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Recipe: Baked Barley with Shiitake Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

From one of my good friends in the new life in Pittsburgh. Great as a main course or side dish.  For you barleyphobes (UK school dinner fear) - face it and think of the shiitake. Very, very good winter comfort food. Thanks to Cheryl.

Paula from Pitt.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp butter, 3 medium onions chopped, 1 tspn sugar
• 9oz sliced button or chestnut mushrooms & 8oz sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1.5cups uncooked pearl barley (UK people a cup is 8floz so use 12floz in your measuring jug)
• 1tbsp soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste, pinch dried (or chopped sprig fresh) thyme
• 4cups (32floz) vegetable broth (stock)
• fresh thyme sprigs if you like

How to: Melt butter in a heavy bottomed casserole dish over medium heat, add onion & sugar, cover and cook for 25 mins or til golden brown, stirring frequently.

Add mushrooms, cook for 10 mins or until browned, stirring frequently.

Add barley, cook 2 mins, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat, stir in soy sauce, salt, pepper & thyme. Preheat oven to 350F (175C, Gas 4)

Bring broth to the boil, pour over mushroom & barley. Cover & put in oven for 1 hour-ish until barley is tender. Let stand 10 mins out of oven. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

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Recipe: Spiced Tomato Soup

There is only one Tomato Soup and that is made by a firm that is not British (surprise!) but from Pittsburgh and comes in an Andy Warhol tin.  But with a surfeit of sun dried tomatoes one night I made this.  Pretty darn good we thought.  Very, very rich but based on what might be found in most store cupboards.

Paula from Pitt

Ingredients (Imperial as I now live in the Glorious Homeland - as an "alien")

• 3-4oz sun dried tomatoes soaked in 2 cups (= 16floz) hot water for about 1/2 hour, chopped
• 2 tbspn vegetable oil (or 1 each of veg & olive oil), chopped onion, 1-2 bay leaves, chopped celery stick (don't worry it will be blended later for those that avoid celery), 1/2 tspn chili powder, 1/2 tspn cinnamon (trust me I'm a doctor), 2 cardamom pods cracked
• 14oz(ish) tin tomatoes chopped plus juice
• 1 cup(ish) water, 1 tbsn shredded basil, salt to taste, good grind black pepper, yoghurt or sour cream

How to: put oil in medium sized, heavy based pan with lid, with chili powder, cinnamon, cardamom and medium heat for 2-3 mins til spices give off aroma and start to crack.

Add bay leaves, onion, celery, turn down heat very low and put lid on and soften for 20 mins or so till onion goes clear but not brown.

Add tinned tomatoes & juice and sun dried tomatoes & juice. Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Remove bay leaves & cardamom, liquidise soup (this really is better smooth). Add basil, salt, pepper and a cup or so of water to get to a thick but still soupish consistency (your choice).  Warm through.  Serve into warm bowls and add a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt if you like.  I'd suggest not cream as you need something sharp to cut through the rich sweetness of the soup.

NB if you want to make this ahead of time (soups are often better the next day) then stop before you remove the spices and liquidise.  Let it cool. Store for a day and then remove spices etc.

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Recipe: Twice as Nice Curry

Ever thought curry is nicer the day after? I went into my laboratory and came up with this modification of a simple curry recipe that has the cooked-in qulaities of a day-after curry. The secret? Finish the cooking in the oven...

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Recipe: Proper American Pancakes

DON'T, from some misguided egalitarian impulse, wrap them in a cloth or put them in a warm oven until you've cooked the lot, as they'll go flaccid and lose a great deal of their charm. Pancakes are an action breakfast

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Recipe: Guacamole Zinger

Guacamole, pretty simple, right? Erm, well yes it is but this recipe adds lime to create a serious zing and let's face it who hasn't eaten guacamole and wished it could live up better to its lively Latin reputation?

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Recipe: Veggie Sausage Sandwich (with Green Pesto)

In my opinion, vegetarian Lincolnshire style sausages work best with the green pesto.

And for added effect, once the sausages are cooked, pop the whole sandwich into a sandwich toaster or George Forman grill for a couple of mins to brown the outside of the bread before eating.

Voila! A quick and tasty supper.

Yvonne

PS: You could be really experimental and try adding fried onion too.

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Recipe: Kubi Lamb

This is a Turkish lamb and chickpea dish that can be perfectly accompanied by the Moro Saffron Rice dish (see sides). I have Kubi to thank for this beauty.

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Recipe: Lemon, Almond & Gin Tart

As promised.  Easy if somewhat time consuming so I make the pastry one night, then filling & baking the next, so it's ready the day before you want it.  I've set the recipe up for this.  This gives you time to trickle the gin syrup in and let it soak.  Use any left over juice/zest in another part of the recipe.  I found this in a magazine years ago at a mate's house - sorry I have no idea who owns the copyright!

Heaven's own pud.

Paula

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Recipe: Witte Rijst met Krenten

This recipe may well make you believe that Dutch cuisine deserves the reputation that British cuisine has, but if you, like me, love rice and, like me, love currants, and, like me, have a sweet tooth, you might think this is the best dish in the world.

The other day I had eaten a big bowl of soup earlier on and neither fancied eating a complete meal, nor going out to the shops to buy a snack. Looking in our cupboards, I noticed all the ready-made snacks had already disappeared in our stomachs. My wife, who as always shared my predicament, decided to just boil some rice and snack on that. I would have gone along with that, had it not reminded me of one of the greatest dishes I had as a child.

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Recipe: Chocolate & Prune Cake Revised

I'm not a chocoholic but I adore a piece of seriously dark chocolate (+/-cake) with coffee in the morning.  I search continually for the ultimate chocolate cake to feed my pals at dinner. Moro do a cardamom one which you love or hate.  So in my new Ursula Ferrigno book I found Ursula's search echos my own.  And this could be it - tried and tested on Sat night to a 100% yum rating.  Don't be put off by the prunes - by the time you've brandied them they are a far call from English hotel breakfast prunes (which I actually love!)

Paula

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