Beef for soups: vegetable beef and barley beef

[7G9C4J2]

The very best basis for a good beef soup (beef-barley, beef & vegetable, beef-whatever) is leftover pot roast with the pan juices, at least in my opinion.

Whenever we make a pot roast, which is always done in the oven in a covered roaster pan with lots of veggies, we save every scrap of leftover meat and put it in a zip-lock bag. Then, after skimming off most of the fat from the pan juices, we pour the juices over the meat, seal it up and pop it in the freezer.

Once we've got two or three of those bags full o' yum, we pull them all out, dump them (still frozen solid) into a Dutch oven, and add some beef broth. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add your other ingredients as desired. We like beef-barley the best (use a ratio of one cup of barley to six cups of liquid, plan at least an hour's cooking time, and expect plenty of leftovers) but beef-n-veg is really good, too.

The nice thing about soup is that there are as many versions as there are pots of soup, and almost without exception, they're all good. There's absolutely nothing better or more satisfying on a cold winter's night than a big bowl of hearty, solid soup with some good crusty bread for dipping. It's the quintessence of comfort food, and nothing compares to it.

Soup - it's what's for dinner!

[JustJulia]

Thanks, everybody! I am craving beef soup now. I have to use up some chicken for dinner tonight, but we're definitely having beef soup tomorrow. I don't think I have time to make the stock from scratch, but it sounds so good--I'll be sure to plan ahead for next time.

I've never made beeef stock. Chicken stock, turkey stock, and fish stock, yes, but never beef stock. I roast the bones? Help!

We have a good local grocer here. It's way more expensive for ordinary things like cereal and crackers, but I know I can always get a nice piece of fish there, and they have a very nice butcher counter. I'll see what they have for beef cuts.

Mmmmmm, I want soup now.

[nikkzone]

Thanks guys, I did make soup using my standing rib roast bones, veggies and a can of stewed tomatoes. I used my pressure cooker so it didn't take long and it was really really good! I just made another loaf of nice crusty bread, so that was dinner. Only wish I had some barley,but it was still good without.

[nikkzone]

OMG, it's even better today! It's only 10am and I've already had a bowl of it!

[Jessiegee40]

Now I'm going to have to make some too. I just finished the turkey soup and have 6 containers of turkey stock in the freezer. Guess it's on to beef stock now.

[Gerania]

Chuck, which is pot roast, top or bottom round, flank.

I trim, cut up the meat into the desired sized pieces then brown the heck out of them in the bottom of the soup pot. Add some water which begins the soup making process. The browned meat and all of the glaze and bits on the bottom of the pan are what help to make a rich tasting broth.

The cuts of meat that I named all need to be cooked for a long time to become tender. I usually simmer the meat with maybe some onion, a little salt, for a while before I add the vegetables.

[malfunction]

You'd probably have to use smaller cubes for soup, as opposed to larger ones like you would see in a stew. If you aren't careful, it's easy to mix the two up.

[I LOVE PA!]

Hmmm....I make great soup...but never pre-cook my meat. I just put in a cut up chuck roast or a cheap piece of beef with a bone, like shank steaks and add a can of tomato sauce for a rich red broth. I made turkey soup today with all the leftover turkey from Christmas, came out great!