Beef and Barley Soup

Growing up in the North, my mother would make huge pots of this soup in the winter, and stick it out on the deck where it would freeze and be ready for use when we needed it next.  When the weather is -20° at 7:00am, it is definitely okay to use your deck as a freezer for the winter months!

This bone-warming, tender meat soup is so flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth good, that I just have to share it with you.

I always use local and/or organic products wherever I can, and local meat and homemade stock always tastes fresher!

If you don’t have any stock in your freezer, I like to use Kitchen Basics or Wolfgang Puck’s.

And of course, you can always make this a vegan dinner by replacing the meat with any type of potato or winter squash, substitute the meat stock for veggie stock and voila! ( Still just as bone-warming and hearty)!

3T extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 leek, halved and sliced
1 lb. stew beef chunks
4C beef stock
1/3C pearled barley
fresh cracked pepper
sea salt
1/4t dry chervil
1/2t ea. dry thyme, dry marjoram
2T fresh parsley
Hunk of crusty french bread

1. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat, add onions, garlic, leeks, and celery; saute for about 7 minutes.
2. Add in beef cubes, cook until outside of beef is brown.
3. Generously salt and pepper the pot, and add in dry spices, give it stir.
4. Add in stock, simmer 1hr.
5. After an hour, add in barley and carrots, simmer another 1 hour until barley is tender.
6. Taste and season how necessary, add in fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Beef