Monday, November 08, 2010

Soul Seduction with Beef-Barley Soup

My soup repertoire is quite limited. But this 50ish lady at P’s office cafeteria was giving me some long distance competition. Every time, P did not take lunch from home, he invariably has the Beef-Barley Soup served at his work’s cafeteria. Apparently its his favorite soup. Now that sure was NEWS.
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No wife likes competition from another woman. Even if its the harmless soup lady.

After some help from Google and Food Network, I created my husband’s favorite soup today. Ladies and gentlemen, applaud my maiden attempt at Beef Barley Soup, since you cannot slurp on it.

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Ingredients for Beef-Barley Soup are:

300 grams oxtail
400 grams boneless beef stew pieces
Half cup (heaped) pearl barley
1 medium size onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
3-4 fat cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Freshly crushed black pepper
Salt

Cook the oxtail and beef stew pieces with the bay leaves, salt and pepper. I added about 8-9 cups of water in my stock pot. It took me about one hour to do so, until the meat was tender. Skim any fat from the surface with a ladle.
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Separate the meat from the stock and shred them. Discard the bones from the oxtail pieces.

In a stockpot, heat the canola oil, sauté the minced garlic without browning it. Add the celery, onions and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes.

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Add the barley and mix well with the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
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Once the barley and vegetables are coated well with salt and pepper and the cooking oil, add the pieces of beef. Give it a good mix and then add the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce.

Cook covered on a slow heat for one hour or so, stirring continuously. The barley will plump up and soak some of the liquid. Add a little water if the stock is soaked up.

Check the seasoning one last time and adjust accordingly. Turn the heat off and add the chopped parsley to the soup.

Serve the Beef-Barley Soup hot with your favorite bread for a complete meal that is guaranteed to seduce your soul. And your spouse.

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And guess what my husband is taking for lunch tomorrow!

12 comments:

Satrupa said...

Could not stop myself from smiling by reading the last line ....... I am not a beef eater but I am sure it tastes gr8 :)

Cheers,
Satrupa

GB said...

That looks wonderful Pree--watch out soup lady!

Anonymous said...

I like the reason behind the creation of this soup...soo cute ! Soup looks superb!And so does the frog :)
Would love to try the recipe with chicken though!

Unknown said...

my next project!

Geeta said...

I did not know I could sautee in the crock pot. I used to do that on the side. Will try yours except for the meat part.

Unknown said...

you are inspiring me to go the soup & bread way this winter which i think is must if i want to fit in my clothes after diwali:)

Priya Suresh said...

A complete and filling soup..

Professor Shanker Dutt said...

Looks great. I'm sure it tastes even better.

Reeni said...

I bet your soup is incredibly flavored and delicious! This has to be much better than the soup lady's - it's homemade with love - that's the best!

aipi said...

My soup repertoire is limited as well ..lol..that was a fun read!

US Masala

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

even My soup repertoire is limited like you two. the soup looks delish and loved reading this post.

Torviewtoronto said...

one of our favourite I make it often delicious