Really Quick Vegetable Soup

Homemade soup in less than an hour.  It may sound impossible, but if you’re willing to cheat just a little bit, you can do it.

You probably appreciate a soup simmered lovingly for hours, the kind that makes you think of those cold days when you came home after school to a house filled with the fragrance of a rich soup.  The salty smell of celery, the sweet hint of onions and carrots and the smoky perfume of a ham bone combined with basil and pepper still take me back to when I was a kid.  Maybe that’s why I like soup so much.

But like me you may  also find yourself hungry for a good soup when you need to put a meal on the table in less than an hour.  You could open a can of vegetable soup and follow the directions, but you can make a better one for less money with only a little more more work.

You do have to cheat by starting with a can of beef broth, but the result is a really good vegetable soup that you can serve in less than an hour.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can beef broth
1/2 can water
1/4 medium onion (about 1/3 cup chopped)
2 medium carrots
2 ribs of celery
1 small potato (2 1/2 to 3 inches)
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash of cloves
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tsp. cornstarch stirred into cold water
1/2 cup chopped ham or sausage (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Put the can of beef broth in a two quart sauce pan and add a half can of water.  Put over moderate heat.  Peel and chop the onion.  Scrape and wash the carrots, cut them in half lengthwise and chop them.  Clean and chop the celery into 1/4 inch pieces.  Peel or scrub and dice the potato.  I normally leave the skin on.  Add the vegetables to the broth as you finish chopping them.  Bring the soup to a boil and turn down to simmer.  Stir in the basil, salt, cloves and pepper.

Allow the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.  Mix two teaspoons corn starch into two or three tablespoons of cold water and stir into the soup.  Bring back to the simmer and cook for one or two minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary before serving.

If you wish, add some chopped ham or sausage while the soup is simmering.

NOTE:  This recipe makes four servings.  If you need more, just adjust the ingredients and the size of the sauce pan or soup kettle.

For a gluten free soup, be sure to use pure cornstarch.

Corn Meal Griddle Cakes

One bright summer morning a few years ago our seven-year-old grandson ate eight corn meal griddle cakes with butter and warm maple syrup.  Where they went, we still do not know.  There were no noticeable bulges as he headed down to the brook to continue the hydraulic engineering project begun the day before.  Maybe they were immediately turned into energy.  After more rocks had been arranged in the water and the effects of different arrangements had been evaluated, he came back for more of “Grandpa’s pancakes” for lunch. 

Occasionally someone will tell me that they really do not like things made with corn meal.  Then I usually make ordinary buttermilk pancakes as well as the corn meal cakes.  If they follow my suggestion to try the corn meal cakes, they nearly always end up eating a couple more.  These cakes really are good. 

The recipe comes from a wonderful cookbook given to us by my mother and father-in-law shortly after we were married.  Jerri was born into a Mennonite family filled with good cooks and people who appreciated good food.   The book is  Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter, and it’s filled with many traditional Mennonite recipes.  The recipe for corn meal griddle cakes is one of my favorites.

Even if you are not a fancier of corn meal cakes, give this recipe a try for a hearty Saturday breakfast.  The cakes are light with a delightful texture and flavor.  Serve them with butter, warm maple syrup and side orders of bacon or sausage.

INGREDIENTS:

2  to 2 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 egg yolks
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup corn meal
1 cup white flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 egg whites

PROCEDURE:

Beat the eggs whites until stiff peaks form.  Melt the butter in a small pan on low heat on the stove or in a small container in your microwave oven.  Sift the white flour, measure one cup into sifter again.  Add the baking powder, soda, salt, sugar  and corn meal.  Sift again.  Beat the eggs until lemon yellow, add 2 cups buttermilk and stir to blend.  Then add the dry ingredients and beat until smooth.  If the batter seems too stiff, add extra buttermilk.  Add the melted butter and stir.  Then fold in the beaten egg whites.  Bake on a hot (350 degrees) griddle.  

Yields about 16 four inch cakes.  I often make a double batch; they respond well to being warmed in the microwave.