Wild Mushroom and Barley Soup

This is slight modification of an excellent, clear broth mushroom soup recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I will definitely be making this again!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 T canola oil
• 1 large sweet onion, minced
• 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 lb fresh mushrooms (white, cremini, portobello, or mixture. Do not use shiitake mushrooms as they develop a very chewy texture in soup.)
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 9 c chicken broth
• 1/2 c pearl barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t minced fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Remove gills from fresh mushrooms with a spoon. (This prevents soup from becoming muddy.) Cut into bite size pieces.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven, over medium heat. Add onion, porcini mushrooms, and salt and cook until onion is soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add carrots and cook until carrots are soft, an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in fresh mushrooms and cook until they release moisture, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

Add broth, barley, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Discard bay leaf and add pepper to taste before serving.

Note, if using quick barley, add 25 minutes before soup is finished simmering.