Posted on 02/22/2018 4:20:07 PM PST by Jamestown1630
When I was young and single, I rented part of an older lady’s house for many years. She had children who had become vegetarians, and was always hunting for something meatless but special to make for holidays. One Christmas she made this Dilled Vegetable-Barley Soup, from Molly Katzen’s ‘Enchanted Broccoli Forest’; it became one of my favorite recipes, and Katzen’s book one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. If you aren’t averse to the wine, add it, as it really brightens the soup; but the recipe is still very good without it. I’ve never used the fennel in this recipe, but you may want to include it. (In my experience, this soup freezes well.)
Dilled Vegetable-Barley Soup
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
5 1/2 cups water, divided, more if needed
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or canola oil
2 cups minced onions
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
2 medium-size carrots, diced
1 medium-size rib celery, minced
1 pound mushrooms, chopped
4 cups water or broth
6 tablespoons dry white wine, optional
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dillweed
1/2 cup minced fresh fennel, optional
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional toppings: Sour cream or yogurt; toasted sunflower seeds; minced fresh parsley or chives or combination
Place the barley and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook about 30 to 40 minutes, until tender.
Melt the butter or heat the oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, salt and bay leaf and cook over medium heat until the onions begin to soften, for 5 to 8 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery and mushrooms, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add 4 cups water, the wine if desired, lemon juice and cooked barley. Lower the heat to a quiet simmer. Cover and let the mixture bubble peacefully for about 30 minutes. The soup will thicken -- you might want to add more water.
Shortly before serving, stir in the dill, fennel if desired, garlic and black pepper. Taste to adjust the seasonings. Serve hot with all, some or none of the optional toppings.
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While thinking about barley soup, I happened to find ‘The Dragon’s Kitchen’, the website of a blogger from Ontario, who made a project of re-creating recipes from the menu of the Titanic. They include a ‘cream of barley soup’ which looks very comforting:
http://www.thedragonskitchen.com/2012/01/cream-of-barley-soup.html
And here’s a link to the page about the ‘Titanic Project’:
http://www.thedragonskitchen.com/search/label/Titanic%20Project
-JT
I hope you get something good to eat :-)
I have several of her cookbooks now. They’re all very good.
Well right now we’re at 35,000 feet heading to Atlanta. The accommodations at Hartsfield airport is sorta okay, food is airport quality. I usually get a good nights sleep.
Weren’t there bad feelings & maybe legal wrangling because the rest of the collective thought she had no business publishing what they thought were recipes the group owned?
First world earthy/crunchy problems ; )
But she sure was successful!
I don’t know about that. I’ve never paid much attention to restaurant/cooking-world ‘dish’. I just pick up on chefs, cooks or books that seem interesting, and try the recipes.
Who needs a recipe..!
Leftover ham.
Beans (canned, cooked dried).
Canned tomatoes (I have 75+ home grown quarts in the basemen - ha!).
Carrots.
Pressed barley (uncooked).
Oatmeal (uncooked).
Rice (uncooked).
Taters (uncooked).
Okra (home grown - I cook my okra *separately* and add to taste to the cooked soup)
Half a cup of homemade young nappa kimchi (if, IF you’re to that level of cooking)
Indian spices are good seasoning for this soup. Arhar Dal is my favorite (I have LOTS of Indians spices in my pantry)
I don’t measure anything. I hardly measure even when baking.
Kept reading down the recipe, looking for where the protein came in..............
Well, it wasn’t the entire meal, and these were not modern-day ‘vegans’, but old-school vegetarians who ate dairy. And you CAN get all of your essential aminos by combining non-meat items.
(Mushrooms are incredibly healthy, by the way...)
I make a cream of barley soup, but mine’s simpler. Simmer the barley in chicken broth until tender. Add a can of cream of chicken soup. Bring it backup to a boil. Done!
If you toast the barley in a dry pan first, it adds and extra dimension to the flavor.
I’ll remember the part about toasting - Thanks!
Very curious about this. I never had this cookbook but I sure heard a lot about it. I guess it is all vegetarian. I’d like to make it.
Here is a barley soup from Switzerland. Always served in cold winter alpine towns.
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/bunder-gerstensuppe-swiss-barley-soup-457543
You are right that even with no protein the best way to have a tomato sandwich is grabbing the mato warm off the bush, slicing it, and eating it with mayo between slices of good bread. But I have upped the protein by sticking a sharp flaky slice of cheddar in there, that works.
And yes, with (turkey) bacon, lettuce, and mayo is also a great way to enjoy fresh toms.
Ya know, Franken's been holding a hotdish cookoff for the MN congressional delegation for a number of years.
You could probably look up the pdfs for each year, and see if any of them can exceed Fauxcahontas's plagiarism of NYT food columns. (or more likely the Rival recipe book included with Crockpots.)
Beans/rice/corn needs meat or fish.
That said, made up a big pot of chicken posole tonight, properly seasoned per the chef, AKA Doorgunner. A few serranos, etc.
Notes to the recipe: needs a lot more hominy.
LOL!
Your posole sounds very good, doorgunner. That’s a dish I haven’t gotten around to yet; but hominy fried in bacon grease was one of our faves when I was a kid.
Funny thing about hominy. Never had it until my father was transferred from Calif to a little VA hospital in SE Colorado.
The school cafeteria served it when I was in maybe 2nd grade. I loved those big chunks. Looking for it at our Safeway, all over the canned vegetable stuff. Finally thought to look in the Mexican section. What about hominy is Mexican???
Thought hominy grits was southern?
That looks very good, ‘Bender.
Mexicans eat massive amounts of corn.
They soak the corn kernels in lime and water to make the corn. Then grind it to make the masa which makes corn tortillas which are a main source of nourishment in Mexico. The soaked corn also goes to make posole soup which is one of the national dishes.
The lime soaked corn is the main ingredient in tamales too.
Actually, Mexico is incredibly beautiful. Until all of the drug problems in the country I used to be in love with Michoacan. Deep red rich earth, huge pine trees with orchids growing and blooming in them. Lots of Mexican places are gorgeous. It is very poor with corrupt politics.
Yes, I wish they would go back home. I wish I felt safe enough to visit again.
‘Grits’ and ‘Hominy Grits’ can be considered different products. But it’s all corn (maize, maiz), so it’s native to Mexico.
(Our word ‘corn’ originally referred to just about any cereal grain, and began to be transferred to maize after the discovery of the New World.)
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