Soup to Nuts

When the frost is on the pumpkin, then it’s time for the soup bumpkin ... OK, I’m not quite a bumpkin, but my wife does accuse me of overcooking my vegetable-beef soup. She makes a delicious, fresh, crisp version of said soup, whereas mine tends to be comfortably overdone almost to the point of mushiness. So let me give my version here and she can riposte me later in this blog (actually, it would be higher up). I consider a few things to be essential to a good vegetable soup … lots of meaty beef shank bones with plenty of marrow … and cabbage. Both provide the essence of vegetable soup. After that, there is lots of leeway as to what goes in this soup. Here’s how I make it:

In a large pot place about a quarter cup of good olive oil. Heat this up and add three or four meaty beef shank bones (well salted and peppered) and maybe a few more just plain marrow bones. When this is well browned, add two large diced onions, four minced garlic cloves, three or four diced carrots, an equal number of diced celery stalks, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Stir this around to brown lightly. Next fill this pot to 2/3rds full with cold water. Follow this with at least a quarter of a cabbage head shredded. (This can be a Savoy cabbage … but not a red cabbage.)

Add a handful of salt, about five allspice berries, seven peppercorns, three bay leaves and a bouquet garni. Bring this up to a slow boil, cover, and simmer about an hour until the meat starts to tenderize. And then add about four cleaned and diced Russet potatoes. Cook about another 15 minutes. It is now time for the rest of the vegetables. I like string beans, wax beans, broccoli, zucchini, fresh peas (if available), and a can of good crushed tomatoes (Muir Glen). I don’t like to add any peppers, corn, or turnips as I think they add a slightly bitter taste to things. The amount of the vegetables I mentioned will depend on how much room you have in the pot. (At this point you can add pasta or noodles ... but don't go overboard. I would suggest orzo , broken-up capellini or schnittnudeln.) Now, here is where my wife and I diverge. She would cook it only for about five or ten more minutes. I like to cook it for about another half hour.

When fully cooked, remove the shank and marrow bones and de-bone, de-gristle, and chop up the meat and clean out the bones’ marrow. Add all these good things back into the soup and remove the bouquet garni and the bay leaves. Now, comes my secret. (Don’t tell my wife.) I like to add about a quarter to a half cup of Heinz tomato catsup. Mix well and serve hot with lots of crusty bread and butter. It should serve a small army. And I think you will find that it tastes even better reheated the next day.

Meat Loaf

There must be ten thousand good meat loaf recipes. Mine is unique only in a few ways, but I like it and I think you will too.

First the meat: a mélange of ½ pound of ground beef, ½ pound of ground pork and ½ pound of ground veal is certainly a winner. However, if your taste runs to all beef … cajole your butcher into grinding you 1 ½ pounds of beef neck meat. It’s the sweetest and tastiest of all the beef cuts. A German butcher in New York City put me onto this trick and I think he was the only man I was ever tempted to run away with.

Next make the meat extenders:
- Chop and sauté one medium Bermuda onion in good olive oil until mahogany in color … adding toward the end two minced garlic cloves or ½ teaspoon of garlic powder. Also add two big pinches of Kosher salt and two grinds of black pepper. Let cool.
- Cut the crusts off of two slices of sturdy white bread and dice into ½ inch cubes. Soak this bread along with seven or eight cut-up dried mushrooms (Polish is best) in enough milk to cover and let stand until all milk is absorbed..
- In a dry non-stick frying pan heat six generous marrowed bones, turning frequently until the marrow browns and starts to loosen from the bone. Cool and scoop out this marrow into a small bowl. Save the fat in the frying pan to make the meat loaf gravy.
- Whisk one large egg (two eggs if you like your meat loaf “tight”) in a bowl along with six`squirts of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon of dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon of fresh), two more pinches of Kosher salt and two more grinds of pepper.

Combine all the above with the meat in a large bowl and mix well with your impeccably clean hands. Butter the bottom and sides of a square oven-proof dish (rectangular is better) that fits into your toaster oven (or you can use your regular oven). Preheat this oven to 350 degrees. Place the meat mixture in this dish and flatten out the top. Put about ½ a bottle of Heinz’s chili sauce on top of this meat loaf and place it in the oven for about 45 minutes (alternate topping – cover with three thin slices of good Swiss cheese.)

Remove from the oven and let stand for about twenty minutes. Then pour off any fat and juices from around the sides of the meat loaf into the frying pan that cooked the marrow bones. Add an equal amount of flour or Wondra and heat until all the fat is absorbed and the flour is light tan. While still on the heat, add some good beef stock and stir well until this gravy reaches the consistency you prefer. Correct the salt and pepper seasoning, perhaps adding a bit of Magi and marjoram to your taste. Stir and heat further briefly.

Serve this meat loaf and gravy with mashed or escalloped potatoes and briefly-cooked fresh peas (with butter and a bit of chopped-up fresh mint). You might also enjoy a bit of prepared horseradish with your meat. Enjoy.