Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   1      ounce         dried mushrooms
   1 1/2  cups          hot water
   2      tablespoons   butter
   1      small         onion -- minced
     1/4  cup           barley -- fine
   6      cups          chicken broth, fat free
          piece         black pepper
   2      small         potato -- peeled and diced
   2      whole         carrots -- peeled and dices
                        dill weed
                        sour cream, nonfat
   1      whole         bay leaf

Preparation:

Soak mushrooms in hot water for 20-30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve -- reserving the liquid. Chop the mushrooms and set aside. In a sauce pan saute the onion in butter unti soft, add the chopped mushrooms, carrot, barley, reserved mushroom liquid, chicken stock and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add potatoes and bay leaf. Cover and let simmer 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and stir in the sour cream (e yeball it). reheat sop but do not let it boil -- garnish with a pinch of dill weed before serving. NOTES : To add sour cream, stir a little of the of soup into cream, then a little more, then stir all together. Otherwise, the cream lumps into white globules -- most unattractive!