Saturday 26 October 2019

Chicken, Mushroom And Pearl Barley Soup

I can't remember how I first came upon this recipe, but it's from a blog called Scruff and Steph.  I've been meaning to make it for ages, through the Winter months, and now that it's Spring, ironically I got around to making my version of their tasty soup.  It was delicious!, and hearty.  And I used some of the bio-dynamic pearl barley I had bought in readiness early in Winter.

I had a bit of fun with this recipe, squeezing out the filling from the chicken sausage casings.  Who knew how very satisfying it could be?:-)  The meaty chunks just plopped right on out of their somewhat rude-looking casings (tee hee), ready to be browned up in the EV olive oil.  And they added a fabulous savoury taste and texture to the soup.  Mum used to make pearl barley soup all through the (long, freezing) Melbourne winter, so this reminds me happily of home and childhood.



chunky and delicious soup


Serves 4:


ingredients:


150g. (3/4 cup) pearl barley

400g. chicken sausages 

1 tbs EV olive oil

1-2 tbs butter

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 red chillies, finely chopped (optional)

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (optional)

80 mLs (1/3 cup) of verjuice or white wine vinegar

380g. mushrooms

2 tbs plain flour

1 Litre (4 cups) chicken stock

250 mLs (1 cup) water

1/2 tsp sea salt 

black pepper, about 8 grinds of the mill

80 mLs (1/3 cup) of thickened cream

2-3 tbs parsley, finely chopped


Method:


Soak the barley in cold water for about 20 minutes, then rinse and drain

Squeeze chunks of the filling out of the sausage casings

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and tip in the sausage chunks

Fry for a few minutes till they start to brown up

In go the butter and the onion; fry for a few more minutes

Now pop in the chillies and garlic, and stir for a couple of minutes

Pour in the verjuice or vinegar, and give the bottom of the pan a really good stir to get up all the good bits

Then add the mushrooms, stirring for a few minutes till they start to go tender

Stir the flour in well to the pot

Add the stock, water and barley, and the salt and pepper

Bring it to the boil, then turn down to medium and let it simmer away for 30 minutes, stirring regularly so it doesn't stick

Check to see if the barley is how you like it; you may want to cook for a wee bit longer if you like the barley more tender

Add the cream, adjust for seasoning, and throw in lots of parsley

Scruff and Steph suggest serving with crusty bread and grated Parmesan, tho Mr P. and I had it without either of these, and were content


Notes:

Use beef sausages if you prefer, as Scruff and Steph suggest

We noticed that the barley I used was a darn sight better than the stuff you buy at the supermarket, so I suggest hunting out a really good quality one like this one from Mount Zero (nope, not a paid ad; I'm just a fan)



ingredients gathered


give everything a good stir 


ready to eat


hearty and creamy and chunky soup



artwork © Sherry's Pickings

28 comments:

  1. It looks hearty, flavourful and moreish with the combo of ingredients. Pearl barley is something I don't use very often. Need to change that!

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    1. hi angie
      yes definitely give barley a go. it's such a fantastic grain - or is it a seed/legume? anyway it's tasty...

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  2. Sherry even though it's pretty warm here and soup is furtherest from my mind, this has my mouth watering, but then I'm a sucker for sausages. I'll store this recipe away for a cooler and hopefully rainy day. Good tip to find some decent barley, which I love.

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    1. thanks pauline. yep i do love me a chicken snag, or occasionally a beef one if it's good quality. i think the good barley made all the difference here:)

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  3. I think I'd adore this soup even in the sweltering heights of summer Sherry! :D

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    1. i think you're right lorraine! it's a tasty little dish:-)

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  4. Wow, Sherry, what a delicious soup! So cozy and hearty and loving all the flavors!

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  5. Mrs P made a wonderful soup with this recipe. The barley was particularly good, so that was a bonus. And the flavour was wonderfully intense. Hard being Mr P!

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  6. Hey, all year long is soup season in my book! This version sounds really tasty, and I could totally get on board with it. Plus, it's getting chilly here in the States, and a good soup like this would be a perfect meal! Love the pearled barley in this one. Yum!

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    1. thanks david. it's a pretty darn good soup i must say:)

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  7. What a perfect comfort food for our North American fall! My mother had a soup recipe with mushrooms and barley, but it called for beef. I really like the idea of using chicken.

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    1. thanks david. yes i always think chicken and mushrooms go together like a ... horse and carriage:-)

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  8. Oh mercy! I love barley and wish I had a bowl of this now! It looks and sounds perfectly delicious! Thanks for the recipe, great for the season!

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    1. thanks so much pam. yes i think a hearty bowl of soup is great any time of year; well maybe not in a QLD summer :-) cheers sherry

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  9. We'll make soup every month of the year, but do so much more often right now, in our chilly/cold weather season. So your timing is perfect! This looks good -- thanks. (And I like your original art work!)

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    1. Hi KR
      thanks for dropping by. yes this soup would be great over your way at this time of year. and thanks so much re my artwork.

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  10. I'm with Pam, I love pearl barley, but we can't find it here. No worries though our niece brings it to us from the UK when she visits. Your soup sounds so tasty just now on this cold damp Swedish autumn evening. We'll be giving this a go real soon.

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    1. yes there's something so warming about barley i find. of course childhood memories... I'm so glad i found this bio-dynamic one. it makes a huge difference to the soup. please do try it - the soup i mean. cheers S

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  11. This soup sounds wonderful- very hearty. I agree that empty sausage casings are reminiscent of used something else!

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    1. yep you're so right cakelaw - they are a wee bit disgusting :-)

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  12. I really like using barley in soups and stews, it has such a lovely texture and flavour.

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    Replies
    1. Yes it’s fab stuff especially when it’s biodynamic:)

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  13. I always put sausage squeezing in the too hard basket but this recipe has me thinking otherwise. I LOVE barley and this definitely looks like a soup-er bowl (ha! See what I did there?!)

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    1. oh yes sammie, this was so easy to do - maybe chicken sausages are easier than beef? it really was quite delicious!

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  14. What a wonderful soup recipe and I totally love chicken sausages. It is great that you've highlighted them into a pearl barley soup - just fabulous. Thanks so much :D

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    1. Hi merryn
      Lovely to see you here. Yes we really enjoyed that soup! I’ve never actually taken the sausage filling out of a casing before but it was fun! :-)

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