The Forum: Cabbage patch soup fits the bill

Published 3:16 pm Friday, October 17, 2008

When fall rolls around, it doesn’t have to be cold enough to store the ice cream on the porch to make readers start thinking about bubbling pots of homemade soup.

Take Tim Barker Sr., for instance.

“I found a soup that I used in the past, and I have lost it,” he says, adding, “I was hoping you could find it for me since I found it in your paper. It’s called cabbage patch, and it came from the Village Restaurant about 10 years ago.”

This is the same soup, incidentally, that prompted Everett cook Bridget Bishop to write, in a Dec. 28, 2007, Forum column, “I know you’ve printed the recipe for cabbage patch soup umpteen times, but I lost it when I moved. Could you please run it again?”

So here we go, yet again, with what is probably the hands-down most popular soup ever printed in the Forum. It’s exactly as it last appeared, in that particular column, including the note at the recipe’s end.

VILLAGE RESTAURANT CABBAGE PATCH SOUP

1pound ground beef

1can (16 ounces) chili with beans

1can (about 141/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1large onion, coarsely chopped

2large carrots, sliced

1/2bunch celery, diced

1head green cabbage, chopped

1tablespoon chili powder

1tablespoon paste-style beef base or about 8 teaspoons instant beef bouillon

1tablespoon seasoned salt

1teaspoon pepper

2quarts water

Salt to taste

In large soup pot or kettle, combine beef, chili, tomatoes, onion, carrots, celery, cabbage, chili powder, beef base or bouillon, seasoned salt and pepper; saute until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add water, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and ladle into bowls.

Makes about 1 gallon.

Note: The last time we reprinted this recipe, in a Dec. 11, 2006, Forum column, a lot of us were without electricity, and had been for days on end. So we revised the directions to include other cooking mediums. Since they’re handy, we’ll include them.

Wood stove: Prepare recipe as directed, putting soup pot over hottest part/shelf of wood stove to start cooking. When vegetables are soft, water is added, and the soup comes to a boil, cover and simmer (dragging pot to cooler surface, if necessary) for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and continuing to slide or lift pot to cooler/hotter area as necessary to maintain simmer.

Camp stove: Prepare as for stovetop version, adjust heat as necessary, and cook soup with lid on.

Crockpot: Crumble beef into crockpot; add all ingredients up to the water. Stir gently but throughly to combine, then stir in water. Cover and cook on low 8 hours.

SOS: Bothell reader Connie Gallagher is also thinking soup. She’d love to have the recipe for a broccoli-cheese concoction, one she describes as “thick and wonderfully seasoned,” that would be similar to a chain-restaurant version she ate recently and liked a lot.

SOS: Not a soup, but a certain sauce, would put a smile on Polly Sorenson’s face. The Everett reader is hoping Forum cooks can come up with recipes that would produce a savory marinara sauce like those served at various Italian restaurants.

If you can share the how-to for a souper broc-cheese combo (or any other favorite soup, for that matter) or a well-seasoned, zesty Italian marinara sauce, please write to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.

We are always happy to receive your contributions and requests, but please remember that all letters and e-mail must include a name, complete address with ZIP code and telephone number with area code. No exceptions and sorry, but no response to e-mail by return e-mail; send to kruse@heraldnet.com.

The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Good Life section.