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- Czech Christmas kuba with mushrooms, barley and garlic
Czech Christmas kuba with mushrooms, barley and garlic
Ingredients
Step by step process
Preparation
- 1
Pour hot water over the dried porcini mushrooms and let them soften for at least thirty minutes.
TIP:Pour hot, but not boiling, water over the dried mushrooms and let them soak for 20 to 30 minutes until they plump up. Then drain them through a fine sieve and save the soaking liquid: it adds great flavor to soups, sauces, and stuffings.
- 2
Rinse the barley several times in a sieve, peel and finely chop the onion, and crush or finely chop the garlic.
Cooking
- 3
Put the barley in a pot, cover with fresh water, lightly salt it and cook for about twenty five minutes until almost tender.
- 4
Drain the soaked mushrooms, reserve the soaking liquid, chop the mushrooms and slowly saute them with the onion in half of the lard until golden.
- 5
Add the garlic, caraway seeds and marjoram, stir briefly, then mix in the cooked barley and a few spoonfuls of the reserved mushroom soaking liquid.
Baking
- 6
Grease a baking dish with the remaining lard, season the mixture with salt and pepper, spread it in the dish and bake for about twenty five minutes at 190 degrees.
- 7
While baking, gently stir the kuba once, and if it seems dry, drizzle in a few spoonfuls of the reserved soaking liquid.
Serving
- 8
Let the finished kuba rest for five minutes and serve it still warm as a hearty Christmas main dish.
More tips:
A mix of dried wild mushrooms gives the best flavor, but kuba will taste even deeper and more festive with porcini alone.
If you want a crispier top, bake the kuba uncovered for the last five minutes and lightly brush the surface with lard.
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Topic: Czech Cuisine
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