Whole Oats, Barley and Mushroom Stew
Share
- ✉
-
Author Notes: Mushroom barley soup meets hearty Irish stew, leaving mutton, beef and lamb off the guest list, but inviting their fun Korean friend, doenjang. (Folks, if you’re not putting doenjang -- a dark soybean paste bright with the mineral rich flavors of Korean sea salt but typically not as salty as miso -- in your soups, stews and sauces, you a’re missing a real treat.) Red wine, along with herbs and spices typically used with it in stews featuring game and dark meat, give the stew warmth and complexity. If you don'’t care whether this is vegetarian/vegan or not, feel free to use chicken stock. You really don'’t need it for flavor, though, so you might as well save it for another dish. Also, if you prefer to use farro instead of barley, go ahead. Enjoy!! ;o) - AntoniaJames
Serves 6
- ¼ cups oat groats (whole oats)
- ½ cups pearled barley
- 3 bay leaves
- ½ ounces dried mushrooms, broken (about 2/3 cup loosely packed, or a good handful)(I generally use a combination of chanterelles and porcini, but shitakes work well, too.)
- 12 ounces cremini mushrooms, wiped and sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 6 cups vegetable broth (preferably homemade)
- 3/4 cups red wine (I prefer a simple Côtes du Rhône for this.)
- 4 stalks celery, each stalk cut lengthwise and then into ½” pieces
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
- 3 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
- 5 small turnips, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 12 allspice berries, lightly crushed
- 12 juniper berries, lightly crushed
- A small spoonful of black peppercorns, lightly crushed
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 handful parsley (about 20 sprigs), leaves removed
- ½ cups frozen peas, which are completely optional
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoon doenjang (Korean soybean paste), or substitute red miso – but please see the cautionary note in the instructions below.
- More vegetable stock (1-2 cups) for thinning the stew, if serving it the next day
- I bought all of the fresh vegetables for this at the farmers' market (organic), and the grains in bulk, and used homemade vegetable stock made from attentively curated trimmings. Excluding the spices and bay leaf, the cost/person is about $2.
- Serve it with red chard quickly sauteed with garlic and splashed with red wine vinegar for another $1 a head. Yes, at $3 total per person, and considering the low environmental costs, I'd call this a cost-effective feast.;o)
- Pre-cook the oats and barley, together: Rinse and cover in a medium saucepan with about three inches of water; add a good pinch of salt and one bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes. At this point, you can turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for another ½ hour or so; or you can just cover the pot, turn off the heat and come back in about four hours. Do not drain the grains. Their cooking liquid is full of flavor, as well as starch. You’ll want it in the stew.
- Hydrate the dried mushrooms in 1 ½ cups of boiling water. Let them sit while you proceed making the stew.
- Make the stew: Heat the oil in a large, heavy soup pot. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to turn a golden brown. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 2-3 minutes, to release more liquid from them.
- Remove the lid, turn up the heat to medium, and add the onions and celery with a small pinch of salt. Stir the pot well and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften.
- Tie up in a piece of cheesecloth (or put into a muslin spice bag) the spices and rosemary; cut the parsley stems into 1” lengths, and include them as well.
- Add the spice bag, the remaining bay leaves, 2 cups of stock, the garlic and the wine. Cook over medium heat for about five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 4 more cups of stock, the grains in their cooking liquid, the carrots, potato and turnips. Bring to a low boil and partially cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, then turn down to a simmer.
- While the stew is cooking, give it a good stir every few minutes. If it seems to be getting too thick, stir in another cup of water.
- Meanwhile, lift the hydrated mushrooms out of their soaking water and chop coarsely. Add to the soup pot. Carefully pour the soaking liquid into the pot as well, being careful to leave behind any sediment. I.e., don’t pour all of the soaking liquid into the pot. Cook the stew for at least another 25 minutes, for a total of about 45 minutes from the time you added the remaining stock and grains.
- Shortly before serving, stir in the peas, if using.
- Remove about a cup of broth. Use it to thin down 1 tablespoon of doenjang or miso and add that to the pot along with a few grinds of fresh pepper, to taste. Give the pot a good stir. Then taste it. Depending on how salty your doenjang or miso is, you may need more.
- High quality doenjang tends to be a lot less salty than miso, though it tastes brighter and bolder. So, especially if you’re using miso instead of doenjang, be careful not to add too much. I find that about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the doenjang I get from our local Korean grocery does the trick.
- Add more doenjang or miso to taste. If using doenjang for the first time, you may well at this point ask yourself how you ever made stew without it.
- Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and spice bag, stir in the parsley leaves (or use them to garnish) and serve.
- Enjoy!! ;o)
- NB: If making this a day or two ahead of time, you’ll need to add more broth when you reheat it, as the barley and oats will drink up most of the liquid overnight.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe with Cereal
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Cheap Feast
More Great Recipes
Share a Recipe
Enter one of our contests, or share that great thing you made for dinner last night.
Add a Recipe
about 1 month ago Robyn Grace Jennings
What an interesting and hearty veg recipe. You can just tell that it will have tons of meaty flavor and depth. I will be making this!!!
about 1 month ago LE BEC FIN
I really hope this contest will not end up being about oatmeal cookies and muffins, yawn.
about 1 month ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
You make me laugh. I submitted a lemon, toasted almond and whole oat groats risotto, if that's any help. And some savory porridge recipes, created for a contest with that theme ages ago. ;o)
about 1 month ago LE BEC FIN
aj, This MUST be a pick. You have been so inventive with the seasoning as well as the grain components. Such smarts! I will add that finding a jar w/o sugar or MSG- is a real feat. We have a well stocked Korean market in Somerville and they prob sell 10 diff jars of doenjang, only one w/o those things. Meaty (w/o the meat), salty, deep rich flavor. Thx for the inspiration!
about 1 month ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you LBF! So glad you found some good doenjang and tried it. You describe it perfectly. Will be posting a recipe for a vegan version of my lentil soup, made so much better with the doenjang. ;o)
2 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thank you, wssmom. It is (delish!), if I may say so. Also, just FYI, I used a very ordinary (for drinking) CA merlot with low tannins the last time I made this and it worked really well. ;o)
2 months ago wssmom
You are the Queen of comfort foods -- this sounds delish!!
2 months ago Madhuja
You have piqued my interest - gotta give doenjang a try! Great recipe!:)
2 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thanks, Madhuja! Be sure to buy a brand without sweeteners, MSG, etc. I get Haechandle brand and have used it in quite a few different recipes on Food52 calling for miso. I'm not a big fan of miso, but have really enjoyed using doenjang. ;o)
2 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
This sounds incredible AJ, delicious, nutritious and economical. I almost missed it with this new format. Glad I checked the last page. Love this.
2 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
You're so kind. If the only upshot of this is that people consider using doenjang for purposes other than Korean dishes -- it's commonly used as the base for hearty vegetable soups -- I'll be happy. It works incredibly well with the traditional European style wine + herbs + spices stew ingredient combinations! ;o)