Beef Barley Soup
Sorry if I've been absent the past couple days. I've been locked away finishing off the first-ever goat book. Which is done. Done. Done. Let me write it again. Done. I pressed "send" this afternoon. And now the wait. Because it won't be out until March of 2011--or thereabouts. Books take time. They move in glacial epochs.
Which is one of the reasons why I'm all about these ribs tonight. Beef ribs, the slow-moving of all the beef cuts. They need a long time over the heat--and add up to big comfort food.
And economical meals, too. Because people pay top dollar for the quick-cookers like strip steaks. But the long-cookers, the pieces like these ribs that I adore? They're less expensive.
People don't know what they're missing. Let's get to it.
First, heat a couple tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil in a big pot over medium heat. What's the difference? The overall effect. Butter is luxury; olive oil is brightness. You choose.
Add a chopped, large yellow onion and stir it over the heat until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Then drop in 1 pound sliced mushrooms, 1 chopped seeded green bell pepper, 3 chopped carrots, and 2 thinly sliced celery ribs. Stir it over the heat as the mushrooms let go of their internal moisture, about 4 minutes. You'll see a definite pick-up of moisture in the pot.
Now pour in 1 cup dry Madeira. Not wine? No way. Dry madeira is an earthy, luscious taste, more umami than sweet, which adds up to big satisfaction in this easy dish.
And now we get to the other reason I'm all about these beef ribs. You know I LOVE sweets. Shoot, just look at the stuff on this blog. But the goat book has done something to me: it's gotten me to want more and more savory things. Over six months of eating goat, I've realized I'm not so wild about sweet main courses. Goat is so darn savory. And I'm all into it. Or to put it in current food jargon: I'm into umami, that meatish taste in good broth.
Boil that Madeira down to a glaze, stirring constantly, maybe up to 8 minutes.
After that, add three big beef ribs with plenty of meat attached, 6 cups beef or chicken broth, and 1 cup pearl barley. Stir it up and bring it to a simmer.
Note something here: the beef's not browned. Why not? Because we're keeping the tastes cleaner, rather than burning brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Cleaner, lighter, a little more shoulder season, not spring, not fall, but the cracks in-between.
Stir in 1 tablespoon stemmed thyme, 1 tablespoon minced sage leaves, a couple teaspoons mild paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and several grinds of black pepper.
Set the lid on the pot, drop the heat to low, and let it go about 3 hours. No joke. And make sure that lid is tight-fitting. Because you want every drop in the soup.
Later, much later, take the bones out of the pot and scrape the meat off them. Stir that meat back into the pot and season it with just a few dashes Worcestershire sauce. That's it. You're good to go. Umami heaven.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 9:20PM | in Comfort Food, Main Courses, Soups barley, beef, beef barley soup, comfort food, economical meals, soup, umami
Reader Comments (5)
This post was the fastest click-through from my Google Reader ever...I absolutely adore beef barley soup! I've never made it with ribs before (usually chuck or stew meat) so I will definitely have to try this version. Even better, my hubby doesn't like barley, so I get the whole batch to myself...yummmmmmm
I thought about calling it "Beef Rib and Barley Soup" but I thought everyone would think it too weird. I love the ribs. So much bony goodness--which, as we all know, is the real flavor.
This looks very moreish, Mark!
Interesting your comment about not browning the meat to keep the soup "cleaner". Just yesterday I was talking to my mum about her traditional Chinese beef soup, and she actually blanches the meat first and then puts it into a pot of boiling water to start cooking, before reducing it and simmering for a couple of hours. She tells me this is the way to get a "clear" soup, with very tender meat at the end. It's very different from the way I normally would cook a beef soup or stew!
Yum yum delicious. I make this soup with beef shin( without the bone) and also with canneill beans. All good.
By all means! And welcome here, London Mom. But beef shin. You know exactly the way to my heart!