Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Mushroom and Barley Soup


I went to a great dinner at the Dixon called the Brewer's Feast. Dale Skaggs and Mike Lee paired handcrafted beers with each of four courses. The beer and the food were amazing. It got me thinking about what I would make for a beer dinner and the answer seemed obvious: barley. Beer is brewed from barley so it makes perfect sense to me. Here is what I came up with. Oddly enough I chose to drink wine with it.


10-12 oz small cremini mushrooms (quartered)
4 cloves garlic
2 large carrots (diced)
2 celery stalks (diced)
1 white onion (diced)
3 cups cooked barley
1 cup roasted tomatoes
2 bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon butter
red or white wine for deglazing (or beer)
2 bay leaves
4-6 cups water
olive oil
salt & pepper
First toss the mushrooms in a few tablespoons of olive oil and roast them along with the garlic cloves in a covered dish with the oven set at 300. Leave them in for 45 minutes to an hour. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat saute carrots, celery, and onion in some olive oil until the onion is translucent. Deglaze the pan with a half cup of wine. Add the remaining ingredients including the mushrooms and their juice to the pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

I served mine with a few warm chanterelles on top and a grilled cheese on rustic seed bread. This is the perfect meal for a cool fall night.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love mushroom barely soup. This looks amazing! One ingredient to add next time to really send it over the top is about 4 tbs of cooking sherry.

Michelle said...

Did the Dixon dinner really have enough food for vegetarians? Now that I live in Memphis, I find that events like this require me to eat beforehand, which makes me less motivated to go.

I love your blog and thank you for the amazing recipes and general notes about Memphis.

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

I just told them that i was a vegetarian and they fixed up a few courses that were meat-free. I did not get to eat everything, but what ai had was great.

my favorate course was a mini mushroom slider with lotus root chips and fresh mozz skewers.

Anonymous said...

This looks gorgeous. I love barley in soups.

Michelle said...

Thanks for letting me know about the Dixon possibility! It is great to know that they responded to your request.

Jay M. said...

This looks outstanding. I have some shopping to do.