Borscht

Mushroom Barley Soup Pressure Cooker

Mushroom Barley Soup Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

SERVES 6 to 8 – Cooker: 5- to 8-quart – Time: 20 minutes at HIGH pressure

• 7 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 medium shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 6 to 8 ounces portobello mushrooms, stems discarded, caps sliced, then coarsely chopped
• 12 to 16 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• ¾ cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• juice of 1 lemon

PORTOBELLO PRIMER

Method

1. Place the shiitake mushrooms in a small saucepan with the water
2. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let soak for 20 minutes
3. Drain the mushrooms through a coffee filter set into a mesh strainer
4. Reserve the mushroom liquid
5. Remove and discard the stems and finely chop the mushrooms
6. Set aside
7. In a 5- to 8-quart pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium-high heat
8. Add the onion and shallots and cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes
9. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until just fragrant, 30 seconds; do not brown or it will get bitter
10. Add the carrots, celery, tomatoes, fresh and dried mushrooms, broth, and reserved mushroom liquid
11. Stir in the barley, thyme, and bay leaf
12. Close and lock the lid
13. Set the burner heat to high
14. When the cooker reaches HIGH pressure, reduce the burner heat as low as you can and still maintain HIGH pressure
15. Set a timer to cook for 20 minutes
16. Remove the pot from the heat
17. Open the cooker with the Natural Release method; let stand for 10 minutes
18. Be careful of the steam as you remove the lid
19. The barley should be tender and soup thickened
20. Discard the thyme and bay leaf
21. Taste and season with salt and lots of pepper
22. Stir in the lemon juice
23. Serve hot
24. The soup will thicken as it cools
25. Hungarian Mushroom Barley Soup: In place of the thyme and bay leaf, add 1 tablespoon dried dill and 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
26. At serving, stir in 1 cup sour cream