You would have to go far and wide to find a more "comforting" soup. This is a great soup and a joy to serve. The Petite Knishes is one of my favorites and I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and friends do. Please boil the egg barley separately so as to remove the starch.

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, cleaned and very thinly sliced
1/2 pound baby carrots, sliced
2 large onions, finely chopped
6 shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons butter

1 package (7 ounces) egg barley (barley-shaped egg noodles)
1 quart boiling water

6 cups rich chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven casserole, sauté together first group of ingredients until onions are soft and all the liquid rendered is evaporated. In a separate pot, boil the egg barley in simmering water until almost tender and drain in a large strainer. (Don't use a colander or your barley will run down the drain.) Add the barley and the remaining ingredients to the Dutch oven and simmer soup for 10 minutes, stirring now and again. Serves 10.