Do you remember hearing the story of Stone Soup when you were a child? I always thought this story was just wonderful. Legendary country singer Dolly Parton grew up very poor as a child her mother would send all 12 children out to search for stones in the woods whenever she was making the soup. Their mother would then pick one stone, always the one belonging to the child who needed extra love that day, and add it to the soup pot (after she scrubbed it) with whatever scraps of vegetables and meat were available.The children believed that it was their stone that made the soup so good. What a wonderful mother!Check out the video below.....There is an old-world folktale dating back to the 1500s of the real story of Stone Soup from Wikipedia it goes like this....“Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors.”Forget that canned soup, next time you have a little bit of vegetables, or meat leftovers, do not toss them out put them in a freezer bag and toss them in your freezer. They will add amazing flavor to your next Stone Soup you make. Let’s make some delicious Stone Soup!
1poundrusset potatoes, peeled, diced, and scrubbed.
1can(14.5) ounce diced tomatoes
1small head of cabbage coarsley chopped
1pound turnips, peeled and diced
2large carrots, peeled and diced
1small onion chopped
1tbspgarlic minced
1smoked ham hock
1/2tspdried thyme
1/4tspsage
1/2tspcrushed rosemary
1clean stone
Instructions
Pour the chicken broth into a large stockpot. Add in the diced potatoes, diced tomatoes and their liquid, chopped cabbage, diced turnips, diced carrot, diced onions, minced garlic and ham hock.
Place the stone into the soup.
Bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer it uncovered for about 2 hours. Stir the soup occasionally during simmering.
Scoop the ham hock from the soup and place it on a cutting board. Remove the skin and discard. Remove the meat and use a sharp knife to dice it. Add the diced meat back into the soup, discarding the bone.
Taste the soup; it will have some saltiness from the stock and ham hock, but you can add more if it needs some, along with black pepper to taste. Remove the stone from the soup. (You can wash the stone and save it for the next batch.) Serve the soup while it’s hot.