Vegetable Beef Soup

Recipe No. 523 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Soups. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Beef bones — 20 pounds
• Water — 5¼ gallons (21 No. 56 dippers)
• Pepper — as needed
• Cloves, ground — as needed
• Celery, diced — 2½ pounds (2½ No. 56 dippers)
• Onions, sliced — 12 ounces (¾ No. 56 dipper)
• Turnips, diced — 1½ pounds (1¼ No. 56 dippers)
• Carrots, diced — 1½ pounds (1¼ No. 56 dippers)
• Potatoes, diced — 3 pounds (2 No. 56 dippers)
• Tomatoes — 1½ No. 10 cans
• Salt — 4 ounces (8 mess kit spoons)

Directions

1. Remove meat from bones; saw bones into pieces.
2. Combine meat and bones; cover with water.
3. Cover and heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour.
4. Add pepper, cloves, celery, onions, turnips, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and salt; mix well.
5. Cover and heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Remove bones.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Beef bones — 1 lb 9⅔ oz Water — 1⅔ qt Pepper — to taste Cloves, ground — to taste Celery, diced — 3¼ oz Onions, sliced — 1 oz Turnips, diced — 2 oz Carrots, diced — 2 oz Potatoes, diced — 3¾ oz Tomatoes — 1½ cups Salt — about 2 tsp

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 523, Soups. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.