BARLEY Becomes A Better Kisser
Serendipity -- it's a wildly-wonderful happening. It fuels us at the NC.
"Accidental discovery," I told brother Chase not long ago. "That's about the best way I can think to explain it." (I wanted him to know it was more than the title of a John Cusack movie.)
One is most likely to experience 'accidental discovery' through experimentation. Exploring. Trying new things. That sort of thing.
Which is the best way to explain today's baby-dish at the NC -- a simple spicing of healthy, humble barley. It was experimental... and has become an NC darling. See, during our photo shoot of Zesty Eggplant Curry-Slurry, I had wanted to demonstrate how the dish could, if so desired, be eaten like a typical curry n' rice. Except we were out of rice. So I had reached for the barley and spiced it up, including it in the photo. ('Twas a marvelous combo with the eggplant, I must say).
Requests for the 'barley recipe' have since issued forth. We've hung on to it until now -- it makes for an excellent post-holiday post, when people want to become something a little better, beginning with healthy eats. At least, lessen the damage from the holidays...
Barley. Are you familiar with it? It's a grain. (You'll find it floating around in a lot of soups, which I do NOT like, but...) It's really good for you. If you're sketchy about it, no problem. This spicing-method works equally well with brown rice.
Soft-yet-firm kisses. That is what cooked barley grains are like. But kisses should not be bland.
We at the NC, at least, won't have that. Nope. Not ever.
RECIPE B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N
First had come the skepticism. About using barley. But whatever. It was what we had. And besides, we had just needed an accompaniment side dish for the photo...and my dinner. I ate it all, relishing the healthy-good-happy things absorbing into my body. And it tasted yummy, too.
Upon the recipe's resurrection for this post, Trobee declared:"This is a damn good recipe."
Uh, what?, I thought. "Uh, what?" I said. I remembered her, ah, hesitation.
"Frick yeah, I love this recipe. It's very Northern Indian..." (referring to it's mildly-spiced non-hotness), "but it's still good to me. (Trobee is shamelessly South-y in her spicing preferences.) When we made this last time, I wanted to frickin' demolish it!"
"Hm. Cool."
"Yeah! It really is. Plus it's so simple to make...."
* * *
"Cinnamon and cloves smell SO damn good together! I can't even handle it."
Hm. Ok.
She went on. "You know what I absolutely love?" I couldn't imagine. But I bit. "What?" "Roasted... cinnamon."
I nodded. It is indeed a truly marvelous thing. How many people actually experience it?
* * *
"So...do you think this will be as good?" I asked Trobee when we tried this recipe on brown rice. "You're the fan of Texmati."
"Damn right I do."
Texmati is a hybrid of brown rice and Basmati rice, actually available in our local supermarket. The 'Tex' part refers to Texas, just as Calmati rice is from California. Essentially, they are varieties of 'brown' basmati rice. Trobee loves it. Loves it.
"Does brown rice take the same amount of time to cook as the barley?" she wanted to know.
"Yeah, 45 minutes. We'll see how it all turns out."
Wanna know more about how barley boosts your precious bod? Check out the info on The World's Healthiest Foods (non-profit) website. Trina, anyway, wants to know why it's 'good'. Eat up, Trina.
photos by Trina
Besame Barley
'Besame' (pronounced BEH-sah-may) means 'Kiss Me' in Spanish. I think.
- 3/4 cup barley or 1 cup brown rice
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- salt and pepper
Masala:
- 3 whole cloves
- 2 cardamom pods, bonked slightly open
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
1) In a medium pot, heat the oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add the masala and fry for about 30 seconds. Then add the garlic and cook until it turns light brown.
2) Add the barley and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the broth. Bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer about 45-55 minutes, or until the grains are soft.
