Doctored Up Broth:

Add olive oil to Dutch oven and when heated through, add vegetable scraps, sugar, dried mushrooms or diced fresh mushrooms, and onion. Cover and adjust heat to medium, stirring now and then, until the vegetables just begin to caramelize, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add just a little water if in danger of burning. Remove lid, stir until lightly browned. Add cloves, parsley sprigs, broth, and three cups of water. Cover and simmer at least 20 minutes and up to 1 1/2 hours.

Strain broth into a bowl, pressing on vegetables. Use remaining cup of water to pour through the vegetables in the strainer (still over the bowl) and allow to drain for several minutes.

If desired, before straining, the dried mushrooms, which will be floating on the top of the broth may be removed, finely chopped, and added to the soup. The longer the broth simmers, the less flavor will be left in the mushrooms, so taste one to see if this would be worthwhile.

Wipe the Dutch oven clean of debris.

Beef & Barley Soup:

Bring the broth to a simmer in the Dutch oven, add gelatin, carrots, and celery. Simmer about 10 minutes. Add cabbage and tomatoes if using. Simmer another five minutes. Add cooked barley and simmer about five to 10 minutes until heated through and vegetables are at the desired stage of tenderness.

Check for consistency. Add a bit more beef broth or water if needed or desired for taste. Adjust seasonings. Add a dash of red wine vinegar if the soup needs any “perking up.”

Note on broth:

• I generally buy 2 boxes of beef broth, 4 cups each. In this instance, I’d already used about a cup of the broth in the pot roast, Pot Roast Carbonnade. The rest (3 cups from the partial box and 3 cups from the new box) went in the soup, leaving one cup. I hold back last cup back until the end, just in case I need it.
• Beef broths vary widely in strength, flavor, and saltiness, so this allows me to hedge my bet here. I don’t wish to overwhelm the soup with a very strong broth, but I don’t want it to be dull and lacking either.
• The barley can be a variable, too; depending on how well-cooked, it may absorb more broth than expected. It’s nice to have a bit of broth on the side in case you wish to add.

Nutrition: Based on a cup of Beef Barley Soup: Calories 178; Total Fat 7 g 10 %; Saturated Fat 2 g 9 %; Monounsaturated Fat 3 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g; Trans Fat 0 g; Cholesterol 19 mg 6 %; Sodium 86 mg 4 %; Potassium 249 mg 7 %; Total Carbohydrate 20 g 7 %; Dietary Fiber 4 g 16 %; Sugars 4 g; Protein 10 g 20 %; Vitamin A 77 %; Vitamin C 19 %; Calcium 3 %; Iron 8 %