Portabella Mushroom-Barley Soup

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

One of the things I love most about winter is eating soup. Make that homemade soup. Make that homemade soup with scratch-made stock. Pooey! Making stock takes hours. And stock is just the beginning.

Of course no retail establishment would sell small-batch, homemade soup made by local folks using organic foods and (gasp) homemade stock. That wouldn't be cost-effective. Right? Wrong. Try Arbor Farms and the People's Food Co-op. At these small, local groceries, some things are sacred.

"Yep. We make our vegetable stock from real vegetables, our chicken stock from real chickens and our beef stock from real beef-and other aromatic vegetables, of course," said Trish Hill, a cook at Arbor Farms. In a past life, I cooked side-by-side with Trish Hill and Elysa Levensohn, another Arbor Farms cook. For close to 20 years, we must have made thousands of batches of homemade soup together, no exaggeration.

I know for a fact these ladies cook with passion. I've watched their noses screw up when I say the words "processed food" -- especially "processed soup." (And you'd be surprised what restaurants and grocer's are passing off as "homemade soup" these days.) Here's a link to their November soup menu, in case you're interested. There may be other groceries and restaurants making their own stocks. If so, I'd love to hear about them.

"We're the best kept soup secret in town.We have customers who say our homemade chicken soup keeps them healthy through the winter. I know this sounds corny," said Trish, "but it's the love we put in the soup. That's what makes them special."

Yield: 7 cups

Active Time: 15 minutes

Simmer Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 medium carrots peeled and sliced

4 large portobello mushrooms 

1 teaspoon garlic minced

1 teaspoon flour

1/2 cup barley

6 cups vegetable, chicken or beef stock

1/4 cup dry sherry,optional

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Directions

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté for 5 minutes.

2.Remove portobello stems and, with a damp cloth, wipe tops clean and dice (you should have 4 cups). Add garlic and diced mushrooms to the pan and cook for an additional 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.Sprinkle mixture with flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring. Stir in the stock and barley and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes. Add sherry, if desired, and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes until barley is tender. Season with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt, if needed. Stir in minced parsley and serve.

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