Harrowsmith – September 2019

Harrowsmith Fall 2019 | 89

MUSHROOM BARLEY RISOTTO
VEGETARIAN

Serves 6

Creamy, rich, warm and earthy—
this risotto is the perfect fall
side dish or stand-alone starter
with just about everything and
anything, and it’s vegetarian. It’s
pretty easy to make, but it does
require your full attention; don’t
try to multitask when making
risotto, as you’ll need to stand at
the stove and stir for the whole
time. This recipe calls for two
kinds of mushrooms: fresh and
dried. Each offer something to
the dish, with the dry adding
tons of flavour, and the fresh
adding body and silky bites of
mushrooms. Any mushroom
will do, but shiitake are nice
fresh, while porcini or other wild
mushrooms are best dry. This
recipe doesn’t call for salt, as
most stocks are salty enough—
it’s up to you!

1/3 cup dry, chopped wild or

porcini mushrooms

7 cups mushroom or chicken

stock, divided

1 1/2 cups pot or pearl barley

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cups thinly sliced or finely

chopped fresh mushrooms

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup medium-dry sherry

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese +

more for garnishing at the table

2 tbsp butter

Rehydrate dried mushrooms

in about 1/2 cup boiled water;

let sit, covered, for about 10

minutes, then drain through a

fine sieve. Save mushroom water

and add it to the 7 cups of stock.

In small saucepan over medium

heat, bring stock and mushroom

liquid to gentle simmer and hold

it there. Set ladle or heatproof

measuring cup near pot—you’ll

be going back and forth to it.

FOOD & RECIPES: H E R ITAGE POULT RY

Better Breeds to Look For

From British Columbia to the Maritimes, farmers are
pasture-raising gorgeous breeds of poultry—some
are good old heirloom varieties, and some are newer
crosses.Herearea fewofthenamestoaskfor.

• Chicken: Canadian Bresse, Chantecler, Plymouth
  Rock, Jersey Giant, Rhode Island Red, Silke,
  Orpington,RedBrobroilers


• Turkey: Beltsville Small White, Blue Slate, Ridley Bronze, Bronze, Chocolate,
  Regal Red, Naragansett, Bourbon Red, Spanish Black, Royal Palm, Pencilled
  RedPalm,JerseyBuff


• Duck and goose: Rouen, Chocolate, Muscovy, Toulouse, Dewlap, Sebastopol,
  Aylesbury, Blue Swedish