Soup Beautiful Soup

It's still really hot going into the second week of October. Sigh. What global warming??? But I feel better because I have a new secret weapon - an induction cookplate. It uses magnets somehow to cook the food without getting the kitchen hot. Something to do with making the pan the cooking source, not fire under the pan. At any rate, I love it, and now we can have soup to make us feel a little less pitiful.

I've been reading Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking, which is wonderful, and I was waiting for a cool day to make Beef Barley soup, but with my new toy I didn't need to wait and we didn't need to break the bank to have airconditioning to cool off the kitchen after the soup was made.

Beef Barley Soup

2 lb beef short ribs
2 chopped onions
3 chopped carrots
2 cups roasted tomatoes, or one large can tomatoes
1 cup barley
water to cover
sea salt
fresh pepper

It couldn't be easier - put everything but the tomatoes in to cook for two hours (the same on a regular stove if you are lucky enough to be in Maine or Vermont or Canada). Add the tomatoes after you rough chop them and cook one more hour. Take out the meat and chop it and add it back in. Skim off the fat. Adjust the seasoning. Serve to happy people. This makes a wonderful and healthy after school snack for the kids. I made a huge pot yesterday and it was gone by the time I got back from night class, and I hear there was considerably less grumpiness here while I was gone than usual.