Inspired by fellow Slashfoodie Monika Bartyzel's recent post on using ingredients we already have, I decided to cook up a few of the many grains I've hoarded over the past few months...okay, more than just a few months. There's no other kind of food I buy more compulsively. Stone-ground grits, hard red wheat flour, orzo, coarse polenta, pasta in a variety of shapes, fregola sarda - shall I go on?

The starch closest to my heart, though, may be jasmine brown rice. I first learned of this lovely product during a charmed encounter at Bangkok Center Grocery, a jewel box of Thai ingredients in Manhattan's Chinatown. Another customer, a Thai lady, had taken an interest in me because she saw that I was buying ingredients to make my own curry paste and, after I had paid, she, along with her equally winsome Chinese friend, urged me to buy a shrinkwrapped bag of jasmine brown rice imported from Thailand. The price of the rice alone did not meet the credit card minimum, and I had no cash, but the store owner saw my distress at turning down the ladies' recommendation, and he let me take the rice on credit.

"Pay next time," he said. In Manhattan. And I a first-time customer. I thought that only happened to valued clients in tiny towns.

I gave away most of my foodstuffs when I moved from Atlanta to New York, but I did transport a half-empty bag of jasmine brown rice (pictured). Like regular jasmine rice, it cooks up to be fragrant and fluffy, nutty and chewy - perhaps even nuttier and chewier due to its being brown. The method for and a picture of my pilaf - not very Thai at all, mind you - follows the jump.



Jasmine Brown Rice and Barley Pilaf with Mushrooms and Pearl Onions

1 cup pearl onions
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup jasmine brown rice (or other brown rice)
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 cups chicken stock, or a mix of stock and water
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon snipped chives
1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley

Blanch pearl onions in boiling water for one minute. When cool, slip off their skins and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until water released from mushrooms has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add grains and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add stock, reserved onions, thyme, and zest and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmering slowly, until liquid is absorbed and grains are chewy-tender. Stir in chives and parsley and serve.