Mushroom barley soup
I’m making this recipe for dinner, and it’s simmering as I type. I like a rather thick soup, so I used just 4 cups (1 qt) of the beef stock, not 6. It also keeps from having half a carton of stock left over. I used domestic white mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and dried porcini mushrooms. I’ll post an update once I partake.
UPDATE: Extremely good: substantial and rich tasting. I may well have to add the other 2 cups of beef broth: the barley swells as and after it cooks. It tastes so rich, given that there is no actual meat in it (whence the mushrooms: a meat substitute in mouthfeel—at least not a plant), that I wondered if it could have been a meal on the old Catholic requirement of having Friday be a day of abstinence: no meat. Would that have included broth, I wonder?
UPDATE 2: In ruminating on the rich taste, I decided that the black pepper was a vital flavor component. It’s like the beef flavor is the foundation, but the pepper is the wall—or some such. But a key part of the taste structure.
UPDATE 3: Still thinking on the taste—it’s a quiet night hereabouts—and have a few more realizations. First, that “satisfying” and “mouth-filling” taste is because it has tons of umami: the beef broth plus the sautéed mushrooms and the reconstituted porcini with the soaking water. And sautéing the aromatics—the onion, carrot, and garlic—at the beginning adds a different dimension of flavor, as does the sherry added with the stock. (I used a dry amontillado.) It really is a nice recipe, and you can see every ingredient playing its part. And the “full-meal” feeling provided by the flavors and textures is fulfilled with the barley’s protein. I’ll make this again.
Of course, no matter how good it tastes, one wants to try tweaks, such as some subset of a dash of Tabasco added with the sherry, along perhaps with a dash of soy sauce, and the soup served with shredded or shaved Parmesan on top.
UPDATE 4: A splash of cognac?
