barley water? say what now?

i get that gross boiled cereal water isn't necessarily a great topic of interest, but i feel the need to share this discovery: gross boiled cereal water is delicious. really, really delicious. 

the cereal in question is in fact barley, champion of the brewing world but ugly stepsister to more sought after breakfast delicacies like oatmeal or gritz. now oatmeal and gritz are great, but i wouldn't take gin with either one of them. this is where barley shreds the competition:

  

barley water with gin!

1 cup pearl barley

8 cups water 

juice of 1-2 lemons

juice of 1 orange

1/4 cup honey 

lotsa gin (i used tanqueray 10)*

1. bring the water and barley to a boil. reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes

2. strain out the pearls and either toss them (but why?) or set them aside

3. mix the warm barley water with the citrus juices and the honey

4. put the barley water in the fridge and get the gin ready

5. ice + barley water + gin. drink up that golden honey flavored goodness. yay! 

*if you don't enjoy copious amounts of booze, fine. don't put booze in your barley water. you'll still have a refreshing beverage treat. but you won't be as cool.

now what to do with all that barley you cooked and forgot about? well, you can put it to it's most common use and feed it to some cows. or goats. or whatever.

or you can be awesome like me and eat the pants off that cereal! i went the savory dinner route and made a pasta free risotto with barley pearls, roasted acorn squash, grated parmesan, bacon bits and arugula. don't forget the butter, heavy cream, salt and pepper.

bomb.