beyond cinderella

My favorite soup of all when the weather turns cold. IF it’s homemade slowly as a labor of love…

Ingredients:

Beef stew meat (you could use steak but I like it with stew meat)

Onion – chopped

Fresh garlic – minced

Baby carrots – chopped

32 oz Beef stock

Fresh mushrooms – sliced

2-3 Bay leaves

Worcestershire sauce to taste

A.1. steak sauce to taste

1/2 small can tomato paste

No salt seasoning to taste (you can use salt t0 taste if you like)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Olive oil

Sear beef in a heavy bottom skillet using a little olive oil. I use my 25 year seasoned, never been washed, cast iron skillet… It releases 25 years of goodness every time I use it…YUM!

Remove meat from skillet and set aside. Then sauté onion and fresh minced garlic in the same skillet adding a little more olive oil if needed.

Slice fresh mushrooms.

Remove onions and garlic from skillet and set aside. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté in same skillet until softened and nicely browned.

Remove mushrooms from skillet. Add chopped baby carrots to skillet adding a little more olive oil if needed. Saute until lightly browned.

Put meat, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and carrots into a crock pot. Add 32 oz beef stock, 1/2 small can tomato paste, about 1 cup water (more if needed) , 2-3 bay leaves, Worcestershire and A.1. sauces, and seasonings to taste.

Add a cup to 1 1/4  cups of barley. Stir to blend everything. Put lid on crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours so beef gets really tender… Go about you day knowing when dinner time arrives, you will have a crock pot full of goodness waiting for you to enjoy…

I served this up with cornbread muffins, and I mean it was so good, even Bella came out to have some… 🙂

Cooks note: You could just throw all the ingredients into the crock pot and turn it on low to cook all day, BUT taking the time to sear the beef, and sauté each of the vegetables separately, really gives the end product depth and full-bodied flavor. It truly is worth the “labor of love” time to do each step…Enjoy!

Stay tuned!