I recently had the pleasure and privilege to be a speaker at The Kneading Conference, hosted by The Maine Grain Alliance a two-day conference that focuses on using grains as flours with baking and farming experts from all over the globe. This year I lectured on the techniques and ease of cooking savory dishes with whole grains. Writers, farmers, bakers, and foodies made up the crowd as they stood elbow-to-elbow listening to these masters of their craft. And then there was me. Don't get me wrong, I have been cooking and growing food my entire life, having been brought up in a house and family of chefs and cooks. But, you aren't going to find me lecturing at Johnson & Wales or the Culinary Institute of America or competing in Paris. (Not yet...) As fate would have it, I had been asked to look at how to use some of these amazing and horribly under-utilized and under-appreciated whole grains. These days farro is a popular word when people are talking about cooking with grain. Another familiar one is bulgar, which is a wheat berry that has been par-cooked so that the bran splits open. Tripping down along the path of familiar grains comes barley and rice, perhaps spelt if you grew up in the eat-your-spelt-and-sprout-snack-there-are-children-starving-in-Ethiopia-right-now kind of a house. (Ahem...) We start to veer off into the intellectual and epicurean ditch when grains like millet, kamut, and triticale come up. Even good ol' wheat berries sit in the bulk bins waiting to be ground by ambitious whole-foodies into their own flour, but otherwise ignored.
So, why? I asked. Why not cook awesome food with these obscure grains. Why should barley only be destined for some sad knockoff of Dinty Moore? Why is Farro the only popular grain? Why grind it all up and just bake with it. Lo, these many winters ago, I had a hankering for risotto. I had no Aborio rice, or any starchy short-grain rice. I had farro. So I made farrotto. Where the grain is toasted with aromatics, hit with some vermouth and herbs, cooked low and slow, stirring often with each addition of stock until its creamy, chewy, delicate, and robust all at the same time. Topped with cheese, or roasted root veg. or lightly sauteed shrimp, or... Awesome. Turns out, before the trade routes from east-Asia became established the folks in Italy worked with the hearty grains such as farro and even still, only the rich folks were eating this fancy grain. The poor folks were left with just the brown grains. Well, good on them and good for us, because it is an amazingly flavorful grain, full of wonderful nutrients and a natural tendency to balance out your blood sugars.
For my lecture I was determined to honor the essence of the conference and cook with a Maine grown grain. An awesome farm up Mount Desert Island way provided me with a bounty of triticale; a hybrid of wheat and rye that is easily grown in our chilly regions of the north and commonly used as animal feed. It comes with the added bonus of higher protein content than wheat and lower glutenin. I highly recommend it. We of the foodie mind (er, me and maybe two other people right now) are hoping to bring this great grain into the limelight.
Keep in mind, with this preparation you can make bulk amounts ahead of time and freeze portion sizes. Here, I will share with you my go-to for any whole grain, but this technique can become the basis for all sorts of fantastic applications.
Summer Salad with roasted golden beets, triticale, and a tarragon lemon honey vinaigrette
serves 4
For the grain:
One large white onion
three large sprigs lemon thyme
olive oil
2 cups grain
5 cups vegetable stock
Additions:
6 large or 8 small golden beets washed and de-greened
one small head red cabbage sliced very thin
2-3 cups arugula
feta
chopped tarragon and parsley
Lemon Honey Vinaigrette
1.
Peel and mince 2-4 cloves of garlic
2.
Add to salad bowl along with 1 Tablespoon of
honey. Let that sit for 2-3 minutes
3.
Add the zest and juice of 1 ½ lemons
4.
Add one teaspoon of dried or jarred mustard,
whisk into bowl
5.
Add up to ½ cup oil of your choice- we will use
both EVOO and almond oil
6.
Chop fine some soft herbs, such as tarragon and
add just before dressing your salad.
7.
Reserve a few tablespoons aside to finish the
dish
The Grains
1.
Chop onion fairly small, while doing this heat
pan on low.
2.
Turn heat to medium-high and add a tablespoon of
olive oil to pan, add onions and saute till they develop a bit of color
3.
Add thyme sprigs and grains, stir quickly for
one minute
4.
Add stock and cover, turn to low cook 45 minutes
checking often after 30 minutes
5.
Once cooked to al-dente remove from heat and
immediately pour grains into a large bowl or sheet pan to begin to rapidly cool
them to prevent over-cooking
6.
Let sit till room temperature
7.
These grains can be cooked ahead like this and
used throughout the week in different salads
The Additions:
1.
Scrub the beets, coat lightly in olive oil, salt
and pepper. Place in shallow roasting
dish covered with aluminum foil. Cook
until fork tender. Let cool, rub skins
off, cut into cubes or 16th wedges.
Dress with 2 tablespoons of dressing.
2.
Peel the outermost layers of cabbage off,
decore, cut in quarters. Slice very thin
and separate layers. Set aside. Do not dress ahead as the cabbage will will
and release liquid.
3.
Wash and set aside greens. If using spinach or a larger leaf, slice into
thinner strips
4.
Crumble feta
The Salad:
1.
Place cooled greens in bowl with dressing, toss
well. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Add more citrus juice now if you
need more zip
2.
Add greens and cabbage, toss well.
3.
Portion and arrange on plates, distribute the
beets and feta evenly
4.
Sprinkle chopped herbs
5.
Drizzle remaining dressing and enjoy.
This salad is best in the first day, but the elements of the
salad sit nicely by themselves for up to a week and are ready to assemble in a
minute!
