Double Mushroom Barley Soup

Sharon123's Note:

Requiring just under 20 minutes cooking time, this flavorful soup, which is made with both fresh and dried mushrooms in a pressure cooker,is well suited to an impromptu supper with friends. If you wish, you may make this on the stovetop and simmer for serveral hours. Just serve with a whole grain bread and mixed greens salad. Adapted from Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure and Country Living magazine. Enjoy! Soups like this are popular in the Northeast, Mid West, West, actually anywhere it gets cold!

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 teaspoons canola oil (or safflower oil)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped onions (white and green parts) or 2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and green parts)
• 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 6 cups vegetable stock (you may use chicken for a nonvegetarian soup)
• ½ cup pearl barley
• ½ lb fresh mushrooms , sliced (or quartered)
• ½ ounce dried mushroom , about 1/2 cup (porcini, or a mix)
• 2 large carrots , halved lengthwise
• 2 large celery ribs , diced
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1 ½ tablespoons dill weed
• salt
• black pepper
• additional vegetable stock (optional)

Directions:

1. In a 6 quart pressure cooker, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, barley, fresh and dried mushrooms, carrots, celery, bay leaves, dillweed, salt, and pepper.
2. Lock lid into place; heat to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat to just enough to maintain high pressure and cook 18 minutes. Let pressure drop naturally or use quick release method(See note). Remove lid, opening it away from you, to allow any remaining steam to escape.
3. (Or, if cooking on the stove top, simmer for about 2 hours, until desired consistency.).
4. Discard bay leaves from soup and add more dillweed, salt, and pepper to taste. Soup will thicken considerably on standing. Thin to desired consistency with additional vegetble stock, if desired.
5. Note* Some dried mushrooms must be soaked to remove sand and grit. In a small bowl, combine mushrooms and boiling water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and set aside until soft-15 to 30 minutes. Lift out soaked mushrooms, rinse carefully, and cut away any gritty sections. Strain the flavorful soaking liquid through cheesecloth or a coffee filter and use it in place of part of the vegetabvle broth called for in the recipe.
6. Note*Quick Release:.
7. If using an older model, set pressure cooker under cold running water, being careful not to run water over the pressure regulator, until no more st4am is released from under pressure regulator.Open lid away from you and allow any steam to escape. Alternatively, many new cookers have a stove-top release option. This method should be used with quick cooking foods that could become overcooked if allowed to stand under pressure.
8. Naturally:.
9. Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to drop on its own. This gentler method may take anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes and can produce better flavor and texture-but can also overcook some foods. When a recipe says to "let pressure drop naturally for 10 minutes", keep the lid in place for the required length of time, whther or not the pressure has already dropped, then release any remainign pressure using the quick release mehtod before removing the lid.

Reviews

[CaliforniaJan]

This is a delicious soup. I used the dried mushroom soaking liquid in addition to the broth. I did dice the carrots, but otherwise made as directed on the stove top since I don't have a pressure cooker. This is so tasty, you'd never know it was low in fat and calories.

[duonyte]

This was very tasty, but I still need to tweak it just a bit. I used a combination of mushroom soaking liquid, chicken and beef broth and cooked this in the slow cooker on high - about four hours. I don't care for the texture of cooked celery, so I kept it in large chunks that I could fish out. I used dried porcini and crimini mushrooms and fresh dill. I liked it with a spoonfull of sour cream on it, also.

[Riverside Len]

This is a very good Barley soup that has bold mushroom flavor. I deviated from the recipe just a little. I made this using a soup pot as I do not have a pressure cooker. I did not halve the carrots, I just chopped them. I also chopped up a little bacon and cooked that over low heat with the onion until the onion was lightly carmelized (I like my soups to have a little color plus this brings out the sweetness of the onion). For the mushrooms, I used 6 ounces of Portabella's that I diced and 1/2 ounce of dried Porchini's. I soaked the Porchini's in 2 cups of warm water and used that water in the soup (I ran it through a coffee filter to make sure there was no grit in it). I cooked the soup a total of 1 hour as I thought the longer cooking times suggested would result in mushy vegs, and the fact that Barley cooks in about 50 minutes. I put the pre-soaked dried mushrooms in at the start but did not put the fresh ones in until the last 30 minutes of cooking. I will make this again, next time without the bacon. One final thought, the flavor of this soup is very much influenced by the type of mushrooms used.