Method

• Put everything for the stock in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover.
• Bring to just under the boil, turn the heat right down and simmer very gently for 2 hours. Check the water level every so often.
• Lift the beef out of the saucepan, put it in a bowl with a little of the stock to keep it moist, cover and put it in the fridge.
• Strain the stock. You will probably have about 2 litres.
• Add the barley to this and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
• Trim the leek and cut into 0.5cm rounds. Add the leek, celery and carrot to the soup, and cook for another 25 minutes, with a lid on, or until the vegetables are soft and the soup has a consistency you like (add water if it ends up being too thick and adjust the seasoning after that).
• Tear or cut the beef into small chunks, leaving the fat and bones behind. Stir the meat into the soup with the parsley and check the seasoning – this needs good seasoning as it’s starchy with barley.
• To make the dumplings, sprinkle the milk on the breadcrumbs and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
• Sauté the onion in the butter until soft but not coloured.
• Put all the dumpling ingredients, apart from the flour, together in a bowl and season. Bring the mixture together and, with wet hands, form it into dumplings about the size of a walnut. Roll them very lightly in flour. Chill them for about 30 minutes.
• Bring a pan of water to the boil and add salt. Turn the liquid down to a gentle simmer – if it’s too brisk, the dumplings will break up.
• Drop half the dumplings into the water and poach for about 10 minutes. They should float to the top when they’re ready. Scoop out with a slotted spoon on to a double layer of kitchen paper and cook the rest of the dumplings.
• Gently heat the soup, check the seasoning once more. Add the dumplings to the whole pot of soup or to individual servings.