Saturday, February 06, 2010

Time to start that soup...

The oxtail package is no longer a brick. Now to start that pot of soup going and let it simmer for hours, until not only is the meat falling off the bone, but the bones themselves are falling apart. Just in time, too, as we're down to the last tub from last weekend's batch.

However, if this winter keeps dumping snow on us, I'm going to need to broaden my "storm soup" repertoire. This veggie-beef stuff is yummy, warming and a complete meal (protein, veggies, carbs from the barley), but a bit of variety wouldn't be a bad thing.

3 comments:

calpitt said...

pretty please can i have the oxtail soup reciepe?

Maureen said...

Mom's Veggie-Beef Soup w/ Oxtail

Start with 3-4 lbs. of oxtail, trimming as much fat as you can. If you can't find it or the price is too high, use about 1 lb. of stew beef, beef for kebabs or similar.

Brown the meat in a soup pot, then add 2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, a bay leaf, 2 beef bouillon cubes, a teaspoon or two of sugar (to cut the tomato acid), a bit of minced garlic, and chopped celery & onion. Throw in about 1/2 lb. of shredded cabbage, 1/3 c. uncooked barley, and some cut-up carrots if you like.

Let it all simmer for at least an hour, then add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (16 oz or more). I've also thrown in some sliced raw zucchini at this point.

Simmer at least another hour, though if you're using oxtail, longer is definitely better. The longer you let it simmer, the more readily the meat will fall off the bone. If you use oxtail instead of boneless beef, you'll want to skim the fat off the top.

Enjoy!

Maureen said...

Important recipe addendum:

I forgot to include that, once you get the first batch of stuff into the pot for the first hour of simmering, make sure you have enough liquid (soup stock, veggie broth, water...) to cover everything before you let it simmer that first hour or so.