Beef Barley and Mushroom Soup

Beef Barley and Mushroom Soup - Seriously Soupy

After making the easy meat stock I wanted to create a new soup with savory beef. Beef barley instantly came to mind since this was a soup I had enjoyed numerous times (both at the SouperBowl and at the Soup Swap) but actually hadn't made myself. Using the rich flavors from the stock, I added in some sage, parsley, thyme, barley, mushrooms and the meat I saved from the first batch of stock. Since the flavors were already extracted from the stock, all it really needed in the end was some salt and pepper. I also found that the barley soaked up a lot of the liquid so I had to add more water towards the end. A delicious and comforting soup that even my picky three-old-year enjoyed. Even better? I have another 4 cups of stock left to try another experiment with this savory and economical soup. Any ideas?

Beef Barley and Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups of meat stock
1-1/2 pounds of beef cubes (or the leftover meat used from the stock) 
2 cups of water
1 cup of pearl barley
1/2 yellow onion, chopped up
1 pound of medium-sized mushrooms, trimmed
Bunch of fresh parsley
Bunch of fresh sage
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 carrots, cut up
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Heat up the stock in a medium-sized pot. Cut up the onions and add them to the pot, along with the parsley, sage, thyme, and bay leaves. Add in the extra meat or new batch and cover. Let cook for 20 minutes. Cut up the mushrooms and carrots and add them to the pot, along with the barley. Cover and let cook for another 20-30 minutes - you may need to add water. Taste with salt and pepper and enjoy!

How do you make your beef barley?
Seriously Soupy Serena

Homemade Meat Stock Recipe

Straining the stock

Storing the stock

Leftover meaty goodness for another soup

Last year I made a Chicken Stock and a Vegetable Stock and I loved how easy it was - not to mention how they naturally seasoned my recipes. I really want to try to make a Fish Stock, a Duck Stock, a Pork Stock, a BBQ Beef Stock, and a Roasted Vegetable Stock (among many others). Another stock I wanted to test out was a Homemade Meat Stock. 

Before I actually made the stock, I researched several recipes such as Cantaloupe Alone's Baked Bone Stock, a stock recipe from Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried, and a meat broth recipe from the book The Classic Italian Cookbook. All very different, Cantaloupe Alone's and Straight Into Bed's focuses on oven baking the meat bones to extract the flavors while the recipe from The Classic Cookbook involves a boiling method. Having a basic idea of what ingredients I wanted to use, I decided to boil my stock (mainly because my oven is not reliable and is also very old). For my stock, I used fresh beef parts, along with some fresh parsley, thyme, leeks, bay leaves, celery, carrots, onions and a potato. The whole process took about three hours to cook and some salt was added during the end to taste the stock. A simple recipe, I loved how flavorful this homemade stock was and how many new soups are going to come out of this easy and rich stock.

Homemade Meat Stock Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound of beef (with bones)
12 cups of water, approximately
1 yellow onion, cut up
1 leek, cut up - use white part only
1 parsnip, cut up
1 white potato, cut up (with the skin)
1 large carrot, cut up
2 celery ribs, cut up
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of thyme
1 sprig of parsley, cut up
salt, to taste

Directions:
Add water to a large soup pot and let boil. Cut up the onion, carrot, potato, leek, parsnip, and celery and add them to the pot, along with the bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. Wash the meat and add them to the pot. Lower flame, cover, and let cook for approximately 3 hours - checking on it periodically. During the last hour, add some salt and taste. Turn off the flame and strain the meat and vegetables. Let cool and freeze or use your stock and meat for another soup! Enjoy.

Tip: When freezing, keep the fat in the stock in order to seal the flavors. This layer will be easy to remove when you defrost your stock.


How do you make your meat stock?
Seriously Soupy Serena