Wild Mushroom Soup with Green Garlic and Toasted Barley
“medicinal mushrooms have been shown to boost heart health, lower the risk of cancer, promote immune function, ward off viruses, bacteria and fungi, reduce inflammation, combat allergies, help balance blood sugar levels and support the body’s detoxification mechanisms”
Wild shiitake, maitake and porcini mushrooms are simmered in homemade vegetable stock with green garlic, onions, parsley, sherry and toasted barley and seasoned with fresh thyme, sea salt and black pepper. A drizzle of truffle oil seals the deal..
Wild Mushroom Soup with Toasted Barley
Serves 2
2 cups homemade vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups dried shiitake, maitake and porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup barley
1 tablespoon pastured butter
2 bulbs green garlic, including leaves, sliced
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons truffle oil, divided
1 1/2 oz medium sherry
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Bring vegetable stock to a boil then remove from heat. Add mushrooms and steep for 1 hour.
Heat butter and half of the truffle oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add barley and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Roughly chop re-hydrated mushrooms and add to the pan with thyme. Add strained mushroom soaking liquid and simmer until barley is tender, about 25 minutes. Add sherry, parsley and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve garnished with a sautéed mushroom cap and a drizzle of truffle oil.
This post is part of The Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday!
Jen said,
December 19, 2009 at 12:25 am
YUM! I say that a lot in my comments here. :)
I’ve been looking for dried shiitake mushrooms, in particular, after reading Jenny’s “Nutrient Showdown” post at The Nourished Kitchen recently. It seems this mushroom is a powerhouse of nutrition! You can bet that as soon as I locate some, I will be making this soup. It’s beautiful!
I’ve never heard of, nor seen green garlic around here (I thought it was a typo in the intro). I hope regular garlic will suffice?
Ren said,
December 19, 2009 at 10:35 am
Shiitake & maitake are available from Mountain Rose Herbs
To substitute for green garlic, use 2 parts scallions + 1 part garlic..
Jen said,
December 20, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for the pictorial reply. :) Wouldn’t you know I JUST placed a large order with Mountain Rose Herbs that should be here tomorrow. Yet I somehow missed the mushrooms. If I can’t find them locally, then it looks like I’ll be placing another order after the holidays.
Also, I recently planted several sprouting cloves of organic garlic that now have nice shoots. I bet that would make a good green garlic substitute!
Ren said,
December 20, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Nothing beats that which you grow yourself! That reminds me that I have three bags of garlic bulbs from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange that I need to get into the ground soon. Thanks!
Mollie Katzen said,
December 19, 2009 at 12:40 pm
This sounds delicious. Love the flavor combination. Love green garlic.
That said, I wonder about the barley. Are you using whole, unhulled or pearl? And does it really have time to get soft enough to not break people’s teeth? Just asking.
Ren said,
December 19, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I used pearled barley (sliced & rolled) since that’s what I had; it was tender after 5 minutes browning in butter and another 25 minutes simmering in the stock. Scotch barley would take considerably longer, but would of course be more nutritious.
Thanks!