beef and barley soup

• total tid: total time 1 hour

Ingredienser

6 ounces beef blade steak, trimmed and cut into

½-inch pieces

⅛ teaspoon table salt

⅛ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon oil

4 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme or herbes de Provence

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

⅓ cup quick-cooking barley, rinsed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or chives

Vejledning

1 Pat beef dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until just smoking. Add beef and cook until well browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to bowl.

2 Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat (or add oil to equal 1 tablespoon). Add mushrooms, carrots, and onion and cook until vegetables begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 1 minute.

3 Stir in broth, soy sauce, and browned beef and any accumulated juices, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in barley and simmer until barley and beef are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and

pepper to taste. Serve. (Soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Notater

kitchen improv

use what you've got You can substitute boneless short ribs for the blade steak and pearl couscous or quinoa for the quick-cooking barley. COOKING FOR ONE level up Substitute salsa verde or Chermoula Sauce (page 68) for the parsley for a brighter finish.

why this recipe works Hearty and umami-packed, beef and barley soup is the ultimate winter warmer. To make this classic soup as easy as it is delicious, we employed some shortcuts that still delivered big flavor in a scaled-down version. While standard beef soup recipes often call for a large chuck roast that you cut into cubes, we went with affordable, sized-for-one blade steak, also from the beef shoulder, that would break down just as nicely. (Short ribs are another perfectly portioned option.) We added the beef to the pot all at once (with such a small amount there's no need to brown in batches) and after the moisture evaporated, the meat began to color, yielding a well-browned fond. In lieu of homemade beef broth (store-bought was too weak for this dish), we went with chicken or vegetable broth, which took on meaty flavor from the fond that was then deepened with the addition of a duo of umami bombs, soy sauce and tomato paste, plus plenty of garlic. Pair with a good movie and your coziest socks.