Vegetable Barley Soup
March 5, 2009 9:01 AM
I bought a bag of barley on a whim a couple weeks ago, so I've been on the lookout for a barley soup recipe. Kristin over at
the Kitchen Sink just so happened to post one recently.
It seems she and I are in the same boat as far as mushrooms go. I'll gladly eat them, while Matt steers clear. He claims that he doesn't mind the flavor, it's the texture that bothers him. So, when I read about Kristin's technique to get the mushroom flavor into the soup while making the mushroom chunks optional, I was sold. First she made a mushroom broth by steeping dried porcinis in boiling water. The mushroom broth went in the soup while the mushrooms were strained out. She chopped them up and added them to her bowl of soup and not his. Awesome idea.
The problem I ran into is that while I love some mushrooms (like portobellos), apparently porcini aren't among those that I love, and I didn't realize that until after the fact. I still enjoyed the soup, but I didn't love it. It certainly has potential though. Next time I'll either try to find a type of dried mushroom that I like, or forget the mushrooms entirely and use all beef broth. (On that note, I would also replace the water with broth to get a richer flavor, so 2 quarts of broth total.)
Makes about 6-8 servings
handful dried porcini mushrooms
water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup barley
1 quart (4 cups) beef broth
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Boil 2 cups of water. Pour it over the dried mushrooms, cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the steeping liquid, and chop the mushrooms. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add the flour and thyme and stir to coat the vegetables; cook one minute stirring constantly.
Add the tomatoes, barley, beef broth, steeping liquid, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered for about an hour, until the barley is al dente. Taste and add salt as necessary. Add the chopped mushrooms and parsley, cooking briefly until the mushrooms are warm.
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