Beef & Pearl Barley Pot

Ingredients

• 700 g diced beef chuck, cut into 4cm pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 litres beef stock
• 200 g pearl barley, rinsed
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• 2 carrots, cut into 2cm chunks
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• salt and black pepper
• 1 leek, trimmed and cut into 2cm rounds
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper and season generously with salt and pepper — water means steam, and steam means no browning. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large heavy pot over a high heat until it shimmers.
2. Brown the beef in two or three batches, 3–4 minutes a side, turning to get colour on each face. Don't crowd the pot — all at once and the pan floods, water comes out, and you've boiled the meat instead of searing it. Lift each batch out onto a plate as it's done.
3. Drop the heat to medium, add the remaining oil, and fry the onions for 7–8 minutes until soft, translucent, and catching gold at the edges. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant — 30 seconds, no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole pot bitter.
4. Add the tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until it darkens from bright red to brick and smells deep and savoury rather than raw.
5. Pour in a ladle of the beef stock and scrape the base of the pot hard with a wooden spoon — every brown stuck bit is flavour, and you want it lifted into the broth. Return the beef and any juices that have pooled on the plate.
6. Tip in the carrots, celery, leek, and turnip. Pour over the rest of the stock, then add the Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring up to a brisk simmer and skim off any grey foam that rises.
7. Stir in the rinsed pearl barley, drop the heat to low, and partially cover. Simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes so the barley doesn't catch and scorch on the base.
8. Lift the lid and cook for another 20–30 minutes until the beef pulls apart under a spoon, the barley has swollen and started to break down, and the broth has thickened to a glossy, porridge-like consistency. Loosen with a splash of hot water if it tightens up too far.
9. Fish out the bay leaves. Taste, season, taste again — adjust the salt and pepper now, not at the table. The Worcestershire carries depth but a final pinch of salt ties everything together.
10. Ladle into deep bowls, scatter generously with the chopped parsley, and set the crusty bread alongside for mopping. Freezes well for up to 3 months — the barley drinks more liquid on reheating, so loosen with extra stock or water when warming through.