After a goodly while spent paging through my mom’s shelf of cookbooks, I finally found another recipe with vegetables both of us will eat. It was actually the first time she’d ever had leek!

The recipe in question makes what is either a really filling soup, or a soup I ate so much of I was super full. Either way…

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds short ribs of beef, cut into pieces
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 ribs celery cut into 1-inch julienne
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch julienne (we just used a bunch of baby carrots, since they were around)
• 1 leek (white part and 1 inch green), well rinsed and cut into 1-inch julienne
• 8 raw mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

If you’ve never been to MonkeySee, it’s useful video explanations/tutorials of how do to stuff by various experts. I’ve only watched cooking ones, but they have videos about all sorts of topics. Anyway, they have a video that can show you how to julienne a leek, if you want a visual on what you should be aiming for. Luckily my mom already knew what was up, because I didn’t look for that until I started writing up this post.

To start off with, though, just put the ribs, the halved onion, and the stock in a crock pot. Add enough water that the ribs are all underwater, and set the heat to low.

Go about your day, and come back in 8-9 hours when the meat should be cooked.

Pull out the meat and onions and put the broth (in the crock or in a bowl) in the fridge to cool and separate, 30-45 minutes.

While you wait for the broth to cool, cut the meat off the bones and into small chunks. Chop the onion into small pieces as well.

Set the meat aside and prep the vegetables.

My mother's way better at cutting things evenly than I am. Nice work, mom.

When your broth has chilled, strain the fat off the top, or use a gravy separator to separate for you.

Transfer the de-fatted broth to a large pot over high heat. Add the celery, carrots, leek, and meat. Let the soup come to a boil, and boil 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and let cook for 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, parsley, and dill.

Serve immediately.

We had this with some sourdough bread, which I thought was a good combination, but…I always like sourdough!

Short Rib Vegetable Soup

Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook.

• 4 pounds short ribs of beef, cut into pieces
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 ribs celery cut into 1-inch julienne
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch julienne
• 1 leek (white part and 1 inch green), well rinsed and cut into 1-inch julienne
• 8 raw mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine the ribs, the halved onion, and the stock in a crock pot. Add enough water that the ribs are all underwater, and set the heat to low for 8-9 hours, until meat is cooked through.

Remove meat and onions from the crock, and put the broth in the refrigerator to chill and separate, 30-45 minutes.

Cut the meat off the bones and into small pieces. Chop the onion into small pieces as well. Prep the remainder of the vegetables.
When the broth has chilled, strain the fat off the top, or use a gravy separator to separate for you. Transfer to a large pot over high heat. Add the celery, carrots, leek, and meat. Let the soup come to a boil, and boil 2-3 minutes further. Add the mushrooms and let cook for 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, parsley, and dill. Serve immediately.