Diving In

A quick trip to the grocery store, and I was ready to begin. I made a classic Hungarian Goulasch the day before, and decided that was as good a place as any to start. I still had a lot of ingredients left over, and loved the stew.

In to the Cauldron (ok, ok, it's just a big pot...):
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in main pot
2 medium sweet onions, diced, browned in butter
3 garlic cloves, diced, browned with onions
Leftover package of bacon, cut in chunks, fried up in frying pan
3# beef chuck roast, cut in to pieces, seared in bacon grease
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 russet potato, skinned & cubed
Leftover amount of vegetable stock
Generous helping of red wine vinegar
Splash of cooking sherry

I boiled it all together for like 20 minutes, then reduced the heat to Lo, and let the simmering begin!

What I really like about this (so far) is the carefree whimsy... Most of the sites talking about Perpetual Stew have a few guidelines:
Don't use fish
Boil after adding something new
Add liquid as needed

I add to this my own suggestions:
Season outside of the pot, as ingredients will change too quickly
Keep track of what goes in, and especially, what doesn't work
Have fun with it - No judging if something goes wrong

But other than that, there's no rules, no right way, no harm no foul... If you hate the soup, add more stuff and give it a day... Worse comes to worse, pitch it and start anew! But I say go for it ... Who know's what you're making?!?

What is Eternal Soup?

I have been on a "making my own soup kick" for quite some time now, avidly collecting recipes, making huge batches, and taking my creations in to work for lunch meals. While reading a book (the SM Stirling "Emberverse" series) I came across an interesting concept: "Perpetual Stew", which is also known as "Eternal Soup", and "Hunter's Stew". Twenty minutes spent on Google & Wikipedia later...

This concept has been found in many cultures, and goes back hundreds of years. The general idea is that you take what you have, and add more as you get more. It was common fare at any inn or pub in the Long Ago, popular with hunters and travelers. The stew keeps evolving, never having the same ingredients, and can be kept going indefinitely. In fact, Guiness World Records has a pot on record as having been kept going by one Polynesian family for over 100 years! I was fascinated... Instead of making a different stew or soup every week, why not try this out, and have one constantly changing pot?