Smoky Beef Barley Soup

[annewaldron]

Recently purchased some great looking cuts of beef from Certified Piedmontese (thanks for the recommendation, Robert tx smoker !) and along with my order came a brochure with some great looking recipes, including one for beef barley soup using ground beef. Well I've been looking for ANY excuse to use my Traeger, so I decided that smoked beef barley soup couldn't possibly be a bad idea! But just in case this was a really bad idea, I decided against using my CP ground beef and went with some 80/20 ButcherBox ground beef.

Divided my two 1 lb packages into four logs and smoked with some Lumberjack 100% Maple pellets for 45 minutes.

Mildly unappetizing looking, but wonderful-smelling beef!

Got my veg and aromatics prepped while the beef was smoking. The recipe also called for celery but the red pepper threw me off and I forgot it (I'm used to prepping the midwestern "trinity" of celery, onion, and carrot, so when I had these three things chopped I thought I was done )

Sauteed the beef, drained off the excess fat, and then added the veg, seasoning as I went. The light smell of the maple was intoxicating!

Added beef stock and barley and simmered for 45 minutes. Then stirred in some lacinato kale, a little sherry vinegar, and parsley.

Enjoyed a big bowl with some (lazy) garlic toast. Vacuum sealed the rest for the freezer. It was delicious!!!

 

[bregent]

Look great. We make beef and barley soup every year the day after Christmas with lefover prime rib bones. Never thought of using ground beef but will definitely try it. Looks like you don't use potatoes in that recipe?

 

[annewaldron]

Look great. We make beef and barley soup every year the day after Christmas with lefover prime rib bones. Never thought of using ground beef but will definitely try it. Looks like you don't use potatoes in that recipe?

No, and I’m not much of a potato person so I wouldn’t miss it, but it’d probably be great, especially with those prime rib bones!

 

[xray]

Beef barley soup is a favorite around here. Sure could use a bowl in this weather.

Never seen it made with ground beef before, looks like it works well.

Like!

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks fantastic!
Perfect for a cold night!
Al

 

[tx smoker]

Alright Anne!! Looks like you got it all figured out darlin'. I got the tag for both of your posts and the pics look beautiful. Well...the soup looks beautiful too. Fantastic looking meal there, that's for sure. I have another order coming today of Certified Piedmontese so will finally get the new quarterly publication. I'm certainly going to give this recipe a look. I have a recipe that looks virtually identical that I put together a couple years ago but I use tenderloin tips but the ground beef certainly looks to have a lot of merit!!

Happy for Anne,
Robert