Beef and Barley Soup

The reasons for this week's recipe choice:

1. I've become enamoured with grains over the past few months. They're healthy (although pearl barley is one of the less nutritious forms of barley, having lost its outer hull and bran layer), hearty, and interesting;

2. I've never made anything with barley before;

3. There's a decidedly autumn-feel to the air now and it seems the perfect time for soup;

4. I copied this recipe years ago (sorry, I don't remember the source) and it's been sitting in a pile of handwritten recipes which I've never actually tried to make. It's time to test it out and decide whether it's worth keeping or should be added to the recycling bin!; and,

5. It's been a tough week and I'm in need of comfort food! I've already decided to pair this soup with sourdough bread, red wine and a dessert of apple crisp.

The recipe calls for mushrooms and a dutch oven. I don't believe either will be essential to the soup, although you may want to reduce the liquid when omitting the mushrooms, as they would absorb some of it. My cursory glances at other recipes show that people often add diced tomatoes. 

I'm a little uneasy about the beef broth, chicken broth AND water - seems a bit odd, but then again, I don't know anything about cooking beef soups. So, time to find out.

Beef and Barley Soup

Serves: eight

Cooking time: two hours

Ingredients

1.5 lbs beef round steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided

2 cups finely chopped onion

1 cup diced carrot

1.2 cup chopped celery

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 cups of beef broth

2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of water

1/2 cup pearl barley

3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Directions

1. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Place 1 Tbsp oil in dutch oven and brown beef until no longer pink. Set aside.

2. Heat remaining oil in same pot and add onion, carrot and celery. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. 

3. Stir in mushrooms, garlic and thyme, cooking for 5 more minutes.

4. Add beef and chicken broths with water, barley and beef. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1.5 hours. Add more water if necessary.

5. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.