Mudder's Moose (or Beef) Soup

One of the nice things about living in Newfoundland is that at least once a year, a friend of a friend heads out in the woods for days on end, drives around on their ATV until they run out of gas, and finally (if they're lucky) snags the mother of all Newfoundland creatures, the Moose. After a victory lap around town with the head of the moose tied onto the front of the truck, he or she will see fit to divvy up the moose and share with friends and family, or in our case, clergy (thank goodness my father-in-law falls into that category!). We got our hands on two roasts this year - I made stew with one, and soup with the other. My recipe for the soup can be found below.

My Mom has been making soup almost every Saturday for as long as I can remember - she passed on her soup knowledge to me, and I've added my own spin to her recipe, and been trying to keep the tradition alive.

As the title alludes to, this soup recipe works just as well for beef!

Ingredients:

• Roast moose or beef (just a small one)
• Salt meat (if you have access to it.. if not, use extra salt when seasoning)
• Onion
• Celery
• Carrot
• 3 cups or so of beef broth (there are no firm measurements when making soup - I just use most of a box of it)
• Large can of diced tomatoes
• Turnip
• Parsnip
• Rice
• Pepper (and Salt, if you aren't using Salt Meat)

First, put the roast moose/beef into a large pot, along with the salt meat (it may have to be soaked for a few hours before using if is extra salty) if using. Pour in beef broth and enough water so that the roast is mostly submerged. Cut 1 onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 carrots into large pieces and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low to simmer for at least an hour.

While the pot is simmering, cut 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, a small turnip, and 1 parsnip into small pieces.

After an hour (or more), strain the soup into a large bowl or another pot (I always have to get my husband to help with this!), put the broth back on the stove and keep the other bits (the roast, salt meat, large pieces of veggies) in the colander or in a bowl.

Add the can of diced tomatoes, a couple handfuls of rice (1/2 cup maybe), pepper (and salt, if you didn't use salt meat) and the veggies you just cut up, and return the pot to a simmer.

While the pot is simmering cut the roast into tiny pieces (even smaller than bite-sized - I usually slice the roast, and then use two forks to pull it apart into strands). You can also cut up the salt meat to add if the broth isn't too salty - you should taste the broth to make sure before you add it (I made this mistake last time)!

Mash the remaining chunks of vegetables to add for extra flavour.

Simmer the soup for at least another hour. If the soup seems too thick, feel free to add more beef broth.

And that's about it!! I put the soup into Mason Jars while it is still hot, and it lasts for ages.