Melba's Jammin' <
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> Well? It was on sale at Brianno's and I couldn't pass it up. DeCecco brand. What do I do with it?
> Looks like bird cage grit.
Use it to make "Farfel". Farfel in Yiddish means "little bits". (or something like that). There is
pasta called "farfel" and there is matzo farfel. Matzo farfel is little bits of matzo that is
floated in soup during passover, it's also used to make stuffing.
Pasta farfel is little bits, cooked into a side dish not unlike rice pilaf.
Here's how Mom taught me to make Farfel (also known as "egg barley and mushrooms"):
1 onion (small or medium, to taste) 5-6 ounces of sliced mushrooms (half the package) 1 clove of
garlic, minced
Dice the onion and saute in a small amount of fat. (Butter, oil, chicken fat, whatever you have or
desire. Oil adds litle flavor, butter and chicken fat add lots of flavor. You get the idea). When
the onion becomes soft and transparent, add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are
soft and give off liquid.
Stir in:
Half a pound of peperini (could also use orzo or any other tiny pasta)
Coat the pasta with the liquid in the pan and cook until the pasta grains start to toast and turn a
pale golden brown.
Add 2 cups of chicken stock. (Canned is ok.)
Add black pepper and taste and adjust salt if necessary.
Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer until pasta is tender and all the liquid is absorbed,
about 5-8 minutes.
Makes quite a bit...it's a very nice side dish to baked chicken or really anything. Leftovers are
nice for lunch the next day.
This is how my mom (and lots of other Jewish Mommas) made it. I have been known to add diced carrot
and celery, and sometimes frozen peas, just because I always figure if you add something green to a
starch, it becomes more like a meal, and peas are my favorite vegetable.
I made this with some tiny pasta 6 pointed stars that someone...Ginny? Gloria P? sent me months
ago. Yummy.
