Cannellini and Lamb soup

'cuz everything's better with coriander, right?

I recently discussed eating legumes with a friend and as a consequence decided to look up some recipes containing them in Jerusalem. This specific recipe does contain beans but obviously doesn't encourage vegetarianism.
I have an ambivalent relationship with legumes. I hated them as a child. Now I like them, but not love them, and only when they're nicely cooked and not tough. This specific recipe involves:
-lamb (the piece I used was about 150 grs I guess).
- 200 grs cannellini beans
- Charlotte potatoes-it's up to you how many, really.
-4 cardamome pods. And crush them! I didn't, and they kept floating in my soup.
a tbsp tomato purée
salt

Put the lamb, cut in cubes, in boiling water with salt. Let simmer about 20 mins and remove the scum regularly. I'm not used to boiling meat, and it's not pretty. Especially if you don't watch your pot because you're trying to see The Simpsons in the meantime, and find your pan exploding with brownish foam, But it does go away . So you should have a broth, at this point.. Add the cannellini, which should have been left to soak overnight (or a whole day). This is important or they'll be uneadible. Don't listen to anyone who tells you it's enough to soak legumes for a few hours. Add the cardamome pods and the tomato purée. Leave to simmer for one hour (this time you can watch tv in the process, as long as you go check the pot once in a while and add water if necessary). Add the potatoes, wait another 20 mins, or until the beans and potatoes are soft.

This is a warm, conforting dish. However I add a few issues with it. Mainly, it's a bit of a pain to make. It doesn't require massive activity but it takes long, and boiling the meat was a pain. Then, the cannellini were ok, but still a bit tough for my taste. I've been advised to use baking soda in the soaking water. Thirdly, but this admittedly my fault since I don't really bother with proportions, there were tons of beans and potatoes and not that much meat. I had beans and potato soup for two more days. I know a lot of people deliberately create leftovers but I don't, I'm too worried I'll end up throwing out stuff if have a few unplanned restaurant trips or something (it has been known to happen, by the way)... The potatoes felt stuffy and kinda pointless. I guess they add carbs to the dish, but I'm wondering if a handful of rice wouldn't have been more pleasant.
My verdict: an interesting dish but not one I plan to make again soon, except maybe for guests where the effort and large quantities make more sense.

Armenian hot yoghurt and pearl barley soup

The Armenians occupy one of the four quarters of  old Jerusalem and have a very long history of presence in the city. I decided to make this soup because it seemed like a great dish for a cold evening. Needless to say, it was my first introduction to Armenian food, since I snubbed their eateries in Jerusalem and haven't been otherwise to Armenia or other places with lots of Armenians, so I can't say if this recipe felt a little weird because Armenian cuisine's a little weird for my palate, or because something didn't quite go as it should have. Here is my recipe, reproportioned for one:
- 70 g of pearl barley
-half an onion, finely chopped
- mint leaves
- 2 spoonfuls olive oil (the original indicates butter)
- 1 egg
- 3 large spoonfuls of plain yoghurt
- salt and black pepper

Fill a pan with water and put the barley to boil with a teaspoonful of salt, until the barley is cooked but al dente, you need water for the soup so add some if it's evaporating. In the meantime, sauté the onion and mint in olive oil. Whisk the egg and yoghurt in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in the barley and water, one ladle at the time, so that the yoghurt doesn't split. Then return the soup to the stove and bring to medium eat, stirring continuously. Serve hot.

The main issue I had with the soup is that it was too "eggy", because of problems in reproportioning. The original recipe is for 4 people and includes 2 eggs, and obviously there was no way I could use less than one egg. It felt a bit like some sort of liquid omelet (but maybe that's how the Armenians like it?) Next time, I'm certainly going to use a ton more herbs to temper this, because anything which is yoghurt/herbs is bound to be delicious. I also don't get why Ottolenghi&Tamimi recommend using butter so much in contexts where olive oil would make much more sense to me (after all, this is Mediterranean food we're talking about). Maybe they're adapting the recipes to their intended British audience?
However, it made me think that barley is an ingredient I totally need to use more and it's true that it makes for a very comforting dish.