Fountain Blue Reuben Soup

The colder weather combined with the busy holiday season makes homemade soups a perfect dinner choice. Served with a hot slice of homemade bread, homemade soups make for a frugal meal. Most homemade soups can be made in large batches then either canned or froze for later use. The exception to this is soups containing rice, pasta, milk, cheese or cream should not be home canned. If you want to home can these types of soups omit the aforementioned ingredients and add them later before serving.

Fountain Blue Reuben Soup

Our kids in Wisconsin sent me the photo and recipe for this lovely, creamy, homemade soup. It certainly looks delicious! Aside of ham or bacon as an ingredient in soup I haven't seen many recipes for using cured meats in soups. There's no reason why you can't though. Corned beef is usually brisket but sometimes round or silverside that has been salt cured. It is then cooked with spices. This recipe uses corned beef that many think of only using for corned beef and cabbage or the very popular Reuben sandwich. The ingredients in this soup duplicate the flavours of the Reuben sandwich. It's rich, creamy flavour is sure to please.

Fountain Blue Reuben Soup

2 Tbl sp. Butter
1 Chopped Medium Onion
4 Cup Chicken Stock
1 Cup Chopped Sauerkraut, drained
1 Bay Leaf
2 Tbl sp. Cornstarch
1/4 Cup of Water
2 Cup Whipping cream
1 lb. Corned Beef, diced
1 Cup shredded Swiss
Salt
White Pepper
Fresh Parsley
Rye Chips or Croutons

Melt butter in a medium sauce pot. Add onion and cook until soft. Add stock, sauerkraut and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 15mins.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with water. Stir into the soup with cream, corned beef and cheese. Simmer gently for 10-15mins, stirring regularly. Remove bay leaf; add salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley and croutons.

Note: We usually precook the corned beef in the pressure cooker with the seasonings, then remove those seasonings when dicing.