Tender, flavorful meat. Loads of beautiful vegetables and a stock that will warm your bones. This is the most hearty soup you could ask for on these cold winter nights. I used leftover Prime Rib bones to make the stock and chopped up the meat for the soup. I also used whatever veggies I had leftover from all of the Christmas shopping plus picked up some mushrooms because it just felt right. My son claimed this soup as one of the three things he was grateful for when we were saying goodnight.

Because my husband always wants bread with soup I made a ciabatta and simply cut it into slices and rubbed each slice with raw garlic, perfect match for the soup. He always begrudgingly enjoys soup as he never cared for it before he met me, now he actually looks forward to it! This one was an all-time winner.

Beef Broth (Every homemade batch is different, this is what I had, in the time that I had, the day before I planned to make the soup. You could also use store bought.)
-In a large stock pot place beef bones (roast to color if they are not already) and cover with cold water.
-Bring to boil, then simmer for 4-5 hours. Skim off and discard any scum/excessive fat.
-One hour before you will start to cool it off place a handful of rough chopped vegetables (I used 1 large onion, 2 large carrots, 1 celery root bulb, 2 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, 3 thyme sprigs, 5 parsley stems and 7 peppercorns. Simmer one more hour.
-Remove/discard all of the meat, bones and vegetables. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a container which you can most quickly cool and refrigerate until you are ready to use. Alternatively, you can place the strained broth into a 4-6qt. pot if you are going to cook the soup right away. This made 9 cups.

For the Soup, makes 8-10 servings
Equipment:
6-8qt stock pot
4-6qt pot
Wooden spoon
Ladle

Ingredients:
12c beef broth (I used 9c plus 3c water)
1/2c rinsed pearled barley (for GF I would use buckwheat or lentils)

2T olive oil
2-4 leeks, whites only, chopped (save greens for your next stock in fridge or freezer)
3 medium carrots, sliced
1 fennel bulb, diced
3 celery stalks diced
3 garlic cloves minced

1T olive oil
8oz mushrooms of your choice halved and sliced
1lb chopped beef (I used leftover Prime Rib)
Salt and Pepper to taste, chopped herbs if you like

Method:
1. In the smaller pot place your stock and barley, bring to boil, simmer 1 hour, until barley tender.
2. Meanwhile get all other ingredients prepped. In the large pot heat 2T olive oil, then cook the leeks, carrots, fennel and celery until tender with a pinch of salt. Add in the garlic and cook one more minute. Pull all the veg out to a bowl and hold on the side.
3. Again in the large pan heat 1T olive oil, then place the mushrooms and cook until they are lightly browned, then add in the meat and heat. Add the veggies back to the pan and hold warm until the barley is ready (should be about now).
4. When the barley is ready pour it and the broth into the big pot, stir all together and simmer a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy with a sturdy piece of bread simply rubbed with a raw garlic clove. Yum.

I hope your family loves this as much as mine did. It is truly a crowd pleaser and a meat lover’s dream soup.

Let me know if you have any questions or tell me how you all liked it!