Graupensuppe - German Barley Soup

For the moment the weather is quite nice.  But, we all know it will get cold again.  So with that in mind, I want to post a recipe that I found on the Saveur.com website.  It is for a German style Barley soup.  This soup is a real stick to the ribs, warm you up kind of soup.  The recipe can be found on the Saveur website here:  Graupensuppe-German-Barley-Soup.
The obligatory photo is followed by the recipe.  As usual I have some comments at the end of the recipe.

Graupensuppe German Barley Soup

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup pearl barley
8 cups vegetable stock
½ cup finely chopped peeled russet potato
½ cup finely chopped carrot
½ cup finely chopped celery root
½ cup finely chopped leek
1 tsp. dried marjoram
2 German sausages, like bockwurst or bratwurst
1 (2-oz.) piece bacon
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup thinly sliced flat-leaf parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add barley, and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Add stock, potato, carrot, celery root, leek, marjoram, sausages, and bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sausages are tender, about 35 minutes. Remove sausages and bacon from saucepan, thinly slice sausages, and discard bacon. Season soup with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. To serve, ladle soup into 8 serving bowls, and garnish with parsley and sliced sausage.

Notes:

I used a weak chicken stock in place of the vegetable stock.

I did not find celery root (celeriac) in the local market so I used celery in it's place.  I worked just fine.

As you can tell from my photo, I did not discard the bacon but saved it and cut it up to be added to the soup.

I also omitted the parsley.

I like this recipe.  It will make a showing in this years International Cuisine Class when we are in Germany.

Until next time.

Bon Appetit Y'all,

Chef Leslie Bartosh