Hamburger Barley Soup

I've been making this soup since I first started to cook.  There were these cookbooks called "Best of Bridge" and I got the recipe from there.  Over the years I've edited it and stopped using all those canned soup products to reduce the salt.  Here's how I made the soup today:

• 1 box Pacific Foods organic low sodium beef broth
• 3 Prime Rib beef bones from my freezer
• 2 cups of homemade beef stock from my freezer
• 1 Parmesan & Gruyere cheese rind from my freezer
• 1 can (28 oz) of no salt diced tomatoes
• 1 can (5.5 oz) no salt tomato paste
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 lb of mushrooms, sliced
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 2 bay leaves
• Fresh thyme, tied in twine
• Fresh cracked pepper, lots
• Cayenne pepper to taste

I chopped all the veggies first and put them in a bowl with the herbs.  

I forgot the mushrooms so did those next and added them to the bowl too.   

I chopped the onion & garlic next and got it into the dutch oven with a scant tablespoon of olive oil and the hamburger.  

I cooked it until browned.  I drained the fat and added all the rest of the ingredients.  It was full!  

At least I knew the barley would absorb some liquid and the when the bones came out, it would lessen the fullness of the pot.  I brought to a boil - carefully.  I covered it, dropped the heat to very low and simmered for 3 hours.  I fished out the bones, rinds, bay leaves and thyme.  I took the meat of the bones and put it back in the soup and served.

This soup is comforting whether you follow the original recipe or try and make it a little more healthy and upscale like I did.  It's really easy to make and has a big pay off for minor effort.