help I bought the wrong kind of barley...

[spughy]

I accidentally bought unhulled barley instead of hulled barley. I cooked it thinking it was hulled barley (ie, soaked overnight then baked it in broth for an hour) and it was still really crunchy. Edible, sort of (my DD liked it), but far crunchier than I would have liked.

Is it possible to cook it in a reasonable period of time and have it come out ok? Or is there just too much indestructible outer stuff? What can I do with it? I don't have a grain mill otherwise I would make barley flour. (no coffee grinder either.)

[Tcarwyn]

Do you mean you bought hulled instead of unhulled? Maybe you could use it too make blender pancakes, ie. blending the grain with milk in a regular blender, appearently that grinds the grain to flour...

And otherwise I would just boil it or long time, if it gets mushy you can always use it for porridge, or in breads or pancake batter...

tanya

[quietserena]

can make Mugicha

[cjr]

If you did indeed buy unhulled barley, then you can't eat it. The outer husk is completely undigestible. You want to always make sure it's hulled.

[Ruthla]

If your DD was able to eat it after it was soaked overnight and then baked in broth for an hour, then I think you bought the right kind of barley but didn't cook it long enough.

I've found that it takes at least 3-4 hours for barley to get really soft and mushy, the way I like it. I always put it in cholent- a traditional Jewish stew made with barley, beans, meat, potatoes, carrots, some tomato paste, and spices, and left on the heat overnight. The idea is to have a hot meal on Saturday afternoon when Jewish law forbids cooking on Shabbos. In any case, the barley in cholent is simmered for well over 12 hours before serving. When I make mushroom barley as a side dish, I sautee the mushrooms with onion and garlic in chicken fat, then add to the soaked barley and simmer several hours before serving. When I make mushroom barley soup, I sautee the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in butter, then add a couple of quarts of water and 1/2 cup of barley and let it simmer for several hours.

[spughy]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

If your DD was able to eat it after it was soaked overnight and then baked in broth for an hour, then I think you bought the right kind of barley but didn't cook it long enough.

I've found that it takes at least 3-4 hours for barley to get really soft and mushy, the way I like it. I always put it in cholent- a traditional Jewish stew made with barley, beans, meat, potatoes, carrots, some tomato paste, and spices, and left on the heat overnight. The idea is to have a hot meal on Saturday afternoon when Jewish law forbids cooking on Shabbos. In any case, the barley in cholent is simmered for well over 12 hours before serving. When I make mushroom barley as a side dish, I sautee the mushrooms with onion and garlic in chicken fat, then add to the soaked barley and simmer several hours before serving. When I make mushroom barley soup, I sautee the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in butter, then add a couple of quarts of water and 1/2 cup of barley and let it simmer for several hours.

Well that was my first thought - that I didn't let it cook long enough - but I've made that recipe before with hulled barley and it worked great. :

Anyhoo, I will see what I can do with what I've got. Those recipes sound wonderful, Ruthla! Can you post them pleeeeease??? :