I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?

"Steve Wertz" > wrote in message
...
> On 25 Feb 2006 11:04:08 -0800, "djs0302" > wrote:
>
>>I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
>>it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
>>cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
>>used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
>>cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
>>barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
>
> When in doubt...
>
> Sometimes I wonder how people can make normal, day to day
> decisions without Usenet.
>
> -sw

Yeah, me too. LOL.
I wouldn't thrown out today those Ibara chocolate discs if I'd not read
JL's, which mirrored mine. I needed re-inforcement ofmy own opinions, too
much of a wuss. "Well, if JL agrees, then I guess I'll throw them out" :
DECISION MADE! EASY! Otherwise they'd still be taking up space.
Dee Dee

djs0302 wrote:
> I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley
> to it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?

The smell is from the natural oils in the grain. If it doesn't smell really
rancid, rinse it off and then add it to the soup. Should be fine. I love
barley in soup

Jill

Steve Wertz wrote:
> Sometimes I wonder how people can make normal, day to day
> decisions without Usenet.
>
> -sw

Cheryl Perkins wrote:
> djs0302 > wrote:
>> I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley
>> to it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
>> cabinet.
(snippage)
> On the topic of barley, I also found myself with quite a large
> quantity of it although it is not years old or funny smelling, and am
> looking for something to do with it beside add it to soups and stews.
> A quick search online turned up a kind of fake jambalaya recipe which
> was quite good, although I think I overdid the hot peppers a bit, and
> I found a chicken and barley casserole in one of my books that was OK
> after a bit of fiddling with the recipe. I also saw some split pea
> and barley casserole recipes that looked terribly bland and boring.
> Any other ideas?

I've got nothing terribly exciting in my book, I'm afraid. I make a sort of
baked 'pilaf' out of it in a covered oven safe dish. I use about 3 times
chicken stock to the amount of barley, some minced onion and garlic, about
1/4 tsp. dried thyme, some celery salt and pepper. Bake it at moderate
heat, say 325F for about an hour or hour and 15 minutes until the liquid is
absorbed.

Jill

On 25 Feb 2006 11:04:08 -0800, "djs0302" > wrote:

>I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
>it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
>cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
>used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
>cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
>barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
>

Ask yourself: would you eat the soup if it smells like that? It's
not going to get any better. Why go through the trouble to make a
homemade soup and ruin it with an off-taste.

BTW, I am speaking with the voice of experience

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"Cheryl Perkins" > wrote in message
...
> djs0302 > wrote:

>
> On the topic of barley, I also found myself with quite a large
quantity of
> it although it is not years old or funny smelling, and am looking for
> something to do with it beside add it to soups and stews. A quick
search
> online turned up a kind of fake jambalaya recipe which was quite good,
> although I think I overdid the hot peppers a bit, and I found a
chicken
> and barley casserole in one of my books that was OK after a bit of
> fiddling with the recipe. I also saw some split pea and barley
casserole
> recipes that looked terribly bland and boring. Any other ideas?
>

Well, barley is a grain and rice is a grain...cook up some barley per
the
package instructions, using chicken broth and whatever herbs hit your
fancy and use it instead of rice. Make it with beef broth and thyme and
serve it as a side for Steak Diane. Cook it al dente, of course.

Some chefs are using barley to concoct risotto around here, could be
fun.

pavane

Curly Sue wrote:
> On 25 Feb 2006 11:04:08 -0800, "djs0302" > wrote:
>
> >I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
> >it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> >cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> >used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> >cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> >barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
> >
>
> Ask yourself: would you eat the soup if it smells like that? It's
> not going to get any better. Why go through the trouble to make a
> homemade soup and ruin it with an off-taste.
>
> BTW, I am speaking with the voice of experience

Yeah, if it stinks toss it. Especially when barley is like dirt
cheap... only rice costs less. Whenever it's a toss-up I'll choose
barley over rice... barley contains good nutrition, other than starch
rice contains none.

"djs0302" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
> it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
>
I'd throw it out and get a fresh pack. Then keep it in the freezer.
Actually I buy mine bulk in a bag so it's easy to do that.

MoM