Basically, this is the best soup. If you have the Grit cookbook already, you should make it now. If not, I am going to post the recipe anyway, so you can re-create this wonderfulness at home.
This is a (vegan) soup that will satisfy anyone – gourmands, unsophisticated gluttons, beer lovers, lumberjacks, linebackers, petite pastry chefs, children, the elderly, and, I would venture to say, even Gordon Ramsay himself. It won’t quite make a vegan weep at its deliciousness, but it will shut a smug, self-loathing meat enthusiast up in a heartbeat. It’s the kind of recipe you quadruple, put in a crock pot, and take to a family reunion or holiday dinner; sink into that armchair with your arms crossed and suppress a grin as Uncle Tony-Bob goes back for fourths. Make it. Make it now.
The Grit’s Scotch Broth (double recipe with some minor recipe changes & liberal commentary – you’ll thank me)
- 2 medium sized organic white or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-in cubes
- 7 cups water
- 2/3 cups soy sauce (that’s a lot of soy sauce – use your cheap store-brand here, not that organic small-batch tamari you paid a fortune for)
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion OR onion powder (I’ve only used granulated)
- 1 3/4 – 2 cups dry light TVP pieces (like these or these)
- 2 tablespoons vegan margarine plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), finely chopped
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (NOT Brewer’s yeast; this stuff)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons good-quality dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon crushed sage
- 1/2 cup tomato puree (or canned tomato sauce; we used Kroger’s organic brand)
- 1 cup stout beer – I now swear by New Holland’s The Poet, but am also open to trying Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout or Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout (what we have on hand right now) For heaven’s sake, DON’T USE GUINNESS – IT’S NOT EVEN VEGETARIAN, LET ALONE VEGAN – has fish in it.
- 1 cup frozen peas
Finely chop the onion, carrot, and leek and put in a bowl.
Bring seven cups of water to a boil. Add potatoes, TVP, 2/3 cups soy sauce, and 1 tsp granulated onion; boil til tender. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Melt vegan margarine (Earth Balance), add olive oil in a large pot. Add onion, carrot, leek. It’ll look like a very crowded pan at first, but the veggies will cook down in time. Saute, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Can go 15-20, just keep an eye on the heat and add a little more oil if necessary.
While the veggies are sauteeing, put the flour, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, mustard, sage into a bowl together. Mix up. When ready, add this flour mixture to the veggie mixture. Incorporate thoroughly! For those of you who have made a roux before, this is kind of like the adding flour to the melted fat stage (and we’re about to add the potato-water liquid). Cook on LOW, stirring constantly and watching to make sure nothing starts burning, for a few minutes.
Get a friend! (Or just be really strong and patient.) Have you friend hoist the water-potato-TVP pot over the veggie-flour mixture pot. Have friend pour in about a quarter of the liquid. Whisk and thoroughly incorporate. Is it getting creamy and thick, like a roux should? GOOD! Now have friend pour in another quarter. Whisk again, thoroughly incorporating. Another quarter. Ditto. The final quarter. Whisk, whisk. At this point, it should be smooth and creamy like a soup, not thick like a sauce. It will thicken with time and heat.
Add tomato puree, beer, and peas. Simmer, stirring frequently, for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately! I made it last night and it reheated beautifully today. A perfect spoonful:
Right now I’m most excited about all the Hanukkah goodies I’m going to make tonight and tomorrow, particularly the big Hanukkah Shabbat blow-out dinner at the JCC. I’m thinking sufganiyot, those wonderful fried doughnuts with creme or jelly fillings, dusted with powdered sugar…
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