New Experiment

In March we decided to buy our first 1/4 of a cow.  So, I have had soup bones staring at me each time I open the freezer door.  These were waiting for it to become cold, so that I could make a big fresh batch of stock and soup.  I had never tried beef stock and to tell the truth it was a little overwhelming to me.  I have made my own chicken stock and it is so wonderfully good that I wanted to try beef also. 

This experiment started on Thurs. for me and turned into a project that I will most likely repeat more this winter.  I made the best batch of beef stock ever imagined.  It has the best flavor and my "picky" daughter ate two bowls of the soup I made and asked for more for her lunch.  I am very blessed that I will experiment in the kitchen.  Never had I imagined that my cooking would end up saving me money.  It is a HAZARD ladies because now my husband will not go out to eat.  He says that my cooking is better than anything he can have out.  Here are my recipes for my simple beef stew and beef barley soup.

Beef Stock
2 lbs beef bones with meat attached
2 bay leaves
frest thyme to your liking
salt
pepper
celery
carrot
onion
water

Season the beef bones with salt and pepper.  Place celery, carrot, and oinion in pan and sweat veggies.  I chopped all my veggies, but you could keep whole if wanted.  I then heated the oven to 450 degrees.  and roasted all this for 45 minutes.  After the roasting process, I put the bones and veggies in a stock pot along with the bay leaves and thyme.  I then filled the stock pot with water and simmered for 6 hours.  This made my house smell so great!!

I then strained the broth and took out all the bits of veggies.  I put in a bowl in the refrigerator and cooled so that I could skim the little fat that was there.  Now it was ready to use for soup.

Beef Barley Soup

3 carrots sliced
3 celery stalks chopped
1 onion  chopped
1 lb. beef for soup cut into little pieces
1 can 18 oz. stewed tomatoes
beef stock to fill stock pot, about 8 cups
1 cup barley
bay leave and thyme to taste

I start my soup by placing carrots, celery, and onion into the stock pot and cooking the veggies.  I then place the beef into the pan and brown on all sides.  I then add the tomatoes and fill the pot with stock.  There you have a very basic beef soup.  I let this simmer all day and about an hour before you want to serve the soup, add the barley.  There you have the "best" soup according to my family.  I hope everyone enjoys this great flavorful soup!!