Mushroom, Beef, and Toasted Barley Soup
When cookie season ends, soup season begins
As I write this, after waking up to the news of the terrifying wildfires in L.A., I'm hoping that all of you who live in the area are safe, and that firefighters are able to get the blazes under control soon. As I have recently become more aware of the devastation that even a small fire can cause, my heart goes out to anyone who has lost their home or had to endure the terror of having to flee, not knowing what they will find when they return.
On the complete other end of the weather spectrum, I just heard we are officially in a polar vortex for the foreseeable future here on the East Coast. Not that I’m complaining — I’m grateful to be safe, even if it’s frigid. But I do count the cold temps as yet another reason to eat more soup.
I never tire of soup, but I do cycle through favorites. I make a certain soup on repeat until it wears out its welcome. A few weeks ago, I was in the mood for red meat, which I don't eat too much of, when I saw a nice neat little tray of a pound of chuck cut up for stew. It was practically begging me to take it home and make soup, not stew, with it. Mushroom, beef, and toasted barley soup, to be exact.
It took me a few tries to get this right, but even the bad batches were really, really good. For my first try, I put the barley in with the beef because I wanted to toast it, like my grandmother Essie did when she made her barley pilaf. (Click here for my version of her recipe and some family nostalgia from one of my earliest newsletters.) I also went ahead and added the onions along with the barley and beef. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but the meat really takes upwards of two hours to become tender, and by then, the barley is a bit overcooked in my opinion.
In the final version (or, since nothing’s really ever final, let’s call it the version I’m sharing with you today), you cook everything but the barley for an hour first. In the meantime, you can toast the barley in a small skillet. This is an extra-credit upgrade to the recipe, but totally worth it and not a lot of fuss.
I haven’t tried it, but if you want to make this vegetarian, just skip the meat part and proceed with the recipe. You might want to finish it off with a little soy sauce to make up for the lost flavor, and use a flavorful stock concentrate like Better than Bouillon’s vegetable flavor. You know I love this stuff; it makes every soup taste so good. I never buy boxed stock anymore. If I don’t have homemade stock — and I rarely do — I always use Better Than Bouillon. Just be careful not to add too much additional salt before the final seasonings, because it has plenty of its own.
I haven’t had much time to think about, prepare, or even eat lunch lately, so I find it really convenient to have a big container of soup in the fridge which lasts me for many meals. Now that I’m settled in my new (temporary) kitchen, I’ve gotten back to the hard work of recipe development for my forthcoming cookie book. I’m having so much fun with it, and I can’t wait to share these new recipes with you! I’ve been practicing tasting cookies instead of eating cookies, which is kind of a new thing for me. It's hard to resist the temptation of eating a fresh-baked cookie in its entirety, but having a soul-satisfying soup like this one on hand makes it a little bit easier.
Extra credit upgrades!
Like I mentioned, I recommend taking a few extra minutes to toast the barley. It really adds to the deep, nutty flavor of the soup!
Use dried porcini mushrooms to turn up the flavor, especially if you’re going vegetarian.
Add a dash of Worcestershire, soy sauce, or a glug of dry sherry or Madeira at the end to bring the flavors together at the end of cooking.
A look back at soup seasons past
We featured a soup and a stew in last week’s round-up of healthful recipes. But there’s more for soup lovers in the archives! If you, like me, consider January to be peak soup season, I invite you to revisit this keeper of a recipe from January 2022.
Winter Squash Soup
This rich and creamy dish packs a lot of flavor—not to mention nutrient-rich vegetables. It’s simply the perfect antidote to a cold winter’s day. And speaking of extra credit upgrades: the pepitas and paprika oil are simple add-ons that boost the color, texture, and flavor of this otherwise humble dish.
Congrats to our giveaway winners!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of giving away four fabulous new cookbooks to Susanality readers. Here are our winners and their prizes — and, ICYMI the first time around, links to the original posts, which each include a recipe from the featured book. The hardest decision is which one to make first!
Amy — Zoe Bakes Cookies by By Zoë François
Cale — Sift by Nicola Lamb
Christina — Nature’s Candy by Camilla Wynne
Karen — Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes by Jessie Sheehan
Many congrats to the winners, and happy reading!
