A well crafted soup

It is the last day of February, and it is cold outside. I wanted to share the soup that is reminiscent of my childhood. A soup I was reared on. This soup is a meal! "Eat with bread you will be hungry" my grandmother used to say. The direct translation would be "Eat some bread with your meal, so you won't be hungry". Well, with this soup there is no way you will be hungry, with or without the bread. My sainted Aunt Esther, who was the matriarch in our family, used to make this soup when we would come by for dinner. This is my rendition of the soup I remember. My uncle Bob calls this "a well crafted soup"!
It gets better with age. The ditty,"some like it hot" comes to mind..., nobody likes it cold. You can freeze this, but the next day or two after making this it does develop into quite a nice hearty soup. My in laws are coming over for lunch, and we still have a heap of snow, so I thought it would be great to have this soup with some
home made bread, a green salad with sprightly rich dressing, and my apple tart for dessert!











Ingredients

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion chopped
3 ribs of celery
5 cloves of garlic
5 carrots
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup barley, with hull
2 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 lb beef, I used Kobe eye round steak
2 cups frozen lima beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen peas
3-4 cups water

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
In a cast iron enamel or another oven proof pot with a lid, add the olive oil, the onion, celery, garlic and carrot and saute' until vegetables are softened. Add the herbs,barley and the tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add the chicken, beef broth and 2 cups of water. Cover and place in the hot oven. Cook for 1 hour. Meanwhile cut the beef into 1/4 inch cubes and saute' in 2 tsp. olive oil until nicely browned. Add to the soup cover and place in the hot oven and cook for another hour. Then add the frozen vegetables and remaining water. bring the soup to a boil. Puree 2 cups of soup in a food processor and add it back to the soup. Stir and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Serve hot. Serves 8


Recipe and photos by Karen Pickus
Recipe and photos courtesy Karen Pickus 2010