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Beef and Barley Stew

Source of Recipe

From "In Pursuit of Flavor," by Edna Lewis


Recipe Introduction

"When I was a child we would often have beef barley stew in the late fall after a steer had been butchered. It was always hung in the hide so that meat could be carved from it when needed. The stew was a nice dark brown with lots of pieces of beef and barley in it. Barley, a dried grain, is sold in health-food stores as well as supermarkets. I also like to add sautéed wild mushrooms to plain beef broth for a flavorful and simple garnish. I find that today beef has to be treated a little specially to bring out its flavor, and even so, it does not have as much taste as it once did. Roasting the meat and bones in the oven seems to be the best way to get good taste, and I cook the entire stew in the oven. Since chuck bones seem to have the best flavor, I ask the butcher to save them for me until he has a few pounds and then I freeze them to use as I need. I think it's a good idea to look for carefully raised beef. Some butchers and specialty shops and even farmers' markets carry organically raised beef as well as pork and chicken in limited quantities. It is more worthwhile to seek out such meats than to spend a lot of time preparing a dish that will taste disappointing."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 pound chuck bones
â—¦ 2 pounds lean beef cubes
â—¦ 1 medium onion, sliced
â—¦ 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
â—¦ 1 bay leaf, broken into pieces
â—¦ 3 quarts cold water
â—¦ 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
â—¦ 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ â…” cup uncooked whole-grain barley


Recipe

Wash the bones and meat and pat dry with cloth. Heat a heavy skillet and brown the meat on all sides. Set the browned meat aside. Put the bone in a large shallow roasting pan with the onion, thyme, and bay leaf. Add 1 quart of water and set in a preheated 350° F oven for 1 ½ hours to brown, turning occasionally.

Heat the remaining 2 quarts of water until just hot. Add with the parsley, cubed beef, and pepper to the roasting pan, stir well, return the pan to the oven, and reduce the heat to 300° F. Cook for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender.

Remove the pan from the oven and strain the broth, discarding the bones and onion but saving the meat. Add the barley to the broth and continue to cook in the 300° F oven for one hour, until the barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper, if needed, and add the pieces of meat to the soup a few minutes before taking the pan from the oven.

Serves 4



• Beef Soup with Wild Mushrooms:

After straining the broth, remove the meat. Slice 7 to 8 wild mushrooms, such as shiitakes or morels, and lightly sauté them in about 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir 1 tablespoon of sherry into the beef broth as you reheat it. Garnish each soup bowl with 6 to 8 slices of sautéed mushrooms and a tablespoon or so of peeled, seeded, and cubed tomato. You may add the meat to the soup or not, as you desire.