Beef & Mushroom Barley Soup

I've been craving a hearty, beef and mushroom soup for.ever. Finally gathered all the ingredients together and started searching for a recipe. Could not find a single one that sounded like what I wanted to eat. Normally, I would start with someone else's recipe and modify it. This time I couldn't even find a good starting point. So I winged it.

What else was I supposed to do?

Beef & Mushroom Barley Soup

• 1 lb stew meat, cut into bite sized cubes (I prefer SMALL)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 carrots, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 - 16 oz package sliced mushrooms
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup barley

1. Brown stew meat (I used 2 Tbs olive oil) in dutch oven or heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. When meat is browned, add garlic and onions into the pot. Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir tomato paste into beef and onion mixture, cook for another three minutes.
3. Add carrots and mushrooms into the pot, stir well. Reduce heat to medium and cook until mushrooms are done. Stir occasionally.
4. Pour in beef broth. Stir well, then add the barley.
5. Cook over medium-low heat for about two hours - until meat and vegetables are tender.

If you like a thicker soup, you can bring the soup to a boil then add about 2 Tbs corn starch mixed with water to thicken. I also added about 3/4 cup of heavy cream to my soup at the end. It was sitting in the fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste - the soup would have been fine without it.

~ Enjoy!