Chicken Mushroom Barley Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves
1 leek
1 onion, quartered
1/2 cup fresh rosemary (you will be amazed how much flavor it adds wait till you taste it) or 1/4 chopped rosemary (you will be amazed how much flavor it adds wait till you taste it)
olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
3 quarts chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs white button mushrooms
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts
pepper
1 sprig thyme
bay leaf
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery

Preparation

Mince garlic; slice leek longways then chop.
Place a standard dutch oven(or soup pot if you don't have a dutch oven) on the stove top.
Add a splash of olive oil, garlic, leek, onion and rosemary and saute over medium high heat for several minutes.
Add white wine and stir gently for one minute.
Add chicken broth, mushrooms, bay leaves, carrots, celery,and barley and increase heat slightly. Stir occasionally until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.
Chop chicken into strips. Add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan and brown chicken on both sides. While chicken is cooking, season with pepper & thyme.
Add chicken to soup mixture. Again bring mixture to a boil. After it reaches the boiling stage, reduce heat to simmer and partially cover.
Cook approximately 30 minutes (stirring occasionally) to insure chicken is cooked through.