Kelly Rossiter
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As my regular readers know, I make a lot of soup. I'm always on the lookout for interesting ingredients, or different sounding recipes. But this week I had a craving for mushroom barley soup which is pretty ordinary, or so I thought. Being as devoted as I am to my new crock pot, I looked up 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes and lo and behold, there was a recipe for Sophisticated Mushroom Barley Soup. This soup was really delicious and incredibly easy. It's definitely up there with the Baked Potato Soup as one of my favourites of the past year.
It took me about ten minutes to make it first thing in the morning, then I sat down to practice my piano. Three hours later, I got up and the soup was done. I knew that my husband loved it too because he nodded his head a lot while he ate. I am, however, kicking myself because a side bar to the recipe suggested adding some Madeira just before serving and I actually have some in my cupboard left over from my Christmas Eve dinner and I just forgot it. And I only made half of the recipe because there were just the two of us. Well, I guess this means I'll have to make the recipe again.
I used Trompets de la Mort as my wild mushrooms, but you can use any you like. If wild mushrooms are too pricey for you, then just increase the number of button mushrooms. It won't have the same depth of flavour, but I'm sure it would still be very good.
Sophisticated Mushroom Barley Soup
1 cup boiling water
1 package (1/2 oz) dried wild mushrooms, such as porcini
2 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
3 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 1/2 lbs button mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup pearl barley
7 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 soy sauce
- In a heat proof bowl, combine boiling water and dried mushrooms. Let stand for 30 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve, reserving liquid. Chop mushrooms finely and set aside.
- In a skillet, over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Add onions and cook, stirring for 3 minutes, until softened. Add garlic, salt and peppercorns and cook for 1 minutes. Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. In same pan, heat remaining oil and cook button mushrooms over medium-high heat just until they begin to lose their liquid. Add dried mushrooms, toss to combine and cook for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. Add barley, reserved mushroom soaking liquid, stock, bay leaf and soy sauce.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. Discard bay leaf.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Related Posts:
Soup of the Week: Ladle up this Mushroom Soup
Soup of the Week: Spicy Parsnip and Carrot
Soup of the Week: Stir Up a Roasted Celeriac Soup
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