Grandma's and Big Grandma's Beef Barley Soup

If there is one dish that is trademarked to my mother, this is the dish. It is not like any other barley soup I've had. Most are oversalted, or the broth is very thin with very little barley texture. Home made is always best. If you are sick, this soup is for you. If you are cold, this soup is for you. If you need comfort, this soup is for you. If you need a cure all... you see where this is going. After a cup of this a bleak day is brighter. I have a vat of this in the fridge to dip into reheat as needed. Soup does just as great the day after. I sprinkle a little ground black pepper before eating. Yum. My babygirl, you know this is true. This is a wonderful lunch on a cold school day. My babyboy, you will learn to love soup, and this is the soup I will make you love. When you grow up you will wonder why you refused to eat this. Maybe (and I hope) you are just a picky toddler at the moment. But it will eventually remind you of grandma. And maybe, one day, me.

Ingredients:
Beef (stewing or soup cuts)		cubed (1/2" - 1")
Barley		2 cups, cooked
Yukon Potato  (or similar)		3 medium, large cubes (1x1/2")
Carrot		2 carrots, cubed or coined
Onion		3 medium bulbs,chopped
Boiled Water		5 cups
Beef Bullion		1 cube
Salt		1 tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tbsp, ground
Thyme		1 sprig
Canola Oil		4 tbsp

Barley Preparation:

1. Rinse barley in a sieve under cold water. Drain.
2. Toast barley in a pressure cooker, stirring often. 
3. When fragrant, immediately pour in water and add a pinch of salt.
4. Stir well and bring to a boil.
5. Seal pressure cooker with whistle (follow the instructions for your pressure cooker) and let it build pressure until it whistles.
6. Reduce heat to low and let it cook for approximately 15 mins.
7. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool completely.
8. When you remove the lid (make sure you release the pressure completely before you do this!) the barley should be soft all the way through.

Soup Preparation:

1. Wash and chop onions and carrots. Set aside.
2. Rinse and cube beef. Set aside.
3. Add canola oil to a large soup pot on medium heat.
4. When warmed through, saute chopped onions. Be sure you do not brown them.
5. When the onions are translucent, increase the temperature to medium high.
6. Add beef and brown on all sides until it is nicely caramelized.
7. Add potatoes, carrots and thyme. Stir until everything is mixed well.
8. Let the mixture cook until there is little moisture left in the pot.
9. Pour in the boiled water and stir to release all the fond at the bottom of the pot. What is 'fond'? You are my children and reading this, you should know. Go look it up.
10. Add the pressure cooked barley, using the water in the pot to rinse out the bowl. Remember; barley is a thickener, it is important to have all the barley for the texture of the soup.
11. Add salt and pepper.
12. Stir well to agitate the barley and mix the seasoning.
13. Half cover pot and reduce heat to medium low. 
14. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.
15. When the soup is nearly done, take a pot spoon and try to break a potato on the side of the pot to test for doneness. If it crushes easily, the soup is done aaand... you've thickened the soup a little, just stir it all together. If it does not crush without pressure, then the soup needs more time.
16. You will notice a greenish tinge (remember the sauteed onions?) when the soup is finished. Remove the pot from the heat and serve.

Barley Congee

I have had a difficult time throwing off the weight since I had Alistair, but it is only recently I have made a concerted effort to really take it off and keep it off. One of the changes I made was trading out simple carbs for complex carbs, such as barley.

I never considered how versatile barley could be and reserved it for my mom's legendary beef/chicken barley soup. But when Jocelyn made the last batch I asked her to pressure cook a half cup of extra barley and set it aside for me. Knowing beef and barley are a natural pairing I assumed I would make some sort of tomato based stew, but then Jocelyn made her amazing steamed fish and that changed my entire approach. When you think about barley's thickening power (see almost every recipe I have for use of barley flour), it could potentially behave like rice does in congee. And let me tell you, congee is one of the most comforting bowls of morning love you can ever eat.

I had steamed fish (seasoned with garlic, green onion and ginger), spinach, garlic paste (I make and keep a jar in the fridge) and, of course, cooked barley. So I got to assembling a dish. And it was absolutely delicious and less carb heavy than rice. It will naturally be on the thicker side of congee, but I never liked thin congee anyways. And if the barley thickens up too much, just thin it out slightly with a little bit of water.

You can substitute out ingredients as needed. My rule of thumb would be one leafy green vegetable, one protein, a strong seasoning, and optionally include green onion and century egg. For a couple options, you could do minced pork, garlic greens, black fungus (mushroom), century egg and fish sauce, or chicken, yo choi, garlic and chili. There are so many variations and I can't wait to try them all.

The recipe below serves one, but you can adjust it upwards to serve the whole family.

This is about to get in my belly.

Ingredients:
White Fish (Sole, Tilapia, Cod or similar)		6 oz fillets, steamed
Barley		1 cup, cooked (preparation shown for 1 cup uncooked)
Water		2 cups (barley), 1/4 cup (congee)
Spinach		2 cup, sliced
Garlic		1/4 tsp, minced
Siracha		1/2 tsp
Fish sauce		1 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Green Onion		chopped, to garnish

Barley Preparation:

1. Rinse barley in a sieve under cold water. Drain.
2. Toast barley in a pressure cooker, stirring often. 
3. When fragrant, immediately pour in water and add a pinch of salt.
4. Stir well and bring to a boil.
5. Seal pressure cooker with whistle (follow the instructions for your pressure cooker) and let it build pressure until it whistles.
6. Reduce heat to low and let it cook for approximately 15 mins.
7. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool completely.
8. When you remove the lid (make sure you release the pressure completely before you do this!) the barley should be soft all the way through.

Congee Preparation:

1. Wash and chop spinach.
2. In a pot on medium-low heat, add spinach, minced garlic, black pepper, fish sauce and siracha. Give it a quick stir.
3. Add the cooked barley. This can be fresh from the pressure cooker or leftover from the fridge - the only difference is the amount of water needed and time stirring to reconstitute the original consistency.
4. Add water slowly while stirring. Continue adding water as needed to create a creamy congee like texture. The key is to continue stirring. Agitating the barley releases the starch to form the sauce. No stirring just leaves you with barley and strongly flavoured water.
5. Once the texture is perfect remove the pot from the heat - you do not want to dry out the congee at this point.
6. Ladle out into soup bowls and layer the steamed fish on top (assuming the fish is well seasoned during steaming - think ginger, green onion, garlic, soy sauce).
7. Garnish with green onions.

Fish and Rice Noodle Soup

[NEEDS PIC]

This is a nice, simple soup that is comforting yet light. I think the kids would like it, because it's not going to seem 'fishy', but the sweet vinegar and the tamarind will give it a sweet tang that should be delicious.

For an understanding on the 'sweet vinegar', it look like this bottle:

Ingredients:
White Fish (Sole, Tilapia, Cod or similar)		1 lbs, Fillets only
Gai Lan		8 (approx), chopped
Fried Tofu		1 cup, sliced
Chicken Stock		4 cups
Chinese Sweet Vinegar		3 tsp
Tamarind Sauce		1/4 cup
Onion		1, sliced
Green Onion		4 stalks, chopped
Ginger		1" knob, peeled
Garlic		4 cloves, finely minced
Water		2 L
Soy Sauce		3 tbsp
Canola Oil		3 tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp (ground)
Wide Rice Noodles		1 fistful per person

Tamarind Sauce:

1. Take a knob of tamarind paste and place it in a small dish
2. Pour boiling water over the paste. work through with a strong fork. 
3. Cover with a plate and let sit for 15 mins.
4. When the dish cools, stir and heat in the microwave for 40-60 seconds.
5. Stir again and cover to let sit for another 15 mins.
6. When cool, stir and sieve through into a clean bowl. This removes skins and pits.
7. Ta Da. Tamarind Sauce.

Soup Preparation:

1. Fill a kettle of water and leave to boil (use some of this for the tamarind sauce).
2. Clean the fish and slice fillets into 1.5" pieces. Set aside.
3. Wash and chop the Gai Lan and Fried Tofu. Set aside.
4. Slice finely the onion and ginger. Mince the garlic.
5. In a soup pot, add oil and raise heat to medium. Add onion, garlic, ginger and saute. 
6. When translucent, stir in the sweet vinegar, soy sauce and the tamarind sauce. 
7. When sizzling, pour in water to cover, about 2" high.
8. When mixture boils, pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil
9. Add salt and pepper and stir. Leave to boil for 15 minutes.
10. Add Fried Tofu, Gai Lan, and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low.
11. When heat reduces, stir once. Layer slices of fish on top of the broth. 
12. Cover and let steam for 10 minutes.

In a separate dish,

1. place rice noodles and pour hot water and cover. Leave for 10 mins. Do this prior to serving.
2. Pour off water from rice noodles and place in a dish.
3. Ladle soup over noodles.
4. Garnish with green onions..

Somethin Like a Sloppy Joe

One day I just had to cook off some ground meat and I didn't have any real recipe in mind. Nor did I have time to do anything labour intensive. So I figured out this... stew? I don't really know what to call it. But it was a pot of delicious.

My husband eats this over rice. It could also be eaten 'sloppy joe' style. I made it so you don't even really need carbs... if I have a preference I would eat this over quinoa. Whatever you prefer. It is not a fussy dish.

You can substitute out herbs and seasonings as you prefer. As long as you keep the core principle the same, you can introduce flavour changes that can pair with carbs and sides. Coming to think of it, the original principles behind this dish comes from my preparation of beef filling for tacos.

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Ingredients 

Ground Meat		2 lbs
Ginger (fresh, grated)		1 tsp
Onion (finely chopped)		1, medium
Cilantro (chopped)		1 bunch
Barley Flour		1/4 cup
Boiled Water		2-3 cups
Kafir Lime Leaves		8 leaves
Garlic (minced)		8 cloves
Canola Oil		2 tbsp
Black Pepper (ground)		1 tsp
Fish Sauce		2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Wash and chop the cilantro
2. Mince the garlic
3. Grate the ginger
4. Chop the onion
5. Wash and bruise the lime leaves with the back of a knife
6. Heat the oil in a small pot on medium heat
7. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and lime leaves
8. Stir and add the meat, breaking it up to brown it evenly
9. When the heat starts permeating the meat, add the black pepper and fish sauce
10. Stir occasionally for five minutes
11. Sprinkle the barley flour over the meat and stir until it is completely incorporated. It is important the flour is not lumpy.
12. Add water (to cover), stir, and bring to a simmer. Start with 2 cups and add more water if necessary.
13. Stir until mixture visibly thickens (use the 'line on the back of the spoon test' if needed).
14. Add cilantro, stir, remove from heat and cover for one minute.

This preparation would be perfect over white rice.

Office Hack: Iced Coffee

I have been made fun of today by many people. I had four coffee cups on my desk at work. Mostly because I leave them there from the prior day and rush to leave so they never get thrown out. So today there was leftover coffee in a Timmy's carafe from a meeting. It had gone cold and there was no microwave, so I thought to myself 'what is the best way to make use of this without all this good coffee going to waste?' The answer? Iced coffee.

Now I had no idea how this would turn out, but I had the theory in my head. If I had time, If I was home and tried this, I would have taken the coffee out and swirled it around every 15-20 minutes to maintain some fluidity. Like the same principles when forking through a granita. Here I would have to leave it to freeze. Why not test it out?

I mixed the coffee with milk and Splenda in a coffee cup and popped on a lid. We (I and my workmate) made four cups, his with cream and sugar. I assume that would turn out more slushee (like a icecap) and mine more icy and liquid. When I took them out the following day, this is how they appeared:

Frozen rock solid with a 'mound' in the middle. Wha......?

After a while of melting, this is how they appeared:

Yummy iced coffee with a icy ball of coffee in the middle.

Salmon with Cannellini Beans in Tomato Sauce

When I am trying to shed some unwanted weight (read: post-pregnancy pre-caribana blitz) I can't go wrong with salmon or sardines. The problem is I can't take these to work (it's really really pungent!), but on the flip side, it is the perfect low-fat low-carb dinner that is extremely satisfying. The version below is salmon, but you could substitute in sardines for a completely different texture.

Close up: notice how the cannellini have just barely split.

Now some people have an aversion to fish. Some have a prejudice against canned products. For those who hate both, this dish must bother the hell out of them. But I remind you this is born from humble roots; remove the beans and the cooking process and this is a typical Guyanese family breakfast when accompanied with roti.  A family who couldn't afford much could afford tinned fish, an onion and a pepper. All I did was remove the carbs and add back in some fiber and protein. Growing up, we ate it because it was delicious. One day, my children, I hope both of you will enjoy this as much as I do, but for now, oily fish is not what I want to give you to turn you off seafood. Simple white fish will do for now. But when you are a little older I will serve this to you. and hopefully you will be able to eat it with the pepper.

Ingredients

Salmon		2 tins, drained
Onion		1 large, finely chopped
Garlic		10 cloves, minced
Whole Tomatoes		1 tin, (tomato and juice)
Cannellini Beans		1 tin, drained and rinsed
Thai Chili		1, minced
Canola		1 tbsp
Black Pepper		1 tsp, freshly ground
Sea Salt		1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1. Open all tins
2. Drain excess liquid from salmon
3. Pour cannellini beans into a seive and rinse until water runs clear
4. Finely chop onion, set aside
5. Mince garlic set aside
6. In mid-size pot, heat oil on medium heat.
7. Saute onion and garlic
8. Add the cannellini beans and saute for five minutes, or until beans have softened
9. Add tomatoes, salmon, minced chili and black pepper
10. break up the tomatoes with the back of the spoon
11. Stir mixture together and let it come to a simmer for about five minutes
12. Add salt and stir to incorporate
13. The mixture will thicken slightly. this should take no more than 5 minutes
14. Remove from heat and serve

Green Onion Oil

Addictive.
Try this with steamed chicken or fish. Or cardboard. Anything really. This is the only oil I drizzle without pause.

When I had my first job I went to a restaurant every couple weeks at Elizabeth and Dundas called "Garden". They have a bowl of soup; Beef brisket and bok choi over rice noodles. It is delicious. But then they have an oil based condiment with green onions. And when I added that, the dish was heavenly. I've since seen it served with roast pork or roast duck. I've tried to recreate it to no avail. And then, one day, my sister did what I never did. She ASKED "what goes into this?" and they actually told her. So armed with the recipe, I made it. And it goes like this:

YUM.

Green Seasoning 

Green Onion		8 stalks
Ginger (fresh)		1 knob (2")
Garlic		8 cloves
Canola Oil		1 cup
Sea Salt		1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Chop the green onion, mince the garlic and grate the ginger.
2. Heat the oil in a small skillet on medium heat.
3. When oil is warm enough that it is visibly viscous, add all the ingredients.
4. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes.
5. Never let the oil come to a boil. Reduce heat if necessary.
6. Remove skillet from heat and allow the mixture to cool.
7. Spoon over (as I said above) any dish of meat or fish.
8. Jar the rest of the mixture to reuse for 2-3 weeks.