Busy bee sour cream spinach soup

This great homemade Polish soup was served every third Sunday at the Busy Bee. "We used to sell 30 gallons on a Sunday," says Sophie Madej, former owner and chef.

She always poured her soup over a hard-boiled egg in the soup bowl. The spinach soup was my favorite. A large bowl of soup with buttered rye bread on the side could keep you going until Tuesday night.

This recipe makes about 6 cups:

Bring 10 to 12 cups of water to a boil in a pot.

Add 1 whole medium onion, 1 or 2 carrots, a stalk of celery, half of the white part of a leek (optional) and 2 washed neck or beef bones. Bring all to boil for about 20 minutes, then remove the bones and vegetables.

To the pot, add 8 ounces of washed and chopped spinach, and a teaspoon of vinegar (or lemon juice). Boil 20 minutes. Throw 1/4 teaspoon of pepper into the pot, along with 2 tablespoons of Maggi seasoning or bouillon. Keep it boiling for another 15 minutes until the spinach becomes soup.

In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup of half-and-half with 3 tablespoons of flour (to cut calories, Sophie says you can use a slurry of water and cornstarch). Beat flour until there are no lumps. Pour this mixture slowly into soup, mixing while pouring. Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, or to taste. "Everything is to taste," says Sophie. Bring soup to a boil for 10 to 15 minutes.

Now, reduce the heat to a simmer and, in tribute to Sophie, briskly stir in 4 (maybe even 5!) tablespoons of sour cream, small amounts at a time. Continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes.

For taste, add 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic, salt and more lemon, as needed.

To serve, slice a hard-boiled egg, place it in a soup bowl and pour the soup over it.

Outside of chicken noodle soup, Sophie made all the Busy Bee soups with a flour base for texture. She adds, "The longer you cook it, the better it will taste."

Dave Hoekstra