Who doesn't like a new recipe?

I had "the girls" in for lunch a few days ago...they all wanted the soup and muffin recipes, so decided I would post them here for all to try... The soup recipe is from The Rest of the Best..and more. Vol. 2 (from The Best of Bridge series). See below for my slight modifications.

Beef and Barley Soup

1 1/2 lbs. beef round steak, cut into 1/2" cubes

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

2 cups finely chopped onion

1 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. minced fresh garlic

1/4 tsp. dried Thyme

2 cups beef broth

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1/2 cup pearl barley

chopped fresh parsley to garnish, optional

Sprinkle beeef cubes with salt and pepper. Place 1 Tbsp. oil in dutch oven and brown beef until no longer pink. Set aside. Heat remaining oil in same pot and add onion, carrot and celery. Cook and stir until vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic and thyme, cook 5 minutes more. Add beef and chicken broths with water, barley and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add more water if necessary. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley just before serving.

Note: I reduced the salt, and used a little more carrot and thyme. This is a delicious easy soup; it makes a wonderful rich dark tasty broth. Yummy served with crusty rolls and a crisp salad. I used an old favourite- romaine, chopped orange segments, sliced red onion and toasted slivered almonds, tossed with poppyseed dressing.

This Chocolate Cheesecake Muffin recipe is from Muffin Mania. Again, see below for my "modifications" to the original recipe... I know, I know, I just can't leave well enough alone...

Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

1 3oz. pkg. cream cheese

2 Tblsp. white sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 cup w. sugar

3 Tblsp. unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup cooking oil

icing sugar, optional

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese amd 2 tblsp. sugar until light and fluffy. Set aside.

In large bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of dry ingds. Combine egg, milk and oil. Add all at once to dry ingds., stirring just until moistened. Spoon about 2 Tblsp. of batter into each greased muffin cup . Drop 1 tsp. of cream cheese mixture on top and then cover with more chocolate batter. Bake at 375F for 18-20 minutes. Dust with icing sugar, if desired.

Note: I add a few drops of almond extract to the cream cheese mixture, and drop a few chocolate chips into each muffin with the cream cheese before covering with rest of batter. Mmmmmm

Piece,

Linda

You can't have everything...where would you put it?