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Breakfast Barley Cereal
A breakfast inspiration:
my
father has noticed that his blood pressure seems to stay lower when he
eats hot barley cereals in the morning. This is strictly
anecdotal; I have seen no scientific studies on the effect of barley on
hypertension. But barley is tasty, and it has been a good excuse
to play with barley for breakfast.
He likes rolled barley, but that's hard to come by, and I happened to
have a large bin of hulled barley to use up. And I love the smell
and taste of toasted barley, a trick I learned from a recipe in
Flatbreads and flavors. So on a cold, quiet weekend morning I
came up with this, and it seemed good enough to share
1/3 C hulled barley (I think pearl
barley would also be fine)
1 C water
1 T date pieces or chopped dates, or honey to taste
1/2 tsp butter, optional
2 T toasted walnuts, or other nut of your choice, optional
milk, optional
Toast the barley lightly, until it just starts to smell nutty
and nice. You can do this by placing in a thin layer in the
microwave (time and power depend on your particular microwave, but
starting with 5 minutes and increasing a couple of minutes at a time
will probably be fine); stirring in a heavy pan over medium heat; or
baking a thin layer spread on in a baking pan in a 300 degree oven for
15-20 minutes. It's easier to do a larger batch in advance and
refrigerate or freeze the toasted grain before use.
In a small metal bowl placed inside your pressure cooker, place the
barley, water, dates and butter (if using honey, add it after the
cooking). Bring to 15# pressure over high heat, then reduce heat
and cook 25 minutes. (Be sure there is plenty of water in the
bottom of the cooker--outside the bowl) to maintain steam and not dry
out during the 25 minute cooking time.
Remove from heat, let come down from pressure, and eat the barley hot,
topped with the walnuts and a bit of milk if you like.
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