Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Aromatic Beef Soup with Mushrooms and Chard

We are by no means on the full primal plan but we are working to incorporate more of it into our daily routines. Recipes like this from Marks Daily Apple make it pretty easy. This soup is delicious hearty and rich. I diverted from the recipe significantly, mostly due to my lack of short ribs on hand.

From Marks Daily Apple


I did have some beef stock and a stock made with beef pork and lamb that I used to add some extra flavors. I also was not able to find fresh ginger, which was really odd, however I did find some fresh ginger paste in a tube that I used in copious amounts.

I charred the onions as directed and after the onion was nicely charred and added about 4 Tbsp of ginger to the pan to pick up on the char flavor. I added those to my simmering stock, then browned the chuck roast on all sides before adding it to the pot.

Then I added the spices, a cinnamon stick, some toasted fennel, cardamom and mustard seeds to a T-sac , unless they are too small, I use these instead of cheesecloth in any recipe that calls for it. They are incredibly handy.
I let all of that simmer for about 3 hours,removed the spice sack,  then cooled it overnight in the fridge. The next day I skimmed the fat from the top, removed the meat and shredded it before adding it back to the pot and bringing to a boil.
I chopped a bunch of swiss chard and added it to the soup, then added in a small container of sliced mushrooms and a small flat of wild mushrooms. I let it simmer until the chard was wilted and served with a bit of Parmesan cheese. The smell is incredible and the taste is reminiscent of Vietnamese Pho.
Enjoy



2 comments:

A Beer for the Shower said...

I was wondering what this was, but yeah, you sealed the deal when you said pho. Pho is probably one of my favorite meals of all time. I am absolutely going to make this next week.

Mark Strong said...

Indeed, good Pho transcends soup. I don't know how you make broth feel like it has substance but somehow it does. This is not quite there but the smell helps make up for it.