It looks delicious ;)

This is a great soup on a cold day like today. It is so good. The best mushroom I have had. Thanks!

This soup has it all. Great flavour, wonderful texture & fun to make. I used an egg slicer to slice to mushrooms in no time flat.

This soup is amazing and is a favorite at our house. Served with a light salad and some crusty bread, it makes a perfect dinner. I'm already looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch.

I took this to my sister's for lunch today and it was a huge hit... I did not have porcini but had dried shitaki mushrooms and also had to use up some portabello mushrooms as I didn't have enough button ones. I also had to substitute Marsala (I checked on line and it is a 'fortified wine') and it turned our really spectacular. I would make this again in an instant. And if it will tolerate all those changes, it must be pretty much bullet-proof.

The barley is really wonderful and I had forgotten how filling and nourishing it is. Add a salad and some home made buns and it's fit for a king.

what can i use insted of the sherry ?

You could simple omit the sherry (though it does add great flavor), or you could use Madeira, white wine, or a splash of port at the very end.

I've just eaten the soup: delicious. Thank you for he recipe!

Wish my palate could tell me what's different from the NY deli soup that I remember from growing up in Brooklyn the 60's, but this is as close as I've ever gotten to it!

I made this soup a few nights ago..got huge raves! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Even though the porcini mushrooms are expensive....treat yourself, its worth it! This soup could definitely be served in any fine 5-star restaurant!!!

I'm curious:
The recipe calls for all purpose flour and sour cream.
Is there any way to get around using all purpose flour and sour cream with out too much sacrifice? (Of course, i wont get the exact creaminess or thickness).

I have friends who aren't lactose and gluten intolerant but try to avoid dairy and whole grains.
Can you use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour or Soy yogurt instead of sour cream?

I am sure you can substitute these ingredients, but I have not tried it myself, so I am not sure exactly what the result would be. You may just want to give it a try.

You could also just leave out both the flour and the sour cream. The soup will be a bit thinner. Instead of barley, try quinoa or rice. These grains are gluten free and will help to thicken the soup a bit. The sour cream is just used to add richness and creaminess but it can also be left out. Perhaps once you make the soup, just take a bit out and try adding a bit of the soy yogurt to see if you like it and to make sure it doesn't curdle.

Hope this helps!

This is a very yummy soup!
It's not a quick one to put together, but it is worth it. I will decrease the amount of salt next time, though. It's bordering on too salty for me, and I like salt. Also, I may try blending a portion of the soup before I stir in the barley and sage next time. I like mushrooms, but maybe not as many per mouthful as this turns out to be.
But it's very, very good, and I will definitley be making it again!
Love the video, too. This is a great site!

Hi!

Can I substitute Kosher salt with gray salt? If so, how much should I use?

Thanks!

Yes you can substitute the kosher salt with gray salt.

The amount is really up to you; how much salt you use is really a personal choice. I would say start with about half the amount and taste as you go. You might also want to watch the cooking school lesson on "How to Season with Salt", in particular topic 4. Cheers!

I didn't think this soup would be as good as it was... My old favourite mushroom soup was from the Seasonal Experience and I didn't think it could be beat. This soup is hands down the best mushroom soup me or my wife has ever had.

Thank you rouxbe!

What a great soup! Thank you for the recipe. I substituted barley with lentils because I am not a barley fan, and what a great meal it was!!! My 6 years old son had 3 (!!!) plates and said he won't eat anything else from now on :))

I just happen to have all of the ingredients for this soup in my refrigerator the other night; however the mushrooms where already cut into quarters, so I decided to pulse them quickly (3 or 4 pulses) in the food processor before adding them to the soup.

I also happened to have a mix of cooked wild mushrooms and I did the same thing with them.

I think I used about 3 ounces of mixed wild mushrooms. I also had both button and crimini mushrooms, so I used those as well. I also threw in some extra celery at the beginning, to give the soup a bit more texture.

Everything else was the same as the original recipe but the texture is what I really liked about this one. That and the fact that I was able to get the soup cooking in about 15 minutes.

I would absolutely recommend using the food processor, just be sure you don't over pulse the mushrooms, as you want to maintain some of their texture. Cheers!

I never ate or used barley before , I always wanted so I decided to try it in this recipe and all what I can say is WoW.

The soup is pretty amazing especially with a bit , just a bit of truffle oil it adds so much flavor .

Hi Sharon, for a non-dairy substitute for sour cream, you may be interested in goat Crème Fraîche made by Liberty (Liberté) in Quebec, Canada. It has 35% milk fat, is thicker than sour cream and less sour tasting. Goat yogurt is easier to find (also made by Liberté) but only has 2.7% milk fat. These products were hard to find, but finally my IGA grocer was able to order both them. *Note there is a cow-dairy product called Crème Fraîche too, it has a beige package and the goat one is blue.

I never heard of soy yogurt but I've tried cooking with soy milk, tofu and cream. The Belsoy cream separated when I was trying to make a sauce; it curdled and destroyed the dish. For soups and thickeners I used to purée organic tofu (non-organic is subjected to high pesticides, my sister is a farmer). Tofu is flavourless but adds colour and thickness. Go Dairy Free (http://www.godairyfree.org/) has "Dairy Substitutes" on the left menu, then click on "sour cream." I tried one of the recipes and was surprised at how it remotely tasted like sour cream. But, it was used in a dessert and it separated after a day in the fridge. The lemon juice ran all over the bottom, soaking the crust and the filling caved in. From my experience, soy products just don't perform like animal dairy products do. Good luck.

I also made some adjustments to adapt to what I had on hand. Judi G I totally agree with you that this must be bullet proof. It turned out great. Question though, is this recipe with regular sour cream? And if so, would putting light sour cream in it make it not as thick?

The thickness won't likely change if you use light sour cream as this soup is ultimately thickened by the roux and the added barley. Just be sure to temper in the sour cream if you are using one that is not full fat as it could split otherwise. Also, be sure you do not bring the soup to a boil after you add it as this could also cause it to split. Cheers!

My mushroom soups look muddy. The recipe suggests sauteeing the cut mushrooms to release the juices and brown them after sweating the onion, garlic, and shallots. Restaurant mushroom soups are much lighter in color and I'd like to achieve the same.

I think you will find the lesson on How to Make Roux-Based Soups very helpful. Topic 2 in particular talks about just this, it even uses mushroom soup as the example. Cheers!

I made this for dinner tonight, and it is now my new favorite soup! The best soup I've ever made! Thank you for the recipe!
-Nancy

PS My daughter is a vegetarian, and I assume I would be able to substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock when I make it for her.