Official Entry into the "One Dish Wonders" Throwdown.
Please accept my entry titled "George Washington's Pepperpot Soup".
While trying to think of a good one pot meal I could adapt to smoking I remembered Caribbean Pepperpot Soup. Was I surprised to discover this traditional Caribbean dish was a favourite George Washington fed his troops at Valley Forge! I was also surprised to discover Pepperpot Soup was commonly made in and around Philidelphia in the 1700's.
http://atasteofhistory.org/west-indies-pepperpot-soup/
I more or less followed the recipe for ingredients and adapted it to my smoker. I used cassava instead of tarot and collards instead of callaloo because it made shopping easier and closer. I didn't put hot pepper in the soup, just used scotch bonnet pepper sauce in my own bowl because my partner is a wuss. Found this blade roast forgotten in a corner of the freezer, had a little freezer burn but was otherwise okay. It's the last piece of our traditionally raised limousine X angus beef order.
I've only made this soup once before with a bottle of pre-made pepperpot starter and I didn't like the taste (similar to bottles of gravy browning). Not for me. I read this new recipe over and it looked like it would taste good so I gave pepperpot soup a second try. Really glad I did. I used white onions, a small garlic bulb, chopped green onions, cassava, a vegetable bouillon cube, 3 litres of beef stock, 2 bay leaves, dry thyme, allspice, fresh ground pepper, collard greens and salt.
Used the spices as a rub on the meat and reserved what fell off or remained to add to the soup. I needed 4 litres of stock and only had 3 so I smoked the beef in water and was very careful to monitor the water to keep the level up and prevent burning. By dissolving a bouillon cube in hot water and topping the pan juices to one litre I created my 4th litre of stock.
Old charcoal chimney.
New charcoal chimney. :mrgreen:
My cook took longer than anticipated so instead of browning the onions and garlic in the pan on the kamado and adding stock heated on the stove, I added the stock to the pan in the kamado and did a quick onion and garlic sauté in CI on the stove inside. Saved time while remaining within special rules. Added cubed cassava to cook first, followed by chopped collard stems. It was dark by this time and my camera was acting funny when I took pictures of the pan of building soup. Finally realized the shutter was extending release time to make up for the darkness. Not great pictures but they show everything cooking in one pot.
I pulled the beef after smoking and returned it to the building soup. Added the chopped collard leaves last and cooked through until everything was done.
PLEASE USE THE PHOTO BELOW FOR VOTING.
The soup turned out great, I think especially because I smoked and pulled the beef instead of cubing it raw, browning and cooking to tender in the soup. Loved the smokey taste from making it in the kamado and smoking the beef. I think I prefer taro, white or yellow yam to cassava so I will drive a little farther to find it next time. I like the taste of the "made from scratch" version a lot better than the one I made with pepperpot soup starter. Hearty, healthy and delicious, what great fare George Washington found for his cold and hungry troops.
Thanks for looking!
