Mushroom, Walnut and Barley Pilaf

Substituting barley for rice in a Pilaf is a great way to add more fibre to your diet and today Clare Jones from Mushrooms Canada will be sharing her Mushroom walnut and Barley Pilaf recipe with us. There is nothing better than serving a home cooked meal that is full of flavor and nutrition and one that is fast and easy to cook. This is Daily Web TV. Meriel Bradley: Hello everybody and welcome to our kitchen, I have my spoon and I have Clara Jones from mushrooms Canada and we are ready to cook, but I don’t know what we are cooking. Clare Jones: Oh, yeah. Oh! We are going to make Mushroom Walnut and Barley Pilaf. Meriel Bradley: Wow! That sounds exciting. Clare Jones: So, we’ll start by just putting two tablespoons of oil, olive oil into it, a non-stick pan and then we are going to cook, yep, the three quarter cups of chopped onions and cook that for about two or three minutes or until it soften. Meriel Bradley: Now what is Pilaf? Clare Jones: Pilaf is actually a dish that can change the grain, so in this case it’s a pearl barley, we are using or it could contain rice or cracked wheat. You brown the grain and then you cook it in a broth with sometimes with meat or with vegetables and in this case we are going to be using Mushrooms. Meriel Bradley: So, is it nice and nutritious? Clare Jones: It’s very nutritious because it have lots of fibre in it. Particularly, the Barley and then the Mushroom carry more fibre. Meriel Bradley: So how long can we cook this for? Clare Bradley: About two or three minutes. Meriel Bradley: Okay. Clare Jones: Now we are going to add the mushrooms and I’ve got a mixture of mushrooms, here I’m using regular white button mushrooms, I’ve got some Portobello Mushrooms and also some shiitake mushrooms. Meriel Bradley: Now what is the difference between a shiitake mushrooms and a regular? White button mushroom. Clare Jones: They have a stronger sort of an earthy flavor, they are quite meaty in texture, so they, they really do add a different kind of texture and flavor to, to the dish. When you are cooking shiitake mushrooms, you need to take the stem off because it is really quite woody, so chop that off and just use the top of the mushroom. Meriel Bradley: And lots of nutrient. Clare Jones: Actually, shiitake mushrooms have lots of vitamin D in them and then so in this dish, which is vegan dish there is no animal products and even all, it’s hard for vegetarians to get vitamin D in their diet. So, shiitake mushrooms is a good way to do that. So, I’m just going to cook that for about five to seven minutes until the mushrooms cooked down a bit. Meriel Bradley: Now these are really sizzling like Clare. Clare Jones: We are going to add a tablespoon of fresh chopped thyme or you could add a teaspoon of dried two cloves of garlic and half a cup of pearl barley and then just cook that for about a minute. Merial Bradley: Alright. Clare Jones: Now I’m going to add two cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth, if you want it. And then just bring that to a boil and then reduce the heat, and it’s going to cook for about 25 to 35 minutes or until the barley has absorbed all the moisture in there. You actually want to cover it. Merial Bradley: Oh, that was going to be my next question to cover it up. Clare Jones: Yeah, to keep the liquid in there. Merial Bradley: Can I take the lid off? Clare Bradley: Let’s have a look. Merial Bradley: Al right. Clare Jones: That’s great. Meriel Bradley: Diced. Clare Jones: We are almost done. Okay, we are going to add a half a cup of toasted chopped walnuts we could use pie nuts here, really delicious in that, it adds even more fibre. Meriel Bradley: Alright. Now did you toast those? Clare Jones: I just put them on the top of stove in a frying pan, and then two tablespoons of grated Fresh Parmesan cheese. Merial Bradley: Now you have a little phrase don’t use for all those good things in that dish. Umami. Clare Jones: Oh! That’s right. Mushroom have something that’s called Umami. The Umami is the fifth taste. The Umami is found in mushrooms and in Parmesan cheese, so it really gets with that extra flavor. Merial Bradley: Alright. Stir that up. Clare Jones: Extra flavor is always good. Clare Jones: A little bit of chopped fresh parsley on top and we are good to go. Merial Bradley: Oh, does that mean I can try this. Clare Jones: You can. Merial Bradley: I’ll try it. I have a fork in my apron look. Alright, so I get to try, yum, this looks and smells so delicious and make sure you get hold of the great recipes for mushrooms.ca. I’ve been cooking with Clare Jones from Mushrooms Canada, then you’ve been dailywebtv.