Short-Rib Soup with Mushrooms and Israeli Couscous

Spring is beginning to make its presence known, in my part of California. I already spotted the first of the California grown asparagus-- yes!  Our Wisteria is in full bloom, and my rose buds are showing promise of rose flowers in our garden.

 If you've been following the news in California, we've had some really heavy rains.  Then, just when we were worried that our local river might flood, we were blessed with 80-degree weather for the last two days.  Today, we're back to overcast skies and chilly winds.  Crazy weather!   I am never sure if I can uncover our Weber grill, or it's time to braise something, or make soup.  Before the recipes for all the Spring vegetables start hitting blogsophere, I wanted to post the soup that I made with the leftover Red Wine Braised Short Rib recipe that I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking of the last two weeks, I have been missing in action.   Suffice it to say that my work schedule doesn't leave me enough time to post recipes as much as I once did.  I miss it, terribly.  For now, it seems I can only post once a week... twice, if I'm lucky.

With that said, let's make soup.  I love making soups, year-round.  It's fun for me to transform leftovers into a delicious soup.  When I make pot roast, I always make souI. When I made the short rib recipe, I saved the vegetables that were used in the braising of the short ribs. I cut up the leftover short ribs and set them aside.

This recipe also comes from Chef Huber Keller, who inspired me to make the Red Wine Braised Short-Ribs.  He used Israeli Couscous.  I happened to find a bag of Harvest Grains, that I had purchased at Trader Joe's.

I cooked one cup the Harvest Grains, per the instructions on the bag...

...and set it aside.  Make a bouquet garni by wrapping the parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and 2‐ inch celery piece into a 2‐inch piece of leek. Alternatively, wrap in cheesecloth.

Chef Hubert Keller used Shitake mushrooms.  I used Cremini mushrooms, because it's what I had on hand. i decided to brown them in a little olive oil. You don't have to do this, and you can just add them to the soup sliced raw.  If you don't have leftover cooked vegetables, then simply saute a mirepoix of onion, celery and carrots, and saute them in bacon (or olive oil).

To the vegetables, add the remaining braising liquid, red wine, bouquet garni and some beef stock.

Add the chopped short ribs, couscous and mushrooms...

Truthfully, I liked the soup almost more than the actually braised short rib dinner. The braising liquid is what makes the soup so rich and flavorful.

So there you have it-- how to turn leftovers into something really flavorful and filling.  A printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.  

I haven't been able to visit any food blogs for two weeks, and I'm regretting that I'm missing out on some terrific recipes. . I'll do my best to pop in and visit those of you who are on my blog roll-- and to my newest followers on my blog and my Facebook Fan Page.  I'm sorry I haven't been around much.   I'll find more time, soon.  I'm working on it!

Cheers!