Martha Stewart Living Beef and Barley Soup

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it, but most of all the cooking. There is nothing more comforting than sitting down on a cold day to a bowl of homemade soup. I think I love just about every soup I have ever tasted or made. There is something so warm and relaxing about eating homemade soup. I've been lucky that my two boys are also big soup fans and will eat just about any variety of soup I serve them. Recently, Martha Stewart Living magazine had a recipe for Beef and Barley Soup, which looked delicious and perfect for the cold snap we've been experiencing.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes approximately 4 hours, 40 minutes of which is active. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I was able to save money by using the red wine I keep in my fridge for cooking. Additionally, I made my own chicken stock from the leftover bones from a roasted chicken recipe a few weeks back. Making homemade chicken stock tastes so much better and saves a lot of money at the grocery store. I used pearl barley instead, of regular hulled since that was what was available to me. I chose not to add the horseradish garnish, since no one in my family is a fan. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Slow cooked homemade soup is well worth the wait, and this recipe is no exception. The combination of the mushrooms and the barley are delicious and very filling. I was surprised by how well the leftovers re-heated and the recipe makes enough for multiple additional meals. My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe and it will be one that I will add to my recipe file to make again during the colder months.

This recipe is currently not available on-line, but can be found in the October 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. There are a few recipes using many of the same ingredients on the Martha Stewart website and can be found here or here.