Beef and Barley Stew

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of beef stew meat
1 cup of barley
4-6 Carrots, peeled and sliced
1 lg onion, diced
1 carton of mushrooms, sliced (or 2 cans, drained)
1 can seasoned, diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can of peas, drained
1 cup of red wine
1 sm can of tomato paste
1/2 cup of seasoned flour (salt, pepper & garlic)
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
4 to 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 to 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 cups of beef broth

Instructions:

Season 1/2 cup of flour with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Toss the stew meat in flour to coat and set aside.  Peel and slice carrots, dice onions, and slice fresh mushrooms.  Heat a fry pan with high sides to hot and coat lightly with oil.  Working in batches, brown the beef on all sides. You can add a little more oil if needed, but you should be getting some brown bits in the bottom of the pan -- we want those brown bits to be in the pan.  Once the meat is browned, set it aside.  Pour the cup of wine into the pan and scrape up the brown bits.  This is called deglazing (adding liquid to a hot pan).  Add the 4 cups of beef stock, garlic, and fresh herbs to the pan.  Bring to a simmer for five minutes.  Add the tomato paste and whisk in till melted.  Place the beef in the bottom of a crock pot, pour barley over it, then onions.  Add the 5 cups of liquid from fry pan and the 1 can of undrained diced tomatoes and stir.  Add carrots and mushrooms and cover.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Add 1 can of drained peas and stir well before serving. 

You can cook this on the stove in a large soup pot, if you don't have a crock pot.  I would brown the beef cubes right in the stock pot, remove them to deglaze, and then just add everything in after you've made the sauce. Simmer on low, loosely covered, for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add more liquid if necessary.  Add peas just before serving and stir well.