Smoked Sausage and Barley Soup

This last week has not really been soup weather here in LA.  It doesn't change the fact that a bowl of soup makes a nice light meal.

What I like about soup is they are really pretty easy to make.  Even with limited kitchen skills any one can put a decent dinner on the table.  Of course ready made broth is the way to go if you want to cut corners and have the taste of an all day simmered soup.

To that end I've discovered on a bottom shelf at Fresh and Easy Market their "organic" low sodium Chicken Broth for $1.99 for 32 oz.  Such a deal - small dent on the old check book and big on flavor.  Can't go wrong with that combo.

I love Barley for lot of reasons.  Its just a little firmer on the bite than rice, a very mellow nutty taste and really versatile.  The one draw back you have to be aware of is that it is a tough grain to cook up as it is very dense so you do need to plan ahead a little when cooking with it.  

I keep a lot of staples on hand.  Everyone has their own for the pantry, fridge and freezer.  Smoked Sausage like a kielbasa is one I keep in the freezer as its a quick go to for dinner.  You can do it as a stand alone meat entree or in a soup, either way its good.

This soup idea got its start from the simple barley soup my Mom has made for years.  Its just a ham bone simmered down until the meat falls off the bone in a pot with some onion, water and barley.  Not exactly a fiber rich soup.  Its tasty enough but I really don't like picking meat off bones so that isn't really the meat option for soup as far as I am concerned.  Swapping out another smoked pork product would get the same flavors, adding in some more vegies help the fiber content which helps the old plumbing and of course herbage to up the savory flavor and I have a soup that's a winner around here in the winter.

Smoked Sausage and Barley Soup

• 1 lb smoked sausage (like a kielbasa)
  
• 1 large yellow onion - diced
  
• 1 large carrot - slice
  
• 1 T chopped garlic
  
• 2 32 oz cans Chicken Stock
  
• 1 c barley
  
• 1 T dried parsley
  
• 1 T dried tarragon
  
• 1 t thyme
  
• 1 t fennel seeds - crushed
  
• 1 t fresh cracked pepper
  
• 2 bay leaf
  
• 1 t liquid smoke
  
• 12 oz bag spinach
  
• olive oil
  
• salt
  
• green onion finely sliced
  
• fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  

Place barley and 1 32 oz can of chicken stock in large pan.  Bring to boil then cover and simmer stirring occasionally 20 minutes.  At end of cooking turn heat off and allow barley to steep in the stock 1 hour with lid on.

Coat bottom of stock pot with olive oil and heat to shimmering over medium high heat.  Add diced onion,carrot and pepper cook about 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Slice sausage in 1/4 inch thick pieces. Add to pot along with parsley, tarragon, thyme and fennel. Cook until onions are beginning to caramelize and the sausage is browned about 10-15 minutes.  Stirring often.  When sausage is browned add the garlic and stir one minute to get the garlic cooked.

Add liquid smoke, remaining 32 oz chicken stock, barley and its remaining liquid.  Test for seasoning and add salt as needed.  Bring to boil and then reduce and simmer 10 minutes.  Add spinach, stir in and cook 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted but still bright green.

Garnish hot soup with sprinkle of Parmesan and sliced green onion.

Really important cook the spinach only until wilted but still bright green, the flavor is much better and the texture is not slimy at all.

"Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market" find, 32 oz low sodium organic chicken broth at $1.99 can't be beat.

Spicy Pumpkin Corn Soup

This soup came about from a couple of different recipes. Key was a version that gave me ideas how to make it so it didn't taste like pumpkin bread or spice cake. It's filling and a great winter warmer for the belly on a cold wet night like tonight.

I used home made pumpkin puree...was energetic and baked off, canned my jack-o-lanterns this fall. You can use any good pumpkin puree. Do not use pumpkin pie mix and read the can of what you do grab...some are mostly butternut squash that is tasty on it's own but doesn't have quite the same flavor as real pumpkin. The recipe:

Spicy Pumpkin Corn Soup

• 2 15 oz cans pumpkin puree (or 2 lbs homemade pumpkin puree)
• 1 lb bag frozen sweet corn
• 1 14 1/2 can chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T garlic - chopped
• 1 T fresh ginger - grated
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 - 4 inch stalks lemon grass
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 1 - 2 green onions sliced, including the green tops
• 2 T fresh chopped cilantro.

Remove outer leaves of lemon grass and rinse of any dirty bits. Mash and flatten the lemon grass with a mallet or heavy pan. Tie into the mashed grass into a bundle with the kitchen string.

Heat oil in large sauce pot until it begins to shimmer. Add garlic and ginger. Stir one minute or until it just begins to turn light brown. Add chicken stock and corn. Stir in salt, pepper, lemon grass bundles and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes until corn is cooked through.

Add pumpkin, increase heat to medium and slowly bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove lemon grass bundle. Pour soup into batches into a blender and puree until smooth. (I use a hand blender for a bit more coarse texture to the final soup). Add additional water (sometimes as much as 1/2 c) to bring it to the right consistency.

Serve with sliced onion and cilantro on top as a garnish.

I usually use the "white" sweet corn variety as it has a lighter more grass like taste that is definitely much sweeter than the traditional "variety". Worth tracking it down if your grocer doesn't keep it in stock.

I'll have garlic bread on the side with a fresh green salad dressed in a light Sesame dressing to make it a full meal.

Barley Soup

Barley Soup was one of those winter staples when I was a kid. My Mom had it growing up in the Section 30 area outside of Ely MN. She learned it from her Mom, a great cook in her own right who was born and raised on a farm in South Dakota. This like almost all comfort food has its start in the simple and humble foods put together from what was available on the Farm. In this case it is the left over ham bone from a holiday dinner, barley and a few vegies that is much greater sum than the ingredients would suggest. It is so filling and comforting when there is a chill in the air.

This soup is pretty much what my Mom's version was when I was a kid. A bit more vegies and visible chunks of vegies to suit my tastes. My Mom's version bless her soul, wasn't as rich in vegies as too many of my siblings would just not eat it if they could see a carrot, celery or horrors, a bit of onion. I ask you, what the hell kind of soup doesn't have veg of some sort in it?

Now for the recipe:

Barley Soup

• 1 large ham bone, meat cut off as close to bone as possible, coarse chopped about 2 cups
• 1 yellow onion, coarse chopped
• 1 c diced celery
• 1 c chopped carrots
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 c barley
• 2 c water
• 2 - 3 cans low sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley

In large stock pot add oil and heat to shimmering. Add the celery and onion, stir and salt to taste. Pepper to taste. Saute about 5 minutes until starting to turn clear. Add ham bits and cook another 5 minutes or so until the onions are clear and bits are starting to brown. Stir in barley and cook for another minute until all barley is coated and bits are starting to brown.

Add 2 c water, 2 cans chicken broth and bay leaf. Add ham bone. Cover and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the ham bone, cut off remaining meat bits and return to soup. (Toss the bone over the fence to treat the neighbors dog if you don't want to bin it). Adjust seasoning. Add the additional can of broth to bring the soup to right thickness. Barley unlike some other grains can vary on how much water it takes to cook al dente so it can take 1 2- cans of additional broth at the end to get the right soup like consistency. Add chopped parsley and bring back to simmer, approx 5 minutes. Serve hot with crusty bread or simple bread and butter.

There you go one of my family favorites for you to enjoy. Total comfort food, total peasant food, but good food is good food no matter the historical source. Long live leftovers!