Beef Barley Soup & How to Can It

A few nights ago I made Beijing Beef - the cut of beef I purchased was 5 lbs. I took one pound off for the beijing beef, two pounds off for a roast for our sandwhiches and salads, used about a half pound of trim for beef stock which left a little over a lb. I went to Sprouts Market and pearl barley was on sale for 74 cents a lb so I decided it was time to make some beef barley soup.

Click here for soup video


Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef cut into small cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups pearl barley
4 green onions
1 medium yellow onion
3 small tomatoes
3 pcs celery
1 medium carrot
1 tbsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp parsley
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp iodized salt

3 quarts beef beef stock
PLUS 7-10 cups water

The soup is very straightforward and when that barley blooms there is an incredible amount of it - so 1.5 cups of uncooked barley is just right for a 5 quart batch - so that's 5 good sized bowls for adults. However if you like yours on the thicker side feel free to add more.

I only held back a small bit for Afro to eat - and I canned the rest of it. Because the nature of a beef barley soup is to thicken and reduce the water I added back water and vegetables prior to canning. That's just me because I like my soup more loose. Feel free to keep it thick if you want to...but that concerns me with canned soups because I'm always afraid it won't process.

Click here for canning beef barley video.

It only made 5 quarts which is enough for me I have a lot of the staples canned up these days so I don't mind adding 5 quarts instead of 8 pints just to add some variety in there. But this soup is definitely handy. Mr. Man actually likes adding extra slices of roast beef in his prior to eating.

Happy Cooking and keep yourselves well. I am very perturbed that they have reduced the quality of the food in this country and at the same time reduced the dosage on the over the counter vitamins. Please eat and store a variety of food and vitamins and take not of the true suggested dosages. Also understand that Vitamin D actually serves you better than Vitamin C in fortifying your immune system...do your homework and you will see that far too many people have a Vitamin D deficiency which leaves you open to illness. Do what you can to keep yourself in the best shape possible - I myself have fallen out of shape since being on fertility meds and it's reallly messing with my head - but as of next week I have decided to take my bike to school and continue with the kick boxing. You must really look at yourself and ask if you are doing all you can or just being a spoiled American and simply "trying" your best. Those who "try" watch from the side - those who "DO" are in the game. It is what it is - just pick where you want to be.