Beef And Vegetable Barley Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. beef, cut into bite sized pieces (I typically use stew meat or top round, as lean as possible)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small-medium onion, diced
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup barley
- 8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
DIRECTIONS
- Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add meat and brown.
- Pour in water and red wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while you are cutting up the vegetables or longer (usually, I let it simmer about an hour).
- Remove beef and cut into small bite sized chunks or shred if desired. Skim fat and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
- In a large stockpot, melt butter. Add celery, carrots, onion, and saute until tender. Stir in garlic until fragrant.
- Pour in beef broth and add thyme, basil, bay leaf, beef, and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Season to taste.
- Add barley and mushrooms and simmer until done, about 40 minutes.