Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Beef and barley vegetable soup

The food section of the local newspaper had this recipe. This has become a family favorite.

One thing I'll note is the barley the recipe calls for is "quick" pearl barley. That makes it about a one hour soup. If regular pearled barley is used, it needs to simmer most of the day - not that that's a bad thing!


Beef and barley vegetable soup
Peninsula Clarion

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

One cup sliced celery

1 cup fresh sliced carrots

1/2 (10-ounce) bag fresh cut green beans

1 medium to large zucchini, sliced

1/2 (10-ounce) box frozen spinach

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 quarts low-sodium beef broth

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained

1-1/2 cups "quick" pearled barley

1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon dried basil

1-2 bay leaves

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, lightly brown meat. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat, then stir in onion, celery, carrots and green beans. Cook for 10 minutes. (If needed, some water to the cooking pot.)

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in broth, tomatoes (crush tomatoes lightly with your hands), barley, parsley, basil, and bay leaf.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini, spinach and peas and cook 10 minutes more. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste.

Remove bay leaves and garnish with fresh minced parsley before serving.

Makes about 16 (1 cup) servings.

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/010610/foo_543472417.shtml

Sounds great, except for the dried basil. I'd substitute fresh. Available in every grocery store, if you don't grow your own. I think I'm going to try it. Sounds like my kind of soup.

Thought I'd post it now as soup season will be ending soon for us.

Soup is not summer chow, IMO.

From the link:

Looks great.

In the summer, you can eat soup cold.

Looks great! I love beef and barley soup. When I make soup though, I just start from scratch...maybe a broth started with the roast bones I keep (from trimmed chuck roasts when they are on sale) and start adding whatever I can find to toss in. One thing I did find is that I do not like using the "quick" pearl barley. I keep mine pretty simple and never thought of spinach in it.

I cook for 5 little old ladies, and try to sneak as many nutritious things into their food as possible. I put a handful of barley in lots of different soups. I've noticed the quick cooking barley. It didn't stay together like the regular stuff I buy from Bob's Red Mill. I'm curious to try farrow. They use it a lot in Italy. I just saw it in the whole grains and might see how it compares to barley. That and quinoa are supposed to be the most nutritious grains out there.

I've tried quinoa. It's OK. Nothing special, though.

I thought that odd at first too. It adds a nice flavor, color and texture.

I like this soup alot. Nest time will probably be made with round steak or such.

I like spinach added to lentil soup. A similar effect can be had with escarole, which has a more delicate texture.

After adding broth, do you first bring it to a boil?

I don't bring to a full rolling boil, just the first signs of bubbling and then reduce heat and let simmer.

I prefer to let it thicken a bit, which is what happens using regular pearl barley and letting that cook and soften.

I used antelope steaks diced up in my last batch with a beef broth I made from boiling some trimmed chuck roast bones. It turned out rather well. I also like the regular pearl barley in it. I will try the spinach in the next batch.

That looks great. Give you some good bread, insalata mista, cold beer. God job...

That looks great to me. Our family recipe is without the tomatoes as the acid they impart revs up my stomach.

I brown up three pounds of meat (deer/ bear/ moose etc) cut into 1" cubes more or less in bacon grease.

remove that and sweat off 6 cups of chopped onions/ 3 cups of sliced celery/ 6 cups of 2" slices of carrot rounds/ a couple garllic heads rough chopped. This deglazes the pot. My wife likes 4 cups of thin sliced cabbage, I do not so I usually make it when she's not home.

Add the meat back to the pot and add 4 quarts of meat or veggie stock whatever is made up to start with. Bring to a slow boil and then add a pound of pearl barley and turn down to a slow simmer.

In the winter I add dried herbs (the summer fresh) basil tarragon, oregano thyme and cracked black pepper and salt to taste, about a handful of fresh herbs, and half a handful of dry incl the salt and pepper. I have small hands.

That slow simmers all afternoon unless the smells force you to eat a bowl before supper. If the oven is empty I use it at 220. Check it and add more liquid as the barley will swell and soaks up lots of liquid. I add half stock and half water for this. It makes about three gallons of soup and feeds a bunch but not as much as you may think usually 15 or 16 people.

I don't know that you can make a beef barley soup that is not fine fare, unless of course you add tomaters.

My Dad always made this soup from simmering short ribs for broth. He added diced onions, celery, carrots and sometimes corn. Barley, or course. He also added stewed tomatoes (diced) and parsley. Garlic and salt and pepper were his only real seasonings. We loved it with crusty sour dough bread and butter.

Made this again today. Dang, I like this zoop!

Great bump.

I will try this.

Amazing all the good cooking coming out of Alaska. First pizza and now this.

Hope you enjoy it. My wife is not a fan because of the slimy texture of barley.

Bet she loves gumbo.

WOW! That is a blast from the past, not the soup, the posters.