So we are getting some cold days now in the Adelaide Hills, so I have my trusty combustion fire on, perfect time to make long, slow soups and braises that just sit on the stove top while I am working and tick away, waiting for me to finish work and stomp in exhausted, and then be presented with a glorious, flavour filled meal.
This soup was supposed to be lamb shank, but there were none to be had at the butchers and my sheep are still using theirs, so I chose a kilo of beautiful beef short ribs, and actually, I think they have given a nicer flavour.
A quick word about buckwheat, traditionally you would use pearl barley in a soup like this, but I can’t eat barley, and also, it is really good for us to vary our whole grains, so if you can find buckwheat at the supermarket, I urge you to give this a try, if not, barley will work fine instead.
Ingredients
Serves 6
1kilo beef spare ribs
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 carrot, quartered and sliced
1 brown onion, diced
4 fat cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
water
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 potatoes, cubed
3/4 cup buckwheat
salt and pepper to taste
Brown the spare ribs in the oil in a large pot over a medium heat until they are golden all over.
Add the celery, onion and carrot, cook until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and chopped herbs and whole bay leaves, give it all a good stir, cook for one more minute or until it is all fragrant and gorgeous.
Add enough water to cover the lot (you may need to top up as we go along), bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer until the meat is falling off the bone. Fish the ribs out and pop them on a plate, add the potato and sweet potato and the buckwheat to the pot.
Bring the soup back up to the boil, reduce to a good rolling simmer, now let us look at this beef.
Looks good, doesn’t it? Pull the meat off the bone, discard the bones and any fatty or sinewy bits you don’t want, pull the beef into chunks, return to the pot.
Cook for about 45 minutes or until the potato is tender and the buckwheat is cooked through.
Season to taste and serve. Just beautiful.
Comments