4 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cup pearl barley
3 cup chicken or beef broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 garnish: chopped parsley
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large casserole. Saute
onions 2 minutes over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute 5-7
minutes more. Add barley. Cook until lightly browned. Add 2 cups of
broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and bake
45 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup of broth. Return to oven and bake 30
minutes more. Garnish with chopped parsley.
SOURCE: National Cooking Echo 04/19/90 Contributed to the echo by:
Ellen Cleary
Servings: 8 servings
Barley Casserole Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Casserole; Main Dish
The History of Recipes
Written recipes as a concept can be found far back into distant history, in fact as far back into history as the Egyptians, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these old recipes were just primitive hieroglyphic recipes for preparing meals.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts in ancient history are a few ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Continuing our culinary historical journey, we find a couple of books which appeared in the fourteenth century : a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these books have no connection with the indian curry that is popular today, but rather recipes for the types of food on the menus of the rich people of those days. Later on, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and herbs from the holy land, including spices like parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new culinary ideas caused an explosion in books on cookery, many of which still exist in private collections. Over the succeeding few centuries, the powerful and rich strove to lay on the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best chefs and their collection of recipes increased in prestige. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cooking and recipe collections became really popular. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collating, verifying, and publishing recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. When we get to the 20th century, cookbooks are starting to become popular mostly as a result of better eduction, people having increased free time and a general increase in wealth. The TV revolution gave us celebrity TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Barley Casserole recipe.
