The broth was bland. That’s about the only thing that can go wrong with barley risotto, in fact. I followed the directions precisely, so it actually wasn’t my fault for once. Jumping into my ceiling yesterday morning, now THAT was completely my fault. To be fair, the ceiling was a bit closer than it appeared while I was trying to pull on a pair of pants. Stupid? Yes. But the vegetable stock? Not me being stupid, believe it or not.
Can I say “classic” about barley risotto? I mean, it’s not arborio or carnaroli rice – the traditional risotto rices – but it’s certainly not a groundbreaking idea. In fact it’s Molly O’Neill’s non-groundbreaking idea. She originally wrote this recipe for the New York Times in 1990, but she had in turn adapted it from a restaurant in New York City called Luma. I got it from the New York Times cookbook edited by Amanda Hesser, and it’s the first recipe from the book to fail me.
Well, this recipe is at least ‘classic’ in the sense that it follows all the general risotto rules and ingredients minus the rice; celery, carrots, onions and garlic in olive oil, homemade broth, cooked long and slow until creamy and al dente. Barley risotto is also kind of the idiot’s risotto because you don’t need to stir constantly for 30 minutes to keep it from burning, and you’ll be hard-pressed to over-cook it to a mushy consistency. Seemed like the recipe for me. As my mother always say, “Stupider people than you have done it.” Sage, my mother.
So I say use a better vegetable stock (homemade does not automatically mean delicious the same way that everything you make at home doesn’t automatically turn out wonderfully – so find some delicious stock, or use an organic bouillon cube or powder (Shh! I didn’t just write that!), and don’t be afraid of salty cheese to pump up the flavour, and you’ll be a-okay. And consider adding wine of a high enough quality after adding the barley (just a 1/2 cup max to deglaze the pot). Of a high enough quality, that is, that you’ll be happy to drink the rest with the meal. It helps. Not the alcohol – the flavour addition, I mean. Maybe the drinking too.
So I made some enhancements for flavour purposes to the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 carrots, cut into 4 pieces each, plus 1 minced carrot (The original recipe called for 1 carrot plus 3 tbsp minced. Seriously? 1 carrot? I mean, I know it was the brink of recession back in 1990’s America, but I think most families could afford a second carrot for broth. And 3 tbsp? Just cut the whole gosh-darn carrot)
2 stalks celery, cut into 4 pieces each, plus 1 minced stalk celery
2 onions, halved, plus 1 small minced onion
2 cloves garlic, mashed
5 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
5 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup barley
1 teaspoon oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt (don’t skimp!)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 – 1/2 cup Parmesan, Romano, or other salty, hard cheese, grated (optional)
Directions:
Make the broth by combining the carrot, celery, and onions pieces with the garlic, parsley, black peppercorns and water in a large saucepan. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer for an hour. Then strain out the vegetables and herbs (I still eat the carrots, bland as they may be, because it’s a) fibre, and b) satisfying in a baby food kind of way. They’re just going t get thrown out otherwise.
Put the broth back in the pot, cover, and keep warm on low heat while you make the risotto.
Toast the barley! This is the exciting part. In a large frying pan or heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, toss the barley around occasionally to let it brown evenly. The barley should be light brown and smell nutty after 20 minutes. If it doesn’t, turn up the heat a little and keep toasting. Take the pan off the heat and remove the barley to a bowl.
In the same skillet (why waste another skillet, Molly?), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the minced vegetables and cook for two minutes before turning the heat down to medium-low for another 5. Make sure the onions are softened before moving on to the next step.
Stir in the toasted barley.
Then add the rosemary, bay leaf, 1 1/2 cups of the warm vegetable stock you made earlier, and the salt and pepper. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover, and reduce the heat if necessary to keep it just simmering for about 35 minutes. You’re going to need to stir it a few times in there to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pan. I say add two cups of broth straight away to reduce the chances of having the heat too high and burning the risotto. Too much liquid is less dire than too little.
Test the barley for done-ness (is that a word?). It should be chewy, not tough, but not mushy. A little extra cooking and a liquid extra broth is a fine idea if you’re not sure if it’s done yet. Stir in the cheese (optional) or leave it on the side and eat with each bite to make sure you get cheese flavour with every mouthful (also optional. And the green sauce below is the parsley sauce from the swiss chard cakes, and also works well on the risotto).
The recipe says this serves 2 as a main course, but you’re going to need to add some protein and a side salad to make it substantial. It should serve 6 as an appetizer. Hmm…This all seems very subjective to me. It makes “a fair bit”. Lets just leave it at that.
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