The day before yesterday I made a batch of Beef & Barley soup. It was something relatively new to our house and I really wouldn't have thought of making it without hearing about it from my parents (whenever they have left over roast or other beef they always mention the possibility of soup). A few weeks ago we purchased a large slab of ribeye from which I cut four or five 1-inch steaks, a couple 3/4 inch steaks, and then there was the left over scraps of meat. There was probably two or three pounds total of pretty high quality scraps, but not enough for anything but stew. So, along with the steaks, it all went into the freezer, waiting for the first cold spell.
Well, this week the weather certainly had its moments so I thought some soup might be nice. So late one evening, I trimmed the meat (my now, somewhat new Japanese knives are another post in and of themselves!) of the large fatty portions. After I trimmed and chopped the meat, I put it in a frying pan with a small amount of oil and sautéd it. While it was cooking, I salted it pretty liberally with some sea salt (nice cause it dissolves) and some pepper. After the meat was somewhat browned, I turned the heat down and got to work on some basic aromatics. In this case, a small white onion and about half of a leek. Then I took out the slow cooker and added one can of beef broth, one can of chopped tomatoes, one small can of tomato paste, the previously browned meat chunks, the onion, and the leek. Then I very finely chopped up some curly parsley and added that to the pot. Finally I covered the pot, turned it on 'low' and went to bed.
The next day I came home from work for lunch, really only to finish adding ingredients to my soup. I added four sliced potatoes, a few stalks of celery, some more onion and some more leek. Then I went back to work. When I came back around 6, I added a bit more liquid in anticipation of adding the barley. Barley is a grain, kind of like Oatmeal, and it soaks up alot of liquid. After I added a bit more broth to my soup, I added two servings worth of barley and cooked the soup for 15 more minutes. Then we finally ate it... mmm, it was a big hit with Anna. The vegetables all had perfect texture, the barley was just right and the flavor was a nice tomato-esque, vegetable flavor. We both had our fill and then froze two more meals worth, I look forward to pulling that out when it gets colder.
Japanese samurai knives?