Vegetable Barley Stew

This weekend we drove up north to visit with Mike’s family and to celebrate our birthdays. It was a great weekend – with even greater food. His mom’s baking is out of this world – so clearly, I had to feast on my favourite peach pie, raspberry birthday cake, and pull-apart cinnamon buns. I was weak and ate multiple servings of each (not the time to be worried about counting calories). Furthermore, to my surprise I received the neatest birthday gift – a handmade apron with my website on it!! I thought you guys would like to check it out so I posted a little picture. A big thank-you to Sandy and Bob for making it, and of course Alex for having to try it on so many times to make sure it fit just right.

So now that I am more appropriately decked out for the kitchen, let’s get cooking.

Now I know this recipe might not be the first thing you would want to make during the heat of summer, so why not save it for a couple months? I was aiming to use up the various produce I purchased at the farmer’s market – and to be honest, sometimes I just crave a good soup. Or is this a stew? Stoup? I turned out thicker than expected.

The original idea to do a soup came from a Mario Batali recipe, posted on the Food Network. Although, ultimately this soup became a huge departure from the original – I thought I would still post his for reference. You can really use any ingredients you have on hand and change up the vegetables if you like. Just don’t forget the leeks – they add a great flavour and I just love using them in soups. Lastly, top it off with a big drizzle of basil oil and shavings of fresh parmesan to kick things up a bit.

Vegetable Barley Stew:
Note: This could easily be made vegan by replacing the butter and parmesan with alternative ingredients. Also this recipe could be halved, as it does make a large pot. Remember to use what you have on hand.

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 T butter
1 cup onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 leeks, quartered length-wise, sliced, and soaked in the sink to remove any sand
¾ cup pearled barley, rinsed
2 cups barlotti beans (Roman beans)
3 T tomato paste
Kosher salt
Pepper
8 cups vegetable broth (preferably homemade, or a good quality organic store bought version)
1 ½ cups potatoes, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup zucchini, diced
1 cup frozen peas

Basil Oil:
1 cup basil
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil and butter on high in a large pot. Add your onion, celery, and leeks. They will give off quite a bit of water, so keep the heat high and stir until golden. Stir in the tomato paste, beans, and barley. Season to your taste with salt and pepper, and add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and lower the heat until simmering, for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, toss the basil and garlic in a food processor and slowly add the oil. The goal is to form almost a pesto-like consistency (you may or may not need more olive oil), and set aside.

Add the potatoes, peas and carrots to the pot and simmer again for 20 minutes or until just almost tender. In the last 10 minutes toss in your zucchini, and add more broth or water if the soup is getting too dry.

Serve with nice drizzles of basil oil and big shavings of parmesan.

White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Oh yes, I did it again – another sweet recipe. Sometimes I just cannot resist. This time my goal was to make my first biscotti with whole grain flours and less refined sugars. That incorporates some healthy aspects, right? Maybe – but not after I decided to dunk them in white chocolate. Yes, you heard that correctly. Delish!

I remember going to cafes when I was younger, before I had ever experienced my first cup of coffee, and staring at the glass canisters full of biscotti. Never did I have any urge to try this crunchy cookie - until recent years.

I first experimented with a recipe that was going to be my basis for the biscotti and it turned out terribly. The ratio of dry to wet ingredients was way off and it was very frustrating. So I decided to jot down a few notes, and create my own version. Ultimately, I was impressed with the way everything turned out. They are perfect to eat on their own, or even better – dunking them in a hot drink. The white chocolate tastes great as it melts and infuses a warm cup of coffee. More notably, the underlying citrus flavour might give you an excuse to munch on one for breakfast – but I didn’t just advise that.

For this recipe, I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. I would have much rather used a whole wheat pastry flour, in replacement of the all-purpose, but was unable to find it in the northern grocery stores at the time. A combination of the two flours is essential or you will end up with very dense biscotti. In addition, natural cane sugar was used rather than a refined white sugar. So give these Italian double-baked cookies a try, it might be a great recipe to try for the fall – I was just too excited to wait that long.

White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Almond Biscotti:

1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
¾ cup all-natural cane sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp orange zest
3 large eggs
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh orange juice

Glaze:
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup all-natural cane sugar
340 g good quality white chocolate (optional, but you won’t regret it)

Preheat your oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cane sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, cranberries, and zest.

Whisk together the eggs and olive oil by hand. Gradually stir in the orange juice until combined.

Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and slowly add your liquid mixture. Stir and form a dough. Note that the dough should be stiff, never gooey, and the flour should be combined.

Divide the dough into two loaves – you may need to flour your hands, although it should be fairly easy to work with. Flatten and shape the dough into approximately 4-5 inch wide and 9-10 inch long loaves (no need to be exact, the irregular shape can add some character).

Brush on the beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. Place the dough on the cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. The loaves should be golden in colour and just slightly firm to the touch (remember you will be baking them once more). Let them cool completely, this will help you slice the loaves.

Once cooled, cut into ½ inch slices. Again, this does not have to be perfect. Biscotti are traditionally this thin but if you prefer a heartier version that is fine too (mine varied). Place the cookies back on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes per side. You want them to be a golden brown (they will appear slightly darker due to the whole wheat flour) and fairly dried out (so they have a nice crunch and withstand some dipping in your coffee). Just remember that they tend to firm up even more while cooling once again.

After cooling the cookies for a second time, place a bowl over a pot of simmering water (never boiling water, you do not want to burn the chocolate). Also, make sure that your bowl does not touch the surface of the water. Then add the chocolate – I did this in batches, continuing to add more chocolate as I needed it. Stir until it is fully melted. You can either dunk half of the biscotti in the chocolate, or use a knife and spread the chocolate onto the cookie (this was much easier for me). Set the dipped cookies on a sheet of parchment paper and let the white chocolate completely cool until it hardens. Store them in an airtight container.

Wheatberry Salad

After easing my way into summer, I fractured my ankle. It seems fitting, since things like this usually happen to me when the weather is finally nice outside. So spending hours standing in the kitchen testing recipes did not seem ideal – I decided to pull out my cookbooks and go from there.

I had recently picked up some wheatberries - they are an excellent source of fibre and they add a great crunchy texture to many salads, breads, or stews. Wheatberries are unprocessed wheat kernels that contain the germ, endosperm, and bran – with only the hull removed. Their nutritional profile is spectacular, so why not try them out!

You can usually find them in your bulk food section of a local health-food store, or you may order them from Bob’s Redmill. Store them in a cool dry place, or even the fridge to extend their shelf life. Before cooking them, make sure you give them a good rinse until the water runs clear. Then bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil for every 1 cup of wheatberries – you can drain out any excess if need be. I find they take about 1 hr of simmering to soften up, but they will still remain slightly al dente.

This particular salad is from Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family(page 67). Unfortunately, I do not have permission to post this recipe but creating your own version will be just as good. Essentially you can play around with the ingredients as much as you like. Here there are finely diced red onions, red pepper, carrot, green onions – but I encourage you to use whatever vegetables you have on hand.

The dressing is flavoured with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper – very simple. The key here, is allowing the salad to sit so the wheatberries can absorb all the sauce. I served it at room temperature, which Ina recommends.