I took the advice of others & made a few changes. First I dredged my beef in a flour/salt/pepper mixture, then I browned it in a Dutch oven in 1/4 c. peanut oil. I set the meat aside, then added 1 c. water & 1 tbsp. beef base to the drippings in the Dutch oven & deglazed it. Then I added my onions, & cooked them down for ~15 minutes along w/ half a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup mix. Then I put in the rest of my ingredients: can of tomatoes, 5 golden potatoes, 4 stalks of celery, 3 cut up carrots, my beef bits, & a lot more water, plus cornstarch in COLD water once my 'soup' got hot. I'm not sure how much water--just keep adding it & making sure ALL your ingredients are sunk in the water throughout the cooking process! Things will cook down & you will be able to quit adding more water at some point, but don't be stingy with it. I did not use tapioca (though I would have if I had some) & I would never put bread in it. I added 2 cloves of garlic, minced, & would add more in the future; I also added a lot of black pepper & would add more of that, too, in the future. I thought this had a great flavor, reminiscent of my mom's, though I think in the future I will have to also add some tomato paste to make it even more like my mom's. If you find it too salty, the problem likely lies in the bouillon, beef broth, soup base, Lipton's mix, and V-8 you're using--all these things contribute a LOT of salt, so keep that in mind :)
Was this review helpful?
[
YES
]
0 users found this review helpful
What's this?