# Mushroom Barley Soup w/ Polish Stoverags aka Lokshi



## xray (Jan 13, 2020)

Mushroom barely soup is another soup that tends to show up in our winter rotation. The wife and I really enjoy this one, the recipe has been slightly modified over time but we find ourselves coming back to this one, there's no meat in this one.

Also, my mother sent over a few homemade stoverags "lokshi" that she made the other day. They are made with leftover mashed potatoes. They're basically a buttered Polish tortilla. I grew up on these because my grandmother would make this all the time for us. She lived in a household where nothing went to waste. Lokshi is informally called "stoverags" because they would be cooked right on the surface of the coal stove. I wanted to make these the day after New Year's with leftover mashed potatoes. I called my mom to get a quick refresher on making them but I didn't realize I had no leftover potatoes!! Well, I guess she got a hankering for them since I mentioned them. I told her to take pictures. I'll post them at the end.

*Mushroom Barley Soup*

1oz. dried mushrooms. I used chanterelle's
4T. olive oil
5 carrots, diced
5 ribs of celery, diced
2 medium onions, diced
10 cloves of garlic, chopped (this was a bulb)
2lb. of sliced mushrooms
1/2c. Sherry or cooking wine
4 cartons of beef stock (16 cups). I use College Inn "Bold" flavor
1.5 c dried barley
2T. dried thyme
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Start off by soaking the dried mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Make sure to save the water. These are the mushrooms I used:







While the dried mushrooms are reconstituting, start chopping your onion, carrot, celery, garlic. Rinse your mushrooms well.






Add oil to a large soup pot and heat to medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until slightly softened and then add celery and carrot. Cook for 7-10 minutes until all vegetables have softened and then add your chopped garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. I always throw my garlic in last before the wet ingredients so it doesn't burn.






After the vegetables have softened, remove the reconstituted dried mushrooms with a slotted spoon and finely dice. A slap chopper makes quick work of this. Run the reserved 2 cups of water through a strainer to capture any solids and sediment.






Add the chopped reconstituted chanterelles and sliced fresh mushrooms.  Cook for about 15 minutes until all the mushrooms have sweated out their moisture and it has evaporated. 






Next, add 1/2 cup of Sherry and cook for a few minutes until evaporated, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the reserved soaking liquid, broth, thyme and barley. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 40-45 minutes.






Season to taste with salt and pepper. Squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon juice in your bowl if desired. I never add salt to this. I find the broth adds enough.

Mushroom Barley Soup w/ Stoverags. Enjoy!






The stoverags were made a day prior, So I just reheated them covered in the microwave for 45 seconds and brushed brown butter that I made on the stove. They still hit the spot for me. 
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Okay, now for the Lokshi. It is basically day old mashed cold mashed potatoes mixed with flour. Mix potatoes and flour together until it gets "doughy"...(not my words). Form into balls and then roll into a thin flat circle with a rolling pin. When I asked, how much potatoes to flour, I got "I don't know, until it looks right." No wonder why old recipes can be a pain in the ass!! So I prodded a little more and was told a cup of potatoes to a half-cup of flour...... depending on the potatoes   

I cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup flour
brown butter

Balls are formed.






Once all the dough is rolled flat, heat in an ungreased cast iron skillet or pan until brown spots appear on both sides. Only a few minutes per side. Once they are finished, brush with browned butter. Roll up and brush with more browned butter. Keep under wax paper when making them.











Thanks for looking,

Joe


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## jcam222 (Jan 13, 2020)

Looks delcious!! Love the old traditional  shared food here.


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## chopsaw (Jan 13, 2020)

Yum !  Man that all looks great .


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## tx smoker (Jan 13, 2020)

OMG Joe!! You certainly got my attention, that's fur sure. Soup looks amazing and those stoverags are just to die for. Kinda reminds me a little bit of a potato pancake, which I grew up with and loved. They were always a breakfast food though but this has me thinking in a totally different direction, and you know how dangerous that can be for me    God only knows where I might take this. First off I'm thinking some really good braised beef in the soup (sorry, I'm the quintessential carnivore) but I'd change nothing about the stoverags. If there was a way to put those in a needle and enjoy them intravenously I probably would. Big LIKE my friend. This looks nothing short of amazing!! Do I see another carousel ride coming??

Maybe....
Robert


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## Fueling Around (Jan 13, 2020)

Love barley soup.
Wife is funny and doesn't like beef (meat or stock) in soup outside of French Onion Soup.
Mushrooms is a hockey no in any soup..
I'll be eating this alone.

Never heard of Polish lokshi.
Hmm, a thicker pita bread version of Scandinavian lefsa.  That is on my list of to do.  Got leftover Christmas mashed taters in the freezer begging for


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## Steve H (Jan 14, 2020)

Mmm, another soup I gots to try! Point!


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## tropics (Jan 14, 2020)

Joe I could go for a bowl of that soup a little cool this morning,I could make the  Lokshi looks easier then the Pierogies. Likes
Richie


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## xray (Jan 14, 2020)

jcam222 said:


> Looks delcious!! Love the old traditional  shared food here.



Thanks jcam, I try to keep some of it alive. A lot of the old ways are disappearing around here.



tx smoker said:


> OMG Joe!! You certainly got my attention, that's fur sure. Soup looks amazing and those stoverags are just to die for. Kinda reminds me a little bit of a potato pancake, which I grew up with and loved. They were always a breakfast food though but this has me thinking in a totally different direction, and you know how dangerous that can be for me    God only knows where I might take this. First off I'm thinking some really good braised beef in the soup (sorry, I'm the quintessential carnivore) but I'd change nothing about the stoverags. If there was a way to put those in a needle and enjoy them intravenously I probably would. Big LIKE my friend. This looks nothing short of amazing!! Do I see another carousel ride coming??
> 
> Maybe....
> Robert



Thanks Robert. I've made this soup with beef cubes before, it's definitely good. The last soup we made plus the pinto beans had meat in it. I like to change things up, so the mushrooms and the barley are a good change of pace.

I've eaten stoverags for as long as I could remember. My grandmother would make them all the time. She's still around but has slowed down tremendously. She's mid 90s now and hasn't made them in quite some while, but I'm glad that it is a simple recipe to pass on and remind me of her.

They can be stuffed and also eaten with jelly over top. Stuffing them with sauerkraut isn't unheard of....but these, I'll always just eat them with browned butter. It just hits the nostalgia bone. 

She always made potato cakes too. She would fry them up at the church bazaars in the summertime and make them for us when she stopped over her house. Those were always good too!!



Fueling Around said:


> Love barley soup.
> Wife is funny and doesn't like beef (meat or stock) in soup outside of French Onion Soup.
> Mushrooms is a hockey no in any soup..
> I'll be eating this alone.
> ...



Thank you. You could easily sub out beef for chicken and vegetable. Actually when I made this, I ended up using 3 cartons of beef stock and 1 carton of chicken because my wife didn't buy enough ingredients. Math isn't her strong point, but I make do! lol

I've never hear of lefsa, a quick search looks like it's almost identical to the stoverags. The lefsa looks like it is made to be sweeter with the addition of cream and sugar. It sounds good to me. The stoverags are definitely more resemble a tortilla than a pita. I think when they're rolled up they look puffier than they actually are.


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## xray (Jan 14, 2020)

Steve H said:


> Mmm, another soup I gots to try! Point!



Thank you Steve, and thank you for the point. We definitely have the climate to try a lot of soups!



tropics said:


> Joe I could go for a bowl of that soup a little cool this morning,I could make the  Lokshi looks easier then the Pierogies. Likes
> Richie



Thank you Richie, I appreciate it.  The soup will keep me warm all week. The lokshi is definitely easy to make, especially since it's just leftover mashed potatoes and flour. Let me know if you try it.


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## xray (Jan 14, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> Yum !  Man that all looks great .



Thanks Chop! I wear expandable pants at dinnertime! Lol


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 14, 2020)

Interesting how different regions of Poland have different foods. I have never had Lokshi  but my Grandmother did make a German influenced Mashed Potato, Egg and Flour Dumpling that was Boiled then sauteed in Brown Butter. Our meatless Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup is similar but with water and Condensed Tomato Soup.
I need to try BOTH of your Grandma's recipes...JJ


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## smokerjim (Jan 14, 2020)

looks delicous, i'm not big on soup but I could dive into that!


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## Fueling Around (Jan 15, 2020)

xray said:


> ...
> I've never hear of lefsa, a quick search looks like it's almost identical to the stoverags. The lefsa looks like it is made to be sweeter with the addition of cream and sugar. It sounds good to me. The stoverags are definitely more resemble a tortilla than a pita. I think when they're rolled up they look puffier than they actually are.


Interesting similarity in food considering the separation between the cultures.
Lefsa is made from riced potatoes with flour, butter, and cream. We never add sugar until eating.
Stoverags is made from mashed potatoes (riced potatoes, cream, and butter) and flour.
Looking forward to trying them.  With wife on a no mushroom and wheat restricted diet, I'll be dining solo.


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## xray (Jan 15, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Interesting how different regions of Poland have different foods. I have never had Lokshi  but my Grandmother did make a German influenced Mashed Potato, Egg and Flour Dumpling that was Boiled then sauteed in Brown Butter. Our meatless Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup is similar but with water and Condensed Tomato Soup.
> I need to try BOTH of your Grandma's recipes...JJ



It’s also amazing how there’s variations within the same small towns and streets here. You could go miles down the road and traditions and customs varied wildly. Being from Enyon and somewhat local you could understand what I mean by this.

But the one thing all people in the coal region shared was hard work, family, religion....and being frugal!


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## xray (Jan 15, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> looks delicous, i'm not big on soup but I could dive into that!



Thanks Jim, a lot of barley gives it a hearty feel.



Fueling Around said:


> Interesting similarity in food considering the separation between the cultures.
> Lefsa is made from riced potatoes with flour, butter, and cream. We never add sugar until eating.
> Stoverags is made from mashed potatoes (riced potatoes, cream, and butter) and flour.
> Looking forward to trying them.  With wife on a no mushroom and wheat restricted diet, I'll be dining solo.



Sounds good! This makes a lot and the recipe can be cut in half easily. If you were closer, I’d help you eat it all up!


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## Bearcarver (Jan 31, 2020)

All looks Great, Xray, and all seems to be done "Until it Looks Right"!!
Nice Job & Great Post!!
Like.

Bear


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## xray (Jan 31, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> All looks Great, Xray, and all seems to be done "Until it Looks Right"!!
> Nice Job & Great Post!!
> Like.
> 
> Bear




Thanks Bear! And thanks for the like. I appreciate it.


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