Warm yourself up on a cold, blustery Winter’s evening with a hearty beef broth. This delightful recipe contains cider and pearl barley for a delicious taste.
Ingredients:
- 675g organic diced beef from Helen Browning’s
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- 200ml cider
- 1.4L good, hot vegetable stock
- 1.4L good, hot beef stock
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 100g pearl barley, rinsed
- 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- Extra thyme leaves, to garnish
Method
- Put the beef in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat half the oil in a large non-stick pan and cook the beef in batched for 3-4 minutes until brown all over. Transfer to a large flame/heatproof ovenproof casserole dish with a lid.
- Add the cider, stocks, thyme and bay leaves to the casserole dish.
- Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer on the hob for 11/2 hours. Add the pearl barley, cover and continue to cook for a further 11/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in the same frying pan and cook the onion for 10-15 minutes until caramelised under a low heat. Remove from the heat and stock through the mushrooms.
- During the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time add the onions and mushrooms to the broth.
- Serve with crusty bread and or seasonal vegetables.