Beef Soup - General Cooking Principles
Soups are an integral part of the table of many national cuisines, and for good reason! After all, they are very useful for our digestive tract. In addition, studies have proven that people who include soups in their daily diets consume fewer calories from a rich broth, and therefore are less prone to obesity. The abundance of soup recipes is simply amazing! What they just do not cook.
Surely, every housewife in the arsenal has at least several recipes for preparing delicious, fragrant beef soups. This type of meat is deservedly attributed to today's popular food products. Beef has good taste and nutritional properties, has a great aroma. It contains a wide range of valuable proteins and a large amount of iron, which is involved in oxygen synthesis. That is why beef soups must be present in the diet of every person.
Depending on the age category of the animal, beef can be tender, like veal, or stiff due to the rough structure of muscle tissue - this is an indicator of the old age of the animal. For soups, it is better to choose the "middle ground", that is, meat of large, but rather young cattle. The most valuable is the meat of one-year-old, well-fed animals, which can be easily recognized by its bright, saturated red color. Too dark color, on the contrary, indicates a rather advanced age of livestock.
Our traditional cuisine welcomes the combination of beef soups with various vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, seasonings, cheese, cereals and even pieces of fruit. It should also be remembered that beef is a durable product, but the cooking time will largely depend on the "youth" and freshness of the meat. To prepare a rich soup, it should be lowered into cold water and cooked from boiling for about an hour and a half, and sliced into pieces - about an hour.
Beef Soup - Food Preparation
As you know, beef is divided into 3 varieties: the highest (chest and back, rump, fillet, rump, rump), the first (flank, shoulder and shoulder areas) and the second (shanks, notch). For soup, it is advisable to use the highest or first grade of meat.
Thawing meat in a microwave or in a basin at room temperature, it should be thoroughly washed under a stream of cool water, cleaned of films, tendons, put in a saucepan and pour a minimal amount of cold water so that a layer of liquid only covers the meat. Beef can also be cut into small pieces, although many chefs do not welcome this rule. It all depends on individual preferences.
Vegetables are prepared as follows: they are thoroughly washed, peeled and seeds (if any) are removed, and upper, spoiled leaves and stalks are removed from white cabbage. Herbal vegetables are rinsed in running water. When slicing, it should be borne in mind that vegetables cut into approximately the same slices look beautiful in a dish and almost simultaneously achieve readiness in the cooking process.
Beef Soup - Cooking Utensils
To prepare the "right" beef soup, you must carefully approach the choice of pots for it. In principle, like any other, meat soup should be cooked in clay, enameled, refractory glass or stone dishes. In no case should you use metal pans without a protective coating. Dishes should be sufficiently thick-walled, chemically neutral and refractory. In addition, beef should be cooked under a closed lid, which protects against excessive boiling and blocks the oxidation of fats in the product.
It is likely that during the cooking process we will need to sauté or fry some ingredients, so stock up on a thick-walled form intended for frying. It can be cast iron, aluminum, Teflon-coated or any other pan adapted for these purposes.
Beef Soup - The Best Recipes
Recipe 1: Beef Soup with Mushrooms
The dish belongs to the category of so-called summer soups. Light, delicate, fragrant! For its preparation, it is best to take mushrooms of the highest grades, for example, porcini. You can use champignons, boletus, or boletus.
Ingredients (on a 3.5 liter pan):
- beef 600 gr.
- mushrooms (peeled) 500 gr.
- potatoes 4-6 pieces
- carrots, onions - one each
- 4-5 peppercorns
- lavrushka, salt, greens
Cooking method:
1. We clean mushrooms (we take only hats from boletus). Cut the plates. Dip them in boiling salted water and cook from the moment of boiling for about 5 minutes. Drain the water, rinse the mushrooms, pour again in boiling water and cook for about 15-20 minutes.
2. Cook the meat in the main pan (in which we will cook the soup), periodically removing the foam. We take out the finished meat with a slotted spoon, cool it and cut it into pieces.
3. We cut onions in half rings, carrots - in strips or in half circles, a little passer in a frying pan. Peeled potatoes cut into strips, can be diced.
4. In the beef broth pour the mushroom broth (along with mushrooms), lay the potatoes, bring to a boil, then lay out the sautéed vegetables, meat, lavrushka, pepper and salt. Cook until potatoes are cooked.
The finished dish should not be removed immediately, but let it sweat a little when the stove is off. Sprinkle with chopped herbs before serving. Season the spread soup in sour cream or butter.
Recipe 2: Beef and Cheese Soup
An exquisite soup that will warm even in the most severe frosts! It belongs to the category of winter first courses, however, on summer weekdays it is also able to give a great mood and vivacity. By the way, any kind of meat is suitable for this recipe. Beef, beef, chicken or game.
Ingredients:
- beef 500 gr.
- 4-5 medium potatoes
- a pair of onion heads
- carrot 1 piece
- a jar of white beans
- processed cheese 2 packs
- one pickled cucumber
- salt, pepper and herbs to taste
Cooking method:
1. Boil the beef in a standard way, remove, cut into pieces.
2. Peel the potatoes, cut them into strips, dip them into the broth (without meat).
3. Peel the carrots and onions. We cut carrots into thin plastics (you can grate them on a coarse grater), cucumber in small pieces, and onions in half rings.
4. Fry vegetables: first onion to a varnish crust, then add carrots and cucumber, close the lid and fry. Do not forget to stir from time to time.
5. While the vegetables were fried, the potatoes boiled. Finely chop the cheese. Put the frying, beans (without liquid), meat and cheese in a pan. Mix everything, salt, pepper to taste, close the soup with a lid and cook until the potatoes are ready.
When the potatoes are cooked, turn off the stove and let the soup stand and soak well, then sprinkle with greens. The dish is ready!
Recipe 3: Beef Kharcho
Traditional Georgian kharcho must necessarily include beef, tkemali and walnuts. But there are actually many options for preparing this dish. For example, it is permissible to replace tkemali with tomatoes or pomegranate; you can not use nuts. We will describe below a method of making kharcho with the replacement of some ingredients (since they are more affordable) - its reworked version, but just as tasty and piquant.
Ingredients:
- beef (brisket) 500 gr.
- water 10 glasses
- 3-4 large onion heads
- rice for soups 4 table. l
- tomatoes 600-700 gr.
- bay leaf
- pepper peas 5-6 peas
- red peppers to taste
- suneli hops
- cilantro (greens) 3-4 branches
- parsley, dill, 2 branches, garlic, salt
Cooking method:
1. Beef brisket cut into slices, fill with water, cook until half cooked, constantly removing foam.
2. Finely chop the onion, put in a pan and simmer it in the fat removed from the broth for ten minutes.
3. Pieces of meat are removed with a slotted spoon from the broth and add them to the onion, close the lid, simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add pre-scalded and peeled tomatoes without a peel (peel is very easily removed from such tomatoes). Stew for another 15 minutes.
4. Next, pour beef broth into vegetables with meat. As soon as it boils, put the rice. Bring to a boil, after 10 minutes add crushed garlic, pepper, all herbs, suneli hops, lavrushka and salt.
The bay leaf must be removed from the finished dish. An excellent alternative to Georgian Kharcho is ready! Enjoy your meal!
Beef Soup - Useful Tips
In the preparation of most dishes, expert chefs use developed techniques and subtleties that give the dishes an even more intense taste and aroma. And beef soup in this regard is no exception! Here are some recommendations experienced cooks give us:
- Soups will be much tastier if you cook them in a small container. The smaller the pan, the more rich the soup;
- For all soups, it is necessary to use only fresh products, thoroughly cleaned of foreign particles and smell, washed and dried;
- The laying of ingredients should always be carried out in strict order, so that none of the products is digested. For this, each housewife must know the cooking time of a particular component. Typically, this skill is developed over time;
- It is necessary to salt the soup near the end of cooking (usually 3-7 minutes before full readiness), but so that all the ingredients have time to soak, and not tasteless;
And the last tip: you should not allow too boiling soup too much, it is better to simmer it over low heat with very slow boiling. Believe me, it will turn out so much tastier!
