Exotic Mushroom Barley Soup

Some think soup is only for the winter months but I make it all year round. This just happens to be one of them. A big, hot bowl of this with some brie toast is down right pleasure - oh and a nice glass of Cabernet wouldn't hurt too.

This is an easy recipe that can be put together in about 20 minutes and served about an hour later. I recommend getting your hands on some nice exotic mushrooms for this soup like Maitake, Royal Trumpet or Crimini but if you can't then a mix of Baby Portobello and White Button will work fine. My recipe calls for 12 cups of sliced mushrooms which sounds like a lot but it's not as bad as you think.

Exotic Mushroom Barley Soup

1 large sweet onion

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons of butter

12 cups exotic mushrooms, sliced

2 quarts of chicken stock

1 cup of good white wine

3 bay leaves

4 tablespoons of parsley, chopped

1 cup of barley

1/4 cup of roux

salt & pepper to taste

1. In a nice large soup pot heat the oil and butter until hot. Add chopped onion and sweat for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and let that sweat for a minute.

2. Add in sliced mushrooms, a pinch of salt and pepper and stir in. Let mushrooms cook for 3 minutes until they start to release their water.

3. Add in the chicken stock, wine, bay leaves and parsley and bring to boil. Once you have a nice boil going add in the barley and stir.

4. Place half of the roux in a bowl and add about 2 cups of liquid from the soup and whisk in. Add the thinned roux to the boiling soup and stir in. Let it boil for 2 minutes to allow the roux to thicken the soup. At this point you can add more thinned roux depending on how thick you like your soup. Keep in mind the barley will help with that thickening process as well.

4. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until the barley has softened. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Don't forget the Cabernet ;-)