Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

Is it okay to be disappointed that we didn’t get a snow day Tuesday? Did anyone one else grocery shop and prepare for a day at home with an excuse to cook yummy cold weather food? Just an inch…. that’s all we asked for. Oh well – it’s still cold, the day at home is an unexpected pleasure, and time in the kitchen to make a warm comforting dinner is a luxury beyond compare.

There is a good friend of mine who makes a beef and vegetable soup that’s so marvelous, it’s the stuff of culinary dreams. It features tender succulent beef and perfectly cooked vegetables along with barley in a beef-based broth, that’s not tomatoey(I know – not a real word) like most vegetable soups. He told me what’s in it, but no real recipe, just a bunch of ingredients. For the record, he isn’t being mean, he runs a professional kitchen and recipes for the home cook just aren’t his thing. The secret, he said was the beef. Well, I asked – do tell. His answer was beef tenderloin and that did not help. There was no way my husband is going to stand by silently and watch me toss beef tenderloin into vegetable soup. It could get ugly.

Experimentation was key here. If you’ve ever made a beef stew then you know that with a little love and attention, rendering a cheaper cut of beef, like chuck roast, into tender flavorful bites is not beyond the realm of possibility. The broth, however, was up for debate. It seemed like that rich taste probably involved fancy ingredients that do not line the grocery shelves. Well, on second thought, wine actually does now line the grocery shelves and a slow roast of beef with wine and tomato paste proved to be just the ticket. And good news here, it isn’t hard to do. The best thing about the beef in the delicious soup made by my friend was that it was cut into little bite sized pieces. That just takes just a few minutes of knife work, a quick sauté to brown, and into the oven in a little wine hot tub for a few hours. After that the beef was delicious and what was left of the sauce it cooked in made the most amazing base for this soup. The veggies are a matter of personal taste, add or subtract as you choose. The barley was really cool. My son was a huge fan. This soup is worthy of a dinner party. It’s that good. Serve it with bread and a salad if you must, but for our “snow day,” this soup and a batch of freshly baked biscuits was heavenly. Enjoy!

Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium high and brown beef in two or three batches so as not to crowd, removing each batch as it browns. (Browning only takes a couple of minutes.)

Return beef to the Dutch oven and sprinkle with flour.

Place Dutch oven in the oven uncovered and allow flour to brown for 5 minutes,

Stir in wine, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme and enough broth to cover (about 2 cups).

Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees, cover Dutch oven and allow beef to simmer for 3 hours checking occasionally to see if liquid needs to be added.

During the last 30 minutes of oven time, sauté the carrots, celery, and onion in a small skillet over medium heat using remaining oil as necessary just enough to soften.

Bring four cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan, add potatoes, green beans, butterbean, corn, and barley, reduce to a slow boil and cook until tender 15 to 20 minutes, drain.

Remove Dutch oven from the oven add remaining broth, sautéed vegetables, and cooked and vegetables.

Add more broth if necessary and taste for salt and pepper.

*Soup will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Reheats beautifully! This is good news because this morning we have a dusting of snow and delicious leftover soup for dinner!