Grandma Rose's Beef Soup
My Grandma on my Dad's side, made this soup -- sorta. I've since have tried variations such as my Mom's recipe, and the Culinary Institute of America's. I've settled on this, and I'll explain some of the changes. I also talk a lot about preserving flavor in this recipe, which is a little misleading -- it's a very rich soup, actually. But I've been chasing after a specific flavor, and studying this basic of basic soup recipes for all its nuances. Grandma's was always very crystal-clear, rich, and meaty with a slight tomato "kick". No one in my family has been able to duplicate her recipe exactly -- even when she instructed us, by our side.
3-5 lbs soup bones, at least 1 lb of which is a beef shank. (My Dad loved the beef that was cooked down in this soup -- and so do I. A beef shank provides meat, bone, and marrow, so it adds lots of great flavor, and the slow-cooking breaks down the shank meat really well. I personally also use Oxtail in the bone mix, which provides the most beef flavor of all cuts.)
1 4 oz can of tomato paste
2 or 3 good-sized carrots, cut into thirds
2 or 3 stalks celery, cut into thirds
1 large onion, cut into eighths
Pre-heat an oven to 425 F.
Layer the bottom of a quarter- or half- roasting pan with the onion and carrots.
Coat the bones and shank with the tomato paste and place in the roasting pan on top of the vegetables.
Roast for one hour. (This first step of roasting before boiling is a trick I learned not just from the Culinary Institute cookbook, but Cooks Illustrated suggests it with the oxtail for the beefiest-flavored gravy for a roast beef.)
Get out a 10- 12-quart soup pot. Dump the roasted bones, meat and vegetables into the pot, and cover with 6 to 8 quarts of COLD water. (Cold water really is important here -- it helps dissolve certain flavors into the soup. Make sure you get all the brown bits out of your roasting pan and into the soup, these also add flavor.)
OPTIONAL: Leave out the tomato paste before roasting. Instead, substitute peeled tomato halves but don't roast them. After roasting the bones, add the tomatoes to the pot to boil with the rest of the soup:
Add the celery.
Add 5 to 15 whole black peppercorns.
Add 2 to 3 whole bay leaves.
Add about 2 tsp salt.
OPTIONAL: 1/4 head of cabbage. (Grandma and Mom used cabbage in their soups HOWEVER, as pointed out by MANY soup experts, cabbage works only when added and cooked at the end. If you cook it too long, cabbage will add a sulfur smell and taste which actually bitters and sours the soup. So, my advise is, if you want to add cabbage, is wait until you want to serve the soup and cook the cabbage with the soup then; never let cabbage cook with the soup before you store it in the fridge.)
Simmer on low to medium/low for 3 to 4 hours so that it comes to a boil, but not a sustained roiling boil, and all your liquid doesn't evaporate away. This soup requires SLOW cooking to break down the connective tissue in the beef shank, and not evaporate or burn off all the flavor away.
OPTIONAL: My grandma always watched the soup, and skimmed off the "scum" that floated to the top. This makes it more of a clear consomme without having to do much clarification. My Mom always let everything boil without skimming -- she claims: because skimming takes all the vitamins away. I let everything boil with only minor skimming (honestly, my soups rarely have ever produced enough scum to skim off) -- besides, with the pre-roasting, everything becomes "scum" -- so trying to define what is "scum" and what is added flavor is a little more difficult. I think if you skip the roasting part, you'd have more scum to skim off...
Finally, when it's all "soup", pull out all the vegetables and bones, and strain through a very-fine mesh strainer (preferably a chinois or cheesecloth-strainer)... I like to reserve the beef shank beef and the carrots for re-adding to the strained soup. If you used tomato halves instead of the tomato paste, pull these out and re-add these to the soup after straining, too. (Also, some people like bone-marrow.... I just don't know what to do with what hasn't dissolved into the soup... Isn't it, like, high in cholesterol or something? The French, and some gourmand foodies would probably go bonkers to know I simply throw it out with the bone. C'est la vie!)
Finally, let the soup cool and rest for a few minutes while the fat rises to the surface. Use a ladle to carefully "grab" the surface fat and use a degreasing cup or degreaser to separate the excess fat from the soup. You can also simply containerize and cool the soup in the fridge, and remove the fat when it solidifies on top.
Clarification: If you're looking for a consomme, consult Julia Child on how to clarify a broth. This soup makes an excellent beefy-tomato consomme. If you don't skim, you'll need to clarify the broth. If you're going to use this as a soup, you don't need to clarify the broth.
Containerize and store in the fridge or freezer as you see fit.
When you're ready to serve, add capellini or angel-hair pasta to the soup and bring JUST to a boil to cook the pasta, and warm the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste -- or better yet, let your guests add it themselves. NEVER bring a homemade soup to a roiling boil when re-heating. This "burns" the flavor-oils and fresh aromas away, and is never desireable.
OPTIONAL: Adding a dash or two of DRY RED wine to the soup when re-heating also helps revive some flavor....
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: We'd also have on hand some cheeses that paired well with Grandma's soup that we'd either add, cubed, or in slices, or simply ate while we ate the soup; usually either a muenster or provolone, but any similar white cheese will probably do just nicely... MMMMM, wonder what a Cacio di Roma il Tartufo would be like?!
3-5 lbs soup bones, at least 1 lb of which is a beef shank. (My Dad loved the beef that was cooked down in this soup -- and so do I. A beef shank provides meat, bone, and marrow, so it adds lots of great flavor, and the slow-cooking breaks down the shank meat really well. I personally also use Oxtail in the bone mix, which provides the most beef flavor of all cuts.)
1 4 oz can of tomato paste
2 or 3 good-sized carrots, cut into thirds
2 or 3 stalks celery, cut into thirds
1 large onion, cut into eighths
Pre-heat an oven to 425 F.
Layer the bottom of a quarter- or half- roasting pan with the onion and carrots.
Coat the bones and shank with the tomato paste and place in the roasting pan on top of the vegetables.
Roast for one hour. (This first step of roasting before boiling is a trick I learned not just from the Culinary Institute cookbook, but Cooks Illustrated suggests it with the oxtail for the beefiest-flavored gravy for a roast beef.)
Get out a 10- 12-quart soup pot. Dump the roasted bones, meat and vegetables into the pot, and cover with 6 to 8 quarts of COLD water. (Cold water really is important here -- it helps dissolve certain flavors into the soup. Make sure you get all the brown bits out of your roasting pan and into the soup, these also add flavor.)
OPTIONAL: Leave out the tomato paste before roasting. Instead, substitute peeled tomato halves but don't roast them. After roasting the bones, add the tomatoes to the pot to boil with the rest of the soup:
Add the celery.
Add 5 to 15 whole black peppercorns.
Add 2 to 3 whole bay leaves.
Add about 2 tsp salt.
OPTIONAL: 1/4 head of cabbage. (Grandma and Mom used cabbage in their soups HOWEVER, as pointed out by MANY soup experts, cabbage works only when added and cooked at the end. If you cook it too long, cabbage will add a sulfur smell and taste which actually bitters and sours the soup. So, my advise is, if you want to add cabbage, is wait until you want to serve the soup and cook the cabbage with the soup then; never let cabbage cook with the soup before you store it in the fridge.)
Simmer on low to medium/low for 3 to 4 hours so that it comes to a boil, but not a sustained roiling boil, and all your liquid doesn't evaporate away. This soup requires SLOW cooking to break down the connective tissue in the beef shank, and not evaporate or burn off all the flavor away.
OPTIONAL: My grandma always watched the soup, and skimmed off the "scum" that floated to the top. This makes it more of a clear consomme without having to do much clarification. My Mom always let everything boil without skimming -- she claims: because skimming takes all the vitamins away. I let everything boil with only minor skimming (honestly, my soups rarely have ever produced enough scum to skim off) -- besides, with the pre-roasting, everything becomes "scum" -- so trying to define what is "scum" and what is added flavor is a little more difficult. I think if you skip the roasting part, you'd have more scum to skim off...
Finally, when it's all "soup", pull out all the vegetables and bones, and strain through a very-fine mesh strainer (preferably a chinois or cheesecloth-strainer)... I like to reserve the beef shank beef and the carrots for re-adding to the strained soup. If you used tomato halves instead of the tomato paste, pull these out and re-add these to the soup after straining, too. (Also, some people like bone-marrow.... I just don't know what to do with what hasn't dissolved into the soup... Isn't it, like, high in cholesterol or something? The French, and some gourmand foodies would probably go bonkers to know I simply throw it out with the bone. C'est la vie!)
Finally, let the soup cool and rest for a few minutes while the fat rises to the surface. Use a ladle to carefully "grab" the surface fat and use a degreasing cup or degreaser to separate the excess fat from the soup. You can also simply containerize and cool the soup in the fridge, and remove the fat when it solidifies on top.
Clarification: If you're looking for a consomme, consult Julia Child on how to clarify a broth. This soup makes an excellent beefy-tomato consomme. If you don't skim, you'll need to clarify the broth. If you're going to use this as a soup, you don't need to clarify the broth.
Containerize and store in the fridge or freezer as you see fit.
When you're ready to serve, add capellini or angel-hair pasta to the soup and bring JUST to a boil to cook the pasta, and warm the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste -- or better yet, let your guests add it themselves. NEVER bring a homemade soup to a roiling boil when re-heating. This "burns" the flavor-oils and fresh aromas away, and is never desireable.
OPTIONAL: Adding a dash or two of DRY RED wine to the soup when re-heating also helps revive some flavor....
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: We'd also have on hand some cheeses that paired well with Grandma's soup that we'd either add, cubed, or in slices, or simply ate while we ate the soup; usually either a muenster or provolone, but any similar white cheese will probably do just nicely... MMMMM, wonder what a Cacio di Roma il Tartufo would be like?!