A glass of beer, a loaf of bread, a bowl of cereal, a standard of measurement, a form of currency, a medication – they all began with barley – an ancient grain, possibly even older than rice. Barley’s once exalted status has been redefined. No longer does it serve as a unit of monetary exchange or a unit of measurement. No physician thinks of prescribing it for an ailing patient. Now, barley is largely relegated to being a food or a key ingredient in the making of beer.
We owe much to the desert nomads and the camel caravans who endured sandstorms and unrelenting heat to trade their sacks of barley with distant neighbors, who then traded with other distant neighbors. Our steaming bowl of mushroom barley soup is a hand-me-down recipe with roots that take us back to prehistoric man. In 2005 barley ranked fourth for cereal production. There are many types of barley, many different uses for it and a long history of its importance to mankind.
Barley has a unique family-friendly quality. You can make a batch ahead on a Sunday, and it keeps well for at least three days in the fridge, and up to three months in the freezer. Monday, you can use it as breakfast and Tuesday, put a cup or two in your salad, and on Wednesday, you can add a barley casserole to your meal.
Four ways to cook barley. For each cup of barley, add 2 1/4 cups of water.
-Stove top: bring barley to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 50 minutes.
-Rice cooker: barley will cook in the same amount of time as brown rice — approximately one cycle in a rice cooker.
-Oven: place barley and liquid in a covered casserole dish and cook it in the oven.
-Slow cooker: cook barley in a slow cooker for 3 to 4 hours on low heat.
Barley Chicken & Mushroom Casserole is such a wholesome and comforting meal.
Print Recipe
Barley Chicken & Mushroom Casserole
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
|
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
Chicken Thighs
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the seasonings until well combined. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and place them in the baking dish.
Rub both sides of the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the chicken, rubbing it on both sides of the chicken thighs.
Bake in the preheated oven, without moving or turning, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reaches at least 165° F. This will take about 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken thighs. During the last 15 minutes, place the cherry tomatoes on baking tray & roast. Remove chicken thighs & tomatoes from oven. Slice thighs in 1/4-inch thick slices. Keep chicken & roasted tomatoes warm.
Barley
In a saucepan, place the water & vegetable broth powder, stir to dissolve. Add barley & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer & cook barley until tender. Cooking time for pearl barley is around 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir the barley, cover the saucepan and let it stand for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Vegetables
In a saucepan, sauté vegetables in 1 Tbsp oil until tender then season to taste. Combine with cooked barley.
Serving
In a casserole serving dish, place the veg/barley mixture. Top with sliced chicken thighs & roasted tomatoes. Garnish with sliced green onion & serve.
Recipe Notes
- If you find the barley & vegetables seem a bit dry add a bit more vegetable broth.
Beef Stroganoff is a perfect dinner party dish – inexpensive and easy to prepare yet rich and luxurious. History reveals a simple but elegant dish of steak meat sautéed with onion and cooked in a sauce of sour cream, seasonings and usually, mushrooms.
This dish was invented sometime in the early 1800s and had its North American heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.
The best cuts of beef for stroganoff are tender, juicy cuts such as:
- boneless rib eye
- boneless sirloin.
- sirloin steak tips.
- beef tenderloin.
In researching beef stroganoff, I’ve seen recommendations for all sorts of things to serve it with, including kasha, egg noodles, French fried potatoes, rice, mashed potatoes with chives, wild rice, and the leftovers on buttered toast points.
Since Brion & I always enjoy risotto, it seems like a good choice to pair with our stroganoff. I’ve made risotto from rice, couscous, orzo and they were all good so today I’m using barley.
Print Recipe
Beef Stroganoff w/ Barley Risotto
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
|
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
Beef - Marinade
In a large zip-lock bag or glass dish, whisk together oil, soy sauce & Montreal Steak Spice. Add cubed steak & marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.
Mustard Sauce
In a small saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually whisk in chicken stock and mustard. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut tomato into thick strips. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook tomato until softened, 3-5 minutes. Stir into mustard sauce; add salt, liquid smoke & sour cream.
In same skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Drain beef using a strainer, discarding marinade. Add sliced onion & mushrooms to pan; cook and stir until onion is softened. Add beef & cook until meat is no longer pink, 6-8 minutes. Add mustard sauce; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened. Keep warm until serving.
Barley Risotto
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to maintain simmer. In another large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion & salt. Cook and stir until liquid evaporates. Add barley; toast in pan.
Stir hot water into barley 1 cup at a time, waiting until liquid has almost absorbed before adding more. Cook until barley is softened but still slightly chewy, 15-20 minutes; stir in parsley. Serve immediately with beef.
Barley has a storied history that extends well beyond the beef and barley soup. It’s Canada’s fourth largest crop, after wheat, canola and corn, and is an ancient grain that has been grown and consumed for thousands of years. In North America, barley is used for pet food, as a malt for brewing beer, and what it’s perhaps most famous for, as an ingredient in soup. But its applications go far beyond these examples. This is Canada’s homegrown wholegrain. Dried, it lasts for months. Ground, it makes a cake-like bread. Cooked, it triples in size and provides an ample amount of fiber. Its nutty flavor blends well with winter vegetables.
The beef-barley combination is a classic that is cooked in many households across the globe. Usually, it comes up in the form of either soup or stew but today I’m incorporating the combo in a ‘pie’ with potatoes.
Beef & Barley Pie is a rustic dish with plump barley and tender beef. It’s savory and satisfying with flavors that are reminiscent of the classics. This is a ‘no fuss’ easy to make meal.
Print Recipe
Beef & Barley Pie
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 Tbsp butter,
- 1 leek, both green & white parts, thinly chopped
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 150 gm fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 454 gm beef, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup pearl barley
- salt & pepper to taste
- 550 gm Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 100 gm Herb & Garlic cheddar, grated OR cheese of your own choice
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 Tbsp butter,
- 1 leek, both green & white parts, thinly chopped
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 150 gm fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 454 gm beef, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup pearl barley
- salt & pepper to taste
- 550 gm Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 100 gm Herb & Garlic cheddar, grated OR cheese of your own choice
|
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a DEEP 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
Place half of the butter in a large skillet over low heat & sauté leek, onion & mushrooms for 5 minutes or until softened. Transfer to a plate & set aside.
Add olive oil to pan, increase heat to high. When oil is hot, add beef & brown. Transfer to a separate plate. Add garlic & barley to pan, season with salt & pepper & cook for 1 minute then return beef to pan & stir to combine.
Place half the potatoes in base of pie pan. Layer meat over top followed by leek mixture. Use back of a spoon to flatten contents of pie, the overlap remaining potatoes on top. Pour in beef broth & sprinkle with thyme. Cover with foil & bake for about 2 hours.
Remove from oven, top with grated cheese, return to oven & bake uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes or until pie is golden. Remove from oven & serve with a vegetable of choice.
Risotto, a classic Italian dish with origins in the northern part of the country, is traditionally made with Arborio rice, a short-grained rice with a particularly starchy consistency. While the classic version is always a treat, I love the versatility of risotto, which can be made with just about any grain. In particular barley, not only because this nutty grain adds complexity to the dish in terms of taste and texture, but also because of the many health benefits of the grain.
The amount of work involved with this dish is much less than you’d think. Risotto has the reputation of needing a lot of attention, but in reality, it just needs a few stirs now and then, and little else.
Risotto is undoubtedly pure Italian comfort food. This creamy, hearty dish is usually associated with cold weather. However, risotto can be made with just about any seasonal ingredient and is delicious enjoyed year round!
Risotto can be as elegant or as simple as you like. Using butternut squash & beets adds some winter vegetable interest.
Print Recipe
Barley Risotto w/ Roast Butternut Squash & Beets
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
|
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
-
Rub unpeeled beets with some oil & bake until soft. Cool slightly, peel & dice. Set aside.
In a skillet, melt half the butter & sauté onion until soft; add the barley & mix until coated with butter. Add the wine, stir & allow to evaporate. Heat the broth & add a ladle to onion/barley mixture & leave until most of the broth is absorbed. Uncover, add some more broth; do not let the barley dry out. Cook barley until it is soft, over a medium heat. It should take about 20 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
On a baking tray, place squash, drizzle with some olive oil & sprinkle with pepper & add rosemary. Roast at 350 F. until soft but still firm. During the last 3 minutes add the beets to reheat them. Remove the rosemary.
When barley is cooked, remove the pan from the oven; add remaining butter & parmesan & stir well. Set aside for a couple of minutes. It should become quite creamy.
To serve, place on serving plates & top with roasted vegetables. Serve immediately.
Beef barley soup is a classic old-world dish, and it’s been simmering away in pots for centuries, probably as long as people have been making soup. It just makes sense ~ the little white pearls of barley add lovely texture, as well as extra nutrition and satisfying bulk, all important things when you’re trying to make dinner out of a pot of soup. For an added bonus, barley’s natural starch thickens the soup as it cooks.
Beef Barley Soup is classic comfort food that you can make on the stove or in the crock pot. The soup has roots in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. Mushrooms were popular in these cold-weather countries because they could be harvested, dried, and stored for later use.
Barley was also plentiful and easy to grow in the Eastern European climate, making it a common addition to hearty winter dishes like soup. Barley’s history goes back even further; in fact, it is arguably the world’s first and most ancient, cultivated grain.
As far as the meatballs, texture can be an issue. If the meatball is too wet, it will disintegrate when cooking in soups. If it is too dry, it will lose its flavor and potentially break up into pieces. Using the right amount of liquid or eggs for the mix to keep them moist, but equally so, enough breadcrumbs or flour to bind them adequately. Remember, you can never get enough seasoning, so don’t be gentle with it, and use spices and herbs liberally.
One of Brion’s favorite soups has always been mushroom beef barley, so now seems a good time to make some.
Print Recipe
Mushroom Barley Soup w/ Mini Meatballs
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
|
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
In a large saucepan, combine the broth, water, barley & thyme. Season with salt & pepper; bring to a boil. Cover & cook over low heat until the barley is nearly tender, about 18 minutes.
In a large skillet, heat oil. Add the mushrooms & shallot, season with salt & pepper; cook over high heat until tender and browned, about 8 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of salt & 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Knead the mixture until blended, then roll it into sixteen 1-inch balls.
Add the meatballs & mushrooms to the soup. Simmer over moderate heat until the meatballs are cooked through & the barley is tender, about 8 minutes. Discard the thyme. Stir the parsley into the soup & serve in bowls with sour cream.
