Barley doesn’t get used much these days. It’s not sexy the way quinoa is, or haute-Asian, like the black, red and purple rice varieties I’ve tried and found eminently forgettable. But barley is cheap, nutritious and has a pleasant earthy aroma and texture. It adapts well to a lot of recipes in place of rice or potatoes. Tori and I like barley, just cooked in broth, or in something, like Beef and Barley Stew:
- 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, most of fat removed, cut in bite sized chunks
- 2 Tbs butter
- 3 good sized carrots
- 1 rib celery
- 1 onion, cut in half
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms
- 1 cup pearled barley, sorted, washed and drained
- 2 to 4 cups beef stock, preferably homemade and unsalted
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbs fresh)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Using a large (4 or 5 quart) saucepan or dutch oven, saute the beef in butter over medium high heat until well browned and almost dry, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, finely dice 1 carrot, the celery, half the onion, and a couple mushrooms. Add the diced vegetables and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 5 more minutes. Add the barley and stir to coat with the butter and juices that have rendered out of the meat and vegetables. Add the thyme, salt, pepper and enough stock to cover everything well, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender and barley is fully cooked, about 2 hours, adding more stock as necessary to keep everything completely submerged.
Correct the seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if needed, at this point.
Chop the remaining carrots, mushrooms and onion into large bite sized pieces, add them to the pot, and simmer until crisp-tender, about another 15 minutes. This stew rarely needs thickening because the barley absorbs so much liquid, but if you do need to thicken, just take out a couple tablespoons of the cooked grain, mash well with the back of a spoon and then stir back in over medium-high heat.
PS: I like soup every day with lunch (it’s just a thing...) and my wife thought it was terribly clever when I used some additional strong beef stock to thin the leftovers from this recipe into a very nice soup the next day. Just don’t forget to correct the salt.