"cybercat" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Nancy Young" > wrote
>> This is a nice soup and smells great while it is cooking. I use beef
>> base rather than boullion.
>>
>> Beef barley soup from Betty Crocker
>>
>>
>> (I've never added the MSG, and I use larger amounts of
>> the seasonings. nancy)
>
> [snips}
>
> This looks really good. Like you, I will forgo the MSG.
> (One of the reasons I cook is to keep stuff like this out of
> our food.) And, I don't use bouillion unless desperate, and
> then only as a seasoning. I would also use beef broth. I
> assume Kroger has a beef equivalent to the chicken broth
> I buy from them, in the carton. It's good, and often on sale
> at half the price of other "name" brands.
>
> I think I will add white corn and peas for texture.
>
> The beef broth to tomato ratio looks just right. I will
> taste to get it perfect. The right balance is to me the key
> to a good vegetable beef soup. Good and beefy tasting,
> but with just enough tomato tang. I will also add the beefy
> broth from the braising, that ought to be really good.
>
> I actually do this when I braise pork for stir fry, put the
> brown juice in after I put the vegetables in the oil, and
> before I put the meat in and the seasonings/soy.
>
> Thank you.

Back in the old days, folks used to be able to go to the store and get beef
bones for next to nothing and that's what we used along with the beef to
get a good rich broth. Nowadays the cost of beef knuckle bones makes me
gasp.
Janet