Beef barley or oxtail soup (celery, carrots, ginger, onions)

[Dea13]

Hello. My dad made the best beef barley soup and oxtail soup! He passed away in 2009 and we still cannot find where he put his soup recipes. Hoping someone has recipes they are willing to share

The beef barley was a whitish in color. It had beef, barley, celery & carrots but I don't remember what else.

The oxtail was more reddish/brownish in color. It had carrots, tomatoes, parsnips, oxtails, corn but again, I don't remember what else.

Spices for each I have no clue. My mom does not cook so she can't help me

Thanks in advance for any recipes!

[gingerale]

if it was reddish in color, he likely cooked tomato paste with garlic and onions to geive the broth a depth of flavor. look up martha stewrats barley and mushroom soup, i think you will like it.

[jambo101]

Plenty of Beef and Barley soup recipes on the web, browse through a bunch of them and settle on the one that comes close to what you want.
Hearty Beef Soup Recipe - Beef and Barley Soup

[Dea13]

Thank you for the responses. I have been searching on the internet. Just would feel more comfortable starting with a recipe someone has tried and liked.

gingerale, I'll look at the Martha Stewart recipe. Thanks!

[nomoresnow]

Here's how I make mine.

I start out w/a chuck roast. Brown it on both sides. I put it in a Dutch oven with onion and a stalk of celery or two w/leaves on them, water w/beef soup base or just beef broth. Roast it in the oven at 300 w/the lid on until just tender. THrow in whatever veggies you like. I use carrots, turnips, cut onions, sometimes potatoes, and baby bella mushrooms, quartered. In other words, I make a pot roast. Sometimes, we have the pot roast for dinner, sometimes I save the whole thing and make a huge pot of soup. If you're using quick cooking barley, throw that in after the veggies are tender and the meat has been torn with a fork. If you're using "real" pearl barley, I'd throw it in with the raw veggies. Oh, and when I'm ready to make it soup, I also throw in a couple of cans of Campbell's healthy version of cream of mushroom soup. Gives it a little extra flavor.

I hope that makes sense. I'm not a strict, by the recipe kinda gal, so most of my stuff is done by "feel".

[Wilson513]

I am not sure why people like barley in soup and particularly ox tail. I personally do not think barley does anything good for the soup. I always supposed it was that people who do not like lamb flavor kill it with barley.

With that caveat, there is nothing magical about ox tail soup or stew. Brown the oxtails in your soup pan in hot fat by rolling them around endlessly until they have a nice brown crust everywhere. Deglaze the pan with two large sweet onions chopped. then add the salt, carrots, parsnips, bouquet garni, and any other vegetables you choose other than potatoes which make it into a pasty, mushy porridge. I would skip the tomatoes, tomato paste or puree. they make it a different dish. Add water and beef broth 50/50 and cook until the meat is falling off the bones. Remove the tails and pull the meat off, discarding any cartiledge. Return the meat to the soup, toss the tails and you're good to go.