by Ray McCune

Originally published in MidWest Outdoors, September 2002.

Hot summer and hot soup? Yes, hot soup is very good in summer, and I often make a big pot of soup and keep it in the refrigerator. I heat it up, fill up a cup or large bowl with a handle, and eat it on the run. I’m often too busy to stop and make a sandwich or prepare anything that takes a lot of time.

You ask, “Hot soups in summer?” Yes, hot soups in summer! I have tried cold soups in the summer, but I can’t recommend them. I’m one of those people who thinks soup should be hot and lemonade should be cold. We eat other hot meals in summer, why not hot soup?

I often make up, invent, create, or put together new soups. The first one, Easy Potato Soup, is a soup that can be put together with very little cooking, thus it would be a perfect soup to throw together as a first meal in camp on a hurried Friday night. After traveling to the campground and putting up tents there usually isn’t a lot of daylight left to cook a more complicated meal.

Ray’s Cheap/Easy Potato Soup

1 can of (sliced, diced, or whole) potatoes (undrained)

1 can mushroom soup

1 soup can of milk

1 green onion (sliced)

1 Tbsp. diced celery

2 or 3 slices bacon (fry bacon till crisp and then crumble)

salt and pepper to taste

Pour water from potatoes into a 2-quart pan and set on low heat. Slice, dice, or cut potatoes into very small pieces. Put the potato pieces in the pan with the water. Mash a few of the pieces against the side of the pan to help thicken the soup. Add the green onion, celery, and crumbled bacon to the potatoes and heat through. When hot, add milk and bring to a simmer but do not boil. Serve with crackers. Should serve two.

Note: 1 Tbsp. regular onion diced fine may be substituted for the green onion. A “ dash’ “ of celery seed may be substituted for the diced celery. Imitation bacon bits may be substituted for the regular bacon. Cream of celery soup or cream of chicken soup may be substituted for the cream of mushroom soup. Two percent milk or powdered milk mixed with water (per carton instructions) may be substituted for regular milk.

A baked, boiled, or microwaved potato diced fine may be substituted for the canned potato. I have also made this soup with a Tbsp. of finely diced carrot to add a little color and a little different flavor to the soup. You might want to throw in a little cooked hamburger, diced hot dog, ham pieces, jerky, or chopped up luncheon meat for a little extra protein and energy.

The next recipe, Klondike Derby Soup, was named after an annual January Boy Scout outing.

It was usually announced weeks before the event that everyone was to bring one can of soup per person and it could be any kind of soup. The man in charge of lunch had a large iron kettle on a framework. He had a fire going under the pot and as someone handed him a can of soup he dumped it into the pot. There was a boy who opened the cans, a boy who handed the cans to the cook, a boy standing by to fill the cans with water and a boy to dump them in the pot.

The soup sounds like it would be horrible, but it tastes good. The more varieties of soup you have the better it is. I have seen chili soup, green pea, tomato, chicken noodle, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, cream of celery, vegetable, beef barley, broccoli cheese soup and any one of a dozen other kinds of soup added to the pot.

Klondike Derby Soup

1 can of any type of condensed soup per person.

1 can of water for each can of soup.

Add soup and water to pot and heat. Serve with crackers.

Pot A Feu

An old time favorite soup or stew if you want to call it that, is Pot A Feu or as the French say, “Pot on the fire.” The “pot” is actually a dumping ground for leftovers made into a soup/stew and some people call it refrigerator soup. I make it by putting a pot on the stove and then opening the refrigerator door (usually on a weekend). I then take out everything in the refrigerator that’s classified as leftovers.

Next thing to do is to throw everything into the pot and add water, tomato juice, vegetable juice, and bouillon cubes to the pot. Heat and stir. Some things I have made Pot A Feu with are: corn, carrots, peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, pot roast, hot dogs, fried chicken, deer roast, fried groundhog, pork chops, canned or fresh tomatoes, pinto beans, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, onions, kidney beans, leftover soup, and yes I have even thrown in fried bluegill, leftover scrambled eggs from breakfast, and catsup.

If I don’t have enough leftovers, I open some cans of whatever is on the cupboard shelf and dump it in. I don’t drain the liquid off either; I think most of the flavor is in the juice. Simmer the soup for a while, taste it, and add more of whatever you think is missing. Season to taste with garlic powder, pepper, salt, or any other friendly herb. Serve it to your guests or kids with crackers and give it a fancy name. Here is a must-not-do hint; you must not throw leftover beets, or candied parsnips into the soup. The result will be bad; trust me on this.

There you have some soup recipes that allow you to be very flexible when you’re inventing your own soup. Why not make some soup for lunch today or the next time you’re cooking at deer camp!

You’ll find more recipes to prepare using the meat and fish that you’ve harvested yourself in every issue of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.