Terrabyte Farm

This weekend we will be planting our mushroom crop.  We have ordered three kits from Gourmet Mushrooms and Mushroom Kits, the outdoor Shitake kit, the outdoor Oyster kit, and the Morel kit.  They also have indoor kits, for those who may be interested in growing their own mushrooms on a small scale.  In honor of the fabulous fungi, and because I happened to have some leftover mushrooms sitting around in my fridge, I made the following recipe:

Crock-pot Mushroom Barley Stew

• 12 cups (3 qts) chicken stock (can sub water or veggie stock)
• 2 cups pearl barley
• 1 10 oz package sliced button mushrooms
• 2 large portobello mushroom caps, diced
• 2 cups dried mushrooms (I used shitake and oyster) soaked to cover in warm water, then diced, liquid reserved
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large crock pot.  You can also use a regular stock pot if you don’t have a crock pot.

Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3.5 hours. (For non-crock pot users, bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies are soft but not mushy).

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with croutons (I used some leftover Asiago cheese bread), salt, and pepper.

Alternatively, you can blend the stew using a stick blender, food processor, etc, add a touch of cream or half-and-half to taste and serve as cream of mushroom soup.

Makes 10-12 servings.