Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I used an old 70's recipe today for a barley wild rice casserole that I used to just adore. It's a side dish grain thing.

The original recipe called for canned mushrooms....I recalled my heavy use of these back in the day, an instant way to "gourmet up" anything. So, for memories sake, I went ahead and bought the canned mushrooms (for the first time in about 20+ years) to add to this thing.

OMG, first, the flimsy metallic can said Product of Indonesia. I'm trying to eat closer to home, so that was an immediate eeewwww. But I forged ahead. The "mushrooms" looked like my favorite crocs taken for a ride in the cuisinart - to a rough chop. Curiosity really got the best of me to use them, so I went ahead and dug out my cornflower blue corningware casserole to use in place of my much hipper Le Creuset.

Even though I used the mushrooms, I added some herbs (thyme, rosemary, and Mural of Flavor), some olive oil, and I used chicken broth that I made yesterday from chicken wings and backs, very gelationous and yummy.

The result is actually pretty good, it would be excellent with fresh shrooms. I'll get a photo of it. I told hubby that was my last purchase of canned mushrooms ever.

Here's the recipe:
1/2 cup wild rice
1/2 cup barley
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 stick of butter
Dash of olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can of mushrooms
Brown the rice, barley, onion, mushrooms in the butter and olive oil. I added rosemary, thyme, Penzeys Mural of Flavor, pepper, paprika, and a touch of garlic salt after it was browned. Add the liquid. Cover and bake in a casserole in a 325 degree oven for 1.5 hrs. After removing from oven, let sit for about 14-30 minutes covered. You can also mix in some plain brown rice after it's all cooked. It reheats well. Needs fresh parsley when finished.

EB,

Personally, I can't go near canned or jarred mushrooms. Three years ago I bought some bad jarred Bulgarian wild mushrooms from a Russian deli and almost went to the ER. The memory still hasn't faded.

Back in the 70's, when I was first getting the urge to cook, I thought canned mushrooms and canned mushroom soup added panache to any recipe calling for them. I could gag on the thought today, but back then, it was considered exotic and everything was about convenience. Amazing that we are going back to our roots and trying to buy local first and wanting to know where our food comes from. Not only does it taste better, but ethically its the right thing to do.
ilene

I have to say - and I'm sorry to admit this - I LOVE canned mushrooms, esp. on pizza.

My faves are the Green Giant mini buttons. You can eat 'em right out of the jar.

But don't get me wrong - I'll take an Enoki over these any day.

(just not on pizza)

...lou