Beef and Pearl Barley Soup:

I love soups and stews in winter and I especially love a good beef stew.  It brings me back to my childhood and there’s something inherently comforting in stew.  For the beef, I used a chuck roast that I cut into one inch squares.  I used a myriad of vegetables and made the pearl barley separately, cooked it until al dente and then finished it in the stew.  I used veal stock as the base and if you are so inclined, using veal stock made for a very tasty stew. However, if you don’t have access to veal bones to make the stock, beef stock will certainly do the trick.  The great thing about stew is that it’s a very forgiving dish and can accommodate almost any vegetable you have on hand.  So, I’ll provide my recipe here but definitely do not be shy about substituting out one ingredient you may not care for or have on hand for another that you do prefer or have on hand.  The only real rules with stew, as with any braise, is that you have to completely brown the meat to a dark brown and then slowly cook the meat and vegetables in a liquid, usually stock or wine or a combination of the two.  However, if you prefer beer, a dark beer would work really well with this.  Cognac would work as well.  Really the possibilities are limited only by you!  The recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →