Thursday, January 19, 2023

Beef and Barley Soup

 I made a beef and barley soup this past weekend and it's one of the best things I've ever made.  Maybe that's dramatic - but it's REALLY REALLY good.  Luke and Dave both gobbled it up (Mason and G aren't big soup fans) and my mom gave it 5/5 stars which is a huge compliment because she's the queen of soups ;)

It required what felt like 3000 ingredients and took a hot minute to put together but was WELL worth it in the end.



Here's What You'll Need...
- 1.5 lb beef chuck roast
- sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
- olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- a few carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 or so ribs of celery, chopped
- 8 cups beef stock
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- a couple of large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1.5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- fresh thyme
- bay leaves
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 1.5 teaspoons white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons oregano
- 3/4 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 can (14.5oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes


What You'll Do...
- Trim and cube the beef, pat it dry with a paper towel and then toss it all with salt and pepper

- Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and, once it's hot, add the beef cubes and cook/stir until it's mostly browned.  Transfer the beef to a large slow cooker.

- In the same pot, turn the heat down, add a bit more olive oil and then add the onion and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for a couple of more minutes.  Then, add in the carrots and celery and continue to saute for 5-8 minutes.  

- While the veggies are cooking, go ahead and add everything else to the crockpot with the beef.... tomato paste, chopped potatoes, beef bouillon cubes (crushed if you can), Worcestershire sauce, a little bit of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, uncooked pearl barley, white sugar, dried basil, dried oregano, undrained fire roasted tomatoes , 1/2 cup water and the remaining 6 1/2 cups of beef stock.

- Turn up the head on the vegetables and add in 1.5 cups beef stock and deglaze your pot by scraping and browned bits off the bottom and sides.  Stir and simmer for a few minutes and then pour the vegetables into the crock pot.

- Stir to combine, cover and cook on low 6 or so hours.  

- Remove the bay leaves, and taste for seasoning - things are going to depend on how well/much you seasoned the beef, the kind of beef stock and bouillon cubes you used, etc.  I cracked in some more pepper but felt like mine was pretty good on the salt.  

- Serve with bread and ENJOY!!!










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