Lazarus Soup

So my first epic failure was a version of what I’d call “stone soup” – from the fable where a traveler convinces a group of villagers to each contribute a little something to a soup that is ultimately shared together and gets better with each ingredient.

Normally, I will freeze small containers of extra cubed meat or veggies when we have a holiday or birthday party – for example the soup-worthy bits of the Christmas ham, or extra celery, carrots, onions from another recipe or the Bloody Mary bar. In trying to be extra frugal, I saved the cooking water from St. Patrick’s day corned beef. I probably should have tasted the broth before emptying my freezer into the pot….

Huge mistake! There was a horrible aftertaste from the corned beef that did not make for a good broth. It was inedible. I tried to think if I could doctor it, and finally decided there was no fixing it. I left it in the fridge for a few days before discarding, especially disappointed to loose my precious “stone soup” bits (my freezer is now empty of such treasures). I decided to strain the bits, discard the broth, and regroup.

I tasted the bits – they were okay (definitely edible outside of the corned beef broth). So, I started over with a new pot of water and bullion, added the meat and veggies, and retasted. There was still a hint of an aftertaste, so I threw in some dried Italian seasoning (Oregano is such a strong herb – it did the trick). Not my best soup, but serve-worthy. Also threw in the remains of a bag of barley…

Surprisingly, everyone liked it and went back for seconds. We then decided to rename it “Lazarus Soup!”