Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals

My Mom used to make a soup for dinner, way back in the days when we were kids. It was tomato and barley with bacon chopped into it, and I absolutely loved it. But she made it so seldom that I never had a chance to ask her about it. Barley wasn’t prevalent in our house growing up, but truly, the only place I ever remember eating it is at Netherby.

Last Sunday when I was rummaging through my freezer trying to figure out our menu for the week, I realised it would be a good week to use up a beef shin I had there. The weather was predicted to be sunny, but bitterly cold, so a nice heart stew was needed. Normally, I add dried sugar beans to my beef shin casserole, but I have outsourced all my dried beans for the first time ever. (Outsourced~ reads the same as run out of), but I did have a box of barley that was crying out for some love.

Upon further rummaging, I found the 2 strips of German lardons that I have discovered are necessary to all eastern french and western german culinary adventures. (Let me tell you, my peer X has never made his yummy choucroute without adding in great hunks of smokey lard. That’s not the white baking lard you’re thinking of, but a cured and smoked pork belly, commonly used to flavour traditional dishes).

Naturally, quick as nostalgia tends to arrive, I arrived at the vision of Mom’s horrid blue soup pot. that would burn anything that was ever cooked on the gas, but was perfect for the Aga, and got a craving for that barley and tomato and bacon soup.

It turns out my kids quite enjoy these casserole/soups, and it’s these meals that I don’t have to fight with Beth to get her dinner in. It’s also an effective way of getting a balanced meal into the girls, so I highly recommend trying this recipe, even if it is a little time consuming.

Beef, Bacon and Barley Casserole

(4-6 people)

First Off:

1 large beef shin, approximately 700g with the bone in

200g bacon

1 large carrot, chopped roughly

1 old onion, chopped roughly

Couple of old tomatoes if you have at hand

1 large bunch chopped celery tops (the leafy bits)

2 thyme stems

2 garlic gloves

Salt &pepper

Water

Place all of the above in a large oven proof casserole pot with a lid (approximately 3 litres).  You can brown the meat off by rubbing salt and pepper over, and pan fry it briefly on either side, but it’s not imperative.

It would be best if you can find a whole piece of European style lard bacon, as it’s smokey and more conducive to longer cooking times.

Place the oven proof casserole into the oven set at 150 degrees Celsius for 2-3 hours, depending on what pot you use.  After roughly 3 hours in the oven, check the meat.  If you can shred it between 2 forks, the meat us ready and you can remove it from the oven.

Set it aside until later.  It’s easier to work with when it’s a little cooler, but not fridge temperature 😉

                                                                                                        

Casserole:

2 medium sized onions, finely chopped

3 large sticks of celery, evenly sliced

½ leek, finely chopped

3 large carrots, peeled and grated

1 large white turnip, peeled and grated

100g barley

8 tomatoes, blanched, peeled and diced, OR 1 tin diced tomato

50ml oil

Salt and pepper

Put the onions, celery, leeks, carrots, turnip, barley and oil in a large soup pot, turn the heat up to medium and bring the vegetables up to a gentle sizzle.

From the oven casserole prepared earlier, gently remove the meat and the bacon piece, set aside.  Now strain the liquid off and add it to the soup pot of vegetables.  Add the tin of tomato pieces (or the diced fresh tomatoes).  Add 1 litre of water and bring to simmer. 

Allow it to simmer over a low-medium heat for 45 minutes, making sure the liquid is enough.  If necessary, add a little extra water.

While the vegetables and barley are cooking, you can shred the beef and bacon pieces with a fork or your fingers.

 Once the barley is cooked, you can add the shredded meat to the pot and add salt and pepper to your preferred taste.

If you happen to have fresh basil or parsley at hand, you can take a few leaves and cut them into the casserole.

We cut up a day old ciabatta bread into dipping sticks, added some olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper and popped them under the oven grill until they were browned and crispy.

Let me know if you try this recipe, I’ve had a few people send me their chicken curry, and I think it’s awesome to hear feedback ;-).

Lastly, I do hope that you are keeping your head up. We’ve just had a dress-up session this morning. Coming off the back-end of seeing myself in my wedding dress this morning, has set my psyche back somewhat ;-(. Eeeek. Never fear, I will bounce back!

Take care, and all my love,

G,

xxx