chives.

Makes 6-8 servings.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.