Vegetable Beef Soup / Beef Ragout

Vegetable Beef Soup / Beef Ragout 

Ingredients:

2 - 4 lbs Stew meat (chuck roast, marbled and cut across grain)

2 Onions diced

6-8 Cloves Garlic minced

3 Tbsp Salt

2 cups Water (for meat to simmer)

1/4 cup Oil (avocado or olive oil)

3 cups Carrots diced

3 cups Celery diced

1/2 Red Bell Pepper diced/minced

1/2 Green Bell Pepper diced/minced

4-5 cups Mushrooms sliced

5 cups Red Potatoes (diced small in 2 cups water to keep from turning brown. Both diced potatoes and water Will be added to soup)

10 Cups Water

1/8 -1/4 cup Oil

1/3 - 1/2 cup Wondra Flour

(Heat oil, toast flour, stirring continually till lightly toasted. Cool a little and carefully mix in to soup to thicken broth)

1 cup Sour Cream

3-4 cups Zucchini/crook neck squash diced

4-5 cups Broccoli florets

4-5 cups Asparagus bite size pieces

1 bunch Italian Parsley stemmed and minced

Instructions:

1) Sauté beef, onions and minced garlic approximately 25 to 30 minutes stirring as needed. Monitoring moisture evaporation to avoid burning. 

2) Season with 1-2 Tbsp Celtic Sea Salt, add 2 to 3 cups of water and simmer till meat softens. 10-20 minutes, cover and set aside. I keep it simmering for how ever long it takes for meat to be tender. Sometimes it takes longer than estimated times...

3) heat 1/4 oil and sauté 3 cups diced carrots, 3 cups diced celery, 1/2 red and 1/2 green pepper minced (approximately 1 cup minced peppers total) 4-5 cups sliced mushrooms for approximately 10-13 minutes.

4) Add sautéed/simmering beef, diced potatoes/water and 10 cups water to sautéing vegetables, bring to a boil and then back heat down to a steady simmer. Add 1 cup sour cream and stir continuing simme, occasionally stirring soup until potatoes are softened... Approx 20 minutes.

5) In separate pot, heat 1/8-1/4 cup oil, add 1/3 cup wondra flour and stir and toast flour for 2 or 3 minutes for rue to thicken soup.

6) Remove from heat and add approx 7 cups of broth from soup, stirring with a whisk, scraping out rue from edges of pot and stirring till all rue is incorporated into the broth and broth is like gravy.

7) Carefully pour thickened broth back into soup and stir it thoroughly into soup.

8) Taste broth and add more salt for desired flavor.

9) Add 5 cups broccoli florets, zucchini/crook neck squash combo, asparagus bites, stir and allow to simmer only another couple minutes. Turn off heat and let set for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

10) Taste broth, adjusting salt and and scoop into mason jars, cap and cool in sink filled with cold water as quickly as possible to reduce softening of vegetables. It is really nice when the broccoli, zucchini and asparagus retain a little bit of a crunch factor. Refrigerate and enjoy!!

Cut meat into bite size pieces across the grain. 

Sauté beef, onions and minced garlic approximately 25 to 30 minutes stirring as needed. Monitoring moisture evaporation to avoid burning. Season with 1 tablespoon Osem Consome or 3 Knorr Chicken Bouillons, add 2 to 3 cups of water and simmer till meat softens. 10-20 minutes, cover and set aside.

heat 1/4 oil and sauté 3 cups diced carrots, 3 cups diced celery, 1/2 red and 1/2 green pepper minced (approximately 1 cup minced peppers total) 4-5 cups sliced mushrooms for approximately 10-13 minutes.

Add sautéed/simmering beef, diced potatoes/water and 10 cups water to sautéing vegetables, bring to a boil and then back heat down to a steady simmer. Add 1 cup sour cream and stir continuing to simmer. Stir soup until potatoes are softened... 10 to 20 minutes.

To make rue to thicken soup, sauté flour in oil till toasted, add
approximately 4 cups of soup broth and stir till thickened and
smooth. Add to soup. Sometimes I add the sour cream to this
sauce/gravy before adding back into the soup. 

When the broccoli stems are nice and big, I peel and dice them into the soup. 

Broccoli, Zucchini, Yellow Crookneck Squash and asparagus
should remain firm. Be careful to not overcook. 

Serve soup quickly after making or cool and store quickly
to keep vegetables from turning to mush.

Asparagus gets soft very quickly.
I add the asparagus at the very end to retain its crispness.

I try to fill 2, 3 and 4 cup portions into mason jars as quickly as possible
in my attempt to maintain crispness of veggies. I fill my sink with cold water
and immerse tightly capped bottles to cool quickly for storage in refrigerator.
The soup keeps longer, reduces odor in fridge and also is very handy for lunches
and sharing with friends and family. 

Yum! soo very good... Enjoy!