Smoked Pork Neck Bone and Barley Soup

We’ve already had our first snow and Thanksgiving is still almost 2 weeks away! It’s cold. It’s so cold that dog walking is only fun for the dog who is an Irish Terrier and therefore innately insane. We were so cold a couple of days ago that we bought some self-serve homemade potato soup at a vegetable stand near Waymart, P.A. What there was of it (all the other cold people had been there ahead of us and ate all the chicken noodle soup and most of the potato soup) was good with discernible pieces of potato.

It’s 11:30 a.m. , 32 F (0 C)and is threatening to drop to 22 F (-5 C), probably when we’re walking the dog ⛄. Earlier, inspired by some internet barley soup maker (I’ve forgotten who), I pulled together some ingredients for a large pot of hearty soup to be eaten before AND after walking the dog ;)

I saw some smoked neck bones at the Super Duper a couple of weeks ago and brought them home as freezer fodder. I like the way they cooked up. You could probably make a sandwich with this. My husband wanted to do just that. Over-ruled.

Smoked Neck Bone and Barley Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, coarsely chopped

3 celery branches, halved vertically, then sliced

3 carrots, halved vertically, then sliced

1 1/2 lbs smoked neck bones

3 large branches parsley

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cans chicken broth

7-8 cups water

2 cans diced tomatoes

6-8 small red potatoes, skin on, cut into chunks

1 cup barley

Saute the onions, celery and carrots with the olive oil in a large pot until the celery and onion are just soft. Add the neck bones, parsley, bay leaves, oregano, salt, pepper, chicken broth, water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and barley, bring back to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. Remove the parsley branches and neck bones. Discard the parsley. Remove the meat from the neck bones, coarsely chop and return to the pot.