Vegetable Beef Barley Soup
Stretch an inexpensive cut of beef into a hearty meal for the whole family. With a rich base of red wine and a deep fond, this Vegetable Beef Barley Soup never disappoints.
Servings: 5 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oil or Bacon Fat
- 1 lb Beef Cut into very small pieces, 1/4"
- 1 med Onion chopped fine
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 stalks Celery chopped
- 3 medium Carrots chopped fine
- 4 tbsp Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Red Wine Cabernet is good
- 2 1/2 cups Beef Broth
- 1 1/2 cups Water
- 1 16 oz Canned Tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1 medium Turnip cubed
- 2 medium Potatoes Peeled and cubed
- 3/4 cup Pearl Barley
- 1 cup Frozen Peas optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Chop your meat into fine pieces, no more than 1/4"
- Mince garlic and finely chop the onion and place together in a small bowl
- Chop celery and carrots and group together
- Peel and cube potatoes and turnip and set aside.
The Soup
- Add 1 tbsp oil or fat in a non-stick stainless steel or iron stock pot and heat on high until shimmering.
- Add just enough beef to cover the bottom of the pot, reserving the rest for the next browning. Brown the beef thoroughly, until almost crunchy. Remove to a bowl and proceed with the next batch until all the beef is browned.
- Lower heat and add onion and garlic, and cook for a few minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil or fat and allow to heat for a minute, then add the flour. Stir and cook until it releases a nutty aroma - about two minutes.
- Carefully add wine and deglaze the pan, scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add beef broth, water, turnip, potatoes, canned tomatoes, barley, bay leaves and thyme. Add the beef back in the pot, cover and simmer for 1 hour, or until potatoes are done.
- (Optional: after 45 minutes, add 1 cup of frozen peas and cook for 15 minutes).
- Remove bay leaves. Season with pepper and salt if necessary. I use regular salted broth, so salt is usually not necessary, but a good dash or two of pepper is great.
Notes
Beef: This recipe is perfect for a tough cut of round steak or London Broil cut. The smaller you chop it, the more tender it will be in the end.
Red Wine: I use Cabernet, but any dry red wine or wine blend will work. A non-alcoholic option would be 1 1/2 cups water with a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.