Barley

[jmcquown]

The barley for the pilaf I had planned for Christmas dinner was not the
barley I am used to.

I haven't been able to find *pearl* barley for years. When I was doing
my holiday shopping I was looking for it. I thought since they just
built this big huge new Publix they might actually stock more stuff, not
less.

They have a huge selection of grains and stuff. Quinoa, wheat bran,
whatever. Barley? Hmmm... instant (barley flakes... that might work
for thickening a soup but sorry, not for pilaf.)

I spotted a bag of Bob's Red Mill hulled barley (barley groats). It was
the only barley I could find other than instant. So okay, I'll give it
a try. I knew it would be different.

It tastes fine. Quite nice, actually. It takes thrice as long to cook
as pearl barley. It has a chewy texture. That's okay; I have teeth. <G>

The extra long cooking time puts me off. The label describes using it
as a "side dish". Yeah, sure... but you have to simmer that side dish
(1 cup barley, 3-1/2 cups liquid) for more than 1-1/2 hours. Heh.

What I'm really wondering is why I can't find pearl barley. It's as if
the grain aisle has been taken over by health food hippies. ;)

Sometimes you just want what you want.

Jill

[Julie Bove]

"jmcquown" <j_mc...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:n6111i$al9$1...@dont-email.me...

I had trouble finding it too. I finally resorted to buying a little bulk.
Not sure where I got it. I generally avoid bulk stuff.

[Whirled Peas]

On 12/30/2015 08:36 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>
> What I'm really wondering is why I can't find pearl barley. It's as if
> the grain aisle has been taken over by health food hippies. ;)
>
> Sometimes you just want what you want.
>
> Jill

I always find pearl barley somewhere in the bulk food aisles. It still
takes about 45 minutes to cook completely.

[Brooklyn1]

On Wed, 30 Dec 2015 11:32:32 -0800, Whirled Peas <ft...@fog42gy.42net>
wrote:

How long to cook depends on how it will be used and on personal taste.
I use it mostly for beef barley soup and I prefer it slightly creamy
so I cook it for minimally 1 1/2 hours... even for other uses it takes
about an hour to cook.... I've never used the instant types. I find
pearled barley in most every market, Walmart has 1 lb bags. I think
it's not a big seller in warmer climes, I remember I couldn't find it
in Southern Cal, I had my mother mail it to me... Barley must be the
northerner's answer to grits.
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=pearled+barley
http://shop.honeyville.com/pearled-barley.html
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=pearled+barley&sprefix=pearled+barley%2Caps%2C194

[jmcquown]

45 minutes is about right. The unhulled barley I bought took a little
more than twice that long. What I used to buy was Barzi (sp?) brand and
came in a small cellophane bag. It was a busy shopping day so I didn't
bother to ask an employee. Next time I will. :)

Jill

[dalep]

You scared me! I love barley. My beef stews and beef soups are loaded with barley. I eat meat, but not as much anymore, so I make a beef stew that is lots of veg and barley and less beef. Anyway, I was just at the grocery, and the King Soopers has pearled barley Kroger brand. Small bag, not the larger bags that I prefer. I had not bought any for a while cause when I do buy it, I usually buy a bunch.

Keep your eyes open and you will find some.

DaleP

[jmcquown]

I'm not sure how I scared you, Dale. But hey, I was sorta scared
myself. ;) I like to use it in beef soups/stews too.

This unhulled barley just takes some getting used to. It is not going
to take the place of the pearl type in my cooking, that's for sure.

I'll ask the next time I'm at the store. The brand I remember was Barzi
(or something like that).

Jill

[Timo]

On Thursday, December 31, 2015 at 2:36:36 AM UTC+10, Jill McQuown wrote:
>
> They have a huge selection of grains and stuff. Quinoa, wheat bran,
> whatever. Barley? Hmmm... instant (barley flakes... that might work
> for thickening a soup but sorry, not for pilaf.)

Here, most of that stuff is in the health food section. The old-fashioned, unpopular, trad stuff is in the soup section. In the health food section, I can find lots of quinoa, whatever the currently-popular superfoods are, breakfast cereal/porridge type things by the health food companies. But for ordinary things like dried split peas, lentils, pearl barley, etc., I have to look for the small shelf of such next to the canned soups.

(I think I last used pearl barley for a couple of dishes for a Bronze Age Mesopotamian themed dinner party. My wife adds it to rice (along with other grains/beans).)

[Doris Night]

In the store where I do most of my shopping, the beans, barley, etc
are all located on the lower shelves underneath the canned beans,
lentils, etc.

I usually buy pot barley, but I think I'll switch to pearl barley
because it cooks faster, and there's little difference in nutrition.

Doris

[Julie Bove]

"Timo" <ti...@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:929170f3-6a36-474f...@googlegroups.com...

---

Many of the stores here no longer have the health food section. Fred Meyers
is one that does. They seem to be working that stuff in with the regular
stuff so that makes it easier to find things.

[Julie Bove]

"Doris Night" <goodnig...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:3sa98bhd8rl60f5gu...@4ax.com...

They are never with the canned beans here with the exception of stores that
sell some dried beans along with the Mexican food and then they might not be
directly under but near. They are almost always on the bottom shelf though.
Exception being Winco. That seems like the best place here to buy beans.
Cheaper and better selection. Not sure about barley. Although I love it,
it loves to raise my blood sugar way too much. If I do have it, it can only
be a tiny amount in soup. And since nobody else here really cares for it, I
mostly just do without it.