Beef & Barley Soup
- Thread starter Kevin86
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
msmofet
Chef Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2009
- Messages
- 13,928
I do mine in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. Comes out nice and tender in a short time.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
BEEF BARLEY SOUP WITH MUSHROOMS
2 Tb Oil
2 Ea Large Beef Shanks or
2 Lb Beef Chuck
1 Ea Carrot, diced
1 Ea Onion, diced
1 Ea Celery rib, diced
TT S&P
1-2 Tb Tomato Paste
5 C Beef Broth
5 C Chicken Broth
½ tsp Thyme, dry
1 C Pearl Barley, rinsed
1 C Canned Tomato
3 Tb Butter
1 Tb Oil
¾ Lb Mushrooms, quartered
Heat the oil in a 7¼-Quart Dutch oven, season well with salt and pepper and brown the shanks thoroughly on both sides. Remove the browned shanks to a plate. If using beef chuck, trim off most of the fat and cut it into small cubes, season and brown thoroughly as with the shanks.
Lower the heat to medium, add oil to the pan if needed. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté for 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste to the pan and sauté for another 3-5 minutes.
Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pan. Add the broths and bring it to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Add the thyme, barley, and tomato and continue to simmer covered, until the barley is tender about 1¼-1½ hours.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and add them to the soup. Simmer for 15 minutes more.
Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Note: Before adding the mushrooms, remove the shanks (if using) and cut off the meat in chunks and return the meat to the pan with the mushrooms. Discard the bones.
Total Time: 4 hours.
2 Tb Oil
2 Ea Large Beef Shanks or
2 Lb Beef Chuck
1 Ea Carrot, diced
1 Ea Onion, diced
1 Ea Celery rib, diced
TT S&P
1-2 Tb Tomato Paste
5 C Beef Broth
5 C Chicken Broth
½ tsp Thyme, dry
1 C Pearl Barley, rinsed
1 C Canned Tomato
3 Tb Butter
1 Tb Oil
¾ Lb Mushrooms, quartered
Heat the oil in a 7¼-Quart Dutch oven, season well with salt and pepper and brown the shanks thoroughly on both sides. Remove the browned shanks to a plate. If using beef chuck, trim off most of the fat and cut it into small cubes, season and brown thoroughly as with the shanks.
Lower the heat to medium, add oil to the pan if needed. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté for 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste to the pan and sauté for another 3-5 minutes.
Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pan. Add the broths and bring it to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Add the thyme, barley, and tomato and continue to simmer covered, until the barley is tender about 1¼-1½ hours.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and add them to the soup. Simmer for 15 minutes more.
Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Note: Before adding the mushrooms, remove the shanks (if using) and cut off the meat in chunks and return the meat to the pan with the mushrooms. Discard the bones.
Total Time: 4 hours.
pepperhead212
Executive Chef
Looks great, Andy! I was going to say that mushrooms are the other must have ingredient. And I often add some porcini or boletus to it, to give even more flavor. And an herb that I often use with it is fresh rosemary, or a combination of fresh rosemary and sage.
Kaneohegirlinaz
Wannabe TV Chef
Perfect Andy! Thank you so much for that, I've tried Beef & Barley Soup twice now and it was awful! Now I know, use the Shank! Now I gotta find it 
Cheryl J
Chef Extraordinaire
That sounds good. 
Been a while since I've made it.
I cook the barley separately and add it when the other ingredients in the soup are nearly done, since the uncooked barley tends to suck up the juices and make the soup too thick.
Been a while since I've made it. I cook the barley separately and add it when the other ingredients in the soup are nearly done, since the uncooked barley tends to suck up the juices and make the soup too thick.
Last edited:
That sounds good.
I cook the barley separately and add it when the other ingredients in the soup are nearly done, since the uncooked barley tends to suck up the juices and make the soup too thick.
I accidentally made beef an barley stew by cooking the barley in the soup.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
All you have to do is control the amount of stock you use. Barley cooked in the soup taste better.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
I precook my barley in beef stock. Probably not as tasty as when made in with the soup, but it works for me.
Shop around for the shank meat. Prices by us range from $2.79 up to $5 or more. Crazy, I know, but some TV chef once referred to them as "beef osso bucco" and they became designer food. *roll eyes here*
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I got the idea from a website I was checking out. Also, I always have chicken stock but almost never have veggie broth.
Kaneohegirlinaz
Wannabe TV Chef
FOUND IT!!!!
Had to go to the carnicería in town … go figure … this is Cowboyville and Cattle ga-lore!!!
Anywhos … $3.99/lb, pretty fair I think, AND I got Bone Marrow all the way through like Chef John said to look for!!!
Beef & Barley Stew/Soup Ala Chef John/Andy M (I'm going to mash the two recipes I think) will begin manana
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Beef shanks work well. But remember, the reason for using shanks and soup bones was to make the meat tender enough to eat. And, they are well exercised muscles and so have strong bee flavor. But you can use oxtail,rump roast,Chuck, and other tough parts from thee cow. They al work if you can't find good beef shanks.
I brown my beef on all sides after seasoning with S & P, just like Andy. I always have extra beef broth on hand as I brown my ground beef with a lid on the pan to trap the writer pour it off and put the juice in the fridge. It gels from the collagen, and the fat rises to the top and hardens, ans so is easy to remove. I use that broth asit tastes really good.
After that, I put the meat and bones,with marrow,into my pressure cooker and let it cook under pressure for 30 minutes.I let the pressure escape,check the fluid level in the pot and add more broth if needed. I taste the broth and season accordingly.
With the meat and broth goes carrot, peeled and sliced,one onion, coarsely chopped, one celery stalk, washed and sliced, 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced, and 3/4 lb. cremini mushrooms, chopped and sauteed before adding to the soup.
Place the lid back onto the PC, and bring it to pressure. Cook for 20 minutes and your soup is ready. Servewith a crusty, yeasty bread roll, with real butter, and apple pie for desert, hot of course with French Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. I love barley, and use it often.
Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
I brown my beef on all sides after seasoning with S & P, just like Andy. I always have extra beef broth on hand as I brown my ground beef with a lid on the pan to trap the writer pour it off and put the juice in the fridge. It gels from the collagen, and the fat rises to the top and hardens, ans so is easy to remove. I use that broth asit tastes really good.
After that, I put the meat and bones,with marrow,into my pressure cooker and let it cook under pressure for 30 minutes.I let the pressure escape,check the fluid level in the pot and add more broth if needed. I taste the broth and season accordingly.
With the meat and broth goes carrot, peeled and sliced,one onion, coarsely chopped, one celery stalk, washed and sliced, 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced, and 3/4 lb. cremini mushrooms, chopped and sauteed before adding to the soup.
Place the lid back onto the PC, and bring it to pressure. Cook for 20 minutes and your soup is ready. Servewith a crusty, yeasty bread roll, with real butter, and apple pie for desert, hot of course with French Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. I love barley, and use it often.
Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
The only tip I have is never cook barely in the soup. Cook separately, rinse well, let people add as much to their bowl as they want.
P.S. I love crosscut shank bone. Makes the best soup.
P.S. I love crosscut shank bone. Makes the best soup.
msmofet
Chef Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2009
- Messages
- 13,928
My store has them for $4.99/lb. I have never used them before. Will try.View attachment 39580
View attachment 39581
FOUND IT!!!!
Had to go to the carnicería in town … go figure … this is Cowboyville and Cattle ga-lore!!!
Anywhos … $3.99/lb, pretty fair I think, AND I got Bone Marrow all the way through like Chef John said to look for!!!
Beef & Barley Stew/Soup Ala Chef John/Andy M (I'm going to mash the two recipes I think) will begin manana
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I always cook the barley in stock, but in another pot, when I make beef and barley soup or Scotch broth. I do the same with noodles to be added to soup or rice. My favorite barley is purple barley. You do have to soak it overnight and it does take longer to cook, about 90 minutes. It has more tooth.
Last edited:
I get the boxes of Campbell’s broth when on sale I stock up chicken and beefs are musts but I always get a few vegi cause the odd time I make a vegi soup. Except the part where I keep starting it with a large meaty beef soup bone I do pretty good the rest of it is vegetarian lol.
Kaneohegirlinaz
Wannabe TV Chef
View attachment 39580
View attachment 39581
FOUND IT!!!!
Had to go to the carnicería in town … go figure … this is Cowboyville and Cattle ga-lore!!!
Anywhos … $3.99/lb, pretty fair I think, AND I got Bone Marrow all the way through like Chef John said to look for!!!
Beef & Barley Stew/Soup Ala Chef John/Andy M (I'm going to mash the two recipes I think) will begin manana
Wow, Wow, WOW!
That is some good eats!
That Beef Shank gave the broth such a wonderful, unctuous mouth feel of fattiness from that Bone Marrow.
And boy-howdy-dowdy those two Shanks gave off a lot of meat!
In the past I have not cared for the Beef Barley Soup that I've attempted, but this time, MAN!
I left the pot sit for two days and the cooked Barley sucked up loads of broth, but that's okay, I knew it would do that going in. So I opened a box of pre-made Chicken Broth (I used my homemade Stock to cook the Soup in) to thin the soup back down as I re-heated some for lunch this afternoon and shared 4 servings with two of the Neighbor Folks.
I got about 9 servings in total, so there's still more for us.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Kevin86, have your ever tried Better Than Buollion brand of soup bases? I haven't tried the veggie flavoring, but the chicken and beef flavored soup bases are way better, IMHO, than the Campbell's, or Swanson, Or College brands. I tried another chicken base and ti didn't taste like chicken at all. And Boullion cubes can't touch the B&B products. Look online. They have a whole range of great tasting soup bases.
But again, they fit my idea of what a soup stock is supposed to taste like. You may enjoy the broth you're already using better.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
