Introduction

This is Mama Miche, and today in My Magic Kitchen:  Beef Mushroom Barley Soup 

Soup! There it is... again! And again. Don't ever trust a person who doesn't love soup. I love soup any time of the year, but the fall season is soup season. Period. End of story. 

Fuck pumpkin spice. Come fight me. I don't care. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I guess I'm not your average white girl. I don't like pumpkin spice everything, and I cook with spices! I mean, this bitch right here creates blends to make it easier for a lot of people who are scared to cook. It's not hard! I promise. 

Cooking involves this skill set: telling time, measuring, and tasting. If you can do these three things, you can cook. Oh, make it 4 things, you need to be able to read since you'll probably need to follow recipes to start on your cooking journey. Don't be a wuss. No need to be scared. 

Nowadays, there are gadgets galore to make cooking easy and fun, not like the old days when our ancestors had to hunt or grow their own food and figure out if eating something might kill them or figure out how to prepare it to not die after consumption. 

Speaking of consumption, I still intend to teach those who want to know how to cook with cannabis and not just make gummies and chocolate. I'm just getting started. The spice blends available on our website are traditional spice blends with no cannabis. So, the easiest way for someone who wants to cook any of the recipes we've shared with cannabis is to use canna oil or butter wherever oil and butter are used. See? Easy! And when our infused spices are in dispensaries, we will take cooking with cannabis to a whole new and healthy level. 

Stay lifted! Let Mama Miche make your kitchen magic!

Tools

• Small pot

• Knife

• Cutting mat

• Food processor (optional)

• Measuring cups and spoon

• Mixing bowls

• Mixing spoon

• Dutch oven or large pot

Ingredients

Makes enough to feed the neighborhood

• 1 cup pearled barley (7 ounces; 200g) 

• 1 large yellow onion (12 ounces; 340g)

• 2 large carrots (10 ounces; 280g)

• 4 ribs celery (6 ounces; 170g)

• 8 oz package mushrooms 

• 8 medium cloves fresh garlic (2 tbsp)

• 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil (15ml)

• 2 lbs stew beef (1kg)

• 4 tbsp Twice Stolen Spice™

• 2 tbsp Montreal Steak Season

• 6 cups homemade or store-bought vegetable stock (Note 1)

• 3 tbsp Orrington Farms beef broth base & seasoning

• 3 bay leaves 

• Minced fresh parsley for garnish

Directions

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 65 minutes

Prep

• Cook pearled barley according to the directions on the package, set aside to add later

• Finely dice onion, carrot, and celery or cut into smaller pieces and finally chop in a food processor

• Finely dice mushrooms (not recommended to chop in food processor)

• Mince or finely chop garlic cloves

• Cut beef stew pieces into smaller ¼” chunks. Season with one tablespoon each of Twice Stolen Spice™ and Montreal Steak Season

Cook

• Heat a large Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil to the hot pot.  

• Add beef and sear. Remove and set aside. 

• Add vegetables to the hot pot and 2 tbsp of Twice Stolen Spice™. 

• Sautée until onions are softened. 

• Add garlic and cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes) and 

• Add mushrooms and cook until softened.

• Add meat back in and broth with remaining seasonings and bay leaves. 

• Lower to a simmer and simmer for at least an hour. Longer is better.

Notes:

1. Vegetable Stock - If you cook with fresh vegetables, I recommend saving and freezing all the scraps. Once you have one or two gallon-sized zipper bags worth of veggie scraps, place them in a large pot and add water until they are covered. Cover and simmer slowly on low heat for 6-8 hours. Let it cool, remove vegetables (you can let them dry out a bit and compost later or discard them), and strain stock with cheesecloth or a reusable coffee filter. For best results, do not boil the vegetables on high heat, or they will get slimy.