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Instant Pot, Quick and easy recipes, Slow Cooker recipes, Soups & Stews

Old Fashioned Beef Barley Soup

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This Old Fashioned Beef Barley Soup was made on the stove top. However, can also be made in your slow cooker or pressure cooker.

I kid you not, this beef barley soup is the best I have ever tried.

But in order to have it be the best you must follow this recipe to a tea.

Trust me it is worth it!

Some people make this soup with hamburger meat. But that is not traditional nor is it near as good as using “stewing beef” it becomes tender in this soup and really makes it best.

I like to use larger chunks of beef for this soup. You can cut yours smaller if you prefer!

This soup can be made several ways! See below for those directions!

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST LAMB SOUP STOCK

  • Start with a leg of lamb – bone only. 
  • Cover roasted bone in 8 cups of water.
  • Simmer on low – medium heat for 1 hour. 
  • Remove bone, let cool over night.
  • And if their is to much fat, remove some. 
  • Leaving 3 tbsp of fat for flavor. 
  • Store in freezer for soup. 

HOW TO MAKE BEEF BARLEY SOUP RECIPE

Your going to want several ingredients on hand. 

  • Such as Stewing Beef
  • Olive oil
  • Flour
  • Lamb Stock * (find that recipe above)
  • 1 small can of diced tomatoes, using the broth
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Italian seasoning
  • Celery
  • Carrots
  • Onion
  • Garlic powder
  • Pepper 

BEEF BARLEY SOUP RECIPE INSTANT POT

  • Start by browning your beef in the instant pot – adding olive oil to the pot to help
  • Then remove the beef and add in your chopped, onions, celery and carrots
  • Add 1 tbsp of olive oil sauteing till the veggies are fork tender
  • Next add in the pre – made ( LAMB STOCK) * this is the secret folks to the best soup! 
  • Add in the chopped tomatoes, spices and cooked beef
  • Cover and simmer for 10 minutes before adding in the rinsed barley
  • Cover and simmer for 20 minutes and serve with fresh or dried parsley!

BEEF BARLEY SOUP RECIPE CROCK POT

  • Start by browning your beef on the stove in a medium sized pot 
  • Then remove the beef and add in your chopped, onions, celery and carrots
  • Add 1 tbsp of olive oil sauteing till the veggies are fork tender
  • Next add in the pre – made ( LAMB STOCK) to your crock pot* this is the secret folks to the best soup! 
  • Add in the chopped tomatoes, spices and cooked beef
  • Add in the rinsed barley last. 
  • Cover and simmer anywhere from 8 – 10 hours minutes
  • Serve with fresh or dried parsley

IS BEEF BARLEY SOUP HEALTHY

Yes, the beef is lean and barley is packed full of feel good fibers and minerals. 
 

LOOKING FOR A LEG OF LAMB RECIPE TO MAKE THE BEST LAMB BROTH

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Christmas & Thanksgiving, Date Night, Dinner ideas, Easter

Roasted Leg of Lamb (Greek Kleftiko)

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You have not truly tried traditional Greek food, until you tried a Roasted Leg Of Lamb, also known as Lamb Kleftiko.

And you don’t have to wait till Easter to serve either, this recipe is so good you will be sure to crave it just as often as the Greeks do in Cypress.

If you follow this recipe to a tea, you will have the most juicy and tender leg of lamb you ever tasted. 

The size of your leg you make depends on how many you are cooking for.

A 6 pound leg of lamb will feed about 8 people so you can judge by this what weight you will need.

I am using 3 pound leg which will feed a family of three to four. 

HOW TO MAKE GREEK LAMB KLEFTIKO 

  1. If your lamb leg is frozen, start by defrosting it in the bottom of the fridge anywhere from 24-48 hours (if fresh skipped this step)
  2. Next prepare your marinade. In a bowl, mix your crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, olive oil, and lemon juice.
  3. Lay your lamb out on the counter, and season on both sides generously with salt and pepper.
  4. Then take your knife and make slits all over the leg, front and back.
  5. Place the lamb now on a long piece of parchment paper and make a boat around it to hold in the marinade.
  6. Massage the marinade all over the lamb, making sure to get some of the marinade in the slits.
  7. Place the wrapped leg in the bottom of your roasting pan, and allow it to marinade overnight in the fridge.

HOW TO COOK LAMB KLEFTIKO 

  1. The next morning, take your lamb out and allow it to sit on the counter for 30 minutes prior to cooking.
  2. Open up the parchment paper, and pour in your “Chicken Stock” around the leg (try not to pour it all over the leg) rather around. As you don’t want to remove the seasonings.
  3. Now with a little bit of tinfoil cover the ends of the leg to ensure the parchment paper does not fold away.
  4. Preheat your oven to 425 f (convection ovens) or 450 for (standard ovens) for 30 minutes, then lower it to 325 f (conventional ovens) or 350 for (standard ovens) and allow it to bake for 3 1/2 hours.
  5. Once cooked, remove from the oven and open the paper to baste the lamb with the remaining juices.
  6. Place back in the oven for 30 more minutes uncovered till browned. (You may want to add a bit more liquid) totally up to you.
  7. Once done, remove the leg and drain the broth directly into a gravy holder.
  8. Allow it to rest 30 minutes before serving and serve with that delicious broth, adjust to taste.

Note: You can add potatoes into the parchment paper. I like to serve my lamb with pita bread, either are great ways to sop up that delicious gravy. Goes great with my Greek Tzatziki sauce too.

Serve with some warm pitas to mop up that amazing gravy!

You can also serve with mash potatoes and any vegetable of your liking.

I am so thrilled you are reading one of my recipes, if you made this recipe i’d love to hear about it! Thank you very much for reading and until next time see ya in the kitchen. Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for our NEWSLETTER delivered right to your inbox!

Dinner ideas, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker recipes, Soups & Stews

Green Pork Chili (Chili Verde)

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This simple yet Authentic Green Pork Chili is made with pork shoulder or loin and is slow cooked in a green Chile sauce. 

Serve with warm flour or corn tortillas or over a bed of rice if desired. 

I like to make it even when cooking for just a few, because it stores well as leftovers. However if you want to make the salsa verde from scratch, here is a great recipe for “salsa verde“. 

I recommend using a premade Tomatillo salsa, it will save you a ton of time.

As opposite to cooking the salsa from scratch.

HOW TO MAKE GREEN PORK CHILI

  • This dish can be done in your pressure cooker, slow cooker or on the stove top.
  • Today I am using the stove top method, since I will be in the kitchen most the day. However if your in a hurry, do it in the pressure cooker and then you can have this on the table in under one hour. 

If you like Mexican food or have never even tried it before then this recipe is a must try because it is amazing! 

Whenever me and my partner go down to the States, we like to stop at our favorite local Mexican restaurants and enjoy this exact dish.

It is best serve over a bed of rice or for a more traditional meal, serve it alongside some warm tortillas. 

Buen provecho!

Now there is defiantly a process to making authentic chile verde and that starts with roasting tomatillos, along with garlic, jalapenos and onions in the oven.

However this recipe is going to make all that so easy for you, because we are using a pre -made sauce. What are Tomatillos you ask? 

Well they are little green looking tomatoes, known as the Mexican husk tomato, but they are hard to find here in Canada.

We even send Bubba out to  locate these rare tomatillos for this recipe, but he failed to come back with any local ones. 

Rather he did come back with a bottle of “Tomatillo Salsa” which has the tomatillos in it.

Along with the cooked jalapenos, onions and garlic that are needing in this recipe.

So we encourage you to use this pre-made salsa in the dish too, which tastes just the same and will also save you allot of time in the kitchen. 

If your cooking for a large crowd keep this recipe in mind, it’s not only easy to prepare it’s also inexpensive and goes long ways. 

Do you LOVE Mexican food as much as we do? Then you will want to try the best

 

I am so thrilled you are reading one of my recipes, if you made this recipe i’d love to hear about it! Thank you very much for reading and until next time see ya in the kitchen. Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for our NEWSLETTER delivered right to your inbox every Month!

 

 

Barbeque, Dinner ideas, Quick and easy recipes

Chipotle Burgers

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Here I am cooking again with one of  my favorite peppers the adobo pepper. This is by far one of our favorite ways to make burgers.

I like to cook these burgers in my cast iron skillet, however you can use an indoor or outdoor grill for this recipe as well. I find the cast iron skillet sears the meat perfectly creating a strong burger that doesn’t fall apart as easily as they could on a grill.

Don’t skip on the adobo sauce it really makes this burger stand out. Bubba says, you can find it in any international aisle at your local grocer, typically near the Mexican food area.  Serve alongside a delicious potato salad, see recipe below for that one.

Mexican Dried Chipolte Chilies, Did you know Chipotles are actually smoked dried jalapeños?   

This is what you will be looking for, same stuff just in a can with some sauce.

 

Optional *add 1/2 tsp of adobo sauce from the can per burger, for extra heat. *Layer on the cooked onions, along 1/2 tsp of adobe sauce from the can per burger. Top with the condiments that you like, such as Lettuce, Mayonnaise, Mustard, Ketchup, Relish, Pickles, Raw Onions etc.

 

Looking for a side dish? Check out my recipes for this simple Potato Salad here.

 

Want to make a bunch of extra hamburgers to freeze for another time? Simply lay out your shaped burgers on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper and freeze. After frozen solid, stack into an extra-large freezer bag and freeze till your ready to use.

 

I am so thrilled you are reading one of my recipes, if you made this recipe id love to hear about it! You can post a review and or picture below to let me know how it turned out. And by doing so you will be automatically entered into our seasonal CONTEST to win one of our great prizes. Winner will be notified via email within a week after the contest closes. Thank you very much for reading and until next time see ya in the kitchen. Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for our NEWSLETTER delivered right to your inbox!

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