French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley

This take on a true classic is full of fibre rich barley, loaded with protein and perfect for winter or a lazy Sunday evening dinner with some baguette. There are a few ingredients, but it is worth the 'little' effort and it freezes well up to 2-months. You can omit the sherry and replace with white wine if you like. Here you go ...

1 cup boiling water
20g shiitake mushrooms
Olive oil
2 medium onions, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
340g sirloin steak, cut into 2 inch strips
4 cups water
125g uncooked barley
1/4 cup sherry
3 tbsp soy sauce
300ml beef stock
1 tbsp sesame oil

Baguette cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

Combine water and Shiitake mushrooms in a bowl, cover and stand for 30min
Drain, reserve liquid, slice mushrooms
Heat some oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat
Add onions, shallots, ginger and garlic and saute for 10 min on medium
Add Shiitake, button mushrooms, sugar and beef and saute on high for 7 min
Add reserved mushroom liquid, water, barley, sherry, soy sauce and stock and bring to the boil
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 50 min until barley is is tender
Stir in sesame oil
Place cheese over bread slices and grill until cheese has melted
Place 1 slice of bread in each serving bowl and ladle soup over to serve

Need to go and grab a bowl ...