Thursdays Are For Cooking
Beef Noodle Soup
Well, it’s chilly weather again in my kingdom, and I happen to like soup that is hearty and filling and goes well with cornbread and cut-up veggies, so here goes.
Ingredients:
Beef broth – I used a stock pot for this, so 2 two quart boxes of beef broth were just enough; add more if needed
Olive oil to brown the beef
Noodles – I used angel hair pasta; do not overdo the pasta part**
Baby carrots cut in half, or just use cut frozen carrots to save time; about a quarter pound or more
Celery – 2 to 4 stalks, including the leaves
Chopped onion – if you use green onions include the tails; use a bunch of chopped onion
Canned mushrooms – I used two cans; pour off the canning fluid before adding theses to the pot.
Chunky cut stewing beef – leftover roast beef is also okay.
Soy sauce (instead of salt) for seasoning – get a good quality soy made by a Japanese company
**You can substitute baby potatoes or cut up red potatoes for the pasta, if you prefer that.
Directions:
– Brown the beef in olive oil first
– Add baby carrots, celery, chopped onion and beef broth to the pot; 4 quarts should be sufficient to cover everything; add more if needed to cover the ingredients
– Add a small amount of soy sauce to season the broth (do not overdo the soy sauce!); I used 3 tablespoons in a 5 quart stock pot
– Add a handful of short pasta or noodles – your choice – and let them slowly cook into the broth
– Set the burner on LOW or MEDIUM to simmer the veggies and beef chunks into oblivion; do NOT boil the soup!!!!
The goal is to simmer the soup, not boil it, so that the beef chunks will be extremely tender and easy to break up in your soup bowl.
Serve with cheese and crackers or fresh cornbread, and take your time enjoying it.
For those who like to cook under pressure…. The heck with beef soup. Go with cheese. Go with beer. Beer and Cheese Soup 5 slices bacon chopped 3 tbsp butter 1 small onion finely diced 1/2 cup diced carrots 1/2 cup diced celery 1/3 cup flour 3 cups chicken broth 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp ground mustard 1/4 tsp cayenne or to taste 12 oz beer 16 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese 1 1/2 cups salted popcorn for garnish cheese popcorn works great or you can use croutons in a pinch Add bacon to the Instant Pot. Using the display panel select the SAUTE function. Cook and stir until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Add butter, onion, carrots and celery to the bacon drippings and saute until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir to coat. Add broth to the pot and deglaze by using a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add pepper, mustard powder, cayenne and beer to the pot and stir to combine. Turn the pot off by selecting CANCEL, then secure the lid, making sure the vent is closed. Using the display panel select the MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK function*. Use the +/- keys and program the Instant Pot for 7 minutes. When the time is up, perform a controlled release of the remaining pressure, watching out for any starchy spray. Using an immersion blender (or high capacity blender), puree the vegetable mixture until smooth. Gradually add cheese, stirring between each addition, until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Adjust seasonings. Top with bacon and popcorn and serve immediately. This is one of those soups that needs a good bread for dipping and slopping up the remains in the bowl. While this recipe calls for chicken broth and the beef soup calls for beef broth made from stock or from boxes, please do yourself a favor and use “Better Than Bouillon” instead of the boxed stuff. Whether chicken or beef, the… Read more »
Serve with cheese and crackers or fresh cornbread,……
Is that cornbread made with or without sugar?
(ducking)
The corn bread faux pas is on me- a lesson in cut&paste. That and checking quotes.*grin*
Don’t forget to deglaze the beef pan with some red wine or stock. Lots of flavor still in there.
Thanks, Ex.
For the beer cheese soup, it calls for deglazing with the beef broth.
I would use more beer in the place of the broth, but that is on me.
And there is no faux pas in the cornbread with or without sugar. It is a hotly debated topic which makes it fun.
After all, with all of the crap that is going on in this world and all of the real hatred and division that is out there, it is kind of fun to debate / discuss things that are personnel preferences and in the long run, don’t matter.
Sugar or no sugar? Depends on what you’re eating! 😉
Youse people cook good. Thanks for some soup ideas. We try to do some sort of soup related thing every Sunday, and it has become a book of the face tradition as “Soup Sunday”.
Here, let me put on a seasoned cast iron skillet of buttered milk cornbread (SANS SUGAR, ya damn heathen) and I’ll be right over Mi’Lady. Nothing like a good beef beast soup to take the chill off. Tanks Matey, Let’s eat.
Trip to the provision store on yesterday past was a semi repeat of what I’ve seen in my last several trips. Bare shelves and more price increases. Meat market manager said the pork situation is just getting worse. She ordered 30 cases of pork products and got only 5. The store brand bacon that they had on sale for $5 per pound was going real fast, even at a limit of 2 per customer. She said they were losing money at that price, but the ad paper had been decided months ago. Paper products shelves were bare, along with the pet foods. Canned goods slim pickens and no back ups in the storeroom. Higher said, again, they are only getting 1/3 of what they order.
Fixen to get real, Girls and Boys. Thanks Brandon.
You know, I have never had beef noodle soup. Sad statement. It sounds really good right now.
I’ll add sugar to chili but NEVER to cornbread.
Celery is such a delightfully subtle enhancement and is often overlooked in favor of the main flavors.
Sacrilege as it may be… I really like Wendy’s chili and have been trying to refine a clone variant. Several variations have been close, I am thinking about adding in some V-8 juice to see how that works out. The missy does not like sweet stuff, I do. Ketchup, catsup, whatever is about as far as I go with late stage flavor adjustments.
Amen on angel hair pasta.
Does anyone remember Danny’s Spaghetti House on Forest Glenn Road? It was pretty good. I don’t remember the name of the bar that was next door but something like Dietles is in my mind. Haha, in the E-3 days, that was splurging 🙂
You Mean Hank Dietles??
You talking about Silver Spring, MD??
My Grandmother lived at the end (well almost) of Forrest Glenn Rd up by Colesville and University in the Four Corners area before and AFTER the Beltway was built.
You must be thinking of the B&O Railroad station down by Walter Reed? At least in that area.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/06/08/dietles-the-tavern-that-time-forgot/21b481c6-b154-4282-b048-324779c178b9/
Haha, yes, that’s the place, Hank Dietles was right next door to Danny’s. Hank had another bar on the Rockville Pike, as well.
We were so poor that we lived on Flower Ave in Takoma Park, just below Piney Branch… and managed to save money on PFC pay.
Danny Gatton used to play live over at Fat Boys Pizza, across the street from Fontana Bowlarama. He was beyond amazing and had electronic gadgets to make it sound like there were two guitar players at the same time.
Wow well I’ll assume you’re a few years older, my other grandmother lived off Flower Ave until about 1970 ish when she moved to Hillendale. Yep Diedles is still on the Pike but burned a few years ago but was rebuilt.
I hung out all over Sligo Creek and the Boys Club down from Holy Cross Hospital. Bout until the late 1970s.
Small world. I haunt west Baltimore in the Country these days just near where I-70 ends . Are used to laugh when I would get in the car and drive to work towards DC in the morning and see the sign 2280 miles to Cove Fort Utah. Some days I used to wonder if I just went straight.
Old Montgomery County is scary these days. MS-13 and infiltration from less than savory folk.
Meh, Merry Landz. 😛
Yeah, there are quite a few of us old silver backs on TAH.
We used to go camping at Solomon’s Island before they built the Governor Thomas bridge–and I know that you know that story.
Had some friends in Hillendale. Junior Kline (before the Recliners) used to live there. Sligo Creek Park is still beautiful.
October was my favorite month in Maryland, good sailing, the boat shows, harvest festivals, colors and the transition into fall was easy living.
Ah heck… I-70 didn’t go to Baltimore, yet and BWI was still Friendship. I still have a VFR sectional navigation chart of the old airport and used to fly down there from New Cumberland, PA Good lawd, I am geezing!
Indeed, we were both living there at the same time.