Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup

 “Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas.  Book come out, please, please, please!”  That phrase of Princess Pea’s from Super Why has been haunting me like the March of the Toreadors, It’s a Small World and the music from Peter & the Wolf.  Don’t you just hate when a song gets stuck in your head and drives you crazy?  So you ask why is that phrase haunting me?  Well this month for the Improv Cooking Challenge our hostess Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker has challenged the participating bloggers to make any recipe of their choosing using the two specified ingredients of, you guessed it, peas & carrots, carrots & peas, let me figure this out, please, please, please! 

If you don’t have a child or have never seen Super Why, what happens is that Whyatt, the main character gets a call on his computer in which he discovers that one of the other characters has a "super big problem". After investigating the problem Whyatt calls on all the "Super Readers" to come to the Book Club.  There the four characters, Whyatt, Pig, Red Riding Hood, and Princess Pea gather.  Whyatt plugs in his Super Duper Computer and uploads data about the problem and they all discuss it.  Once the problem is discussed, Whyatt says, "When we have a question, we look ... in a book!" Pig always asks, "Which book should we look in?" and in response, Princess Pea casts a magic spell to summon the appropriate book: “Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas.  Book come out, please, please, please!”  The book then magically descends from the shelves.  Whyatt, invites the audience to read along, summarizes the problem faced by the book's characters and drawing a parallel to the problem the Super Readers are trying to solve. The Super Readers follow the storyline to solve the problem applying their literacy skills to change the story when needed to overcome any obstacles.  Throughout the story they are rewarded with red glittery "Super Letters" which are uploaded into the Super Duper Computer, eventually forming the words that make up the solution to the "super big problem."  Yes I know, for those of you who have never experienced the show you now feel like you have a “super big problem” and have missed out…or maybe I have a “super big problem” as I know oh-too much about this show.  I’m just glad that Maisie’s outgrown the show…even if it is still haunting me there’s hope that the haunting will end. 

So now that you’ve read this far, let me tell you that I could have used Whyatt, the Super Readers and a magical book as I was at a complete loss as to what to make using peas & carrots.  That was until I had my DUH… moment.  I seriously for an entire month had been wondering what on earth to make using peas and carrots and then I just wasn’t feeling well, our weather was cold and stormy and I wanted to make some comforting soup, my Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup.  I was writing out my shopping list, beef, split peas, barley, string beans, yellow squash, parsnips, carrots, lima beans, mushrooms… and light dawned on Marblehead… peas & carrots, carrots & peas, I had found my recipe, please, please, please!

My Mom doesn’t remember if it was her Mom or my Dad’s Mom who originally made this soup but either way it’s been made my entire life and has always been a favorite of mine.  Of course the recipe below can be cut down but just like my Mom does, I make the recipe as written which makes a huge, and I mean HUGE pot of soup.  I then freeze individual sized portions so that anytime I crave this delicious, comforting soup, it’s there in the freezer, ready to be eaten after just a few minutes of defrosting and heating in the microwave.  

Peas & carrots, carrots & peas, try & enjoy this soup, please, please, please!!

Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup

• 6 lbs. beef (flanken, beef short ribs, chuck steak)
• 2 – 3 lbs. beef marrow bones (optional)
• 1 lb. dried split green peas
• 1/3 lb. barley
• 6 oz. dried baby lima beans
• 1 1/2 lbs. fresh string beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 lbs. fresh baby carrots, cut into coins
• 3 lbs. fresh yellow summer squash, cut into half rounds
• 3 small fresh parsnips, peeled & cut into coins
• 1 lb. fresh white button mushrooms, sliced
• Better than Bouillon beef soup base
• sea salt to taste

In a very large stock pot add the meat and marrow bones and cover with 3x the depth of water.  Add the peas, barley & lima beans to a cheesecloth or put into a colander and suspend into the water.  Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook at a simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the meat is tender and the peas, barley & lima beans are soft.  Skim the soup as needed.  Once everything is soft, empty the contents of the cheesecloth/colander into the beef stock and add the string beans, carrots, summer squash, parsnips, mushrooms and soup base to taste.  Simmer until the vegetables are cooked and soup has thickened to desired consistency.  Add salt to taste. 

Enjoy!

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

February 2013  Hearts & Flours:  Three Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites
January 2013  Bananas & Nutmeg:  Baked Bananas 
December 2012  Chocolate & Marshmallows:  White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark    
November 2012  Sweet Potatoes & honey: Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp 
October 2012  Oatmeal & Raisins:  S’mores Granola Bars   
September 2012  Zucchini & Brown Sugar:  Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar 
August 2012  Tomatoes & Peppers:  French Fries Hash Browns 
July 2012  Corn & Butter:  Fritos Crusted Pollock 
June 2012  Cherries & Almonds:  Dried Cherry Almond Tart 
May 2012  Strawberries & Cream:  Strawberry Soup 
April 2012  Peanut butter & Jelly:  Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars 
March 2012  Potato & Cheese:  Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole 
February 2012  Ginger & Carrots:  Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing 
January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream:  Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart 
December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries:  Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter 
November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese:  Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake
October 2011 Caramel & Apples:  Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Aloo Tikki

Here we are already at the third month of the Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted by Tina of Moms Crazy Cooking.  Each month she challenges participating bloggers to search non-celebrity blogs looking for the ultimate recipe of the month and then to make and feature that recipe and the blog.  The first month we were challenged to find the ultimate mac & cheese recipe and I made a delicious Velvety Mac & Cheese.  Last month the challenge was chocolate chip cookies and for me, my ultimate was Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, truly delicious. 

This month we were challenged to find the ultimate mashed potato recipe.  Sounded simple enough as everyone seems to have what they consider a wonderful mashed potato recipe but as I was reading through all the various recipes, nothing struck me.  Don’t get me wrong, they all sounded delicious, some with simple additions some with a myriad of ingredients, butter, cream cheese, sour cream, bacon, garlic, herbs and spices but just nothing called to me.  So I looked in a different direction and there were cakes and brownies which had mashed potatoes as one of the ingredients but still, I was uninspired.   Then it happened, I was having lunch with a friend and was happily enjoying some Aloo Tikki,  It struck me, Aloo Tikki are essentially wonderfully seasoned mashed potatoes fried up into little patties, Brilliant!  I was finally inspired so off I went looking for the my ultimate mashed potato recipe in the form of Aloo Tikki and I found it at Arundhuti’s My Saffron Kitchen.  The recipe was simple and the pictures captivating so I was ready to cook…well once I picked up some potatoes. 

I changed the spices in the recipe somewhat to utilize what I had available at home and also to adjust it to my tastes and in the end I have to say, I made some ultimate Aloo Tikki and and I think they qualify as the ultimate mashed potato recipe of the month.  If you think so too, I’d appreciate your vote on the links below.  I hope too that you’ll give Aloo Tikki a try and remember if you have some regular mashed potatoes, they could easily be used as the base for these.

My beautiful Maisie Miao Miao helped by mashing the boiled potatoes.

We mixed all the ingredients together in one big bowl and then using a large cookie scoop I portioned out the potato mixture.

I patted down the scoops to make patties, each about 1/4-inch thick.

I coated the outside of the patties with a cornmeal & cornstarch mixture.

 In about 1/8-inch of oil, I fried the Aloo Tikki.

 Once browned on the first side I carefully turned and browned the other side.

  Crispy on the outside, creamy spicy potatoes on the inside and the peas have a nice little pop when you bite into them, perfection!

Aloo Tikki  (Adapted  from here)

2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and boiled until easily pierced by a knife
1 cup frozen sweet peas
1 medium onion, finely minced (I used Vidalia)
2 green Thai chilies, seeded and minced finely
1 red Thai chili, seeded and minced finely
2 1/2 tsp. amchur powder (dried mango powder)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 TBS. finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup cornstarch
Oil to shallow fry (I used peanut oil)

Drain and mash the potatoes in a large bowl.  Add the peas, minced onion, minced green & red Thai chilies, amchur powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, grated ginger, fresh cilantro and ground pepper.  Mix well and add salt to taste.  Using a large cookie scoop portion out the potato mixture.  Flatten each ball to approximately 1/4 –inch thick.  In a bowl mix together the cornmeal and cornstarch and then coat each patty lightly with the mixture.  In a large fry pan heat approximately 1/8-inch of oil.  Fry the tikkis on both sides until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil.  Salt if desired and serve hot with ketchup or a chutney of your choice.

Enjoy!