Who doesn't like veal pickle soup with calf kidneys? Barley grain processed into pearl barley adds special charm to it.
Features of barley grits
Barley has wonderful properties. Firstly, it will never turn into a homogeneous jelly-like mess. In soup, she always swim grains to grains, pleasantly hobbling on her teeth. Secondly, with proper preparation, it does not make the dish cloudy, and its neutral taste allows you to freely experiment with spices. Thirdly, at its price super-availability, barley groats (pearl barley) have a lot of healthy properties, in particular, due to their valuable fiber, it remarkably cleanses the walls of the gastrointestinal tract from all kinds of deposits.
Cereal preparation
In order for the broth, due to the specific features of pearl barley, not to turn cloudy-bluish, it is first brought to a boil in a large amount of water. After the cereal boils for several minutes, the water is drained and the cereal is washed.
First dishes with barley
In the old days, before cooking, barley was steamed for several hours in hot milk. In addition to the traditional pickle, this grits very well complements lean soups with mushrooms. They put it in the fish broth. It turns out very delicious diet soup with chicken stomachs. Many people like Georgian kharcho soup with pearl barley, and not with the usual rice.
Mushroom soup
During the fasting period, those who adhere to the canonical regulations of the Orthodox Church try to exclude meat and dairy products from the daily diet. The menu becomes pretty monotonous. Try making mushroom soup with pearl barley. The recipe was suggested by the cook of the refectory of a monastery.
First put a pot of cold water on the fire. The amount of water corresponds to the number of eaters, plus another plate. Prepare a glass of pearl barley, as mentioned above, that is, bring to a boil in plenty of water, boil for five minutes, drain and rinse. While the barley is cooked, peel and rinse 700-800 g of fresh champignons. Chop onions finely and sauté in liquid peanut butter. When the onion becomes golden, add the mushrooms cut into quarters to it, sprinkle with two tablespoons of wheat flour and lightly fry everything together. Instead of fresh, you can take frozen champignons. This does not affect the taste.
The following recipe. Soup with pearl barley and mushrooms, the cooking method of which is given, is designed for a family of 4 people. Peel and chop raw potatoes, 500 grams. When the water boils, put the prepared cereals, potatoes, mushrooms, 12 peas of black pepper, a pinch of dried marjoram and basil, two bay leaves and fenugreek on the tip of a knife. Bring everything to a boil. After that, you can salt. If you put salt earlier, then the potatoes will not break apart and will be felt in a dish as a foreign element. Cook the soup for another 20-25 minutes. When the potatoes are ready, add chopped branches of fresh dill, parsley and celery. Rub one large clove of garlic on a fine grater and dip it in the soup. Do everything quickly so that fresh greens do not boil and retain their color. Once the mixture begins to gurgle, remove the pan from the heat. Let the dish infuse for 20 minutes in a warm place. Barley will reach, herbs and spices will give flavor to the broth and mix - you will get an incomparable hearty and thick lean soup with barley.
The recipe can be improved using fragrant porcini mushrooms or boletus instead of champignons. Dry mushrooms are also good. They must be put into the water first and cook for at least half an hour. Only when they are almost ready, act as if you are cooking a regular barley soup, the recipe of which is described in detail above. Lean soup will be even tastier if, when serving, put a spoonful of dried vegetable cream in a plate .
When you learn the recipe above, barley soup can become your favorite and even signature dish. If you are not afraid to experiment in the kitchen, then this article is for you. The recipes shown here are unusual, but they have been tested, tested and approved by foodies.
Unusual kharcho soup
Here is an example of one of the experimental dishes: kharcho soup with barley. The recipe is not the easiest, but it is worth it to implement it. To get started, collect a complete set of products that include:
- nonfat veal brisket, 1 kg;
- half a glass of pearl barley;
- onions, 4 pcs. medium size;
- half a glass of peeled and chopped walnuts;
- half a glass of pomegranate juice or a half glass of tklapi;
- tkemali sauce, 2 tbsp. spoons, or 10 pcs. cherry plum, or dried prunes;
- 4-5 cloves of fresh crushed garlic;
- 1 tbsp. a spoon of flour;
- 10 peas of black pepper crush;
- bay leaf, 2 pcs.;
- red pepper, 1/2 tsp;
- ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp;
- dried basil, 1 teaspoon;
- Suneli hops, 1/2 tsp;
- parsley, cilantro, basil;
- salt to taste;
- water, 3 liters.
Kharcho soup, cooking
Cook the broth from the beef, remove the meat, cut into portions and return to the pan. Put prepared pearl barley there. As soon as it boils, salt. Fry chopped onions in peanut butter , dust with flour, stir, bring to a slightly golden color and send to the pan. Drop the bay leaf, black pepper, walnuts, dry basil, red pepper, cinnamon, hops-suneli, pour in pomegranate juice. After about five minutes, put the garlic and herbs in the pan. As soon as it boils, immediately turn it off, let it brew, and you can have lunch. Kharcho pearl barley soup is better than traditional one in that this cereal, unlike rice, does not “sag”. Maybe this is not quite kharcho, but it’s very tasty and unusual!
Fish soup
Oily fish goes well with pearl barley. If you can find fresh salmon or trout, then you will get a divine fish soup with pearl barley. The recipe is not particularly difficult. Prepare the cereal from the fish head, fins, tail and ridge, cook the broth and strain. Next, cook as a regular soup: put prepared barley, chopped potatoes and carrots and onions fried in vegetable oil in the broth. Add spices and seasonings to your liking. It can be white pepper, bay leaf, marjoram, basil, parsnip, dill, parsley, celery and saberfish. You can use the ready-made set for fish dishes. Do not forget about salt.
Chicken soup
If your refrigerator has a set of peeled chicken stomachs, then you can cook a light diet chicken soup with pearl barley. The recipe is quite simple. Wash the stomachs, remove the remaining fat, cut off the places stained with bile, cut into small pieces and put in the broth. Cook for 20-30 minutes. When the stomachs are almost ready, put the chopped potatoes into the soup in the soup. After boiling, dip the prepared barley into the pan, add salt and dry spices to your taste - black peppercorns, marjoram and basil. Bay leaves are not put in chicken dishes. While the soup is boiling, cook the roast. Peel one small carrot, chop as small as possible, and lightly fry in vegetable oil. Add to it half the head of onion, chopped no larger than carrots, and fry together until the onion is golden brown. After the stomachs and potatoes are sufficiently boiled (this can be checked with a knife - if it easily enters the pulp, then the product has boiled), put the frying in the soup. Cook over low heat for another 10 minutes. At this time, wash and chop the greens - half a bunch of dill, parsley and celery. Check the soup for readiness and taste again. If it is ready, decorate it with fragrant greens, put a crushed clove of garlic, bring to a boil and turn it off. Let it brew for about 20 minutes.
Pickle
Barley soup (the recipe does not matter) should be eaten hot. The cooled cereal loses both in taste and in favor. Recipes of barley soups , photos of which you see on this page, could be supplemented with a description of the preparation of a classic pickle with kidneys and pickles. If you master the recipes above, then you can handle this difficult delicacy. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that before cooking the kidneys are soaked for several hours in clean water, which is regularly changed. Do not put salt in the pickle. It is compensated by salted (preferably barrel) cucumbers and brine from them. Cucumbers and brine are only put into the pan after the main ingredients are cooked well enough. Carrots do not go to this dish, but a spoon of sour cream, put on a plate, will make the soup even tastier.