Happy New Year! When I first sat down to write, it was yesterday and snowing to beat the band. Forecasters here in southeastern Mass. predicted 4-8 inches and I think we ended up with at least that. The more the merrier, if I may put in my request! I've always maintained it's the Vermonter in my blood, but I'll always have a child's delight when it comes to snow!
Arctic cold and snow are the perfect conditions for a crackling fire in the fireplace and a nice steaming pot of soup or stew bubbling merrily on the back burner (or over that crackling fire if you're set up for it!) One of my lifelong favorites, handed down from my paternal grandmother, is Hamburg Soup, and I've never come across a recipe anywhere else that even comes close. Before it's lost forever - it seems my family's younger generation never acquired a taste for it - I'd like to share it with the "wwworld" at large.
What makes this hearty soup unique is that the hamburg is not browned first, but rather crumbled into cold water before the heat is turned on under the pot. For one thing, it gives the meat a fine, softer texture. I'm not sure just how my grandmother cut up the veggies, but my mother used her Saladmaster with the finest grater attachment, so the meat and vegetables were all a similar texture. Delightful! Since I didn't inherit the Saladmaster, I have always just cut up the veggies by hand, not minced but smaller pieces than you'd use for stew.
A 3.5-qt Dutch oven is perhaps larger than you need, but it does give enough elbow room for stirring. Start with 8 cups of cold water, into which you crumble 1lb. of lean hamburg. (Set the burner on medium until the soup comes to a boil, then turn it down to low-to medium-low and simmer until veggies are the desired tenderness). Add the vegetables and herbs to the cold water right after the meat. The vegetables my family always used, therefore required for "authentic" Hamburg Soup (all diced or sliced): 1 medium onion, 4-6 carrots, 5 medium potatoes, 2-3 stalks celery. Herbs "required": 1 bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Also 1 can whole tomatoes. My version includes basil and beef bouillon, sliced stewed tomatoes instead of whole, and I like to make sure that the potatoes don't out-number the carrots in density within the broth; ie. there have to be carrots as well as potatoes in every spoonful! (I suspect that's one reason my daughter isn't fond of it!!)
Like a number of dishes, including lasagna, Hamburg Soup is even better the next day, in part due to the fact that you can easily pick off the hardened fat that has risen to the top. This is, of course, less an issue if you use very lean hamburg, though I never have since I fear the flavor may become diminished. Next-day or whenever reheating also allows further marriage of the flavors, but freezing is not an option, as the potatoes deteriorate to a really unsavory consistency.
Bon apetit and Keep Cookin'!
RuCooks
