A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand CollapseBerna's Notes:
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1 ounce
dried porcini mushrooms soaked until soft in 1/2 cup hot water (reserve water after soaking)
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2 tablespoons
olive oil
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1
small onion, chopped
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2
carrots, chopped
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1
stalk celery, chopped
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1
shallot, chopped
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2
cloves garlic, chopped
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2 ounces
pancetta, chopped
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1 pound
cremini mushrooms, chopped
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1 tablespoon
tomato paste
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1 tablespoon
soy sauce
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1/4 cup
dry sherry
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1/2 cup
pearl barley
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4 cups
chicken stock
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2 cups
beef stock
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1 1/2 teaspoon
salt
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1/2 teaspoon
pepper
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1/3 cup
minced fresh parsley
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In a heavy stock pot add olive oil and saute pancetta until lightly browned.
Ask the hotline about this step!Add onions, carrots, celery and shallot and saute until soft (about 10 minutes).
Ask the hotline about this step!Add garlic and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms release some of their moisture.
Ask the hotline about this step!Remove the rehydrated porcini from the liquid (reserving liquid), chop, and then add to the vegetables in the pot along with the barley and mix to combine.
Ask the hotline about this step!Make a little space at the bottom of the pan and add the tomato paste, cooking for a minute or two to caramelize.
Ask the hotline about this step!Add the soy sauce and sherry and simmer vigorously until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Then add the stocks and the reserved liquid from the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.
Ask the hotline about this step!Simmer soup, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until barley is soft. Add chopped parsley just before serving.
Ask the hotline about this step!Made this yesterday. What a great recipe! Next time, some shitakes along with the others and bit more pancetta. But even as is, I was the envy of my colleagues at work today with their frozen dinners. Thanks for this!
This is just sensational. I would double it, because it went so, so fast. I used baby carrots, instead of chopping. Yuuuuummy!
Loved this recipe! I made a twist on it with farro, and without the porcini/pancetta.
You can view it here: http://charlotteauchocolat.com/2011/12/05/mushroom-farro-soup/
Thanks for the inspiration!
This soup is amazing. In the fall in the midwest, it can be made with all seasonal, local ingredients. I love it!
What a wonderful soup-maker you are.
Oh my, this looks absolutely delightful. We are experiencing -26 weather and this would be oh so perfect to come home to.
I have been looking for a great mushroom barley soup recipe for a long time....and after making this on a cold winter night, I have found it!
good recipe
Just made this substituting dried morels for the fresh mushrooms, and vermouth for the sherry, also I had no beef broth. It's excellent, but I think the beef broth would really improve it.
Wonderful, flavorful, comfort food. I used leftover breakfast meats from a brunch (fried proscuito, canadian bacon and a bit of sausage) and white mushrooms instead of cremini, since that what I had on hand, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I served with crustry french bread with melted gruyere cheese. Will definitely make again!
Berna, this is gorgous! We love beef and barley soup here, but have never used porcini. The sherry seems like a lovely touch, too. I am definitely making this next weekend!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I can't wait to try this soup and hope the chef will make it for me!
I can't wait to try this soup and hope the chef will make it for me!
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There were many mushrooms to chop, and Merrill drew the short straw...
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Amanda started the soup base by rendering some panceta, and then adding the onions, carrots, celery and shallot.
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After the dried porcinis had reconstitued, we squeezed them dry and gave them a rough chop. Fun fact -- porcini mushrooms, when dried, have more protein than any other commonly consumed vegetable, aside from soybeans.
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Initially, the mixture looked dry, but the mushrooms soon gave off liquid.
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Briefly caramelizing tomato paste allowed the flavor to really develop. After, we added the sherry and soy, cooked it down, and added the stocks and the reserved porcini liquid.
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The detritus... and the soup!
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It took only 45 minutes for the barley to cook through, but the flavors really melded after an hour and a half.
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I think this is the best mushroom barley soup I've ever tasted! The only change I made was to substitute some stew meat, which I had in the freezer, for the pancetta. Next time I will try it with pancetta or bacon. Thank you for submitting this!