Four Mushroom and Barley Soup

 Four Mushroom Barley Soup

1/3 cup dried mushrooms like porcini

1 pound of mushrooms (varied.)  White, brown-cremini, shitake. Sliced or diced.

2 tablespoons oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup of barley, farro, or spelt

6 cups low sodium salt free beef broth (vegetable or chicken can be subtituted)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Prior to cooking put dried mushrooms in a separate bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them, letting them set for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the soup

Trim, slice and dice the rest of the mushrooms.  Where there were stems, I diced them.  The caps were sliced thinly.

Pour oil in a dutch oven and saute diced carrot and onion over medium heat, about ten minutes.

Add fresh mushrooms and cook until they release liquid, about ten minutes.  If the pot seems dry, pour a tiny bit of water in.

Add broth, add reconstituted dried mushrooms.  I add the garlic at this point so it hasn't burned in the earlier process.  Add the barley, dry sherry, tomato paste and sherry vinegar.

Season the soup with salt and pepper.  

Cook on low-medium heat for about 40 minutes until the grains are tender.  Adjust seasonings and serve.

NOTES:

* I did use four different mushrooms, including reconstituted dried porcini.  You could use one, if doesn't really matter.  I like the variety of tastes and texture.

*  I did use sherry products, but I imagine you could use red wine.  I did have a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar to add.  Also, a few shakes of Louisiana hot sauce if you wanted heat.

* I almost always use the Italian tubes of tomato paste now rather than even the tiniest cans which means an open can of leftovers.  The tube can allow you to get a tablespoon at a time and refrigerate it until needed again.

* You could turn this into a cream of mushroom soup with a litte cream added.  You will get a very dark broth as you see in the photograph, which I wanted to reflect a January winter meal.

*  I think you could also slightly increase the amount of grain, if people wanted that for a carb substitute, rather than bread on the side.