I originally posted much of this in 2010… I can’t believe it’s been so long, and I’ve since removed it for other reasons. Recently, a conversation with my cousin about my grandfather’s vegetable soup sent me scrambling for the recipe, and… as I’ve done some modifications since, I decided to share again.

There is very little I’d rather have on my table at mealtime than a good soup and sandwich combination.

Seriously.

I’d even go so far as to say I’m a sandwich snob when it comes to certain soups. Canned soups, usually Campbells (because, like I said, snobbery) require certain sandwiches to go with them.

Campbells Cream of Mushroom absolutely requires toasted tuna.

Campbells Tomato, Vegetable, and Beef & Barley requires grilled cheese.

Campbells Chicken Noodle, and the much loved Chicken & Dumplings* (Chunky or regular condensed) require ham & cheese.

Campbells Bean & Bacon – rye toast, or toasted tomato.

The sandwich thing is from my grandfather. All of those, barring the Mushroom/tuna combination, are his influence on me. I believe it was ham & cheese with mushroom soup before my ex did something almost totally out of character at the time – he made dinner – mushroom soup and toasted tuna sandwiches. I loved it, and that it’s been ever since. I actually won’t make mushroom soup unless there’s tuna to go with it!

Over the years I’ve learned that soup can extend a meal far beyond what we expect. Roast beef dinner, you say? Well, leftover roast is good for sandwiches, or stew – or soup. The same goes for pretty much all meats. I’ve even made cabbage borscht from leftover venison (a tip from that self-same cousin that sent me in search of the veg soup recipe!).

Homemade soups in our family don’t usually need sandwiches to go along with them. Honestly, most times they are meals in and of themselves, fully packed with all four food groups – or at least three. Have a glass of milk, and you’ve got four.

French Onion ala Jodi

Ingredients
5-6 onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons garlic butter
1/2 cup cheap, cheap red wine
6 cups beef broth
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
French bread, sliced, toasted with garlic spread
1 pound shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions
In a saute pan, melt garlic butter over medium-high heat. Once well melted, add onions and stir regularly, until onions are tender and transparent. Season to taste.

Add wine and simmer for 5-10 minutes, then add beef broth. Bring to a boil, then allow to cool for 10 minutes on low heat.

Ladle soup mixture into individual serving bowls and place a slice of toast on top, making sure the bottom gets well soaked. Cover with shredded cheese and broil, 3 inches below heat, until cheese bubbles and browns lightly.

(This is Care’s favorite soup, next to the tomato mac below.)

Izzy’s Tomato Macaroni Soup

Ingredients
lean beef simmering ribs, 1 lb
5 quarts water
4-5 large onions, quartered then sliced thin
5 whole black peppercorns
1/4 c star anise seed (whole stars preferred, definitely not ground)
2 541ml cans diced tomatoes
1 lg can tomato juice
precooked and cooled elbow macaroni (ready cut spaghetti preferred, but not available in Canada any more)

Directions
Make a stock with the beef ribs, onions, peppercorns and star anise seed and water. Remove the ribs when they’ve cooked through, refrigerate until cool enough to work with.

Add the tomatoes and juice to the pot and stir well. Once the meat is cool, trim the fat, cut it into small pieces and return to the pot.

Simmer until the onions are well cooked and transparent. To serve, put cold macaroni in bowls, and ladle soup over all. Leave the peppercorns and star anise seed in the soup as garnish and to continue to season the broth – these can be removed from the serving bowls.

(My favorite Izzy soup, but not as favorite as Grandpa’s Veg, below!)

Grandpa’s Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Day before:

Lean Beef Simmering Ribs, 1 1/2 lb
10 quarts water

Day of:

1 medium cabbage, shredded
1 medium turnip (rutabaga), shredded
4 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped
6 carrots, shredded
6 medium/large potatoes, shredded
1 can gr. beans
1 can y. beans
1 can lima beans
1 can peas
1 can corn
1/2 c okra
1/4 c dry pot barley

Directions
Make the stock using lean beef simmering ribs. When the meat is cooked well, the stock is ready. Remove the ribs, and skim off any greyish foam that’s risen (this doesn’t always happen). Now, let this rest, cooling until evening, and then place in the refrigerator.

Next day, carefully skim the fat that’s risen to the top and hardened. Place the stock pot on the stove over medium heat, to heat slowly until you’re ready to put in the vegetables. Trim the fat from the ribs, and then cut the meat into small pieces to put back into the pot.

Put the first five ingredients and the pot barley into the pot, and simmer 15 minutes or so, until the vegetables have started to soften. Next, add the potatoes, and simmer for an hour on medium/low heat.

If you are using fresh or strained, canned vegetables, put them in now, do not raise the heat. If they are frozen – turn the heat up to high, and bring it back to almost a boil.

Simmer on low from here on out, until the pot barley is cooked.

Salt and pepper to taste, only after cooking.

I always told my gramps that when mom made this soup, it didn’t taste right. It only tasted right when HE made it. He told me that was because he stuck his toe in the pot, just before it was finished.

Most kids wouldn’t have believed that, but he went all the way. I walked in one day while he was standing on a chair at the stove, sock off, leg lifted as though he were going to actually stick his old toe into the soup.

Seriously.

After that, I didn’t question – cuz I just didn’t want to know – but several years later, Gran told me that he’d only done it for my benefit. The real reason the soup tasted better when he cooked it was that he’d stick his thumb into the pot.

They were both as bad as each other, I think… probably explains a lot about me, actually.

* These aren’t available in Canada, but have been my favorite canned soups since I was a very young girl. LONG time ago. I would do almost anything for a steady, affordable, supply. LOL

Hope you enjoy!
<3 JL