This beautiful bowl of old-fashioned beef barley soup would be perfect for your next superstorm. When it comes to stick-to-your-ribs stews, it doesn't get any better than shank. There's so much gelatin-producing connective tissue that it makes an incredibly satisfying sauce for your meat and grain.
Ingredients
- thick slices beef shank: 2 piece
- kosher salt and ground black pepper: (to taste)
- vegetable oil: 1 Tbsp
- onion: 1 piece (diced)
- garlic: 4 clove (minced)
- tomato paste: 2 Tbsp
- chicken broth: 4 cups (or more if needed)
- celery: 0.66667 cup (diced)
- carrots: 0.66667 cup (diced)
- rosemary: 0.25 tsp (dried)
- bay leaf: 1 piece
- pearl barley: 0.5 cup
- fresh parsley: 1 Tbsp (to taste, chopped)
- freshly grated raw horseradish: 1 Tbsp (to taste)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
-
Season beef all over with kosher salt and black pepper.
-
Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Cook beef in hot oil until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate; set aside.
-
Reduce heat to medium and stir onion into the same pot with a pinch of salt. Cook and stir until onion is soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook and stir until tomato paste is brick red, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in broth. Add celery, carrots, rosemary, and bay leaf.
-
Return beef with any accumulated juices to the pot; push beef down to cover with cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover the pot and cook until beef is fork tender, 2 to 3 hours.
-
Remove beef to a large bowl. Pour barley into cooking liquid in the pot; bring to a simmer and cook until barley is tender, about 45 minutes.
-
Return beef to the pot. Cover the pot and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Ladle stew into bowls and garnish with parsley and horseradish.
