Saturday, January 8, 2011

Soup, Soup, Soup

New Year's Day for us is always a relaxing day at home, hopefully taking the dog for a hike in the snow and eating something delicious afterward. I have a batch of soup going right now along with some bread that is rising. This version gets made in our house about every couple weeks as soon as there is a chill in the air.

This recipe is my friend Cortney's Dad's Beef Barley Soup. Soup-er easy to make in the crock pot.(Ok, that was a bad one)  Only 177 calories per 1 cup serving, for those of you who decided to start dieting this morning. It's also available as a listed recipe on Livestrong.com if you use their calorie counter (Awesome free tool and it's available for your phone for a couple of bucks). I've healthied the original up a bit by leaving out the butter, milk and flour. I found it really doesn't need it. Very rich and yummy.

1# stew beef - browned in skillet first
1/2 # sliced mushrooms, your choice. Saute after beef in already dirty pan
3 scallions, sliced
2T beef boullion
2T chicken boullion
1 medium onion, chopped
2/3 C uncooked barley
2 cloves garlic, smash and peel, toss in whole
5 cups water
1/2 t black pepper
handful of chopped parsley or two big handfuls baby spinach if you don't have parsley
3 sliced carrots
2 sliced celery stalks
5 dashes worcestershire sauce
adjust salt to taste

Everything goes in the pot, set on low for 10 hours, or 3 hours simmered on stovetop.  Let me know how you like it or if you use venison in it instead. What's your go-to soup?

My Dad getting ready to work the bread

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