Herbed Barley and Mushroom Casserole

The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever With More Than 500 Recipes! by Beatrice Ojakangas
Cookbook 6, Recipe 2, (Total 13)

I chose this recipe because I had homemade beef stock to use up.

An aside on my beef stock. Last November we purchased a 25lb bag of various beef bones for $12 from a local farmer. I don't really like beef but who could pass up that deal (we could have purchased 40lbs for the same price - I'm not that crazy for a deal). Anyway I roasted a bunch of bones at 400 for 45 minutes, transferred them to a pot, covered them with water and placed it on the lowest setting for 22 hours. Yep 22 hours - Nope I did not inform Stephen of what I was doing. If he would have inquired about what I was doing - I would have told him and he would have had strong objections - so I didn't purposely inform him. The result was the most excellent beef stock we've eaten!

Anyway the house smelled like stuffing while this baked.

Did I Like it? Yes - it's very pleasant tasting and extremely easy to make. I was expecting to want cranberries and turkey but it holds its own. It's very healthy and makes you feel virtuous.

Recipe
Melt 2T of butter in a 2qt casserole dish on the stove top. Add one chopped onion, 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms, 2T chopped sage leaves, 1T chopped thyme leaves - saute until softened. Stir in 1.5 cups whole barley (not pearled please) until coated with mixture. Add 2 cups of beef stock, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Add another cup of beef stock, cover and cook for 30 more minutes.