The most incredible beef barley soup....ever

I was going to post my Candied Salmon recipe, but I'm out of town and using my laptop. It's gonna have to wait till I get home. In the meantime, here's my wife's beef barley soup recipe. Enjoy

Nicole’s Beef Barley Soup
2 cups Venison or Beef if you must) stew meat, trimmed of fat and diced into ¼” cubes
½ cup Pearl (or pot) barley
14 oz Canned tomatoes with juice
2 Roma tomatoes diced into cubes
2/3 cup Liquid concentrated beef bouillon
3 Parsnips
1 Apple sized potatoe
1 Apple sized onion
2 cups Thinly sliced carrots
2 cups Thinly sliced celery
¼ cup Kitchen Bouquet sauce & gravy browner
1 tbsp Minced garlic
2/3 can Tomatoe paste (155ml can)
½ square Unsweetened baker’s chocolate (no kidding)
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Pepper
1 tbsp Parsley
1 tbsp Sweet basil
12 cups Water



Mix all ingredients into a large soup pot. Bring to a slow boil for 2 hours. Stir occassionaly. Turn off stove and let it rest for 1 hour.

The story behind this soup:

In the fall of 2005, I was working for Talisman Energy on gas compressors in the Turner Valley, Alberta area. I decided to go for lunch at a small diner in Turner Valley called “the Chuckwagon”. I ordered their “Beef Barley” soup which was absolutely the best I ever had. Part of what made it even more appetizing was the deep rich brown colour. They would not release their recipe. I brought my wife to the restaurant during our Christmas shopping trip to Okotoks with the sole purpose of reverse engineering this soup. This is the result, I might add that not only did she match it, but I think she may even have surpassed it. As unusual as it may sound, the chocolate MUST NOT be omitted. Famous chefs do use chocolate in their soups, why can’t we?

This sounds really good. Can it be tossed in a slow cooker?

fishing_flower wrote:This sounds really good. Can it be tossed in a slow cooker?

I couldnt see why not .

I'll bet you the slow cooker method would be delicious.

As Delicious as Bass pro shop

I will have to give this recipe a try for sure, I enjoy a good soup.

Things have been stupid busy or me, I'm Kitchen Manager for a local catering company called Second Chef.

I know how it is Anvil as I too am in the food service industry, in june I write the exam for my red seal.

fisharefun wrote:I know how it is Anvil as I too am in the food service industry, in june I write the exam for my red seal.

Sweet deal . Good luck there Andrew .