This is almost a stew, but not quite. It’s rich and satisfying but also easy to put together. Good ingredients are important here, since you’re relying on the flavours of the beef, stock and mushrooms.
I like to use pot barley as much as possible. The alternative, pearl barley, has the outer hull and the bran removed, and it’s been “polished”. I’m not sure my food should be “polished”. Besides, bran is good, and the extra time it takes to cook pot barley can be used to enjoy a quiet after-work beverage, maybe in front of a nice warm fire.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cooking onions, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 225 g cremini mushrooms, chopped (not as finely chopped as the onions and celery)
- 1 lb stewing beef, in 1″ cubes
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 litre beef stock
- 2 cups of water (rinse out the beef stock container to get all the goodness out!)
- 3/4 cup hulled or pot barley (3 palmfuls, exact measuring is not required here)
- fresh or dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat, sauté the onions, celery and mushrooms until the liquid comes out of the mushrooms and the veggies are almost starting to stick. Add the beef and sauté briefly, then add the flour and stir to cook the flour – two to three minutes. Add the stock and water and stir, scraping the bottom to get all the flavour and goodness back into the soup. Bring up to a simmer and add the barley, cover and simmer on low for 40 minutes or so. Stir every so often to keep things from settling, and make sure it really does just simmer – you don’t want to make the beef tough. It’s ready when the barley is toothy but cooked – just like pasta.
This is great on it’s own, but a bit of toasted baguette is delicious for dunking too.
Serves 4.
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