Chicken and Barley Soup
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Chicken and Barley Soup

Course: Soups & StewsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

12

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

2

hours 

30

minutes
Total time

2

hours 

50

minutes

This is the delicious soup mentioned in my Cheese and Herb Bread Recipe. It has everything you could possibly want in a soup. Aroma, flavour and a hearty quality that  fills you up and keeps you warm on a cold day. It has a slightly different taste attributed to a few of the herbs and spices added into the broth. Chicken soup has been around for almost 8,000 yrs and first originated in South Asia with the domestication of the bird.

Ingredients

  • 10 cups of water

  • 4 to 5 chicken legs (I use leg as it stands up to boiling without falling apart)

  • 1/4 cup concentrated chicken stock or several cubes to taste

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

  • 1 large red onion, diced

  • 2 celery stalks, diced

  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced

  • 1 green cubanelle pepper seeded and diced

  • 1/2 cup of pearl barley

  • 1 tsp thyme

  • 1 tsp rosemary

  • 1 tsp black pepper

  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

  • 1/2 tsp paprika

  • chopped parsley as garnish

  • Dumplings

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • up to 8 tbsp ice water

Directions

  • Add water to pot and bring to a boil.
  • Add salt and chicken legs and allow to return to the boil.
  • Turn heat down to medium and allow chicken to cook for 2 hours.
  • Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool.
  • Add all other ingredients to the pot except parsley and bring back up to the boil if not already doing so.
  • Allow to cook for 30 minutes.
  • During this time chicken will have cooled enough to handle.
  • Remove skin and separate meat from bone.
  • Shred or chop meat into pieces and add to pot.
  • Place lid on pot reduce heat to medium low and allow to cook for another 30 minutes or until barley is tender.
  • Allow to cool slightly and skim fat from surface before serving.
  • Dumplings
  • In a bowl add flour and salt.
  • Stir with a fork to combine.
  • Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms.
  • It should be sticky but not to soft.
  • Add to boiling soup using large spoon and scooping enough dough to fill spoon.
  • Push into pot being careful not to burn yourself as soup will splash.
  • You can also preform dough into 2 inch balls and place into soup but spoon method as it gives a lighter dumpling when cooked.

Notes

  • Soup stores for up to 1 week in the refrigerator in airtight container or you can freeze for up to 6 months. If freezing divide soup into smaller batches for convenience. Remove dumplings from soup before freezing.

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