Beef Barley Soup

The extraordinarily warm days have come to a close, at least for the next couple of weeks, so I have decided to keep some warming soup in the fridge for my lunches over the next few days. This afternoon, I treated my mom, M, and A to this delicious beef barley soup - a recipe from the Wegmans collection. It is incredible. And the beef is remarkably tender. And it makes A LOT!

You need:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 (about 1 1/4 lbs) boneless beef short ribs, cubed
2 c. chopped mirepoix, or 2/3 c. each chopped onions, carrots, and celery *
1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 1/4 cups barley
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp salt, plus additional to taste
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, plus additional to taste
2 cartons (32 oz each) beef stock
4 cups water

Heat olive oil in stockpot on MEDIUM-HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add beef; cook, stirring, about 10 min until beef browns. Add mirepoix. Cook, stirring, about 10 min, until veggies are soft and slightly brown. Add tomatoes. Reduce heat to MEDIUM; cook 10 min. Add barley and thyme. Cook 5 min. Add 1 Tbsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, culinary stock, and water. Bring to simmer on high. Reduce heat to low; cook about 45 min until barley is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Inspired by Wegmans Menu Magazine

Southwest Taco Pie

Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday in our house. I try to get as adventurous as I can, because God knows there are only so many ways to make a taco! That's why when I saw this recipe in Parents Magazine this month, I had to give it a whirl. However, note that I didn't make the homemade crust. I admit, rather sheepishly, that whenever the coupons for Pillsbury ready made crust hit the newspaper, I stock up and freeze them. I always have tons on hand. As a result, I used a ready made crust, but for those of you looking to try something from scratch, you can find the recipe here. A loved it, heck we all did, and the leftovers are headed with me to V's house this morning!

You need:

• 1 recipe Southwest Whole-Wheat Pie Dough
• 1 pound uncooked ground turkey breast
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 1 1/4 ounce package reduced-sodium taco seasoning mix
• 1 cup no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup drained canned whole kernel corn (I use frozen, organic corn)
• 1 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/2 cup light sour cream (optional)
• 2 green onions, sliced (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough, fluting edge as desired. Prick the bottom of the pastry with the tines of a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and is set and dry.
2. In a large skillet cook turkey in hot oil over medium heat until browned. Stir in taco seasoning and 1/2 cup water. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until water has evaporated. Stir in beans and corn. Spoon turkey mixture into baked pie shell. Top with cheese.
3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes more or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through. Remove and cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.
4. Top slices of pie with tomato, lettuce and sour cream and green onion, if desired.

Inspired by Parents Magazine

Chocolate Guinness Cake

This year, for our annual B/F family St. Patrick's Day parade and dinner party, I chose to make a chocolate Guinness cake. This recipe, different from the one I made a couple of years ago, comes from Nigella Lawson's website. The longest part of the recipe was using her converter tool to convert her metric measurements to our American/English standards (I've done the work here for you). However, it was otherwise a piece of cake (all puns intended) to make. Once it's baked and iced, it looks just like a pint of Guinness!

Note, the batter looks WAY too runny to be cake batter. Don't freak out. It comes out FANTASTIC. Just be sure to butter AND line your pan with parchment!

You need:

FOR THE CAKE

• 250ml (1 cup) Guinness
• 250g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 75g (5 tbsp) cocoa
• 400g (1 3/4 c) caster sugar (granulated sugar)
• 1 x 142ml pot sour cream (2/3 c)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
• 275g (1 1/8 c) plain flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 300g (10 oz.)Philadelphia cream cheese
• 150g (2/3 c) icing sugar (confectioners' sugar)
• 125ml (1/2 c) double or whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C (350 F), and butter and line a 23cm ( 9 in.) springform tin.
2. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
3. Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
4. When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsieved icing sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.
5. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Inspired by Nigella Lawson