Farmhouse Vegetable and Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 4 fresh parsley sprigs
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 T unsalted butter
- 3/4 lb leek (white and green parts, sliced 1/2" thick and washed thoroughly)
- 1 carrot (peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces)
- 1 celery stalks (cut into 1/4" pieces)
- 3 T white wine
- 1 t soy sauce
- 1 t Salt (Table)
- 5 c chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1/4 c pearl barley
- 1 cloves garlic (peeled and smashed)
- 1 t dried porcini mushrooms (ground into fine meal)
- 3/4 lb potatoes (Yukon Gold, King Edward, or other all-purpose potato; peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces)
- 1/2 turnip (peeled and cut into 3/4" pieces)
- 3/4 c chopped green cabbage
- 1/2 c frozen peas
- 1/2 t lemon juice
- 1.5 T chopped parsley (fresh)
- salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Method
1. Using kitchen twine, tie together parsley sprigs, thyme, and bay leaf. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks, carrot, celery, wine, soy sauce, and 1t salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and celery is softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add broth, barley, herb bundle, garlic, and mushroom powder; increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes.
4. Add potatoes, turnip, and cabbage; return to simmer and cook until barley, potatoes, turnip, and cabbage are tender, 18-20 minutes.
5. Remove pot from heat and remove herb bundle. Stir in peas, lemon juice, and chopped parsley; season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes
SJ Note 22 Feb 2012: We didn't like the taste. That might be our fault; we threw in a bit of beef stock because we didn't have enough chicken, and we used shallots & green onions instead of leeks, because leeks don't agree with us. Other than that, we followed the recipe, and the end result simply wasn't tasty. If you do try it, I'd suggest halving it the first time.