Black Kettle Mushroom Barley Soup

Submitted by Annacia

"If your looking for something special and calories aren't an issue, I don't think you can do better than this soup as a meal starter."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1⁄4 cup minced green bell pepper
• 1⁄4 cup minced onion
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3⁄4 cup butter
• 3⁄4 cup flour
• 4 cups hot beef stock
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1⁄3 cup beaujolais wine
• 1 cup cooked barley

directions

1. Saute mushrooms, green peppers, onion and garlic in butter about 5 minutes.
2. Add flour, stir and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add hot stock, then seasonings.
4. Heat whipping cream (do not boil) and add to soup. Continue cooking while adding wine.
5. Stir in barley.
6. Note: Serve with fresh sourdough bread.

Reviews

[breezermom]

Amazing! As others have mentioned....there is a lot of butter in this. But I went ahead and used it (this was so delicious, I'm glad I did!), then used half-and-half instead of cream. I used a mix of baby portabellos, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms. The subtle nuances from the spices are wonderful....A definite make again recipe! Thanks for sharing! Made for PRMR Tag.

 

[duonyte]

I just could not bring myself to use this amount of butter, much as I love butter - used 1/4 cup, reducing the flour to 1/4 cup also. This resulted in a more brothy soup than the original recipe (even though I used less total liquid), but we enjoyed it this way. I would have used evaporated milk instead of cream, but had none, so used one cup of half-and-half. I used duck stock instead of beef, and because it was made without salt, I did add a little bit of salt. I ended up adding the rest of the barley I had cooked (probably another cup) and used vermouth, my standard wine when a recipe calls for just a little. The herbal notes work very well with this recipe. Next time I would use more mushrooms, and might add some rehydrated dried mushrooms with their liquid, as I think dried mushrooms add a lot of flavor, even if you use a small amount.

 

[Ms. DMAC]

Wow. I never knew I had the power to make creamy mushroom soup! This was easy and GOOD!. I omitted the bell pepper and added more mushrooms. I used mini bellas and porteenie mushrooms. I also took a tip from a previous reviewer and used half and half. Turned out absolutely wonderful. I will always make this soup! Thank you so much for posting!

 

[Sauce Lover]

Very good and very easy too. I used more garlic and more of all the spices and added salt and pepper. Restaurant quality taste, very tasty and creamy. A keeper!

 

[Lori Mama]

Absolutely fabulous! My husband kept doing his lip smacking sound he makes when he really likes something from Zaar. A couple of changes I made were: I don't like green peppers, so I used red and I'm sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to add 2 cups of cream so I added half/half instead. I really enjoyed the flavor of the tarragon in the background. It's a winner Annacis! :)