Recipe: Barley and Beef Stew

Warm up your kitchen and delight your taste buds with this wholesome and flavorful Barley and Beef Stew.

This comforting dish combines tender chunks of beef, hearty barley, and an assortment of vegetables, creating a savory symphony of textures and tastes. Perfect for chilly evenings or when you crave a nourishing, filling meal, this stew is a classic favourite that will leave you satisfied and content.

A combination of tender beef, hearty barley, and vibrant veggies are all elevated by a splash of robust red wine and slow-cooked to add the perfect depth of flavor. A blend of nutty barley, juicy beef, and hearty veggies makes up the rich goodness of this stew. Furthermore, the robust wine and spices add depth to the flavor. The aroma and flavor are mouth-watering. This stew is a must-have dish during cold weather and winter. You can enjoy this recipe with our quality ingredients at Whole Food Earth.

Ingredients

Pearled barley (1 cup)

Diced beef steak (2 pounds)

Beef stock (6 cups)

Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

Salt (to taste)

Ground black pepper (to taste)

All-purpose flour (2 tablespoons)

Diced onion (1 medium-sized)

Diced carrots (2 medium-sized)

Diced celery ribs (1/2 cup)

Diced tomatoes (1/2 cup)

Minced garlic (3 cloves)

Dried basil (1 teaspoon)

Worcestershire sauce (1 tablespoon)

Sliced mushrooms (2 cups)

Red wine (1/3 cup)

Thyme (4 sprigs)

Bay leaf (1 large)

Chopped parsley (2 tablespoons)

Direction

1. Cut the beef into small cubes and transfer to a bowl. Add all-purpose flour, garlic salt, and pepper to it. Mix it well so that the meat is fully covered with all the ingredients.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sear the beef cubes in it for 8 to 10 minutes. Turn the beef cubes occasionally and make sure the cubes turn brown on all sides. Set the beef cubes aside.

3. Now add barley, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and basil to the same pot and sauté them for 5 minutes. Then add garlic and mushrooms to it and cook for a couple of minutes.

4. Pour red wine into the pot and scrape off sticky bits of food residue from the bottom of the pot until the wine is reduced to half. This deglazing is important to flavor the stew gravy.

5. Add in the seared beef cubes, barley, beef broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper. Stir the mixture and bring it to a boil over a high flame.

6. After that, over medium heat, let it simmer and cook it for almost an hour. Stir the mixture every 15 minutes. Cook it until the meat and barley are fully cooked.

7. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Garnish it with chopped parsley.

8. This hearty beef stew is ready to be enjoyed. Serve it with plenty of bread.

Nutritional and Health Packages

Barley is a major healthy cereal. It is commercially available in many forms, such as pearled barley, flakes, and flour. Barley is rich in fiber, anti-oxidants, molybdenum, manganese, and selenium, copper, vitamin B1, chromium, phosphorus, magnesium, and niacin. It improves digestion and reduces heart-related diseases. Beef is exceptionally rich in high-quality protein, vitamins, and minerals. It improves the growth of muscles. Beef, being rich in iron, may lower your risk of getting anemia. Along with meat, a significant amount of vegetables makes it a healthy appetite. Vegetables keep your body healthy, calorie-free, and prevent various diseases.

Variations in Ingredients

As this recipe is enriched with vegetables, you can add them as you desire. Cabbage, peas, and potatoes can be a good addition. Furthermore, to make it a bit spicy, you can add red chili flakes. Oregano, paprika, or soy sauce can be added to enhance its taste to a great extent.

Pairing Combination

Serve this with rice, noodles, salad, or grilled vegetables. It also pairs well with some breads (Irish soda bread, cornbread, or garlic bread).

Choice of a Good Meat

While choosing the kind of beef meat for stew, go for chuck meat because its lean cuts have the ability to attain moisture and become juicy.

Perfect Barley for the Stew

Generally, barley is available in many varieties, including whole-grain barley (hulled barley), scotch barley, and pearled barley. However, pearled barley is most commonly used for soups and stews. The reason for that is that pearled barley is more nutritious. Its grains are soft and refined, which makes it take less time to cook.

Cooking Time for the Stew

It is recommended to simmer the barley stew on a low flame for a long time to attain the tenderness of the meat. If cooked in a hurry, the meat will become hard and chewy.

For organic and best-quality ingredients, visit our website, www.wholefoodearth.com, where every ingredient tells a story.