Have You Tried Barley?

As I mentioned a few days ago, I love barley.  Love.  I thought you might like to know more about this under utilized grain.

• Barley is the fourth largest grain crop after wheat, rice and corn. It is grown all over the world
• Barley is a great source of dietary fiber and contains both soluble and insoluble fiber.
• Barley is naturally cholesterol-free and low in fat.  A 1/2-cup serving of cooked pearl barley, a typical grain serving, contains less than 1/2 gram of fat and only 100 calories
• Barley is generally available in its pearled, hulled and flaked form (pearled barley is probably the easiest to find – any grocery store should carry it)
• Store barley in a tightly covered container in a cool, dry place

I read somewhere that you can grind the barley to make barley flour.  It has a weaker gluten than wheat flour, so you can only use barley flour to replace one quarter (or less) of the regular flour in yeast bread recipes.  In other recipes (like pancakes, muffins or banana bread) it can replace up to half of the regular flour.  One of the things I love the most about barley is the wonderfully, nutty flavor so I can imagine that I would love it in some banana muffins or some Sunday afternoon waffles.   


Want to try barley?  These soups are on my “recipe testing” list:

Chicken and Barley Stew

White Bean ‘n’ Barley Soup

Tomato Barley Soup

Want to read more?

Why Barley Makes the Best Breakfast

The World’s Healthiest Foods: Barley

Barley Foods: Heath and Nutrition

I Spy…

[photo from Pleasant Home]

Jodi over at Pleasant Home has some great Valentine’s Day treat ideas.  I just love these candy cane lollipops!

[photo from Pleasant Home]

On a side note:  sometimes I think it’s unfortunate that our kids can’t take homemade treats to school anymore.  I really do understand the reason for the policy, but when Valentine’s Day rolls around it seems quite lamentable.

Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley

When I think about all of the Sunday afternoons of my childhood, what comes to mind is our lunches:  soup and sandwiches.  I’m not sure just how often we actually ate it, but from where I stand now it seems like it was pretty much every week.  It was always the perfect just-home-from-church meal.  Having soup and sandwiches for lunch meant a can or two of some variety of Campbell’s soup and grilled cheese sandwiches slathered with honey.  Yes, I said honey.  Not just any honey.  Raw honey from Wyoming.  Amazing.  Ah but I digress.  This post is about soup.

As a kid, there were only one or two soups that I cared for.  I was never a big fan of chicken noodle, unless it was mom’s homemade soup with dad’s noodles from scratch.  Over the years my tastes would change, but for most of that time my favorite soup was Campbell’s Vegetable Beef.  I loved the soft chunks of carrots and bits of potato, but mostly I loved, loved, loved the barley.  I would try to scoop out as much barley as I could without being obvious about it.

Over the past few years I’ve made my own version of Vegetable Beef soup, changing the ingredients depending on what was in the pantry.  The only “recipe” that I had was a scribbling of what herbs to add and what the barley-to-broth ratio should be.  When I got a few requests for the recipe I decided to write it down and make it official.

One of the things I do love about this soup is how flexible it is.  I’ve tried different combinations of vegetables (see the notes section at the end of the recipe) and it’s always great.  If I’m wanting more of a stew I’ll only add in two cans of beef broth (plus the one cup of water.)  The barley soaks up the liquids and makes a lovely thick and hearty soup.  To stretch the soup (or if I’m serving a crusty loaf of bread along side) I’ll add in the third or even a fourth can of beef broth – perfect for sopping up with the bread!

Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley

1 lb stew meat **
2-3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 or 3 (14.5 oz) cans beef broth (total about 5 to 6 cups)
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
4 carrots, sliced
1 small onion, large dice/small chop
1-2 stalks of celery, large dice/small chop
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup pearl barley (use 3/4 cup if you LOVE barley)
1 small zuchinni, large dice/small chop
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Cut meat into 2-inch chunks.  Place flour in a large ziplock bag.  Add in beef chunks and shake to coat with flour.  Heat oil in large dutch oven or soup pot, over medium high heat.  Remove beef chunks from ziplock (shaking gently to remove excess flour) and place in hot pot.  Brown beef on one or two sides.  (What you’re doing here is developing flavors, NOT cooking the beef.)  Add 1 cup of beef broth to the pot, and use a spoon to scrape up bits on bottom of pan (that’s called fond and it adds wonderful depth of flavor to your soup.)  Add the canned tomatoes and the rest of the beef broth.  Cover and simmer (not boil!) on medium-low for 1 hour. 
Add onion, carrots, celery, barley, zucchini, thyme, and bay leaf (all remaining ingredients except peas) and 1 cup of water.  Simmer on medium-low for 1 hour or until beef and barley are tender.  Taste soup and add salt and pepper to your liking.  Add peas and simmer for 5 additional minutes to heat through.

notes:

I rarely buy meat that is cut and marked as “stew meat.”  It is usually more expensive because you are paying for the butcher to cut it up for you into nice little pieces.  I watch for large roasts to go on sale and then I buy several.  I cut them up myself and then freeze them into 1 lb packages – perfect for soups and stews!

For the vegetables in this soup you can really use anything.  Try adding small potato chunks, frozen/canned corn, frozen/canned green beans and even mushrooms.  My favorite though is the combination I used in the recipe above.

Orange / Lemon Brownies

I tried this recipe for Orange Brownies a couple of weeks ago.  Of course I can’t leave a recipe alone, so I tried them with lemon instead of orange.  The lemon version was just okay – I found myself wishing they were just regular (and delicious) lemon bars.  Next time I’m sticking with the original orange version. 

Here is a link to a gluten free version of orange brownies.  I haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t comment on this recipe.

By the way, I saw them first here.  Thanks Jodi!

Menu No. 115

Monday – Robyn’s Roast, brown rice
Tuesday -  Sloppy Joe Sliders, fruit salad, oven fries
Wednesday – Taco Bar! (Chicken or beef tacos with all of the topping options)
Thursday – Fajita Chicken Quesadillas
Friday – eat out
Saturday – let’s be honest.  We’ll probably eat out. 
Sunday – Chicken Piccata (I’ll make this version, although there’s a alternative version here.)

[Linking to Menu Plan Monday] 

Speaking of Spices...

There's an interesting article over on the Jacob's Cove blog.  Even though it mentions specific stores here in our local area, I'm sure with a little bit of investigation you could find bulk spices where you live as well.  Some friends of mine have also gone in together to purchase bulk spices and herbs from the San Fransisco Herb Co.

Have a great weekend everyone!

--andy

In my opinion…

Isn’t there a Seinfeld quote to go with pretty much every situation? 

Kramer: “A hot bowl of mulligatawny would hit the spot.”
Elaine: “Mulligatawny?”
Kramer: “Yes, it’s a delightful Hindu concoction simmered to perfection by one of the great soup artisans in the modern era.”


That has to be one of my all-time favorite episodes.  Ever.

Last year on a visit to one of our favorite local eateries I decided to try a bowl of Mulligatawny.  It immediately became one of my favorite soups.  It’s thick and hearty, filled with chunks of vegetables, and has just enough kick to warm you up.





I’m currently on the hunt for a perfect mulligatawny.  This recipe comes close – it has a lot of nice qualities.  First of all, I love the flavor – all of those amazing spices- oh so yummy.  I also love the creaminess of the soup.  That comes from the cream of course, but also the rice and the potato.  As the soup simmers some of the potato chunks dissolve a little and the rice continues to soften until it all blends together into creamy goodness.  In fact, I think next time I’ll try omitting the cream and adding another potato (diced small) to see if that will do the trick.  A dairy-free soup is a good thing around here.

One more thing I love about this recipe is the fact that it uses cooked chicken.  I tossed some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot last night and left them alone for about 2 1/2 hours.  I pulled them out, cut them into chunks and then put all of that in the fridge – ready for today’s soup.  Another option is to use up the leftovers from that roast chicken you had on Sunday.  The amount of chicken in this soup can be flexible – it calls for 3 lbs, but you could do less.  I really wouldn’t add more than 3 lbs or you’ll just end up with more of a casserole consistency.





This mulligatawny recipe was originally found here, but I’ve made some tweaks so I’ll type it up below.


Mulligatawny Soup
(12 servings)

2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garam masala
pinch of cayenne pepper (add up to 1/4 tsp if you like the heat)
3 lbs cooked chicken, chopped
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 large onions, chopped
3-4 carrots, diced
2 leeks, thinly sliced (white part only)
11 cups chicken stock (stock is best, but I used canned broth and it was great)
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup long grain rice (uncooked)
1 large (or 2 medium) potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup heavy cream
chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Combine minced garlic with all of the spices (cumin, cloves, curry powder, ginger, cayenne pepper, garam masala) and set aside.  In a large pot (and I mean LARGE) heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add celery, onions, carrots and leeks and saute until veggies are crisp-tender (about 5-8 minutes).  Add garlic and spices and stir to coat the vegetables.  Continue to saute for another 2 or 3 minutes – the garlic and spices will become fragrant.

Add in all 11 cups of chicken stock and rice.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add potato chunks.  Simmer for another 10 minutes or until potatoes and rice are softened.  Add lemon juice and cream and heat through over medium-low heat.  Taste soup and add salt and pepper and additional curry powder and cayenne pepper if you would like. 
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.