This recipe yields enough to have leftovers the next day. Serve with glasses of beer or Zinfandel for a warming autumn supper.
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onions. Sauté until mushrooms brown, about 18 minutes. Add celery and garlic and stir 1 minute. Add beef shank slices and all remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from heat.
Porcini mushrooms are available at Italian markets, specialty foods stores and many supermarkets.
A very good (and super easy) mushroom barley recipe. The day I made it, I thought it deserved three forks, but the next day, the flavor improved to four !! I took the easy route and used boneless stew meat. I took the "cheaper" route and used fresh crimini mushrooms instead of other assorted wild ones. And I did add a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a teaspoon of Worcester sauce to deepen the flavor. As others said, this makes a lot of soup. It served 12 of us adequately as a main course!
I made this for a recent family gathering and it was an absolute hit. Here is what I did to alter the recipe based upon some of the comments previous individuals had made. First, I made my own beef stock. Why? Because home-made stock is SO much better than store bought. You can really taste the difference. Second, I purchased stew meat from Whole Foods instead of what the recipe called for. I browned it first and then added it in just before the 1.5 hour simmer. The Whole Foods stew meat is so much more tender when cooked and it ended being "Melt in your mouth" tender in the end. I used 1.75 pounds based upon comments about the volume of soup made but in the end I could have used more. Third, I used only 1 cup of barley based upon previous comments but I could have used more also. The 1 cup did, however, provide the right amount of thickening so to add more would make it a bit thicker. Fourth, I too added the rehydrating mushroom liquid to the overall amount of water added. Instead of seven cups, I combined two cups of mushroom liquid to five cups of water. In the end, seven cups total plus the 8 cups of home-made beef broth. In the end, this recipe did make more than 8 bowls for me but it really ended up being more like 10 to 11 bowls in total. That is a far cry from the 15-20 some were getting so not sure how big their bowls were. It made no difference for us because the soup is a keeper and was enjoyed down to the last spoonful.
I made this recipe as stated, except I used beef for stew meat and a beef shoulder roast. Although it say that it makes 8 servings, it is more like 15-20 servings. It truly does need 15 cups of liquid if you make the recipe with all of the ingredients stated. It was sooo delicious! The barley makes the broth thick, and the meat and veggies are very tender. Note that the red peppers add an overpowering taste to this soup. Although I LOVE raw red peppers, I think I'd cut back or eliminate them from the soup as it is a bit much.
Since it is the 1st autumn storm of the season, I decided to make a hearty soup. It has been a few yrs since I made this, but I did remember how much the recipe makes. I decided to make half the recipe. I also followed others advice to use beef short ribs. I also used the button mushrooms instead of wild, to save cost. One thing I do recommend, deglaze the pan with a cup of wine, and reduce with a dash of Worcestershire sauce for more depth. I also cut back the amount of barley. It is a yummy, old world style soup!
This soup is fabulous, if you make a few changes. First, as someone mentioned, beef shanks are flavorful, but tough. I used left over standing rib roast from Christmas dinner. I had 1 rib left, probably 2 lbs of meat that I cut into soup size pieces, and added 3 beef soup bones. These are basically shanks without the meat, but with wonderful marrow. And I cut way down on the liquid. 15 cups? That has to be a misprint. I probably had 8 total, a combo of unsalted broth (canned broth us the yuk) and water. And as someone else suggested, I soaked the porcini in hot water for 20 minutes and then chopped them. Added the soaking water (careful not to add the grit that drops to the bottom) with the rest of the liquid. Also used a mix of crimini and shitake mushrooms. Oyster and trumpet mushrooms were not available but exotic mushrooms are worth it. I cut the barley back to 1 cup, as I cut the liquid, but probably could have gone with a bit more. Now, using prime rib meat and bones made this a little fatty but let it cool over night and you can scrape as much fat off as you like.
A wonderful lusty soup for winter. Tastes were refined and delicious. My family loved it.
Been making this soup since in first appeared in Bon Appetit -- my family loves it.
I forgot to mention in my review that I also reduced the barley to 1 1/4 cups.
I loved this recipe. I made it for my grandson's birthday during a big snowstorm in Seattle and everyone enjoyed it. I used dried wild mushrooms from Whole Foods (in a plastic tub) as well as a variety of fresh mushrooms. Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 min and use the water in the soup- adds loads of flavor. I omitted 5 cups of water. And I used thin sliced short ribs as suggested by another reviewer- browned them on both sides, removed from the pan and then sauted the onions and mushrooms.
I'm sure I don't know what the critics are speaking of regarding this recipe, it's simply fabulous! I generally hate parsnips but found that I do not mind them at all in this recipe. It never fails to bring rave reviews whenever I make it. The only thing I do differently is I use thin sliced short ribs instead of the shanks because the meat is much easier to separate and is very tender.
What a wonderful soup! I doubled the beef and used a mix of baby portabella, white button, and crimini mushrooms. It was fabulous but please note that it makes A LOT OF SOUP!
If you need to follow a recipe exactly, don't make this recipe. I have used this recipe as a guide several times with wonderful results. I use 1 1/2 lbs. shiitake mushrooms, don't bother with the porcini, change the meat to stew or sirloin (brown and deglaze with wine), & decrease the barley to 1 - 1 1/4 cup. Really does need good homemade beef broth. Add about 2 tbsp. fish sauce, 1 tsp. red pepper flakes & 1 tbsp. worcestershire to add to complexity of flavour. Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley and grated parm. cheese. Wonderful on a cold winter night. My husband loves it.
I was disappointed with this soup....I made half a batch and I thought it had too much barley in it....if I do make it again - I'll use half the barley. Taste was okay - but needs something.
What a disappointment! The expense of the wild mushrooms was a total waste. You need nothing less than a STOCKPOT to cook this in. I would suggest (if you INSIST upon trying this recipe)that: 1) you cut it in half 2) cook it in a pressure cooker to tenderize this tough cut of meat and 3) cook it with some salt instead of adding it only at the end. Fresh herbs may also make a difference and I agree with previous interviewers: I like parsnips but not in this dish. Perhaps a good piece of hubbard squash instead. I definitely will NOT make this again, even with modifications to the recipe.
This soup is excellent. Very hearty and delicious. I made it when it first appeared in Bon Appetit a few years ago. Have been making it a couple times yearly ever since. My friends and family all love it! Make it without meat and it is still delicious. Be sure to use pearl barley not the quick cooking barley. The pearl barley releases more starch into the broth and makes it velvety.
I used button mushrooms instead of wild and turnip instead of parsnips. I also used less liquid and less barley. This soup is much better reheated the next day.
I'm glad I ignored the previous negative reviews for this soup- we all loved it! The wild mushrooms added a great earthy flavor and gave me something to do with the abundance that my husband picks. I did omit the parsnips (I just don't like them) and added a pinch of our own dried habanero flakes for a kick. I will definately make this again, and again and again- everyone asked for the recipe.
I just made this for the 5th time or so. I made a half recipe and it fed 10 people a good-sized bowl. as usual i left out the wild mushrooms cause i'm sure their flavour would only be overwhelmed. But this time i also left out the parsnips and found the soup tasted better withouth them, although i like parsnips they are just a little odd in this recipe. so i don't think this is a great "gourmet" or unusual recipe, but if you like beef barley soup this is a great basic recipe that went over great with my guests, in fact i am back here to send one of them the recipe. Tastes even better the next day and freezes well in individual portions to bring to work.
Substituted regular rather than wild mushrooms, added a fair bit of red wine and the pot couldn't hold the full amount of liquid - So this made a very rich hearty stew. Next time, I will cut the recipe in half.
One of those silly recipes that seems to think that the more ingredients you have the better it is. It manages to have too many conflicting flavors, and to be boring at the same time. And the fancy mushrooms are a total waste.