I based this recipe on the Ottolenghi one below but felt that I wanted something more chewy and substantial than the orzo he used, hence my substitution of barley. I also added sage, which I thought would work well by adding additional woodsy notes to the dish. Last but not least, as I condensed the version down to my style of cooking, I made this with chicken thighs on the stovetop for a quicker cooking time rather than the original version with a whole chicken and a lengthy oven cooking time; it is too early in the near-fall season to start doing that.
Try his version or mine; either way this is yummy, with a really rich, complex broth - most of which got absorbed into the barley which was infinitely moreish. Even though this is essentially a one-pot meal (though I served it with roasted carrots on the side), it is delicious tasting enough that you could serve this as a lovely dinner party main course, maybe gilding the lily with some fresh mushrooms added along with the barley.
6 chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 lbs of chicken; I used skinless but will use skin-on next time and make sure that I cook the chicken until the skin is really crispy)
1/2 white onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
2 tsps olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped sage
1 tsp chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cinnamon stick
4 slices bacon, finely chopped
1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup barley
2 cups boiling water
Put the dried mushrooms and the cinnamon stick in a bowl. Pour the boiling water over and set aside for at least 30 minutes. I typically do this type of thing in the morning when I am making coffee and then put it in the fridge until I need it at dinner time.
Put the barley in a large bowl and cover it with cold water, set aside for about 30 minutes as well. Can also be done in the morning as above. After 30 minutes, rinse the barley very well and put it in a large pan, covered with new water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for 25 minutes. remove from the heat, cover and set aside while you make the chicken. If using pearl (also called soup) barley, skip this step as it needs less cooking time than the hulled barley I used and just add it as is when recipe mentions to add barley to the bacon and onion below.
Put the olive oil, bacon, garlic and onion in a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook until the bacon has rendered its fat and the onion is translucent, stirring from time to time, about 3 minutes.
Raise heat to medium. Add the chicken to the pan and salt well. Sprinkle with half of the thyme and sage. Sear for a couple of minutes to brown and then turn the chicken, scraping up all the pieces of onion, bacon and garlic to the top so that they don't burn, and salt again. Sprinkle over the remaining thyme and sage. Cook for an additional couple of minutes to brown the other side of the chicken as well.
While the chicken is browning, remove the cinnamom stick and the mushrooms from the mushroom soaking water. Discard the cinnamon stick. Remove any tough or hard pieces from the mushrooms and discard. Chop the remainder. Strain the mushroom stock through a coffee filter and reserve.
Lower the heat, remove the chicken to a plate and add the drained barley as well as the chopped mushrooms to the pan in its place. Stir the barley and mushrooms together with the pan juices, bacon and onion.
Place the chicken pieces back on top of the barley. Pour over the mushroom stock, cover the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the barley is tender but not mushy.
Check barley for salt before serving.
Inspiration recipe, here. (3rd recipe down).
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