Category Archives: grains

Local Grain Source

As many of you know I love to bake. Specifically I love to bake with whole grains. This way my family gets all of the benefit of the grain, the fiber to help slow down the digestion of the starchy endosperm and help stabilize blood sugar, and the germ with all of it's nutrient goodness.

When we moved here I felt fortunate that our local grocery store carried whole grains in the health food section. Unfortunately they recently decided to stop carrying them which left me without a local source. But all of that has changed now thanks to my friend Jinks. Her new website Yummy Bread Kneads is a new local source for whole grains and she'll be sharing some great recipes.

Be sure to check it out.

photo courtesy of Rainer_Zenz | Wikimedia Commons

Strawberry-Colada Scones

by Mirabaking, gluten free, grains, oats, recipes

Having leftover fresh ground flour from the ricotta pancakes, I decided to make some scones.

Scones are great! Not as dense as muffins, the right size for a snack and, like muffins, very pliable to modification.

Rummaging around the pantry and fridge revealed some strawberry yogurt and the last little bit of shredded coconut so strawberry-colada became the flavor of the day.

Unfortunately, I did not have any fresh or dried strawberries which I think would have made these scones even better; the currants worked well but the scones were a little light in the strawberry flavor.

In the future, I'll make sure to have strawberries available the next time I want to bake these.

In the past when I have made scone recipes using fresh ground flour I find that sometimes they are more dense than I'd like. Wanting to make sure these were light more fluffy I separated the egg. If you are using whole grain flour you may want to do the same.

Strawberry-Colada Scones

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Ingredients

1 C. oat flour
1 C. brown rice flour
1/3 C. evaporated cane juice crystals
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
generous pinch of sea salt
1 C. strawberry yogurt
1 egg separated
1/4 C. coconut oil melted
1/2 C. currants
1/2 C. shredded coconut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400
Beat egg whites until peak forms, set aside
Mix together egg yolk, coconut oil and yogurt until fully blended
In a separate bowl mix together flour, cane juice crystals, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
Add dry mixture to yogurt mixture until just moistened
Gently fold in currants and shredded coconut
Gently fold in egg whites
Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet
Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown
Let cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to rack. Enjoy!

Ricotta Pancakes With Honey Glazed Plums

by Mirabreakfast, gluten free, grains, oats, pancake, recipes, vegetarian

Cooking and baking is always an adventure. Inspiration is all around you if you are open to it. There's no real explanation for why or how ideas come together but I can honestly say that frequently it's a matter of "oh gosh there's X in the fridge and I better use it up." Then I make something using that ingredient.

Most of the time I make tried and true recipes, either my own or those from trusted cookbooks. Sometimes the inspiration is something I ate elsewhere that I really liked and have been given the recipe. Other times the recipes find me but I somehow can't help playing with them a little bit.

Recipe inspiration

Such is the case with today's breakfast. The inspiration was a click-through Twitter post that brought me to Almost Bourdain's (AB's) blog, which I just discovered and like a lot. He credits his inspiration for this recipe to Bill Granger, I credit my inspiration to him. It's kind of neat how that works, we're all connected by this idea of ricotta in pancakes but we each put a slightly different twist to it; all of them, I'm sure, very delicious.

Substitute with what you have

My changes came about because I am trying to work more with gluten-free recipes lately. These are for a few people I know who are faced with gluten sensitivity. It's also, as always, inspired by what I have on hand.

AB's version calls for bananas and honeycomb. I didn't have enough bananas but did have plums. I didn't have any honeycomb either (and I miss my friends from CT who used to supply me with it) but I did have honey. Together with some breakfast sausage this made a great meal and is definitely on the repeat again list. I hope you like it too.

Honestly, these were fabulous. I would even consider serving them as a dessert by making the pancakes smaller and putting a dollop of creme fraiche on top with a dusting of cinnamon. Yum!

Ricotta Pancakes with Honey Glazed Plums

Indulge your taste buds with these luxurious ricotta pancakes topped with honey-glazed plums. The creamy texture of ricotta cheese combined with the sweetness of honey-glazed plums creates a decadent breakfast treat.

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Ingredients

For the pancakes:
1 1/3 C. ricotta cheese
3/4 C. buttermilk (for a little tang to offset the honey glazed plums)
4 eggs separated
1/2 C. fresh ground oat flour
1/2 C. fresh ground brown rice flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
pinch salt
For honey-glazed plums:
2 plums
2 T. honey
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. butter

Instructions

Pancake instructions:
Beat egg whites until peaks form, set aside
Mix ricotta, egg yolks, vanilla, and buttermilk together until well blended
Mix together flours, baking powder and salt
Gently add flours into ricotta mixture
Gently fold egg whites into mixture until just blended
Grop by 1/4 C. measure into medium hot, greased pan
After 2 minutes flip to cook other side
Instructions for plums:
Cut plums into bite sized pieces
Toss with honey and cinnamon
In a medium-hot pan melt butter
Add plum mixture and stir until plums begin to soften just a little (about 7 minutes)
Serve pancakes with plums on top

Changing A Recipe

by Mirabaking, fats and oil, grains, holidays, questions, recipes, substitutions, sweetenersingredients, recipe, swap

For many people learning to cook is a fun activity; often it's something you learn when you're growing up. In the beginning you learn by simply following the recipes. That's why baking is sometimes equated to science, it has to do with the exactness of the recipes. That science-type focus can make it difficult to understand what to do when it comes to changing a recipe though.

Why do you need to know how to change your recipes? Maybe you've run out of certain ingredients, or, need to make dietary changes to your recipe. Making these substitutions is not always easy and actually can be somewhat challenging. You need to understand the differences between ingredients, which can be subtle and often requires trial and error.

Below are some guidelines to help you get started when it comes to switching up your ingredients.

Baking soda or baking powder?

Before we get into the substitutions I feel it's important to clarify the difference between baking soda and baking powder. A lot of people think they're interchangeable. They can be but you need to be aware of how they each function in order to know if the substitution will work. Some recipes may call for both while other recipes may call for just one of them.

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, requires acidity plus heat in order to create the rising action. However, this means that when you're using baking soda you need to be able to pop the recipe into the oven as soon as possible after mixing to take maximum advantage of the rising ability.

Baking powder, on the other hand, is essentially baking soda pre-mixed with an acidifying agent such as cream of tartar plus a drying agent, or starch, of some kind. Single-acting baking powder becomes active immediately after it is mixed with liquid. So the batter does need to be put into the oven as soon as possible.

Double-acting baking powder has a split reaction, partly when the liquid is added, and then a second reaction when the batter is exposed to heat in the oven. Because of this, recipes using double-acting baking powder can be held aside for a short while before you bake them.

Baking powder can be a good substitute for baking soda. If you only have baking soda and need baking powder you'll need to add 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda; as an example, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar plus ½ teaspoon baking soda creates the correct ratio.

Substitutions

I've made some great doorstops/hockey pucks in my time by switching everything in a recipe and not understanding where or how I needed to make further changes. Keeping notes along the way is important. It can help you understand the evolution of your recipe and help prevent those inedible disasters.

I will share from personal experience that if you try to change everything at once you may find that you get an unpleasant result, so be careful when swapping. I usually change the flour first, then the fat, then the sugar.

Sugars

1 cup of sugar → substitute 1 cup of applesauce

You'll need to reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup – good for cookies, muffins, and quickbreads

2 Tablespoons sugar → ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Good for any baked goods, up to 4 tablespoons of sugar

1 cup sugar → 2 Tablespoons stevia powder or 1 teaspoon liquid stevia

The recipe may need further modification to make up for the loss of the volume of sugar

Flour/Starch

7/8 cup white flour → 1 cup whole wheat flour

You may need to let the batter sit for a few minutes to allow the extra fiber to absorb some of the liquid in the recipe

1 cup white flour → 1 cup mashed black beans

Wonderful in brownies

1 cup white flour → 1 cup nut flour + ½ teaspoon baking soda or baking powder

1 cup white flour → 1/3 cup coconut flour + 1 egg + a splash of water

Good for pancakes, cookies, and cake

1 cup white flour → 1 cup gluten-free flour blend

Depending on the recipe you may need to add tapioca starch or xanthan gum to make up for the loss of gluten

Fat and Dairy

1/2 cup oil or butter → ½ cup applesauce

Good for muffins or quick breads

1 cup butter → ¾ cup prunes + ¼ cup boiling water blended together

Good for brownies and other chocolate-flavored baked goods

1 Tablespoon butter → 3 Tablespoons ground flax seeds + 1 Tablespoons water

Let the mixture sit for 8-10 minutes to thicken before adding to the batter

1 cup oil or butter → 1 cup mashed banana

Good in brownies, muffins, or cookies

1 cup buttermilk or kefir → 1 cup whole milk + 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes to sour

1 cup milk → ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water blended together

If you need a slightly thicker consistency you can use a little more evaporated milk and a little less water

Eggs

The video below is a great resource for how to make substitutions for eggs.

Eggplant Corn Fritters With Chunky Tomato Red Pepper Coulis

by Miragrains, recipes, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarianeggplant, fritters, recipe, tomato coulis

I am always experimenting in the kitchen. Recently I created a dinner that came together out of ingredients from the farmer's market that I had on hand. Because this dish turned out so well I definitely plan to make it again; it's a great summertime meal full of flavor and freshness.

Although I used fresh ground flour to make my fritters you can still make this recipe if you don't have a mill by checking out my baking substitutions post.

Eggplant Corn Fritters

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Servings 4

Ingredients

Grapeseed oil
1/2 C. cornmeal
2/3 C. Ezekiel flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup milk, plus more if needed 
1 egg
1 eggplant, peeled and diced
1 ear corn, kernels removed

Instructions

Cut eggplant into medium dice
Toss with 1 t. salt and let rest 20 minutes
Rinse eggplant
Combine dry ingredients
Beat together milk and egg
Add milk mixture to dry ingredients (adding more milk if needed to make a smooth batter)
Stir in the eggplant and the corn
Drop batter by ¼ C. measure into hot oil
Turn fritters once while cooking, fritters should be golden brown on both sides
Drain fritters on paper towels
Serve with chunky tomato red pepper coulis

Chunky Tomato Red Pepper Coulis

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Ingredients

2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic minced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, diced large
1 t. minced fresh basil
1 t. minced fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Saute onion and garlic in a large saucepan until onion starts to soften
Add red pepper and saute 1-2 minutes
Add tomatoes and herbs, turn heat down to medium low and cook 10-12 minutes until vegetables are soft, tossing vegetables frequently
Add salt and pepper
Remove 2/3 of vegetables from the pan and put in a large bowl
Blend thoroughly with an immersion blender
Add reserved vegetables to blended vegetables
Serve over Eggplant Corn Fritters
Enjoy!

Quinoa-Stuffed Eight-Ball Squash: A Farm Share Recipe

by Miragluten free, grains, recipes, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarianquinoa

Our farm share included some neat vegetables I hadn't seen before like eight-ball squash. They are a type of round zucchini. Fun to cook with and delicious.

As I've mentioned in a previous post zucchini are great and have a lot of health benefits. They are also a versatile vegetable and can be served a number of different ways. The eight-balls seem ideal for stuffing because who would want to cut them up and cook them, destroying that cute shape? Having some leftover quinoa from when I last made quinoa taboule (I always double quinoa when I cook it because we eat so much of it) I decided to create a quinoa stuffing to fill these little beauties. This turned out to be so delicious that we can't wait to get more of these squash to make it again.

If you don't have eightball squash you can substitute acorn squash. The recipe will still be delicious.

Quinoa Stuffed Eight-ball Squash

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Ingredients

4 eight-ball squash, washed
2 C. cooked quinoa
1/2 C. roasted tomatoes in oil, diced
2 scallions, diced
1 clove garlic diced
2 T. chopped basil
1 t. salt
2 T. olive oil

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 F
Cut tops off of squash and set aside
Scoop out inside of squash being sure to leave a layer of flesh to maintain the shape
Place hollowed out squash into oven proof dish
Roughly chop squash
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan
Add squash to pan and saute until starting to soften
Add tomatoes, scallions, garlic, and basil and saute 2 minutes
Add quinoa and toss to mix well
Add salt and toss again
Turn off heat, fill squash with mixture
Place tops back on squash and place in oven
Bake 20 minutes

Rainy Day Muffins: A Delightful Cinnamon Raisin Recipe

by Mirabaking, grains, nuts, recipescinnamon, muffin

I'm happy but sad.

Happy, yes I am, mostly because I am sitting here eating this delicious muffin. Sad, yup, that too, because I'm not sure I'll be able to replicate it.

It's raining here today...for the third day in a row. Big bolts of lightning, huge crashes of thunder and a torrential downpour. Enough to make me decide that I needed some muffins and a cup of tea to cheer myself up.

Not sure what kind of muffin I wanted I decided to rummage and see what we had. Leftover flours in the freezer, millet, corn, oat and wheat yielded just enough flour to feel "muffin-y." I had some applesauce, a few raisins, some pecans, mixed those together with a couple of glugs of oil, an egg, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt and voila! It tastes scrumptious. I just wish I had remembered to measure before I started throwing things into the bowl.

But the important thing to remember here is to be creative with your food. If you have a little of this, a little of that try it, you'll never know but you may find a new favorite. If you start with good ingredients you'll usually end up with a pretty successful result. I think part of what makes this creation so successful is that it is basically a cinnamon raisin muffin with pecans but the balance of the different flours is what makes it special. A previous family favorite of greens and beans was also a "smattering" recipe it came about because I had a lot of little bits of leftovers.

To the best of my remembering (in other words guesstimating amounts) here is the recipe.

Cozy Cinnamon Raisin Muffins with a Nutty Twist

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Ingredients

3 C. *King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure
1 C. applesauce
1/3 C. avocado oil
3/4 C. sucanat
1 t. vanilla
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 C. pecans - crushed
1 C. raisins
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 egg

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together
Spoon into greased muffin tin
Bake 375 F for 15-18 minutes
Rest 2 minutes in tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Notes

*King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure

PS: My friend Mary who stopped by for tea tells me that these are "Yum yum yum!" hope you enjoy them too

A Fabulous Twist On Taboule

by Miragrains, vegetarian

With thanks to my friend Claire for bringing this recipe to my attention and for taking the beautiful picture of this gluten-free version of taboule using quinoa instead of bulghur (cracked wheat) created by Chef Rachel. Claire and I were fortunate enough to meet Chef Rachel at the National Association of Nutrition Professionals conference last Fall where she was making wildly delicious desserts that were gluten and dairy free. This quinoa is so tasty that I cannot get enough of it. I have made it twice in one week and think that this is my new favorite for summer salad.

Quinoa (keen-wa) is usually culinarily treated as a grain although it is actually a pseudocereal, the seed of a plant called Goosefoot (Chenopodium). Originally from South America it was a major crop for the Incas who referred to it as the “mother of all grains.” With a very high protein content and a complete set of essential amino acids it is a great choice for anyone but especially for vegetarians or vegans. It is also gluten free which makes it an excellent choice for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. As a great source of fiber, and high in magnesium, phosphorus and iron to round out it's nutritional profile, it is truly a powerhouse of a grain. One very important note, it is essential that you wash quinoa before cooking it. There is an outer coating of saponin on it that, if not rinsed off, will give your food a soapy flavor. Quinoa is so delicious that even my picky teen likes it; give it a try and I believe you'll discover a new food that you will like too.

For the taboule recipe you can visit Chef Rachel's blog. Don't forget to check out her Poached Pears recipe while you are there.

Photo courtesy of Claire Wang

What You Need To Know About Amino Acids

by Miracrockpot, grains, health, legumes, protein, recipes, vegetarian

Amino Acids Are The Building Blocks

We don't often think about the amino acids in our food and their impact on our health. But they play a really crucial part to health. This post addresses the important thing that we need to know about amino acids and shares on of my favorite recipes.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and there are twenty altogether. Eight of the twenty are considered “essential amino acids” because we require them but our body cannot manufacture them so we must get them from our food. These eight are phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine.

Animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs, contain all eight. But different foods such as legumes, seeds, and grains do not. Therefore they must be combined to create a complete protein. Legumes are high in the essential amino acid lysine, but they are low in methionine grains have both methionine and cysteine but are low in lysine. Combining them allows you to get a high-quality protein with all of the essential amino acids.

Going meatless

There's a lot of media attention to the idea of reducing how much meat we're eating. Including a suggestion for ditching the meat at least one day a week and switching to Meatless Mondays.

If you are a meat eater who is simply trying to eat less meat, incorporating a vegetarian plan one day a week can be a great way to get started. But it's important that you don't become a carbotarian and simply add lots of pasta or simple carbohydrates for your meatless meals. While getting proper nutrition from vegetarian meals requires a little more thought and effort, it is not difficult.

Amino Acid Food Combinations

In many cultures there are a lot of recipes that call for a mixture of legumes and grains that then create a complete protein.

a Korean dish called Kong bap is a mixture of seven grains and four beans. Because this dish contains beans (adzuki beans and green peas) and grains (barley, rice, Job's tears, sorghum, and corn) it provides all of the essential amino acids. This dish also has soybeans which are considered to be a complete protein by themselves.
South and Central America have many dishes that call for a combination of beans with corn
In the Middle East, there is hummus or falafel (made from chickpeas) and whole wheat pita as a common option
India brings us dal (lentils) and rice

Grains and legumes are not the only combinations that make a complete protein. Nuts and seeds can also be combined with either grains or legumes as a good source of protein.

The idea is to ensure that if you are not eating meat that you are not simply adding legumes to your diet but that you are adding them with whole grains and/or seeds to get proper nutrition.

Delicious lentils for dinner

One of our favorite dinners is a curried crockpot lentil and rice dish. This recipe originally came from a Lebanese friend of mine and is called M'judra, I've modified it a little over the years and it's one of our regular choices. Especially because the crockpot makes this an easy option.

This pairs really well with an Indian spinach dish called Palak and a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers with a spice called Chat Masala. It's a tasty, healthy and satisfying meal. I make it with a fair amount of curry powder because that's how we like it, if you need to reduce the curry powder it will still be delicious.

Curried Crockpot Lentils and Rice

2019-08-08 07:41:28

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Ingredients

1/2 C. rinsed lentils
1 C. rinsed red rice (can use brown rice if you prefer)
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
2 T. curry powder
1 T. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper
3 1/2 C. vegetable broth
1 T. olive oil

Instructions

Saute the pepper and onions in the olive oil until just starting to soften
Place all dry ingredients into the crockpot
Add broth and stir well
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (check at 4.5 hours to see if you need a little more water)
Add salt to taste after done cooking

Notes

Note: Don't add the salt while cooking because it will delay the lentils from softening

The Ingredient Guru, Mira Dessy https://theingredientguru.com/

Check out my other recipes using lentils:

Image by carlo sardena from Pixabay

Bread And Beans

by Miragrains, questions

My friend Helene recently asked if it was possible to use leftover cooked grains in making bread. The answer is most definitely yes. It does change your proportions but adds a wonderful moistness to the loaf. One great example is the receipe found here. Another use for leftover cooked whole grains is use them in muffins. This is actually my favorite way to use them because it's quick and easy. Unless you separate the egg whites and beat them it does make a denser muffin but we like them that way.

Her other question was regarding de-gassing beans, I'm pretty sure we all know what that means. Helene is hoping to avoid taking lots of beano. Let me start by saying that flatulence is a normal bodily condition. I don't think it's possible to completely get rid of gas and, of course, beans are not the only food that has this effect on our system; cabbage and broccoli are some others and many people have a problem with dairy.

Beans contain certain oligosaccharides that people cannot digest; we simply do not have the necessary enzymes in our system. One method of supposedly reducing the effect is to soak the beans overnight in warm water with baking soda. In the morning rinse the beans and cook. You can add baking soda to canned beans to reduce this effect however you need to use caution because too much baking soda will reduce the B12 in the beans and may leave a soapy taste as well. Another method is to boil fresh bay leaves with the beans. This has the added benefit of imparting a nice flavor. For cabbage dishes adding caraway seeds is supposed to help reduce the gassy effect.

Don't give up eating beans just because of the effect they may have. Beans are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber, protein, an excellent source of B vitamins and, depending on what kind of bean, lots of different minerals. Eat well, be well.