This was a super easy and hearty beef and barley soup. I used a bit of vegemite so those of you here in the US, unless you want to spend about $10 on a small jar of our National pride, then you should just leave it out. The worcestershire sauce does a good job of boosting the flavor at the beginning and that's all the vegemite does. It's a strong yeast extract which mirrors a dense beef stock.
Ingredients:
1 large knob of buttter
olive oil
1lb quality stewing beef/chuck steak, 1inch cubes
1 tablespoon vegemite
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 medium brown onion
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery sticks, trimmed and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon flour
sea salt
black pepper
2 litres of organic beef stock
150g pearl barley (not quick barley, the regular stuff)
Method:
- In a large soup pot or saucepan, melt the butter and add a splash of olive oil
- Season the beef with salt and pepper
- Brown the meat on all sides
- Stir in the vegemite and worcestershire sauce. Turn up heat and cook until all the juices, and it does release a lot of juice, has evaporated and the meat is dark and rich in color.
- Add the onions, diced vegetables and herbs and place the lid on top and sweat over low heat until the veggies have softened, about 5 mins.
- Stir in the flour and mix through well for another minute or so, now add the stock.
- Bring to a boil and then turn it down to simmer.
- Add your barley and cook gently for approx 1-1.5hours or until the meat is tender.
- Taste and season if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary.
- If you wish, serve with big chunks of oven warmed ciabatta or french bread.
