Sunday, May 4, 2014

Polish Mushroom Soup

While it may be too hot here for soup, on the other side of the country, with damp, raw weather conditions, my parents have been warming up with this Polish Mushroom Soup. My Dad traditionally makes this vegetarian soup as part of our Polish Christmas Eve dinner, Wigilia, when Polish people refrain from eating meat.  For Dad's Polish mushroom soup you'll need:
 
Ingredients:
a few tablespoons of butter
a few tablespoons of olive oil 
1 package dried mushrooms, revived in warm water
10 ounces of fresh mushrooms, like button mushrooms 
10 ounces of fresh mushrooms, like cremini or baby bella mushrooms 
small onion, chopped 
sprigs of fresh rosemary
32 ounces of vegetable broth 
salt and pepper 
barley - rinsed and soaked in 16 ounces of water 
1 cup cream, or 2 tablespoons of sour cream 

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan (which has a cover), heat butter and oil.  Add the revived dried mushrooms and cover with the lid. 
2. After 2-3 minutes, add half of the fresh mushrooms (a combination of both varieties) and salt and pepper.  Cook for about 10 minutes - covered on low.  If the mushrooms look dry, add some vegetable broth. 
3. Next add the vegetable broth, barley with the water, and sprigs of rosemary.


4. In a separate pan, sauté onions and the remaining fresh mushrooms.  Then add to the above saucepan.  
5. Simmer the soup for about 1 hour.  Add salt and pepper to taste and cream or sour cream at the end.  


Note - soup will thicken due to the barley.  You may want to add more vegetable broth or water. Make sure to remove the rosemary stalks before serving. 

Thanks, Dad, for your recipe and pictures!