Stoneless Stone Soup

Total Time: 8 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 5 hrs Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 lb beef chuck (after trimming)
• 2 tablespoons crisco (for browning meat)
• 1/4 cup flour (to coat meat with)
• 1 cup red onion (1/2 medium)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 cups beef broth
• 3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole canned tomatoes
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon heinz 57 steak sauce
• 8 ounces potatoes
• 4 ounces carrots
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup corn
• 4 ounces cabbage

Recipe

• 1 highly recommend using a west bend slow cooker with removable aluminum pan. if not, a large cooking pot will do.
• 2 coarsely dice onion. trim excess fat off of meat, and cut into 1/2" cubes. toss meat with flour. melt crisco in slow cooker pan (or large pot) on top of stove (med/high), add meat (with flour) and diced onions. fry until brown. mix together salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. sprinkle on meat and fry on med/high heat for about 2 minutes.
• 3 place pan back on slow cooker base and set to power level 4 (med/high). add beef broth, cover, and cook for 1-1/2 hours. if you do not have a crock-pot, cover large pot tightly, and slow simmer.
• 4 15 minutes before the first 1-1/2 hour cooking stage is completed, peel and cut potatoes and carrots into 1/2" cubes or wedges. cut hard end off of tomatoes, wash out seeds, and cut into 1/2" pieces (reserve juice in cans). core cabbage and rough chop about 1/8 head, for 4-oz.
• 5 add to pot potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, peas, corn, sugar, and tomato juice from cans. stir, cover, and cook for an additional 2 hours, stir every 1/2-hour (3-1/2 hour’s total cooking time). if using a pot on stove, bring to boil and slow simmer for 2 hours.
• 6 cool for 30 minutes, stir and serve.
• 7 even better if stored in the fridge overnight. freezes well, store in ziploc freezer bags, 1-1/2 cups per bag. thaw before re-heating, then re-heat slowly in microwave or stove top.