Beef and Barley Soup

This hearty soup is full of fork-tender beef, diced carrots, onions, cremini mushrooms and of course, barley. It's a delicious fall soup!

Beef and Barley Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1 pound London broil, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 

1 large onion, chopped 

1 medium carrot, chopped 

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced 

2 tablespoons minced garlic (from 4 cloves) 

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

3/4 cup dry red wine 

4 cups chicken stock 

3 cups water 

3/4 cup hulled or pearl barley, rinsed and drained* 

1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley 

Garnish: grated fresh horseradish 

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil in a medium Dutch oven or a large pot over medium-high heat. Season beef with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon.

Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, and cook onion, carrot, and mushrooms until golden, stirring occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add garlic and tomato paste, and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and add wine. Return to heat, and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from bottom using a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Return beef to pot, and add stock and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add barley, and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover, and cook until beef and barley are tender, 20 to 25 minutes more. Stir in parsley. Divide soup among 6 bowls, and garnish with horseradish.

Source: Martha Stewart 

*If using pearl barley omit 1 cup of water in step four.

And for dipping...

Pastrami Tomato Cheese Sandwiches

I love these sandwiches! They're a family favorite. We start making them around Halloween and then whip them up every time we have a pot of soup bubbling away on the stove.

Pastrami Tomato Cheese Sandwiches

1 loaf french bread, sliced thick

2 lbs. Pastrami, thinly sliced

3-4 Tomatoes, sliced

Mozzarella or Monterey Cheese, sliced or shredded

S and P

Preheat oven to 325.

Butter top sides of sliced french bread and place on a baking sheet. Top bread with 2-3 slices of pastrami then a slice or two of tomato. Salt and pepper tomato. Top tomato with cheese and bake until cheese is melted and golden brown.

* I didn't add measurements to the recipe, as you can make as many or as little sandwiches as you want. 

But, if you have one loaf of french bread (not the skinny long loaves, unless you want to make mini appetizer-sized ones! Yum!) you'll need about 2 lbs of thinly sliced pastrami (I like peppered pastrami) and about 5 tomatoes. 

One medium sized bag of shredded cheese should be good or one block of cheese that you can slice/grate yourself. Just pile the pastrami on the buttered bread (two to three slices of pastrami), and add enough tomato to cover the top (one or two slices).