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Thursday, March 03, 2011

barely, barley, burley wild mushroom soup


Many of you may not know that I spend enormous amounts of time foraging for wild mushrooms and I have been doing it since I was a kid. (I am not going to post link after link -if you are curious so a search on the blog - mushroomlandia would be a keyword to try) I have loved mushrooms since the very first time I tasted a sauteed button mushroom with lots of butter poured over toast (my very first "gourmet" dish that I made for myself as often as we had mushrooms.) Some of you might remember that I have posted about learning about various wild mushrooms from my grandmother as child growing up in New Mexico and all this adds up to one thing - I like mushrooms.

Seven kinds of wild mushrooms went into this cauldron of barley delight. Maitake otherwise known as Hen of the Woods, King Bolete, White Bolete, Wine Cap, Oyster, Trumpet and King Oyster, some of them from here in the Northeast and some of them from New Mexico. I let the dried mushrooms soak in hot water until they were plump and juicy then I chopped them into big but bite size chunks.

After the carrots, celery, onions and garlic were sauteed a bit I added in the mushrooms and the mushroom soaking liquid and then the pearled barley and I let it simmer for about 45 minutes until the barley had bloomed to a nice al dente consistency.

Serve it up in huge ladles full with a chunk of fresh buttery Italian bread and seconds and thirds would not be unusual. The dish is easy to make and you can use any mushrooms you want so while dried and rehydrated mushrooms do pack a lot more flavor this would be equally as good with sauteed fresh mushrooms. Make some mushroom barley soup, its worth it.

If you havent voted yet you have until March 4th to vote in the Ridiculously Delicious Challenge - ChezWhat - sour cherry ice cream with coconut sugar threads and a pastry is my entry.

32 comments:

mely said...

I had seen your post about mushrooms.
What could be a good source to know how to distinguish them. I am mean good to eat and not good to eat.

Christo Gonzales said...

I will post this in the post as well but here is a good online source thats both informative and entertaining:

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Mushrooms.html

Biz said...

I voted for you!

I wish I liked mushrooms - I love the smell of them, but its a texure thing!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I do remember your mushroom foraging. It's a very interesting hobby. How fun to have learned from your grandmother.

Bet you would like truffle hunting in Provence too.
Sam

Tiffany said...

This looks so hearty! Perfect for these last few days of cold weather!

Barbara said...

A post after my own heart! I used to forage for morels all my young life. And we'd get home and mother would dip them in flour and fry them. Oh my. What a lunch!
My next experience with them was at The Greenbriar, where they served them in an omelet in a wonderful sauce.

Now I have to use dehydrated ($$$$) or make certain I am in Michigan in the spring!

Tes said...

I really a big fan of wild mushroom. I used to go mushroom picking with my family in the forest often when I was young. Your soup looks really comforting and sounds delicious :)
Tes
http://tesathome.com

Marjie said...

I'm so glad you like mushrooms! You can have all of mine! But I do love barley in a soup.

Joumana said...

I would love to forage for mushrooms but I am SCARED!!! Lucky you who can tell the poisonous ones from the others! this soup looks awesome in its mushroom goodness!

chow and chatter said...

wow mushroom heaven amazing soup and I often have mushrooms on toast for a quick snack :-)

Heguiberto said...

yummy! this soup looks scrumptious and hearty. I adore mushrooms. My friend Chris has invited me a couple of times to go hunting for chanterelles in Santa Cruz mountains. He says he knows where they grow, under the pine needles always after the rain. Too bad I was not able to make it. I am sure I would've loved doing it. Have you been to that area?
Cheers,
Heguiberto
weirdcombinations.com

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

My dad knew all the secret spots to find morels in the woods near our house...such wonderful flavor! I'd love a bowl of your soup~

Vickie said...

Well you've seen me out shroomin' so you know I'm in with this dish. Plus I love barley and another plus - I'm in love with that silver spoon. :)

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Now that is one big bowl of love. How great that you're a mushroom forager - something my brother and dad always did too. But I wouldn't know an amanita from a button mushroom.

The Chef Doc said...

Hooray for mushrooms! I'm a mushroom fanatic. This soup is just right up my alley! Thank you so much for sharing. I'd love go to forage for 'shrooms one day!

teresa said...

i'm crazy about mushrooms too! this looks delicious!

pigpigscorner said...

I used to hate mushrooms but LOVE them now.

Diana's Cocina said...

I adore a delicious bowl of soup ~ This is a must try.

Diana's Cocina said...

I adore a delicious bowl of soup ~ This is a must try.

Mary @Delightful Bitefuls said...

This looks ridiculously delicious!!!! Stunning photographs!

Great blog; happy I found you!

Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls

Anette said...

My grandma used to have barley in soup like yours, and I always loved it!

CreativeMish said...

We have tons of wild mushrooms, too... but I only know a couple for sure that are safe to eat. I'm sure there are more if I research... This soup looks sooooo good.

Anonymous said...

Yum! I love mushrooms and I would love love love this soup.

Anonymous said...

A perfect and hearty dish-'nuff said!
Well done!

Lori Lynn said...

I'm a fan of barley and mushroom, the soup sounds awesome.

Congrats on advancing to the next round!
LL

Anonymous said...

I am totally with you on your love for mushrooms, though you clearly surpass me in knowledge.

Jamie said...

Oooh I do know and am jealous! Love mushrooms and love mushroom barley soup but your soup filled chock full with all those flavorful mushrooms (and thinking of the beautiful textures too) is top of the world. What's better for a winter day?

daphne said...

oh yeah! MY kind of food. I love how u used mushroom and barley! Awesome awesome.

Unknown said...

I love mushrooms but I would never be brave enough to go out on my own here and forage mushrooms. Not part of our culture so I wouldn't know where to start

Sippity Sup said...

I am a mushroom fan too. Though it's one thing I have never foraged. There is a class here at parks and rec I may take. But so far it's just a dream. I can speak about barley though, and your right barley does make soup burley! GREG

theUngourmet said...

I'm crazy about mushrooms and just as crazy about this soup! I'm definitely picking up some barley in the very near future.

Fred Roosli said...

What a great blog. You can also use this direct link to vote for this blog: http://www.culinaryhalloffame.com/component/content/article/66-main/1675 (instead of the home page).

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