Com’ on, you’ve done this, too…you start the recipe, get halfway through then find you’re missing a key ingredient or two (or three). But as a food blogger who’s been focusing on all things food for 11 years, shouldn’t I be past the point of making a recipe with only half the ingredients?
Well, frankly, no. I guess I’ll never get over being human. The difference is how those 11 years have prepared me to handle the situation. Rather than throw up my hands, throw out the meal, and reach for pizza, I simply laughed and went into high gear with substitutions. Not only did the soup turn out…it turned out tasting really good…not the same dark, rich taste I was aiming for but a good, new, lighter taste.
Always make a recipe easier
This is a philosophy I live by every day. I’m constantly evaluating ways to make things faster or easier. Yep, I’m lazy. So, my goal was to make my favorite Hearty Beef Soup without spending as much time trimming the chuck roast.
The recipe itself says “It’s important to brown the beef first.” That may add to the taste, but I have personally never done it. Just don’t have the time. And I still love this soup.
It continues with instructions on how to trim the beef, ending with “It take about 5 minutes, but don’t skip this step. It is sooo worth it.” Yes, it is worth it to have that stuff out of your soup, so you only enjoy beefy goodness. Does it take 5 minutes? I’ve never had it take less than 30 minutes (and sometimes it takes more). Am I’m doing it wrong????
This time I would try a different strategy…trim the meat AFTER cooking in the crockpot. That slow cooking really does a number on the meat, making it almost fall apart. I thought it might be easier to trim it after the fact. In other words, I was super focused on the meat part of the recipe.
UPDATE Jan 2024: Since then I’ve made this recipe even easier. Check out how here.
When you don’t have the ingredients
What began as an experiment on meat trimming, quickly became an exercise in substitutions. There was a wise directive in one of my very first articles about reading through the recipe before you start? (read more here) Well, maybe I should have done that.
Beef, paprika, pepper, salt, garlic – got it. 2-1/2 cups beef broth…ummmm 1/2 cup in a box in the fridge. I found 1 cup of homemade chicken broth in the freezer and 1 packet of beef broth granules in the pantry to mix with hot water to make the other cup.
1 cup cranberry or grape juice…ummmm last of the defrosted apple juice concentrate made into juice. (I always keep this in my fridge to use in place of honey in W30 recipes.)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce…ummmm no Worcestershire, but I thought maybe I would make the homemade kind later and add it. That never happened ‘cause it didn’t need it.
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning…oops only 1-1/2 tsp. Thank goodness I had new bottles of basil and oregano to fill that out.
4 cups red potatoes…I hoped russets would do and not just go to mush.
3 cups carrots…how about 1-3/4 cups???
And I’m a cooking blogger?
Maybe this whole crazy thing was God’s sneaky yet powerful way of keeping me humble…and yet reinforcing that yes, this is what He wants me to do.
I literally cooked “by the seat of my pants” and yet it was good…it really was. I have a heart for the people who like former me would have thrown up their hands in defeat, not having a clue how to make this recipe work without its correct ingredients. If that’s you, keep watching…I’m always learning something new.
What’s your craziest substitution story? Tell me about it in the comments below!
