Hamburg Soup

We like soup and I made this very old recipe to use up some ground beef and potatoes we had on hand.  I always have onion, garlic, celery, canned green beans and frozen corn in my pantry; so this was the recipe today.    I had some dried sage from my garden, and it perfectly set off the gravy.  I used home-canned beef broth, but you can use water as the original recipe called for.

When I make simple recipes like this one, I think about our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, who made the most of whatever they had on hand…what they could raise and preserve themselves.  No exotic ingredients; and smaller servings too.  Interesting that none of them were overweight either, although they made use of potatoes and corn.   We enjoyed this with a crisp, cold salad and a slice of homemade challah with some of Myrna’s homemade butter.              

                               Hamburg Soup

  1            pound  ground beef

  1            large  onion -- chopped

  1            clove  garlic--minced

     1/2     Cup  Celery -- chopped

  15 1/2  Ounces  Canned Green Beans

  1           Pound  Potatoes -- diced

     1/2    Cup  corn (I used frozen, thawed while the potatoes cooked)

  4           tablespoons  flour

  1 1/2    teaspoons  salt

     1/4    teaspoon  pepper

  1           Teaspoon  Sage -- dried

  6           cups  Beef Broth

Brown meat in kettle; stirring to break into small pieces. Add onion and garlic and cook until light brown, with no pink left in the meat. Drain off all except 1 TBLSP of fat. Stir in flour. Add broth to meat mixture. Add seasoning. Add remaining fresh vegetables and simmer until almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add canned vegetables and heat thoroughly.

8 Servings

Per Serving: 302 Calories; 15g Fat (45.7% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 48mg Cholesterol; 1553mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.