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Beef Barley Soup

It's a lazy Sunday, not feeling so well, so a pot soup sounds perfect. I'm not the type of grocery shopper that goes to the store with a list of what I'm making for the week. I usually buy my staples and then each day I see what I have on hand to make what.  SOUP. Hmmm, I don't have any chicken stock or chicken bullion. That puts a damper on what I can make. SO what do I have? I have stew meat. So Beef Barley soup it is!

I started with slicing a large yellow onion. This next step is very important and can change the whole flavor of the soup! Do I put raw onion in my broth and cook it with other vegetables? I could but I decide on sauteeing them. It will give the soup a completely different flavor. So slab some butter in the bottom of my soup pot and saute the onions until translucent. Don't cook them too high because you don't want them burned.
I cut the stew meat up into bite size pieces and browned them in a frying pan. I could've browned the meat first and add the onions, but I started out with onions and too late to add the beef because again I don't want to burn them. Once browned, I added them to the onions. Then I added a cup of wine. I only had a dry white so that's what I used. You can use a dry red as well but just be mindful it will turn pink and give your soup a different look.
This smells delicious! I add some salt and pepper and let simmer for a few minutes to cook off the alcohol. I then added 8 cups of water. I didn't have beef stock but I do have beef bullion so I added 6 cubes. I let simmer for about 15 minutes to let everything dissolve and flavors meld and then I added a half cup of barley. It takes a while for the barley to cook. I let this simmer for about a half hour or so.

I cut up 2 stalks of celery and 2 whole carrots and added that in. I put a bay leaf in, and about a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Let that simmer until vegetables are tender and barley is cooked. Brought the pot to a boil and added in small shells. I had an open box already. I put in a half a lb, it was too much, I should've only put in about 4oz.As the macaroni cooked I had to add more water, 2 more cups and so I added in 2 more cubes of beef bullion. I let this simmer about 10 minutes and I then spooned into bowls to eat! 

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