Simple Penny Soup Recipe | Southern Tomato Hot Dog Soup with Rice

After I was adopted in 1962 from the Galveston Orphan’s Home, every summer when we were out of school, we loaded our Cabin Cruiser to the hilt and were off to Halls Bayou landing, headed to our bait camp along the Gulf Coast that daddy built. We were not quite an hour from our house to the landing and our camp, way out where few other camps stood, in the middle of nowhere. It was paradise for us and became that place where I was healed. 

The Bait Camp in Halls Bayou

As we left, I closed my eyes, smelling the salt water, black willow, buttonbush and reedy grasses that danced all along the riverbank. We must have brought every provision we had, and then some, which made Daddy calculate the loaded draft, how much lower in the water the boat was when packed to the hilt. He kept ciphering, could we make it through the big flats and little flats without getting stuck? Years later, he told me that with most trips, it was touch-and-go. We were busting at the seams with not an inch of space to spare. 

Daddy and his fish

The Evinrude motor belched its familiar gas-motor odor, a smell I came to know well. The banks held the distinctive dark feathered cormorants, with their webbed feet helping them propel through water on their mission for a fish dinner. Their graceful beauty evident as they dove, capturing their prize with their thin hooked bill. Other cormorants stood with wings out, drying in the sun like clotheslines. 

The humid June air was stifling until we got running, then my hair flew slick back, making my mouth warble when I tried to talk. As we motored, we’d spot turtles sunning, cranes nestled in alcoves and sea grasses swaying to a melody as old as time. We couldn’t wait to get there, unload and jump in the bayou. This trip was extra special, my mother decided to outdo herself by cooking southern dishes all week, ones her grandmother made. I found the list at the bottom of a grocery bag and thought, for real? 

The menu was extensive anyway, but for a tiny kitchen eons away from a store, my mother must have been a rock star. There was meatloaf with macaroni and cheese, wedge salad with blue cheese and lemon chess pie for dessert. That was for Monday. On Tuesday she had steaks on the grill with huge baked potatoes, fresh peas and chocolate cake. Wednesday called for roasted chicken and rice, fried squash and strawberry shortcake. Thursday, she planned chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, coleslaw and zucchini bread with mascarpone icing. Friday was fried fish and jumbo shrimp day with French fries and hushpuppies followed by lemon pound cake. Finally, Saturday we would celebrate Daddy’s birthday with his favorite meal-barbequed brisket, baked beans, potato salad and chocolate pie. Sunday was Penny Soup with rice, served with crusty bread and blueberry-lemon icebox cheesecake. Of everything that week, the Penny Soup intrigued me the most.

Karen Hand Allen's Mama

I hadn’t been adopted into the family long, but mama decided that I knew a surprising amount about cooking, but truthfully, I was generally clueless. All week we’d cooked every dish she planned, but when she got to Penny Soup day, I laughed when she told me its name, since penny soup sounded like something a kid would pretend-make in a bathtub. In actuality, it has a rich tomato base with beef and turkey hot dogs cut up into thin slices. It became one of my favorite meals, one we still make today. I’m such a cheap date.

Mama laid out all the ingredients - three packages of hot dogs, two beef ones and one turkey, two white onions, two large bell peppers, two cloves of fresh garlic, one can tomato paste, a large can crushed tomatoes, two sticks of butter, one thirty-two-ounce cans of chicken stock and three cups of uncooked rice. My job was to cut up the wieners into thin itty-bitty slices; hence the name “Penny Soup.” Mamma was julienne slicing the onions and bell peppers. We carefully measured out the rice. For three cups of rice, we measured six cups of water, which produced twelve cups of cooked rice. Seems like a lot, but we had seven people who were vultures. 

Penny Soup ingredients laid out.

We added a teaspoon of salt to the boiling water and gently added the uncooked rice along with a tablespoon of sweet cream salted butter. We put a top on the rice and turned the temperature way down low. Mama said that it would be magic in about twenty minutes when all the water was absorbed. When the rice was cooked, I add another two tablespoons of butter, keeping the top on until the soup was cooked. Told you we were southern.

While we waited for the rice to get done, vegetables and wieners were sliced as we melted two sticks of butter in the bottom of a large Dutch skillet or pot. Onions and bell peppers sautéed in their butter bath, simmering till translucent.  Cloves of chopped garlic wafted and sizzled, popping away, cooking two minutes more. Amazing smells crowded the camp, bringing everybody in the kitchen to ask, was it ready? 

 Sautéed vegetables joined tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken stock in the pot. Bringing everything to a boil, I cooked until the dogs were cooked and puffy, about fifteen minutes more. I tasted the cooked Penny Soup. Mama decided it could use some Knorr Home-style chicken bouillon-the little one-ounce tubs, or about one tablespoon of the granulated kind, whichever she had on hand. Making a slurry of two tablespoons of cornstarch and one-fourth cup water, I got the soup boiling, gradually adding the cornstarch mixture just until it was thickened nicely, not too much. Finally, she tasted it for salt, it didn’t need much, she said since the hotdogs and chicken bouillon were salty.

A pot of fresh cooked Penny Soup!

Everything was ready as I pulled the buttered French bread out of the broiler. It smelled scrumptious as we ladled up heaping hot rice and soup into bowls, serving the French bread on the side. As we gathered in the tiny kitchen, way away from civilization, with gulf breezes blowing through beveled glass windows, the delicious smell wafted across the bay, with its magic fairy dust capturing us for eternity. To my mother, Irene F Chance.

Have you ever had a family recipe like Penny Soup passed down to you? Share your story in the comments!

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Simple Penny Soup Recipe

Southern Tomato Hot Dog Soup with Rice

Recipe By: Karen Hand Allen (www.karenhandallen.com) 

This hardy tomato-based soup is surprisingly delicious and simple to make. The onions, bell peppers and garlic add depth and richness to this buttery chicken flavored broth that satisfies in a most delightful way!

Servings: 8-10 servings

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cooking Time: 20 mins | Rest Time: 0 mins | Total Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:  Rice: 2 Cups of uncooked Adolphus rice 3 Tablespoons butter (1 for uncooked rice and 2 after rice is cooked) 1 teaspoon salt 6 Cups water Soup: 2 packs beef wieners with juice from packet 1 pack turkey wieners 1 lg onion 1-2 green bell peppers 1 teaspoon or 2 cloves of chopped garlic 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes  1 can tomato paste 2 sticks butter  32 ounces chicken stock 2 Tablespoons Knorr granulated chicken flavor bouillon or any chicken bouillon Salt & pepper to taste 2 tsp cornstarch (optional) ½ cup water (optional)

Instructions: Rice: Before starting soup, prepare rice. Get water boiling in a large pot, 8 quart. Add salt and 1 tablespoon butter. Add rice, stirring for 15 seconds. Turn temperature low and cover. When rice is tender, about 20 minutes, stir in 2 tablespoons butter. Leave cooked rice covered and warm while soup is prepared. Soup: While rice is cooking, start soup. In a large stockpot, melt butter on medium heat, and Julianne slice onions and bell peppers, then cook till onions translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and bouillon granules, heating to just boiling. Slice wieners thin (about ¼ inch thick), then add to tomato mixture. Bring mixture back to a boil, stirring frequently, add salt and pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to boil for 15-20 minutes. If thicker than you like, add 1/2 cup of water or so. If thinner than you like, add tsp of cornstarch mixed in water to a bowl, then to the mixture. Serve over Adolphus buttered steamed rice with crusty French bread on the side!