Plaza III Steak Soup

Plaza III was a wonderful restaurant that was on the Plaza in Kansas City for years. The Plaza location closed a while back and they tried to reopen in a couple of other locations, but sadly they are all gone now. They were noted for their steak soup and we have an old recipe book called "Kansas City Cuisine" that contains the recipe.  The book was first published in 1990, and is a sampling of menu items from a number of Kansas City restaurants, many of which are no longer in business. At any rate here is the recipe for Plaza III Steak Soup:

Ingredients: (Serves 8)

8 TBSP Butter

1/2 Cup Flour

4 10 Oz. cans Beef Consomme'

1/2 Cup Diced Carrots

1/2 Cup Diced Onion

1/2 Cup Diced Celery

1 Cup of Drained Diced Canned Tomatoes

11/2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet

2 Beef Bullion Cubes

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

10 Oz. Frozen Mixed Vegetables

1 LB. Ground Beef Steak, browned and drained

Preparation:

Place butter in a soup pot and allow to melt without browning. Add flour and whisk into butter to form a roux. Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes over medium heat without browning and stirring constantly. Add consomme' to the roux and stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Bring to a full boil. (Yesterday I substituted salt free beef stock for the consomme' and thickened it a little with Better than Bullion beef base and eliminated the bullion cubes). 

Add the fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and seasonings and allow to return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are crisp tender (20 -30 min.) Add frozen vegetables and ground steak. (I diced filet mignon instead of using ground beef). Simmer an additional 15 minutes. Be sure to cook long enough to let the flavors become well blended.