A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Our Favorite Recipes Super easy Soup base

so, i posted about a super easy soup base, and figured i'd post it here, just in case someone wants some homemade soup. it is starting to get to be that time in some areas.

real simple.

put your meat of choice in a large-ish pot, either a boiler or dutch oven, cover with water. this works with beef, pork, chicken, lamb, or fish.

add one onion (or the equivalent of onion flakes or powder - i usually use flakes), chopped well,

add 1-2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp minced garlic or the equivalent of garlic powder, i usually use powder)

add pepper and a splash (less than 1/4 cup) soy sauce.

bring to hard boil then simmer until meat is tender.

when the meat is tender, salt to taste. don't salt before because the soy has salt.

i'm lazy and don't chop the meat until it is already cooked, but you can use pre-cubed meat if you like.

when the meat is tender add:

noodles for noodle soup (bring back to boil before adding noodles, cook according to directions on noodle package)

veggies, tomato sauce, and chopped potatoes for stew

heavy cream and shredded cheddar cheese for "cream of whatever" soup.

canned veggies and flour to thicken for pot-pie

canned biscuit pieces for "dumplings" or frozen dumplings

or, just use your imagination!

Here's an idea for soup meat if you just want to freeze the stock:

Soup Meat Salad

I use a chuck roast for beef soup. Even though it can be fatty, it makes great soup/salad.

Remove soup meat. While still warm, shred the beef [or cut into small cubes]. Thinly slice some red onion, chopped, flat parsley, and garlic slivers. Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. It's very tasty when it stands awhile and tossed so that flavors blend well.

With warm, crisped baguettes or French bread and butter [or your own homemade!], this leftover is a meal in itself!