Kneadle Work

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Last night’s dinner was Beef-Barley Soup from the current issue of Cooking Light.

Two major changes to the recipe: I used 42 ounces total of low sodium beef broth plus a quarter cup of sherry. The chuck roast was more likely a bit over a pound instead of the 3/4 pound called for, because that’s how much was in the package at the grocery store.

I also added a goodly amount of freshly ground black pepper with the browned meat, before adding the broth.

That, and I cooked the barley separately and served it alongside bowls of egg noodles and steamed rice so that diners could choose which filler to put in their bowl.

That said, it turned out tasty.

Further tweaking to make it personal will require some way to replace the cooked carrots, celery and onion with less mushy carrots, celery and onion prior to serving. The biggest complaint was that the veggies were “over-cooked.”

Removing the veggies entirely during the cooking would weaken the flavor of the broth.

The solution will likely mean chunkier veggies that are removed prior to serving.

Fresh stir-fried veggies with some sturdiness and crunch can then be served separately, as with the barley, egg noodles and steamed rice.