Pepper Pot Soup

The Philly Cheese Steak sandwich wasn’t the first good food to come out of Philadelphia--this soup probably was. You might have to like tripe to try this really good soup but remember this was one of the soups are founding fathers ate often in 1776.

Pepper Pot Soup

1 pound honeycomb tripe

2 small lemons

5 slices bacon, diced

1/2 cup yellow onion, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

3 leeks, cleaned and copped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

4 14.5-ounce cans beef broth

1 10-ounce condensed beef broth soup

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed

1 bay leaf

1 to 2 teaspoons black pepper

1 large potato, peeled and diced

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

Place the tripe in a saucepan and cover with water; squeeze in lemon juice and add lemon rind to pot. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Allow the tripe to cool a bit in the water and then drain and rinse, rinse again. Cut into 1/4-inch dice.

In a large heavy soup pot, sauté the bacon until clear. Add the onion, celery, leeks, parsley and green peppers; sauté until tender. Add the beef broths, thyme, marjoram, cloves, pepper flakes, bay leaf and black pepper.

Bring the pot to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, until the tripe is very tender, about 2 hours. Add the diced potato and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

Prepare a roux by meting the butter in a small saucepan and stirring in the four; cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, remove from heat.

When the soup is done, stir in the roux and simmer, stirring all the while, until the soup thickens a bit. Correct seasonings

Serve in warm bowls.