Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

One of my good friends recently broke her foot.  We had dinner plans to go out but once she broke it, I thought it might be most comforting to pamper her with a homemade Beef & Vegetable soup.  The nice thing about homemade stock either beef or chicken is that it's extremely nourishing.  Since the stock begins with bones that are then cooked for hours, the nutrients from both the bone and the marrow fill the wonderful broth.  Once the stock was made, I packed the soup with lots of veggies.

You will notice I cooked the meat separate from the stock.  I like to make a stock and strain out any solids so the broth is beautiful and smooth.  Of course you don't have to do this, it is an extra step but I think it's worth it!

Beef Stock:

4 Beef Marrow bones (mine were split)

1/2 onion roughly chopped

5-10 cloves of garlic

1 carrot roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery roughly chopped

salt & pepper to taste

lots of fresh herbs, these can be left whole (I used rosemary, thyme, parsley & sage)

olive oil 

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat - Add a tablespoon of olive oil to coat bottom.

Add bones and brown all sides

Add veggies, herbs, salt and pepper

Cook for 10 minutes allowing some color on the veggies

Fill pot with 6 cups of water - this should be enough water to cover bones & veggies

Bring to a boil

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, the longer the better.  I left mine one for 6 hours

Refrigerate

Once fat has solidified, skim the fat and strain. Discard the solids

Stock is now ready for soup!

Soup

1 pound top round - trimmed and cut into bite size pieces

2 carrots - cut into bite size pieces

2 stalks of celery - cut into bite size pieces

1 can peeled chopped tomatoes

1 onion finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic sliced

3 - 4 white potatoes cut into bite size pieces

1 can string beans

1 zucchini cut into bite size pieces

1 small package of sliced white mushrooms

salt and pepper

3/4 cup pearl barley

2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary (stemmed & finely minced)

4 sprigs of fresh thyme (stemmed & finely minced)

Meat:

Heat a small pot over medium heat, add olive oil & meat

Continue to brown meat for 5 minutes

Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.  

This can cook along side the stock 4 - 6 hours

Soup:

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat.  Add onions and mushrooms and cook until the onions turn translucent.

Add garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper, and barley along with the stock and chopped meat and cooking juices.

Cook soup for an hour or until barley is tender

Serve with a great bread & butter.

This will taste better the next day - like most soups.  I can also be topped with a great Parmesan, the salt in the cheese helps to bring out the flavors!  I found a loaf of locally made hearty white bread from Whole Foods, this was wonderful for sopping up the broth.