Tonight, Karen told me she was going to make Barley. I haven’t had that before and it turns out that she had never cooked it before. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen it on a restaurant menu either (other than in a barley soup). She looked at the package for cooking instructions and there were none. She said “Do you think I need to soak it?” and I said confidently, “Yes, you need to soak it”. She said, “I’ll investigate” (of course she does – haha).
She had already decided that she was going to add some baby bella mushrooms and onion. We have mushrooms often since we are blessed with mushroom houses in this area. We frequent Sherrockee Mushroom Farms (not a sponsor) only a few minutes away. Portabella caps are so cheap and they have this huge variety box for around $11 that has so much in it that you have to share. Check it out if you are in the area.
So anyway, we had a new side dish that was awesome. The barley is hard to describe. If you are fan of sushi rolls, the only way I described it was…. you know the little eggs on the rolls (tobiko?)… like that but bigger and they don’t pop.
Barley with Mushrooms and Onion
Ingredients
- ¾ cup barley
- 2¼ cups beef broth
- 4 oz cremini mushrooms (baby bellas) sliced
- 1 onion small, sliced into ¼ rings
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp butter
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Put beef broth and barley in sauce pan and bring to boil on medium heat.
- Once boiling reduce to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until tender (keep an eye on it so the liquid does not reduce too much, add water tbsp at a time if needed).
- Saute mushrooms in a lightly greased deep skillet for 4 minutes.
- Move mushrooms to the side, add garlic and onion, continue to saute for 3 minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp butter. Once onions become tender mix in barley and remaining butter.
- Stir and cook until warmed through, serve.
