Get Two Meals From The Same Pot

First you will prepare a delicious tender inexpensive steak with a ton of French onion gravy made with Sharyn’s Pantry no salt added French onion soup base. You can cut the steak with just your fork, it is that tender! Then once the steak has been enjoyed, you will make a wonderful rich tomato macaroni beef soup from the leftover gravy from the steak dish…and you are using the very same pot, so less dishes as well!

MY MUM’S TENDER OVEN BAKED STEAK

INGREDIENTS:

a steak large enough to feed your family (I used a sirloin steak, about 1- 1/4 lb.) 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Sharyn’s Pantry no salt added French onion soup base, water

METHOD:

• Set your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Either cut up the steak or keep it in 1 piece. You want it to fit in a single layer in a large heavy Dutch oven or any enamel coated cast iron oven-proof casserole baking dish.
• Add cold tap water to cover the meat and be about 5″ above the steak pieces.
• Sprinkle the French onion soup base over the water and stir to dissolve it completely.
• Cover the casserole dish and place it in your pre-heated oven.
• Bake for about 2 hours or so. After this time, use a fork and insert it into the steak. If the meat is nice and tender, uncover the casserole and allow to bake for about 20 minutes longer, or continue to cook covered until the meat is nice and tender. NOTE: While my oven was on, I baked a bunch of potatoes for future meals.
• I served the steak along with nice fluffy mashed potatoes and spooned the onion gravy all over the potatoes. I heated some nice corn niblets which I had frozen last fall from the Avonmore Berry Farm stand. A perfectly delicious supper with not a lot of work!
• I kept the gravy in the casserole, refrigerated it overnight and then next morning I made a lovely pot of soup with this to start it.

BEEF AND TOMATO MACARONI SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

• starting with the pot of gravy from the night before I added about 3 cups of potato water I saved when I was making our mashed potatoes (I always save my potato water from cooking potatoes either to use as the liquid in my homemade bread or buns which I bake each week for Gary and I. You get all the added nutrition from the potatoes. If not used this way, use it to make a gravy or add into a pot of soup.)
• 1 – 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 1 – 10 oz. can of either Heinz or Aylmer tomato soup, undiluted
• about 1 tbsp. of rubbed marjoram
• a couple of cups of macaroni elbows or tiny shells (Not much more or they will take over the soup and you will have nothing but macaroni.)

METHOD:

• -Start with the pot of gravy, add enough water or potato water to make a nice pot of soup.
• -Add to this, the can of diced tomatoes and tomato soup. Mix well.
• -Heat this to boiling. Then add in the macaroni. Stir this for a few minutes or the pasta will stick on the bottom of your pot. Lower the heat to medium.
• -Season with the rubbed marjoram. (NOTE: marjoram is a member of the mint and oregano family of herbs. It is the perfect herb to add into any beef and tomato soup. Of course we sell this at Sharyn’s Pantry.)
• -Allow the soup to simmer long enough to cook the macaroni. That’s it. Two meals from the same pot! ENJOY!!!

Please remember that the new store hours for Sharyn’s Pantry are only Thursday and Friday 9 – 5 and Saturday 9 – 3. I am happily there those 3 days to help and serve you.