I would like to say, with great and deep sorrow, that I made a pot of the world’s best soup on Sunday, and now it is gone.
Please pause for a moment of silence.
We ate it for dinner on Sunday and it was AMAZING! I dreamed of eating this soup all day on Monday, and I was sad today (Tuesday) because I knew that there was only enough for Lloyd and I to each have half a bowl for dinner.
We all know that I’m no great cook, so it was magic that made this so delicious. Plus, I believe its success relied heavily on the Paula Deen-style influence of using almost an entire stick of butter.
It will never be re-created, but I’d like to write down what happened in case I ever want to try and catch lightening in a bottle again.
- Brown up a thing of stew meat. Season with some Lawry’s. Put into crock pot.
- In the pan used to brown meat, now pour in a little more oil and most of a stick of butter. Add most of a chopped onion and TWO POUNDS of clean button mushrooms, each chopped into six wedges (four if they’re small). This is key – make meaty little wedges. Season with some salt and pepper. Cook this a while so it can slurp up the butter and get soft and wonderful. Throw it in the crock pot.
- Um, a tiny bit of butter in the pan again and cook three chopped-up carrots, some of that celery you froze, and then put in a tablespoon of flour. Putting in the flour at this point is a big mistake because it will get all gloppy on the carrots, but we’re not messing with the magic formula. Then pour in half a box of beef broth. Pour this in the crock pot.
- Add the rest of that thing of diced tomatoes that’s sitting in the fridge.
- Now add…… what?? I forget! This is where the trouble is – I forget the seasonings. I think I sprinkled in some dried thyme, some celery seed and a bunch of regular Mrs. Dash. Oh, and a little rice after it’s been cooking a while. (Just a little rice, though.)
- Let cook in the crock pot many hours.
I remember tasting it before dinner and thinking it was a tad blah and put in a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Was that it? Have I remembered the magic? Mostly likely not.
The peace-day resistance was Lloyd’s suggestion at Wal-Mart when I was debating buying all those mushrooms. “We could top it with some of that English Muffin bread toasted up with cheese on it – like it was French Onion soup.”
That man is a genius! I regret thinking about killing him so I could have the last bowl of soup to myself.