Mushroom Barley Soup.

Mushroom Barley Soup Recipe on Food52 

Layers of flavor, each more concentrated than the last, are the key to this mushroom soup.
You begin by browning pancetta and over the course of about 20 minutes, and then you add aromatic vegetables, tomato paste, both fresh mushrooms and rehydrated porcinis, soy sauce and sherry.
How can it not be great?
The soup simmers for an hour to cook the barley and blend the flavors, and by the time you're done you have a soup whose brothiness belies an intense grid of flavors.

Serves 4 to 6

30 grams dried porcini mushrooms soaked until soft in 1/2 cup hot water (reserve water after soaking)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
60 grams pancetta, chopped
400 grams cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups beef stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

In a heavy stock pot add olive oil and saute pancetta until lightly browned.
Add onions, carrots, celery and shallot and saute until soft (about 10 minutes).
Add garlic and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms release some of their moisture.
Remove the rehydrated porcini from the liquid (reserving liquid), chop, and then add to the vegetables in the pot along with the barley and mix to combine.
Make a little space at the bottom of the pan and add the tomato paste, cooking for a minute or two to caramelize.
Add the soy sauce and sherry and simmer vigorously until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
Then add the stocks and the reserved liquid from the mushrooms.
Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer soup, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until barley is soft.
Add chopped parsley just before serving.

More:
- Creamy Mushroom Soup Recipe on Food52

- Recipe Contest: Your Best Mushroom Soup

Barley Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard.

Barley and Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard - Urban Harvest Organic Delivery:
Ingredients
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 1/2 C chopped Onions
1 1/2 C chopped peeled Carrots
3 large Garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 tsp ground Cumin
10 C Vegetable broth
2/3 C Pearl barley
1 14 1/2 oz can diced Tomatoes in juice
2/3 C dried Lentils
4 C (packed) coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1/2 large bunch)
2 Tbs chopped fresh Dill

Instructions
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
Add onions and carrots; sauté until onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Mix in cumin; stir 30 seconds.
Add 10 cups broth and barley; bring to boil.
Reduce heat; partially cover and simmer 25 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes with juice and lentils; cover and simmer until barley and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
Add chard to soup; cover and simmer until chard is tender, about 5 minutes.
Stir in dill.
Season soup with salt and pepper.
Thin with more broth, if desired.
'via Blog this'

Carrot, Cumin and Barley Stew.

Kew on a Plate - Carrot, Cumin and Barley Stew - Raymond Blanc OBE:
For the carrots
500ml Carrot juice
100ml Water
1 large pinch Sea salt
1 tsp Ground cumin
6 Carrots (ideally Early Nantes), skin on, scrubbed, halved lengthways then cut into 1cm slices at an angle
For the barley
2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
80g White onion (about ½ medium), chopped
2 Passilla Bajio chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
150g Pearl barley
1 tsp Ground cumin
1 Corn cob, cooked in boiling water for 20 minutes, covered
4 Rainbow chard leaves, rolled and chopped; stems cut into 3cm pieces
3 Spring onions, finely sliced
1 small bunch Coriander, chopped
1/2 Lemon juice
To finish
1½ tbsp Rapeseed oil
Micro coriander (optional)

Cooking Method

For the carrots
In a large saucepan on a medium heat, bring the carrot juice and water to the boil, then add the salt and cumin. Add the carrots and simmer gently for 10 minutes until they are cooked through. Remove from the heat, scoop out the carrots and reserve the cooking liquor.

To cook the barley
In a medium saucepan on a medium heat, add the oil and sweat the onions and chilli for 5 minutes, covered with a lid, until softened. Stir in the barley and cumin and continue to sweat for 1 minute. Add 500ml of the carrot cooking liquor to the pan, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid and cook for 50–55 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the barley swells and is firm with a good bite. Check the texture, taste and check the seasoning, and cook for a few minutes more, if necessary. Set aside in the pan.

To finish the barley risotto
Using a long knife, carefully cut the kernels off the corn cob by running a knife along the central core. Keep four of the biggest lengths intact to use as garnish. Set these aside then release the kernels from the rest. Add the chard stems and leaves, spring onions and loose corn kernels to the barley pan and stir, then place the pan back on a medium heat and cook for 12 minutes. Add the coriander and cook for 1 minute until wilted. Finally, taste and adjust the seasoning if required, then add the lemon juice to sharpen the flavour.

To finish
In a medium frying pan on a medium heat, fry the cooked carrot pieces in the rapeseed oil for 6–7 minutes, until caramelised. Add the reserved pieces of sliced corn to the pan and cook for 3 minutes until they begin to brown. Spoon out the caramelised carrots, add them to the barley risotto and divide the risotto evenly between four plates. Finish with a length of sliced corn and micro coriander, if using. Serve immediately.
'via Blog this'

Pearl barley with spinach and pork mince.

This is a filling pork and spinach orzotto - like a risotto, but with pearl barley instead of rice.

Recipe: