BARLEY KEEPIN’ IT TOGETHER
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James Norton / Heavy Table
Barley is one of my favorite residents of the bulk food aisle - it's remarkably hearty and plays equally well with big meaty entrees and delicate vegetable soups and salads.
And in my opinion, there's nothing better for starting a week than batching up a big ol' pot of delicious homemade barley soup - it's a lunch, it's a snack, and reinforced with toast or cheese, it's a dinner. It's fairly light, it's healthy, and if it's made like this soup, it's incredibly rich in flavor. You can substitute chicken stock for the vegetable stock in this mushroom-forward soup if you'd like to make it a bit more substantial, or you can cut out the butter and make it altogether vegan.
James Norton / Heavy Table
CREMINI AND BARLEY SOUP
Adapted from The Jewish Cookbook
15-20g dried porcini or chanterelle mushrooms
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Kosher salt + extra to season
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper + extra to season
1 pound (455g) cremini or white button mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
8 cups vegetable stock
1 1/4 cups pearl barley, rinsed
Place dried mushrooms in heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand until tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove mushrooms with slotted spoon, rinse, drain, and roughly chop. Reserve the soaking liquid.
In large pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, 4-6 minutes. Add the porcini or chanterelle and cremini or white button mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
Add thyme, bay leaf, vinegar, soy sauce, reserved soaking liquid, stock, and barley. Increase heat to medium high and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered, until barley is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed, and serve.
James Norton / Heavy Table