Yesterday was a super soup day cause it rained darn near all of it. I love days like that - everything's so fresh, clean and dust free. A perfect day for putting a pot of soup on the stove to brew and a pie in the oven. Course I nixed the pie though because we're still on the "moderation" plan, but I sure am thinking rhubarb right now.
I spotted this soup recipe in an old Cooking Light magazine a while ago and put it on my "must try" list, mostly because it was different. I guess that's the thing that intrigued me the most - it is a soup with a severe identity crisis.
Poor thing doesn't know if it's onion, french or otherwise, beef, barley, mushroom or Asian for that matter because it's chock full of mushrooms (fresh and dried), fresh ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil along with the requisite onions and sherry, all of which makes it not quite the french onion or beef barley soup that any of us are most familiar with; however, that said, it is pretty darn tasty stuff. I admit it took a minute for my taste buds to agree, but the big guy decided he liked it immediately. It's just not as sweet as a good french onion soup normally is and certainly not as peppery or savory as my usual beef and barley soup, but it certainly has heft, heart and a lot of soul. Am I making any sense? Probably not! Quite honestly, I think the soup really deserves another name although I'm not quite sure what to call it except GOOD! Download French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley
Give it a try and tell me what you think, OK. It really is ideal for these not quite spring evenings we seem to be "enjoying" across the country these days and oh, by the way if you're lucky enough to have rhubarb in your back yard, do me a favor and give it a few words of encouragement OK? I've a real yen for the stuff!
I love this take on French Onion...just amazing and lovely!
Posted by: noble pig | 03/09/2010 at 10:35 AM
Aww, thanks Cathy. For sure it'll be great "Oregon" food.
Posted by: June | 03/09/2010 at 10:43 AM