It’s cold and my heat was not working. Thank God, it is fixed now.

Another reason to thaw out and make more soup.

This is a soup my Mom used to make and it is a favorite.

Beef, Barley and Mushroom Soup

Two to three tablespoons of oil

Five or six beef  short ribs

One pound of lean beef cut into very  small  cubes ,almost diced. I used a sirloin. Salt and pepper before cooking.

Two large diced onions

Three cloves of minced garlic

Two cups of diced carrots

Two  32  containers of beef broth

Six bouillon cubes

four cups of water

one bay leaf

Two  cups of barley

One  eight ounce container of  diced fresh mushrooms

One tablespoon of butter

Two cups of  fresh chopped spinach or kale

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Salt and pepper the  short ribs .

Brown the ribs slowly and then add the sirloin.

After everything is browned, take it out of the pot and add the onions, garlic and carrots

Cook till soft

Add the broth, water,  bouillon cubes and bay leaf

In a small skillet, melt the butter and saute the chopped mushrooms

Add to  the broth

Add the meat

Bring the soup to a boil and add the barley

The barley takes about twenty to thirty minutes to cook. It puffs out.

Reduce the heat and simmer the soup with the cover half on.

Adjust the seasoning and take the bay leaf out.

Add about two cups of chopped fresh spinach

That’s it.

A field green salad with scallions, hard-boiled eggs and steamed string beans with a balsamic dressing is great.

Hot crusty rolls on the side.

Tonight is a nice hot meal in a warm house.

Not so bad

Don’t be afraid to change the amounts of anything. Soup is very forgiving and we all need to be forgiven about something.

Published by cmangoff

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