Trim the stew meat into 1-2" cubes if necessary or if using a whole piece of meat, trim and cut the meat into bite size cubes. Season the beef cubes with 1 teaspoon of fine grind sea salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Finely dice ½ onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, mini peppers or bell pepper and 1 apple. Cut the remaining onion, carrots, and celery into larger pieces to be used as the soup vegetables. Quarter or slice the mushrooms.
Sauté
Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in the inner pot of your pressure cooker using high sear/sauté. Add in the seasoned beef and brown on the one side. Add in the finely diced vegetables and apple. Stir and sauté until the vegetables are soft and the meat has browned. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
Add in the dry barley and stir. Sauté for another minute or so to lightly toast the barley. Add in the mushrooms.
Add in the remaining salt and pepper, bay leaf, onion powder, garlic powder, and worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
Deglaze and Pressure Cook
Pour in 6 cups of beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any bits that might be stuck on.
Put the pressure cooker lid on and turn the valve to seal. Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. When the time is up do an immediate release of pressure.
Remove the lid and stir in the larger cut vegetables. Put the pressure lid back on and set pressure cook on high for zero minutes. When the time is up, immediately release the pressure.
Taste the broth for seasonings and add salt and pepper as needed. Remove the bay leaf.