Review: Hunky Beef Soup (a la Jackie)

For starters, the backbone and brilliance of this recipe is a slow extracted bone broth made with 9 soup bones and grass fed chuck, taking 24 hours in the crockpot.  This was key on many levels, but especially when it came time to consider salting at table.  The broth presents this mineral complexity, which made we wonder if there was any vinegar added to amplify the extraction process.  But I noted the broth was beautifully clear and not cloudy at all (which is often a marker for vinegar enhanced extraction).

This allowed the soup to present without significant salt added as many broths must do in an attempt to add enough flavor.  Even though I am a major salt lover, I choose not to add because you could taste the minerals and I didn’t want to hide them.  It showed confidence to serve this at baseline and leave the salting to taste at table, where individual salt preference can decide the right personal level.  

Leaving out the salt also gave room to sneak in a touch of Grandma Waitzman’s famous ketchup, which added in small quantity gave some clove and allspice notes to the aroma coming from the bowl without confusing the flavor.  It also added some vinegar to brighten up the vegetable flavor on the taste buds (which is often beneficial in a broth).

A yummy fat (not grease) layer derived from the marrow and meat was thankfully kept in the broth instead of the often followed but destructive and unhealthy practice of chilling and scooping out this flavor layer before proceeding.  This allowed for the addition of a substantial helping of noodles to carry the soup’s bounty of flavor without hiding its mouth feel.  It also speaks to the genius of choosing grass fed beef to create this vital layer.  Feed lot industrial beef carries a significant portion of its fat in the outer fat cap layer instead of integrated between the meat fibers as in grass fed beef.  The fat cap often smells and tastes abhorrent and can destroy the entire offering!  Not to skip notice, the noodles were thoughtfully served separately to preference and to prevent softening over time if incorporated into the broth.

The use of San Marzano tomatoes seems to be the family secret, which are simmered to extract their juice, flavor and then the tomato solids ARE REMOVED (insert surprise emoji here) before adding the rest of the vegetables!  This bold move keeps the offering in alignment as a broth based soup instead of moving it (erroneously) towards minestrone or stew.  (I hope you saved the solids of these expensive tomatoes for another dish so I can sleep at night).

The choice to use large chunks of organic vegetables (carrot, potato, onion and cabbage) so they didn’t get lost in the soup and can carry their own individual flavor components when randomly chosen for the spoon was awesome.  I didn’t note any celery, so whether that was used in the broth and removed or left out entirely was appreciated by Lori who can’t stand celery strands in her soup.

Most importantly, you can’t miss out on the fact that this was so obviously crafted and served with love and intention towards the eater’s enjoyment.  It was delivered in a family context and celebrates the history and oh-so-Hungarian heritage of the process, handed down from the generations.  The warmth and pride in its production is notable and couldn’t ever be duplicated in the restaurant kitchen.  The little things, like a hand written colored chalk menu board and including an appropriately winter seasonal salad of kale to include the greens without having to put them into your soup were the proverbial icing on the cake.

Well done.  Bravo.  More please!