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Beef & Potato Soup with Thomas



Thomas’s recipe is really his Grandma Lupe’s. The dish tells the story of his grandfather moving from Mexico to Omaha for a meatpacking job, his grandparents meeting and having their children, and his dad raising Thomas in Colorado Springs. Raising eight children in Omaha, Nebraska, Grandma Lupe had to be resourceful and use what she had. Because Thomas’s grandfather worked in the meat packing plant, the family had access to extra hamburger meat. Grandma Lupe came up with a flexible recipe that made use of the meat, and included easily-accessible vegetables to nourish her family. When Thomas was growing up, his dad was the main cook in the house and continued to make his mother’s soup, but with additions such as more spice and diced bell peppers. Thomas omits the bell peppers because his wife is not a big fan of them, but he keeps the spices.

Thomas started to cook for himself in his twenties. “When you cook your own meal,” he explains, “you learn a little bit, you grow a little bit,” and little by little, the skills grow. It is essential to Thomas to be “knowledgeable about what goes into your body and what goes into food, and where food comes from” and to pass that knowledge on to his kids.

Now Thomas does much of the cooking for his wife and two children. He still likes to call his dad when making Grandma Lupe’s soup because his dad is “not the type of guy who writes things down,” nor was Lupe. Thomas makes this soup about once a month: “It’s simple, it’s easy, and the kids love it,” he explains. Like when Lupe created the recipe, the ingredients remain relatively easy to find for a quick weeknight meal. It is not a recipe Thomas often uses for guests or special occasions, but rather something dependable he can fall back on.



Grandma Lupe's Beef & Potato Soup Recipe

Servings: 8-10
Time: 45-60 minutes


Ingredients:

  • 4 potatoes (Golden is preferred, but we were working with Russet)
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 can sweet peas
  • salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
  • beef broth
  • 1 bag flour tortillas


Instructions:

  • Dice washed potatoes.
  • Heat large pot on medium.
  • Add ground beef in, small chunks at a time.
  • Once ground beef has browned, add diced potatoes, stir.
  • Chop onion.
  • Add onion to pot and cook until tender.
  • Drain the peas - and throw them in the pot!
  • Stir it up.
  • Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
  • Slowly pour in beef broth.
  • Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes.
  • Once the soup is nearly ready, head up some tortillas on the stove (1 p/person).
  • Serve in a bowl, wedge a tortilla on the side, and enjoy!