Well, I guess they can’t all be winners. I had some problems with this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Lemon Barley Pilaf.
The idea of this recipe sounded good to me. It’s basically a rice pilaf made with barley. It is cooked with chopped carrot and red bell pepper, and finished with green onions and lemon zest.
The first problem came when I was ready to finish. The barley and vegetables had cooked and rested. It was time to stir in the green onions and lemon zest, but there was still a lot of liquid in the pan. The barley may or may not have been cooked enough (it was close, either way). After stirring in the final ingredients I decided to boil off some of the liquid. It helped a bit.
The next problem came when I served this to my family. My husband thought it was bland and didn’t care for it much. My daughter took a tiny taste and didn’t touch it again. I actually liked the flavors, but felt the cooking method needed some tweaking. However, since my family didn’t like it I won’t bother trying this again. Too bad, because like I said, I liked the idea of this recipe.
I am curious to see how the other Doristas fared with this one. Did I make a mistake, or are there real problems with this recipe?
From Scratch 
Apparently many found this bland, especially husbands and kids!
I had to boil off a lot of the liquid, as well. Wish it would’ve been a hit for you! It looks wonderful. 🙂
I agree, it needed something to spice it up. I used my leftovers in chicken broth, added cooked chicken and a smidge of hot sauce. Viola, great
soup. Have a great weekend.
Nope, I don’t think you did anything wrong. I had too much liquid left over as well and had to drain it off before making this into a salad. As a salad it was great though.
Such a wonderful looking meal! Your pilaf looks delicious! Happy weekend!
You might really like the way I prepared this dish. No one in my family complained about flavor, it was texture we had issues with.
The chicken and spinach look like the perfect accompaniments!
Mine also had a lot of liquid left – I just used a slotted spoon for serving but I probably won’t make it again either – not a huge hit with the husband. Your meal looks delicious though!
I see what you mean (from your plate) about extra liquid. Although I like the idea of the liquid flowing into the spinach Your stuffed chicken looks fabulous, by the way. I had the opposite problem – had to cook the barley much longer than specified in the recipe. I went cold with this – it’s too hot here to think about pilaf – and like Dorie’s Bonne Idea a lot. I think you put a pretty fantastic meal on the table.