Beef and Barley Slow Cooker Soup

It looks like Mother Nature has finally stopped playing "spin the bottle" on what season it is. It's finally raining!  Of course, we Californians don't have a true Four Seasons.  Yes, we're spoiled. We also pay hefty taxes, so I guess we're even.

Recipe#3 that I've made from this cookbook.

Did I ever mention that I meant my shy and handsome husband at a golf course? No?

Take note, those of you mature single women who are hoping to meet a single man-- golf courses are ripe for the picking! I figured that out, when I found myself divorced, with a teenage son, 8 years ago.  I hadn't torn up the dance floor since the BeeGee's were all the rage, after Saturday Night Fever was a box office smash.  So, I took golf lessons and started a Singles Golf Club.  True story.  Oh, did I mention that I used Match.com to help recruit members?  Never let is be said that I'm not an enterprising woman.

What does golf have to do with this recipe?  You have to think as I do. Random.  This weekend is the world famous AT&T Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach.  That means that I'm staying home-- far and away from the crowds.  It also means that it's raining today, because the tournament will usually bring out the Rain Gods.   That means soup is a perfect meal. My man loves them--especially anything with barley. 

To make Beef and Barley soup, you begin with.... well, naturally, you would buy beef.  I learned a tip from America's Test Kitchen that has forever changed what kind of beef I use for soups and stews. If you've never heard of chuck eye roast, please ask your butcher about it.  Unliked neat labeled "stew cut", I find that chuck eye roast is very tender.

To begin with the soup, it does start with a skillet. Using a couple tablespoons of vegetable (in my case, I used olive oil), cooked chopped onion, some tomato paste, and thyme (dried or fresh) until the onions are softened and slightly browned.

This takes about 8-10 minutes. In the meantime...I lined my removable slow cooker insert with a plastic liner (easily found at your local grocery store). These make cleanup super easy.

To build more flavor, we add dry red wine, then add the cooked onions to the slow cooker.  Next, we add in crushed tomatoes, beef and chicken broth, chopped carrots...

...soy sauce (I use Tamari sauce), 

...barley and then the cut up meat, that has been seasoned with salt & pepper. At this point, I covered the slow cooker insert, put it into the fridge and went to bed.  Obviously, if you are a homemaker, you can do all of this earlier on the same day you want the soup.   Early in the morning, I turned on the slow cooker to the low setting and came home 11 hours later.  

This is when I don't gripe about having to prep my slow cooker meal, the night before.  It's a nice feeling to come home to smelling your dinner cooking away.  ATK says to remove the meat, and then shred it into bite-sized pieces. I skipped that step, by cutting my pieces into bite-sized chunks in the first place.  Simple details.  I didn't have much fat to skim off the top, either. 

I added some fresh chopped parsley, made a quick green salad and sliced some fresh French Bread.

For the finishing touch, we had a roaring fire going and listened to much needed rainfall outside.  

TASTING NOTES:   This soup has a very rich red color to it, because of the crushed tomatoes and red wine.  The beef is super tender.  I felt a little disappointed in that I didn't go with my gut instinct to increase the amount of barley from 1/4 cup to at least 1/2 cup.  I really appreciate a higher barley to beef ratio, and I could barely detect in the soup.  As for the flavor, I liked it.  I'm a lover of all things flavored tomato, but I felt that the crushed tomato overpowered the flavor of the beef.  However, my son disagreed with me. He loved this soup.  That is not to say that this isn't a good recipe. It is.  I would say that you need to adjust the recipe to have less tomato, if that's your preference.  I would definitely double up on the pearl barley, if not more. Other than that, this is a lovely soup and I would make it again.  In fact, I did!  Only, this time, I made it on the stove with a few changes.  I will share that soup with you, as well, since it's a bit different than this one.

I am glad that I have re-bonded with my slow cooker.  Sure, I spend a half hour prepping dinner the night before. But, it is gives me the next night off from having to prep, cook and clean pots and pans.  I've bookmarked a few more recipes from this cookbook that I hope will be as good as the last three I've posted and shared with you. Let's see who won my giveaway to receive a copy of America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution.

I think I'll tune in to our local news to see how Tiger Woods and all the other professional golfers are doing with this weekend's golf tournament.   Did I also mention that I haven't swung a golf club in about four  years?  At least I scored well with my Valentine-- my wonderful husband.  I figure that once we both retire, we'll have plenty of time to hit the putting greens.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.