Mushroom Barley Soup
If you celebrate Christmas, you also recognize Christmas Eve. For some, it’s bigger than Christmas morning, complete with gift opening and midnight mass. Some have feasts and parties, while others enjoy a simple family affair.
I wanted to know what Milwaukee dines on Christmas Eve and reached out to local friends via social media. I got an array of answers, but I was searching specifically for soup.
I grew up eating baked potato soup each Christmas Eve. This isn’t a tradition anywhere but my home, but it’s one we settled into as my siblings and I got older and weren’t bouncing balls of energy anticipating the imminent arrival of Santa Claus. We’d have a cozy dinner of soup, play a few games and retire until gift opening in the morning.
Seafood is on the minds of some Wisconsinites on Christmas Eve, including oyster stew and cream of crab, and there was one reference to fish eye soup. A handful mentioned fondue — I like your style, Wisco! A few keep it casual and order in pizza or Chinese food, while others go big.
Joe Parajecki throws a traditional Polish Wigilia feast on Christmas Eve. He’s the owner of Kettle Range Meat Co. (grass-fed butcher shop at 5501 W. State St.). This evening meal is a Polish tradition commemorating the birth of Jesus. Typically, it’s red meat-free, hearkening back to the old custom of fasting the day before Christmas. But as a butcher, Parajecki chooses to include meat on the table.
His menu is a tribute to the dinners he had at his Great Aunt’s house as a child, and he still serves it on her china.
It includes warm borscht with sour cream, sautéed forest mushrooms with onions and garlic, egg dumplings, egg noodles with butter and parsley, stewed prunes, applesauce, sauerkraut with caraway seeds, pickled herring and an overflowing bread basket. He also makes a standing rib roast, roast duck, mashed potatoes and vegetables.
Other dishes he remembers fondly are dill pickle soup and oplatki, an unleavened Polish bread.
“The most important part of Wigilia is the empty chair,” he said. “Anyone who comes to the door during dinner is invited in to sit there. It is said the chair is for the Christ Child and that he comes in disguise to see who will let him in.”
Parajecki continues this tradition of hospitality and generosity by extending an open invitation to his feast to all his friends and family.
The mushroom soup featured here is NOT a traditional recipe. I made it up, and I used beer and pickle brine to add flavor to the broth. It is simple and delicious and makes for a cozy Christmas Eve, whether as one of many courses or part of a simpler celebration.
Anna Thomas Bates is a mother, writer and cheesemaker who lives in southern Wisconsin. Email her at tallgrasskitchen @gmail.com.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces baby Portobello mushrooms, diced
1 tablespoon Magic Mushroom Powder (see recipe) or 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄4 cups pearled barley
1 bottle (12 ounces) nut brown ale, such as New Glarus Fat Squirrel
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
⁄4 cup pickle brine 1
Salt and black pepper
Heat olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook until soft. Add carrots, garlic, mushrooms and mushroom powder or salt and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, until everything is soft and fragrant.
Add barley and beer, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until beer is almost completely absorbed. Add stock and bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until barley is soft, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pickle brine and any additional salt and black pepper to taste.