Cold weather comfort

With Fall a day away we decided last night  to have soup. Beef Barley Soup. It was wonderful. We had it last year at my sisters and she shared the recipe. It is very adaptable to most any ingredients you like. Peas, mushrooms, or any of your favorites or whatever you have on hand, etc..  Remember Mirepoux is a mixture of onions, carrots and celery. A must for a lot of soups.

This is my sisters recipe. I think you'll find it accurate as well as humorous. I too think it fed the masses.

Beef Barley Soup

 So I don't really have a a formal recipe but I'll try to put it in steps---


Pre-cook some stew meat(1-1 and 1/2LB)--I usually use round--

Remove from pan to cool and save the juices. Then throw in about a cup of barley, 2-3 cans beef broth and 1 env. Lipton beefy onion soup

Cook that about an hour or so

In the meantime, in the food processor, chop up the mirepoux--celery, carrot, onion and a little garlic, all in one big batch.

Saute that in some butter till tender. Throw it in the soup pot and cook about 1/2 hour more or so. Add a spoonful of beef stock(if you have it)

Chop the beef up really fine --I usually shred it in the processor. Add it to the soup.

Add more broth or water as needed---which it usually does, esp after it sits and cools. You can't overcook it and you can't wreck it.

Supposedly you could thicken it with a roux but NEVER have I had to do that--usually it gets thick enough to eat with a fork. I think this is what Jesus served to the multitudes!!

Good luck, Bon appetit, etc.