Beef, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Fall is on it's way here in Oregon, and today I was inspired to make soup. I had never made Beef and Barley soup previously. I sauteed everything first to really develop the flavor then added it all back in and cooked it for several hours. It is fairly easy, and very tasty.

I whipped up a batch of Cheese and Garlic Biscuits to go with it.

2 cups diced or sliced carrots

2 cups diced celery

1 medium onion chopped

1 cup of sliced mushrooms (whatever kind you like)

8 cans of Beef Broth

1 lb package of Barley (not the quick cook kind)

1 to 1.5 lbs of Beef Stew Meat, cut into mediumish pieces, dry it well

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp tomato paste

2 tbl Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup of red wine

I am a firm believer in fond, the yucky looking stuff on the bottom of your pan after searing food. De-glaze and you have a wonderful start to just about anything.

Place 2-3 tbl of oil in your dutch oven and crank to high heat

Sear your meat in batches, don't crowd the pan, remove and set aside

Add another 2 tbl of oil and saute your onion and celery for about 5 minutes, remove and set aside

Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up all the bits on the bottom of the pan, stirring until they are dissolved.

Add in all the remaining ingredients, (except the mushrooms), add them during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Simmer on low/medium heat for up to 2 hours