Beef & Barley Soup with Mushrooms

Meat, meat, meat, and barley….that’s this soup. Comfort food, cold winters day food, hearty and satisfying meal. That’s pretty much it!

What you’ll need:
A heavy bottom dutch oven or similar pot

Ingredients:

3-5 large bone-in short ribs (size matters here…sorry!)
4-6 cups beef stock
2 leeks – cleaned and sliced into thin half-rounds
3 carrots sliced into half rounds
2 stalks of celery
½ oz dried porcini mushrooms – reconstituted in 1 cup of hot water
Fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
½ cup barley, rinsed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat one tbsp olive oil in a large heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the short ribs aggressively and begin browning them. Don’t crowd the pot, take your time and get a good dark crust on each rib. While browning the meat, take the dried mushrooms and steep them in a cup of hot water and set them aside.

When the meat is done, remove from the pan and put them on a plate to rest. Now take the leeks, celery, and carrots and start to cook them in the same pot. As you move the vegetables around, you will be able to begin lifting the little brown bits on the bottom. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Throw in the herbs and cook until they are soft around eight to ten minutes.

Once the vegetables are softened, add the meat back into the pot and cover with stock. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for an hour or two covered.

Periodically check for doneness of the meat and salt level. The meat should fall off the bones. When the meat is done, take it out of the pot and shred. Now add the barley and the mushrooms. Carefully remove the porcinis from the mushroom broth and chop them finely. Add them to the pot with half of the mushroom broth. Be careful when adding the broth to the pot, there will be dirt from the mushrooms at the bottom of the cup and you don’t want that in your soup! Cook the soup for about thirty minutes.

Now add the meat and cook for another thirty minutes just to let all the flavors settle down. This is a very thick soup. Feel free to add stock to thin it out as you want. Check for salt and pepper. You can eat the soup now but it’s one of those soups that taste better with age….keeps in the fridge for two to three days and freezes well. It’s not a pretty soup but it is SO delicious!!!

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Beef & Barley Soup with Mushrooms

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Meat, meat, meat, and barley....that's this soup. Comfort food, cold winters day food, hearty and satisfying meal. That's pretty much it! What you’ll need: A heavy bottom dutch oven or similar pot

Ingredients

• 3-5 bone-in short ribs (size matters here…sorry!)
• 4-6 cups beef stock
• 2 leeks – cleaned and sliced into thin half-rounds
• 3 carrots sliced into half rounds
• 2 stalks of celery
• ½ oz dried porcini mushrooms – reconstituted in 1 cup of hot water
• Fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ cup barley, rinsed
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1

Heat one tbsp olive oil in a large heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the short ribs aggressively and begin browning them. Don’t crowd the pot, take your time and get a good dark crust on each rib. While browning the meat, take the dried mushrooms and steep them in a cup of hot water and set them aside.

2

When the meat is done, remove from the pan and put them on a plate to rest. Now take the leeks, celery, and carrots and start to cook them in the same pot. As you move the vegetables around, you will be able to begin lifting the little brown bits on the bottom. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Throw in the herbs and cook until they are soft around eight to ten minutes.

3

Once the vegetables are softened, add the meat back into the pot and cover with stock. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for an hour or two covered.

4

Periodically check for doneness of the meat and salt level. The meat should fall off the bones. When the meat is done, take it out of the pot and shred. Now add the barley and the mushrooms. Carefully remove the porcinis from the mushroom broth and chop them finely. Add them to the pot with half of the mushroom broth. Be careful when adding the broth to the pot, there will be dirt from the mushrooms at the bottom of the cup and you don't want that in your soup! Cook the soup for about thirty minutes.

5

Now add the meat and cook for another thirty minutes just to let all the flavors settle down. This is a very thick soup. Feel free to add stock to thin it out as you want. Check for salt and pepper. You can eat the soup now but it's one of those soups that taste better with age....keeps in the fridge for two to three days and freezes well. It's not a pretty soup but it is SO delicious!!!