In the Kitchen With Mattie

I simply love homemade soups in any kind of weather! Hubby doesn’t eat soup at all, unless he has the flu or something that puts him under the weather and he then doesn’t have the energy to fight me about eating it. The weather here is still in the middle of a heat wave and shows no sign of letting up anytime soon, but then again the south is always hot in the summer. I have been looking for a nice bowl of soup for a few weeks now and tonight I finally made some beef barley and it is wonderful. I also got a shipment of my favorite boullion flavoring and it added some great taste to the broth too. Here’s my recipe for this simple soup in case you want to try it.

                                                Matties Beef Barley Soup

1 1/2-2 pounds short ribs or the top flap of a whole brisket well trimmed and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1 large onion diced

1 shallot diced

1  can of diced tomatoes, appx  14-15 ounces

5 carrots peeled and cut into 1/2  rings

4  stalks celery chopped

2 whole bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3  tablespoons or 3 of the  large cubes Maggi Beef Rib Boullion

8 cups water

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup barley

Into an 6 quart or larger pressure cooker place the oil and heat it, when hot add the meat and brown it well, when it is browned add the onion and shallot and continue browning about 2 more minutes. Add all the water, tomatoes,  bay leaves,  boullion, pepper and the barley. Close the cover and set the pressure to low and the timer for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then finish with a quick release. Stir the contents and remove the bay leaves, adjust the seasonings and then add the carrots and the celery, once again close the cover and bring the cooker up to pressure for 5 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally, when the pressure is fully released open the cooker stir and enjoy.