Classic german pearl barley soup

[Ysjoelfir]

I present to you: A german classic, pearl barley soup. A highly savory, easy dish you can just throw together in the early noon and enjoy it when its done without much work at all.
The texture of the pearl barley is very interesting, slightly grainy with some bite in it, but at the same time pretty soft and mushy.
When its done the meat should be very soft and juicy while the potatoes should still have some texture to them.
That combination results in a very nice mouth feeling.
Enjoy!



You need:
1 beef shank with bone (~400g)
1 beef stew meat (~500g)
2 Onions (2 European sized, that means, half an american sized onion )
4 to 6 Potatoes
300g pearl barley
1 bunch of mirepoix vegetables (1/4 of a celeriac root, 4 carrots, 1 parsley root, if you want to get it "stand alone")
2 stock cubes
Some Lovage
Spices

Instructions:
Cut onions into small cubes and add to a pot. slightly roast them in a bit of grease of your choice.
Add both beef things into the pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils set your timer for 1 hours.
Meanwhile cut the mirepoix vegetables into small cubes and add them to the now probably already boiling water.
Also add the stock cubes. Let that boil until the timer runs out.

Now add the pearl barley and reduce the heat to a simmer.
Reset the timer to one hour, stir occasionally and top up with water if it starts to get too thick for your liking.

Start to cut the potatoes into bitesized chunks.
When the timer runs out, remove the meat, add the potatoes, reset the timer for 30 minutes.

Cut off any nasty bits from your meat while the soup is bubbling away and cut it into bite sized chunks.
Add the cut meat back into the soup.
Now is the time to let the soup thicken to the consistency you like or water it down if needed while the meat gets to temperature again.
Also try it and season with lovage, salt and pepper and serve.

[helius]

1 bunch of mirepoix vegetables (1/4 of a celeriac root, 4 carrots, 1 parsley root, if you want to get it "stand alone")

These roots are very twisty, and difficult to clean dirt from inside the tendrils. Know of any secret tricks?

[chickenHeadKnob]

1 bunch of mirepoix vegetables (1/4 of a celeriac root, 4 carrots, 1 parsley root, if you want to get it "stand alone")

These roots are very twisty, and difficult to clean dirt from inside the tendrils. Know of any secret tricks?

not hard. I am assuming you are troubled by the celeriac. Trim the top greens and bottom thin roots until you are left with  the "ball". soak in cold water/bowl to soften dirt, then scrub with small palm brush ( the  kind with nylon bristles you hold close in your palm). I reserve one for only scrubbing vegs from garden

[Ysjoelfir]

Yeah, the celeriac can be a little bitch. :-D
The suggested method of chickenheadknob works great, if the "craters" aren't too deep.
If you got one with many small roots at the ball and thus a lot of holes I would just cut those flat off. For peeling (if yours is very dirty and you can't brush it down) I prefer to use a big, very sharp knife, that allows to go through the rather hard root while still not slicing off half the root with the peel.

You can - of course - always just use frozen and pre cut Julienne Vegetables instead of cutting the mirepoix mix yourself.

[chickenHeadKnob]

I should have added: I grew my own celeriac in very heavy clay type soil called "Red River Gumbo" when I lived in Manitoba. Its very black fertile clingy stuff. After brushing as vigorously as possible there would inevitably be some spots where the mud was still packed in the bottom. For that I simply use a small sharp pointy paring knife and core out the small divot that has the mud.

If you grow your own or have access to the greens, don't throw them away. They can be washed and frozen in a plastic baggy and used in lieu of celery in a bouquet garni or directly in the soup. Superior to regular celery in that purpose. More concentrated flavour so you need to be cautious and not over do it.

Beef and barley soups are real ancient European staples, in earlier times they would have parsnips instead of potatoes as the potatoes came from the Americas.