Mushroom and Barley Soup

By Mimi Sheraton

Updated April 7, 2023

Total Time
2 hours 45 minutes
Rating
4(34)
Comments
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To get the Yom Kippur eve meal on the table in time, my mother began cooking early in the day, preparing her thick and velvety barley soup perfumed with flecks of dried Polish mushrooms and root vegetables such as parsnips and petrouchka. To this she added boiled potatoes, even though potato pancakes would accompany the slowly braised, well-garlicked pot roast, and as a side dish she served cabbage rolls stuffed with beef and rice — her idea of a vegetable. Stewed fruit and honey cake were dessert, usually eaten quickly as time inevitably ran out.

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Ingredients

Yield:1½ to 2 quarts
  • 2 to 2½pieces first-cut beef flanken
  • Salt
  • 1½ to 2quarts water
  • 1carrot, scraped and cut in half vertically
  • 1stalk celery with leaves
  • 1small onion, peeled
  • 2-inch pieces of parsnip and/or petrouchka
  • 1root of Italian parsley, if available
  • ½small knob celery, peeled, if available
  • 2 or 3sprigs parsley
  • 3dried Polish mushroom caps, soaked
  • 20minutes in hot water
  • 2tablespoons well-washed medium pearl barley
  • White pepper to taste
  • 1tablespoon minced fresh dill and 2 large or 4 small old potatoes, peeled, cut in half if large, and boiled for garnishes
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the meat and a pinch of salt in a 3-to-4-quart soup pot. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil, skim the foam from the surface, cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for one hour.

  2. Step 2

    Add the carrot, celery, onion, parsnip and/or parsley root, knob celery and parsley sprigs.

  3. Step 3

    Remove the dried mushroom caps from their soaking liquid and chop coarsely. Add to the soup. If the soaking liquid is not sandy, add it to the soup.

  4. Step 4

    Simmer for one hour, then add the barley. Simmer for 30 minutes to one hour more, or until the meat is very tender. If the soup thickens too much add a little boiling water as needed.

  5. Step 5

    Remove the meat, trim off the fat and cut in chunks or spoonsize pieces. Return to the pot. Vegetables can be diced and returned to soup or eliminated, as you prefer.

  6. Step 6

    Skim the fat from the surface of the soup. Season to taste and sprinkle in the dill if desired. Serve each portion of soup and meat with half a large (or 1 small) boiled potato.

Tip
  • Although the bone adds flavor, it also makes the soup greasy. This is no problem if you cook it a day or several hours in advance of serving so that the top layer of fat can be removed easily when coagulated. If the soup is to be served within an hour of the time it has finished cooking, eliminate the bone.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
34 user ratings
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Comments

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Kathryn

Why are “old” potatoes specified?

Laura

Made this and it was delicious. I used about 3 lbs of beef flanken and that seemed to be a good amount. The 2 pieces description was pretty vague. Also, there did not seem to be enough barley. I'd recommend 1/3 of a cup of barley. The dried Polish mushrooms were difficult to find- they did not have them at Fairway or Whole Foods, but I think using dried Shitake or Cremini mushrooms is fine. I'd recommend using 6-9 dried mushrooms.

Laura

I used four pounds of flanken and oatmeal instead of barley. Deeeeeeeeelish.

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