If you can't find celery root, you can substitute turnips, rutabagas, or potatoes. Just be sure to adjust your cooking times--potatoes cook faster than celery root.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, quartered if small, or 1/4-inch sliced
• 1 quart beef broth
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 cup roughly chopped carrot
• 3 cups celery root, peeled and chopped into 3/4-inch to 1-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Sour cream for garnish
• Dill for garnish

Preparation
Melt the butter in a 12-inch dutch oven over 20 briquettes. Add enough pieces of beef to sear in the dutch oven without crowding. You will need to brown the meat in batches. Set aside brown pieces in a bowl.
When all the beef has been browned, add the onions. As the onions release some of their water, use a wooden spoon to get any brown bits off the bottom of the dutch oven. Cook the onions until they begin to brown, 5-6 minutes.
When the onions have lightly browned, add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until they release their water, about 5 minutes.
Add the beef back to the dutch oven and sprinkle with marjoram. Add the beef broth and stir with a wooden spoon to get any remaining browned bits off the bottom. Cover and simmer with 6-8 briquettes bottom heat and 10-12 briquettes top heat for 1 hour. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a very gentle simmer.
Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the barley, celery root, and carrots. Stir well and cover, simmering gently for another 40 minutes to 1 hour until the barley and celery root are tender.
Ladle servings into bowls, then top with a dollop of sour cream and a few sprigs of dill.