This soup is a complete meal. It was my late husband's favorite and we'd have it at least twice a month during the winter. I'd serve it with some nice crusty rolls and a green salad, depending on how hungry we were. My husband could skip the salad, but never the rolls with this. The soup is absolute perfection when you include them in the menu.
Place carrots, celery and barley in a 4-5 quart slow cooker.
Brown the beef in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add browned meat and 3 cups of the stock to the slow cooker. Add the remaining cup of stock to the browning pan and scrape up all the browned bits into the stock. This is called “deglazing.” Now add the deglazed liquid to the slow cooker and stir.
Cover and cook on low 8 hours, on high 4 hours.
Nutrition calculation is an estimation only. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.