Rich Barley Mushroom Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 medium onions, minced in food processor
1 1/2 cups celery, very finely chopped
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup barley
2 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 quart chicken broth (I use homemade or low sodium canned)
2 -3 tablespoons soy sauce, more as needed
ground black pepper, to taste
sour cream, with
dill (for a fantastic garnish)

Preparation

In a soup pot on med heat, melt 1 stick of butter and add celery and onions to sweat until translucent. (I use the food processor for my onions because I don't actually want the onion pieces -- I pulse it until it's a rough puree (just past finely chopped).
Add in the barley (I didn't use quick barley, but I'm sure you could). Stir a few minutes.
Add in all of your mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have gotten dark and given up a lot of their liquid.
Add in the chicken broth.
Add the soy sauce and taste. If it's not salty enough, add soy sauce 1 tsp at a time until you like it. (A little goes a long way. Taste soup before and after adding the soy -- you won't believe the difference!).
Simmer on stove until barley has totally expanded. I think the soup may even be better the next day, but it's certainly a quick soup that could be made and served within 45 minutes. Probably less if you use Quick Barley.
Add black pepper to taste and tweak with more soy, as needed.
Sour cream and dill are a great garnish, but not necessary.
Prep and cooking time are estimates, but it shouldn't take longer than that.
Soup can thicken a lot overnight to almost a stew like consistency. I usually add more broth (or water) and check soy and pepper before serving.