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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Mushroom barley 'risotto'

I had been trying to solve a problem with risotto: you really need white wine to make it good, but if we opened a bottle of white wine for risotto the other 90% of the bottle will go wrong before we'd ever get around to drinking/using it.  I did some research, and decided the answer might be to use white vermouth instead: you can put the lid back on and keep it in the cupboard til next time.  We bought it at the same time as creme de cassis (for cake) and a bottle of single malt (for Burns Supper) - what a weird combination.

Last night S and I had quite a lengthy discussion about what to do for dinner, and in the end I made a mushroom risotto with barley instead of risotto rice.  Mushrooms and barley are one of those combinations that is just meant to be, in my book

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
~ 8 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (use a mixture of different kinds of fresh and dried mushrooms if you have them)
1/2 tbsp thyme leaves
~1 cup pearl barley
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
3 tbsp white vermouth
~3 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt+pepper

toasted sunflower seeds, to serve

Heat oil in a medium saucepan, add the onion and garlic, cover and sweat for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are softened.  Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for a bit longer, uncovered, until the mushrooms are browned, then add the soy sauce.  Add the pearl barley and stir and mix for a few minutes to coat.  Add the vermouth and cook until it is mostly evaporated.  Next add the stock a bit at a time, stirring and waiting for it to bubble off while you cook.  As you get close to using it all up taste the barley grains for texture - they are good with a little bite left.  Use a little more or less stock until the texture is good.  The cooking process takes about half an hour.  Finally, add the parsley and season to taste.  Serve with toasted sunflower seeds on top, if you want.


This was pretty successful.  The vermouth worked very well as a wine substitute.  The process took about an hour from beginning to end: more than I was thinking when I was just thinking of the barley cooking time.  May consider soaking the barley in stock while doing the first steps to speed it up, but I think the flavour might not be as good.  Happy to have the fresh thyme and parsley too, they really made it good.
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