Beef and No-Barley Soup

Last week was fairly cold, here in Virgina (well, in my area, at least). And, when it's cold, I start thinking of soups and stews! I've done a Spicy Winter Squash Soup, and we actually had the last of it that was in the freezer (yes, it freezes beautifully), but I wanted something with meat in it. Then, I made a ham and bean soup. Very yummy, but still not quite what my taste buds were craving (and yes, I'll eventually post the recipe: it's ridiculously easy).

So, I looked for a Beef and Barley Soup recipe, and found this at AllRecipes.com. OK, yeah, I had onions and carrots and celery... Whups! No barley. Drat. Unfortunately, the local food stores didn't have barley, either (I even checked in Lynchburg when I went shopping yesterday). I was not happy... but I'm going to order some from Bob's Red Mill, along with some whole wheat berries (ooo! I can mill my own whole wheat flour!!!)

Therefore, after all this, I wound up with a Beef and No-Barley Soup, because I still wanted a hearty beef soup.

Romeocat's Beef and No-Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 lb stir-fry beef (or something cheap), diced - cubes should be about the size of the tip of your pinky
• 2 cups diced onion
• 1 cup each diced celery and carrot
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (more if you like garlic - which I do)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms
• 2 cups red wine, divided (OK, I confess, I used 3)
• 3 TB fresh thyme leaves
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 2 lb boxes Swanson's Lower Sodium Beef Broth (You don't need all that salt, anyway. If the soup tastes bland, kick up the thyme, garlic, and freshly ground pepper!)
• salt and pepper to taste (add freshly ground pepper with the cooking, hold off on adding the salt until almost done; you may not need it)

In a 5 quart or larger pot, heat the oil over medium to med.-high heat. Add the diced beef and sauté until cooked through, about 8 minutes. There will probably be some juices from the beef left in the pot; leave them there! Remove beef from pan, and add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Season with some freshly ground pepper (I've spoken to you-all before about using freshly ground pepper!), and sauté until softened. Remove the veggies, and then add the mushrooms.

At this point, the pot ought to be fairly "dry". Good: I want the mushrooms to cook, but I want them sort of roasted, too. Make sure you keep them moving around the pot. After about 5 minutes or so, the mushrooms should have some toasty brown areas - now you can add part of the wine. If you're using 2 cups, I'd add about 1 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil (yes, the mushrooms are in there, too), and make sure you scrape up any yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil for about 2 minutes, then add the beef and veggies back to the pot.

Stir well, and cook off most of the wine, which will take, oh, well, as long as it takes. Don't cook it bone dry; you want about a 1/2 cup of liquid left.

Add the thyme, bay leaves, and the broth, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. I left it uncovered, but if you want to cover it, that's fine. I assume that if you HAD barley, you would add it at this point, but check the original recipe. After about an hour, check the seasonings and add the last bit of wine. Simmer for another 15 minutes, and serve!

I'd estimate this makes about eight hearty servings, and you certainly should have a nice crusty loaf of whole-grain country bread (or, failing that, some bread and butter!), and maybe a salad. I used an Australian Shiraz for the wine - remember, if you won't drink it plain, don't use it for cooking! - and I bet that would go well with the soup. I saved my leftover wine to sip on the following evening while I was surfing the 'Net.

Hope you enjoy my Beef and Not-Barley Soup, and please feel free to check out my other food posts, or my Cat Purrs, or my quilts! Thanks for stopping by, and I would welcome any return visits and comments.

Comments

[Red Queen]

1.

When I come for dinner????

[David]

2.

R.Cat: last week was a mess or I'd already have made some of this. It reads "delicious" all over the place.

Thanks!