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
Thanks. Is hominy eaten by itself like a side dish or always in its ground state in tortillas? I’m not a huge Mexican food fan to begin with. I do like fish tacos especially the ones I first tried in Miami. They had grilled FRESH mahi-mahi in a corn torilla with shredded cabbage and a lime aioli. The best I ever had.
I bet a good Brie would go well with pears or apples.
Also used book places online can be great. I use alibis.com. Many used books are only a penny but you do pay shipping.
Looks a lot like it, except with Cheddar instead of Parmesan. I’m getting hungry.
Hominy in Mexico is eaten in hearty soups with boiled meats, vegetables and chilis.
Actually Mexican cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines. Not surprisingly, we have many here in LA. After the corn is soaked in lime and ground, it is sold in the markets as MASA.
You can buy the masa, take it home and make it into all sorts of things but usually tortillas, tamales, sopes, soup dumplings and hundreds of other things. Saturday and Sundays the pose soups are available in Mexican markets and cafes. I love all of them and I? have traveled extensively all over Mexico to learn the techniques.
I would assert that what most people think of Mexican cuisine is actually Tex-Mex cuisine....big difference.
I agree it’s a big difference.
But you probably not find as many Mexican restaurants as in LA. We have Mexican restaurants that do Oaxaca style, Poblano style, coastal style with fish tacos, Mexico City style, Barbacoa style and just the generic Mexican with tacos, tamales, soups, meats, etcetera. Those are NOT Tex-Mex. And they are wildly popular.
Texas may have them, I don’t know to what extent they depart from Tex Mex ... we do. And masa is Mexican by nature for tacos, tamales hopes, et al.
QUESADILLA / NIGELLA EXPRESS COOKBOOK
METHOD Layer on soft corn tortilla covering allover w/ thin-slice cured ham. On 1/2, sprinkle pickled
jalapeno slices, grated cheddar, fine-chp scallion. Scatter w/ coriander leaves. Carefully fold plain half
over cheese. Lift carefully; brush each side with ol/oil; grill on hot ridged griddle min per side. Liftoff
w/ wide spatula, plate; cut 3 triangles. SERVE w/ salsa.
That would be about the same price I find at the thrift store; and I’m sure the selection is much better.
I’ve been hoping to find an old edition of Vincent Price’s ‘Treasure of Great Recipes’, but it hasn’t shown up in my store.
My grandmother always bought canned hominy, and would fry it in the grease from bacon or sausage that she’d cooked for breakfast; sort of an alternative to breakfast hashbrowns or grits.
That’s a great book I haven’t seen in years. My mom loved it. Here are high to low.
https://www.alibris.com/booksearch?title=Treasury+of+Great+Recipes&keywordx=treasure+of+great+recipes&author=Price%2C+Mary%2C+and+Price%2C+Vincent&authorx=
Wow! I guess it’s a popular book!
If they do not reprint, the prices get high.
Amazon also sells used books, they have copies between $24 and $26 dollars. Very good price. Be sure not to buy ex-library books ... they are usually in bad shape.
I’ve worked in libraries. They often sell books in their little surplus book “stores” that are in perfectly good condition, just because they need shelf-space for newer books.
I’ve found that the descriptions of used books sold by vendors on Amazon usually indicate whether the book is formerly ‘library’; and their descriptions of condition are generally accurate.
I never tried it. Did you like it? What did it taste like?
I grew up eating hominy. It’s puffy little white balls of corn-y chewiness. Try it - you’ll like it!
This is a great soup-with added apricots.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/apricot-and-red-lentil-soup/15620/?utm_term=.3157d8a74b4c
I am still in my grilled cheese and tomato soup mood. This soup is from Lady Gaga’s parents restaurant and we like it very much.
https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/germanotta-tomato-fennel-soup/328847
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