No pumpkins here…
I don’t know what the weather is like where you are but in Portland it is wet. And cold. Brrrr. Nothing compliments cold weather and rampant flooding like soup! This recipe came out of one of my favorite cookbooks — The Best 125 Meatless Main Dishes. It’s creamy and hearty and very tasty.
I altered it a bit by using beef stock instead of water, but chicken stock or vegetable stock would also work well. The original recipe also called for tarragon — I used thyme because I think that it goes really well mushrooms but tarragon might be interesting as well. Try that if you like and let me know how it was!
Barley Mushroom Soup:
1/2 cup uncooked barley
1 cup hot water
6 cups beef stock
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp dried thyme
3 tbsp sherry (or port also works)
1 pound assorted wild and button mushrooms, halved and sliced (I used a combination of shitake, portobello and white button)
2 large carrots, diced
1/4 tsp salt
several grinds of pepper
1/2 cup half and half
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Place barley in a bowl and add 1 cup of hot water. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a stockpot and add the garlic, onion, and dried thyme. Sauté for two minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sherry, mushrooms and carrots. Sauté several minutes, then add the stock, drained barley, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce and cook uncovered for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the half-and-half and some of the fresh thyme, stir to incorporate.
Ladle into bowls, garnish with more thyme leaves and serve.