Showing posts with label Grain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grain. Show all posts
9.20.2015
Giada's Cheesy Baked Farro
Finally...I got around to making this dish when my daughter was home last month. I saw it ages ago on one of Giada's Food Network Shows and saved the recipe. I really like farro and had some left in the package after my farro porridge post, so it was the perfect opportunity to try this unusual side dish.
It sure looked like a lot of cheese to me....and when I took it out of the oven I still thought it was going to be way too cheesy....but when we cut it, it held together perfectly and when we took a mouthful, it was chewy and cheesy...a fabulous combination. We loved it.
Cheesy Baked Farro
From Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients:
Vegetable cooking spray
For the sauce:
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups warm whole milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the farro:
2 1/2 cups grated Parmesan
1 cup grated Gruyere
1/2 cup fontina cheese, grated
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
Olive oil, for drizzling
Method:
For the farro: In a large stock pot, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the farro, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the faro is tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, if necessary.
In a large bowl, add the cheeses and stir to combine. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
For the sauce: In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 8 minutes (do not allow the mixture to boil). Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Add the farro, thyme, and sauce to the bowl with the cheese. Stir until combined and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with the reserved 1/2 cup of cheese. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake until the top is golden brown and forms a crust, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
5.12.2013
Bulgur Salad with Herbs, Apricots and Pistachios
I really love experimenting with different grains, often serving them very simply (so as to become familiar with their flavors and textures) as a side with dinner, but now I'm moving on to more grain-based salads and bulgur was one I hadn't yet tried in salad form. I do know it's used in many Middle Eastern dishes like tabbouleh, often substituted for rice or couscous and even served as porridge. It has a slight nutty flavor and I prefer it to quinoa (which I just can't seem warm up to, sorry about that), although bulgur IS wheat, which I know a lot of you are avoiding now.
The latest issue of Fine Cooking featured a dish with bulgur and lots of intriguing flavors. I loved that it can double as a side OR a salad. It'll travel beautifully, so you could take this along on a picnic. The flavors are marvelous....the tangy sweet of the apricots, the crunch of the pistachios and those herbs! Yum. The mixture of herbs adds so much freshness to the salad; hopefully, you'll have some available in your herb garden this summer.
Bulgur Salad with Herbs, Apricots and Pistachios
Adapted slightly from Fine Cooking Magazine, June/July Issue
Ingredients:
2 cups bulgur
Kosher salt
2/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
Generous 1/2 cup roughly chopped apricots
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
generous 1/2 cup chopped, roasted, salted pistachios
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
In a large skillet, toast the bulgur over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until darker in color and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Remove to a bowl.
Bring 2 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the skillet and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until softened. Remove from heat, stir in the bulgur, apricots and 2 cups boiling water. Stir. Cover and let stand for 30-40 minutes until all the fluid has been absorbed. Gently stir in the parsley, mint, cilantro and pistachios. Add salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining cup of olive oil into the lemon juice. Pour over the salad, correct the seasonings if necessary, and serve. Makes about 7 cups.
2.26.2012
Flax and Hemp Seed Crackers
Yes, you've got the right blog. And yes, I know this isn't the kind of recipe you usually see here. Hemp seeds? Flax meal? But lots of you have posted recipes for making your own crackers, I just haven't gotten around to trying any of your recipes.
Until now.
After reading Sylvie's post about these flax and hemp seed crackers, they looked so easy I decided to try them. They're grain-free, gluten-free too...although that's not something I need to worry about, fortunately. Doesn't hurt to eat healthy though, does it?
Anyway...Sylvie raves about them. And after a trip to Whole Foods for other odds and ends, I easily found flax meal, hemp seeds and coconut flour. The hemp seeds and ground flax meal were in the breakfast cereal area. The coconut flour with their other flours.
So now I had the ingredients in my kitchen. No excuses. Please don't think it was wasteful to buy a sack of coconut flour (luckily, Whole Foods has small sacks) for just one tablespoon, because not only will you make these crackers again, but I plan to use the coconut flour in my coconut bread and coconut muffins. Bet it would make marvelous pancakes too.
These crackers were so easy; came together in a few stirs, rolled out beautifully and although they needed to be baked a tad longer than Sylvie indicated, turned out perfectly. I cut mine Wheat Thin cracker size. They're crisp, but somewhat delicate so they'd be good with a soft cheese like brie or a dip (hummus would be great) and super for snacking. I think I might add some sesame seeds next time.
Flax and Hemp Seed Crackers
From Gourmande in the Kitchen
Ingredients:
½ cup/ 60g almond meal
½ cup/52g ground flax meal
2 Tablespoons/30g shelled hemp seeds
1 Tablespoon/ 8g coconut flour
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (plus more to sprinkle on top)
2 Tablespoons/28g unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg white
Method:
Preheat oven to 300° degrees F/ 150° C.
Mix almond meal, flax meal, shelled hemp seed, coconut flour and fine sea salt in a large bowl. Pour melted butter and large white egg over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine with a fork until dough comes together in a ball (you may need to use your hands).
Roll the crackers out very thinly between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into small squares and sprinkle with a pinch of additional sea salt.
Cool on cooling rack and store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
1.16.2012
Lentils Like Baked Beans
Have you heard about this recipe? Take my advice and don't wait for summertime to make this wonderful side dish, even though we always think of baked beans as a picnic dish. These lentils would be perfect with a pork chop, although I had it next to a piece of chicken. I couldn't stop eating it. Addictive. Would you believe later that night I was spooning it out of the fridge cold?
Some bench notes from the original recipe: when....and notice I said when, not if....you make it, rinse the lentils until the water runs clear. And use red lentils. I happened to have some thick cut bacon and used that, so did not add the extra oil that's on the ingredient list. The only thing I changed in the original recipe (why bother messing with perfection?) was taking the lid off the baking dish the last 15 minutes so the liquid would cook off before it became mush. It took an additional 5 or 10 minutes. This will all depend on your oven. Check after about 40 minutes and if you still see a lot of fluid, remove the top and bake until it's nearly gone. I also used some toasted whole wheat naan for serving.
Lentils Like Baked Beans
From The Art of Living According to Joe Beef via Seven Spoons
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
4 cups water
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons neutral oil
2 tablespoons Colman's mustard powder
1 tablespoon cider vinegar, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon ground pepper, plus more as needed
1 bay leaf
Salt
Method:
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F
In oven proof pot with lid, fry bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes, or until softened. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
Add the lentils, water, ketchup, maple syrup, oil, mustard, vinegar, pepper and bay leaf. Stir well and season with salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, place in oven, and bake for 45 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
Taste and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper, maple syrup, and vinegar. Serve hot now or later. Serves 4.
1.06.2012
Gourmet's 50 Women Game Changers in Food: #29, Betty Fussell
Betty Fussell is first and foremost a writer. She has been writing articles and books for 50 years on the subject of what it is to be an American, first looking at movies and theater and then at food. I really like what interviewer Cheri Sicard had to say about Betty:
"Fussell is a writer who is also a home cook, one who loves the sensuousness of words as much as the sensuality of foods. As a writer, she sees food as a window into the culture, past and present, of America. As an historian, she sees any meal as a way of eating history on the plate. As a cook, she likes recipes that are simple, improvisatory, fresh, and tasty, something anyone could do with no more than a sharp knife and a skillet and a few good fresh ingredients."
"Fussell is a writer who is also a home cook, one who loves the sensuousness of words as much as the sensuality of foods. As a writer, she sees food as a window into the culture, past and present, of America. As an historian, she sees any meal as a way of eating history on the plate. As a cook, she likes recipes that are simple, improvisatory, fresh, and tasty, something anyone could do with no more than a sharp knife and a skillet and a few good fresh ingredients."
Betty was born in Southern California in 1927. She ended up with a PhD In English lit, married her childhood sweetheart Paul Fussell and taught literature and film at Columbia University. In the 1980s she left teaching to write full time. Her first book was a biography of Mabel Normand. Since then, she has won fellowships to MacDowell Colony, Millay Colony for the Arts, Yaddo, Villa Montalvo, Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers and Djerassi Resident Artists Program.
Moving on to food writing, Betty is best known for the book I Hear America Cooking and she authored The Story of Corn, an in-depth study of the plant as a crop, religion, and culture. She considers corn the basis of American cuisine. Betty says: "I didn't know how complex, how ancient, how complicated this subject was. I am still immersed in it years afterwards because there's no end to it---corn is in everything". This book won her the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Jane Grigson Award.
Her latest book, Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef, takes a stab at how America's past and future is inexorably linked with its iconic beef dish of choice.
In 2007 she won a James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism for “American Prime” in Saveur’s Steak Issue of July. She was recently celebrated, along with other winners of the Silver Spoon Award, by Food Arts Magazine
Unfortunately, she also wrote a book called My Kitchen Wars, about her decades-long marriage and its breakdown. To be frank, I have no interest in reading it. (Let me know if you've read it and what you thought.)
Over the decades, her essays on food, travel, movies, theater and the arts have appeared in scholarly journals, popular national magazines and major newspapers. Critical and scholarly essays have appeared in literary publications She has lectured at museums, universities, cooking schools, food & wine associations, state fairs, corn festivals and steak workshops all over the country
For a complete list of betty's books click HERE.
When I did the recipe search for Betty, I was thinking in terms of the holidays, so Betty's famous recipe for Popcorn and Venison Sausage Stuffing would have been quite timely. Sorry about that! Well, you can save it for next year. :)
Anyway, I was intrigued when I read about a stuffing recipe made with popcorn. As it turned out, it was an excellent stuffing, but the popcorn part is a tad gimmicky don't you think? (Perhaps the recipe was a result of Fussell's obsession with corn?) The stuffing was a bit chewier than I cared for and you can see the bits of white in it which does make for interesting table conversation. I doubt I would make it again. In addition, I should have contacted D'Artagnan to get some venison sausage but instead I used some fine pork sausage I found at Whole Foods.
Popcorn and Venison Sausage Stuffing
Popcorn and Venison Sausage Stuffing
(for a 12-15 lb turkey, or about 8 to 10 cups stuffing)
Ingredients:
Turkey giblets and neck plus water to make about 3 cups stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (to make 4 cups popped popcorn, to be ground in a blender)
8 to 10 slices dried day-old white or wheat peasant bread (to make 4 cups toasted bread cubes)
1 pound venison sausage (or well-seasoned loose pork sausage)
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
2 cups white onions, chopped medium fine
1 ½ cups celery, chopped medium fine
2 tablespoons dried Herbes de Provence, or mixed dried sage, rosemary, thyme.
Salt & black pepper to taste
1 cup dried cranberries
Method:
Place neck and giblets (except for liver) in cold water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer, season to taste, and cook slowly 45 minutes to an hour. (Cook liver in the broth 3-4 minutes only; remove gizzard and heart after 20 minutes cooking). Chop giblets and set aside. You’ll need about 2/3 to 1 cup chopped giblets. Discard (or chew on) the neck.
Film the bottom of a heavy cast iron skillet with the olive oil and heat over a medium flame. Add the popcorn kernels and cover loosely with a large (wok) lid until the kernels begin to pop. Shake the skillet slowly over the flame as the kernels pop until they stop popping (5 to 7 minutes). Uncover the skillet so the kernels don’t “steam” because you want them dry as possible.
Scoop popped kernels a cup or two at a time into a blender and pulse until they are finely chopped. Set aside.
Cut bread (leave crusts on) into small cubes and toast them in a low oven (300-325) about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
In the same cast-iron skillet, quickly sauté the loose sausage (no more than 2-3 minutes) in 2 tablespoons of the butter, chopping the meat with a spatula so it cooks evenly. Remove meat and set aside.
Add remaining butter to the same pan, sauté the onions and celery and season them with the dried herbs and salt and pepper. Cook 5-6 minutes until the vegetables begin to brown but are still crunchy.
Add to the pan the cranberries, chopped giblets, ground popcorn and bread cubes. Add 2 cups of the turkey stock. Taste for seasoning and moisture. For a wetter stuffing, add more stock.
Pack the stuffing into a casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes to make a slight crust on top.
Helpful Notes: This stuffing cooks separately from the turkey as a side dish. It is meant to be crunchy, with a lot of texture. For those who want a really soft dressing, add stock.
Giblets & stock can be done ahead, with leisure to distinguish cooking times between heart, gizzard and liver. You want to retain the soft texture of the liver and keep the heart and gizzard from turning to rubber.
Popping the corn kernels can be done the day before. You want it to be dry and crisp. If it’s not, just dry it in a big baking pan in a low oven (225 degrees) for an hour. Unless you’ve got a superpowerful blender, you’ll need to grind it in small batches so that it’s like coarsely ground nuts.
Join Mary from One Perfect Bite and all the other participants in this fun series.
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Viola - The Lif e is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Kathleen Van Bruinisse -Bake Away with Me
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Martha -Lines from Linderhof
Amy - Beloved Green
Linda- Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Annie - Lovely Things
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Annie - Lovely Things
Claudia - Journey of An Italian Cook
10.07.2011
50 Women Game Changers in Food: #18, Clotilde Dusoulier
This is the first Game Changer post on a blogger. It ought to be interesting for the next month because for some reason, Gourmet listed four of them in a row.
I'm of two minds about including them on the list; have they had the experience and been involved in the culinary world long enough to be included on this impressive list of 50 world-wide game changers? And if so, do you think four spaces on a list of 50 is just about right? Can you imagine the debate that went on about this?
Of course real talent should be recognized and rewarded no matter the age. Everyone has to start someplace and these girls began blogging for fun, just as we have, and their blogs have resulted in successful (probably surprising themselves as much as anyone else) careers.
The food blogs have amassed an enormous internet audience and their influence is spreading through the entire culinary landscape, whether the old guard likes it or not. And let's face it: a lot of them do look down their noses at bloggers; they better get with the program as food blogging is here to stay and will continue to grow. (Remember what Julia Child said about Julie? “Julia said, ‘I don’t think she’s a serious cook.’ ”) So I think the best of the bloggers deserve recognition, but I did give a thought to other innovative women chefs who were ignored. I'd be willing to bet if I asked my daughter if she knew who Clotilde Dusoulier was she would say no. She's a foodie, a super cook, but not a food blogger. It's an interesting conundrum, isn't it? (And no, she'd never heard of her.)
So our first food blogger Game Changer is Clotilde Dusoulier. She certainly qualifies as being young (early 30's) but as well, you can't deny she has become an influence in the culinary blogging world. Her Chocolate & Zucchini blog is widely read and Clotilde has made a big name for herself. I doubt when she began blogging, she would ever have imagined how her life would change.
Clotilde was born and raised in Paris, where she studied to become a software engineer. Following graduation she worked in the Silicon Valley for a couple years and this is when her interest in food and cooking began. When she returned to Paris in 2003, she started her blog, Chocolate & Zucchini. Its success led to a second career in food writing. She eventually gave up her engineering job to try a writing career full time. Four years after she began blogging, she published a book based on her blog. Then another in 2008. She also worked to update the classic of French cookery, first published in 1932 called I Know How to Cook, Je Sais Cuisiner. And now, her most recent, a book she has edited called The Art of French Baking which is to be released in November.
Her hopes for the future? A family seems to be foremost, more books and she'd like to mentor young talent.
Now for those of you thinking this recipe for fregola and zucchini sounds familiar, it is. I've posted it before and it's worth repeating. A lot. I serve it frequently and it's always a big hit. Creamy, nutty and cheesy and altogether fabulous. And when I first saw it posted on Chocolate & Zucchini years ago, fregola was new to me, so in addition to a great recipe, I was introduced to an unusual pasta that I continue to use often.
A month or so ago, I had company coming and I paired this dish with quail fromD'Artagnan . What a perfect dinner.
Fregola Sarda with Zucchini and Pine Nuts
From Chocolate and Zucchini, October 5th, 2004 post
Ingredients:
3 small and slender zucchini
2 cups cooked fregola sarda
2 handfuls of pinenuts, dry toasted
2 ounces parmesan cheese (or more)
olive oil
salt
herbes de provence
Method:
Wash and slice three zucchini very thin. Sauté in a bit of olive oil, with herbes de provence to taste and just enough salt to bring out the zucchini flavor. Add the fregola and pinenuts. Grate liberal amounts of parmesan on top and mix in. Serve warm. Serves 2 with leftovers for lunch.
How I cooked the quail:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Season the quails with salt and pepper. In a large oven-proof saucepan, heat the canola oil on high heat and grill the quails in canola oil on all sides until brown. Finish cooking them in the oven for approximately 8 minutes.
Join Mary from One Perfect Bite and all the other participants in this fun series.
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Kathleen Van Bruinisse -Bake Away with Me
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Martha -Lines from Linderhof
Amy - Beloved Green
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo
7.11.2010
Whole Hominy: trendy??
In the past few weeks, I've found hominy on my plate at two local restaurants. Hominy you ask? Yes, but not the way you'd expect.
The first was at Michael's Genuine in Miami. (Michael was just awarded the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef of the Year, South. If you're ever down this way, don't miss his amazing food.) A group of us went for lunch and on the appetizer menu was a dish called "Crispy Hominy with Chile and Lime". Intriguing. Well, we were a table of southerners, so we ordered it along with some others goodies to share. When the dish arrived, we expected some form of grits, probably panfried patties. But no, this starter arrived in a small bowl and was whole hominy, deep dried. You just popped them in your mouth like popcorn. Deelish. Completely addicting!
Less than a week later, my son and I went to Cut 432 in Delray Beach, one of his favorite places to eat. I ordered salmon and it arrived served over....you guessed it....whole hominy! It had been browned with something like scallions and perhaps finely chopped celery and red pepper. Simple, unusual and quite tasty. I am so accustomed to hominy in grits form, or as posole in Southwest-flavored soups that I was completely surprised by these two dishes using whole hominy, one as an appetizer (for which I have since found a Mark Bittman recipe and will attempt soon) and then as a side dish. Have you had it served to you anyplace? What do you think...a new fad?
Hominy is hulled corn kernels that have been stripped of their bran and germ. It's served both whole or ground. And even ground, there are degrees of texture. Finely ground, it can be used to make tamale and tortilla dough. And slightly less finely ground, you have grits, that lovely old southern dish that most northerners don't understand. Everyone in the south has a great family recipe for grits...my personal favorite being cheese grits.
Coarsely ground hominy was called samp. Samp is of Native American origin, coming from the Narragansett word "nasàump." New Englanders since early colonial times have referred to cornmeal mush or cereal as "samp." Like hominy, samp is prepared from dehulled kernels of maize, but the two are produced by different processes. If the word "samp" dropped out of modern English, "hominy" hung in there, eventually joined with the word "grits" in the American South.
In the Southwest, big (or whole) hominy is called posole (or pozole) and is used to make hearty stews of hominy, chile peppers, and pork. (Heidi at 101 Cookbooks has a lovely recipe made with posole .) And it was "big hominy" that I was served in both restaurants.
Of course it comes canned, but don't go that route, please. Hominy seems to be gaining in popularity primarily due to the intensity of the flavor that is not available from canned hominy. So start with the dried.
I discovered you treat whole hominy like dried beans: soak them overnight and simmer with a chopped onion for about about 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until it is puffed and tender, but not broken down. You will have to keep checking on the water content throughout this process as more water may need to be added. Plan on 1/3 cup uncooked hominy for each serving. After the initial soaking and cooking, the kernels should be drained well, then cooled. They can also be refrigerated until ready for use.
And how should you use them? Aside from Heidi's recipe above, try making a hominy stir fry flavored with sesame oil and fresh crisp vegetables; or fry hominy in brown butter and herbs as a side dish; or how about The Pioneer Woman's Hominy Casserole? And here's a change of pace: hominy and coconut pudding.
And lastly, here's what I came up with:
Grilled Salmon over Fried Hominy
Ingredients:
1 cup white corn hominy
1/2 onion
water
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter
Notes:
*The hominy would be heavenly fried with some bacon too. (Naughty me!)
*Because this post is all about hominy, there's no recipe for the salmon here; use your favorite fish and your favorite way to prepare it.
Method:
Bring a pot of water to boil, add some salt, the 1/2 onion and the hominy. Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. I found two hours was too long; the hominy starts to break down. Take a piece to test; it should be similar to the texture of a lima bean. Drain and remove the onion. You can cool at this point and refrigerate.
Add some olive oil and a little butter to a frying pan. Add the hominy, the green onions, the garlic and red pepper. Lower the heat and fry until everything is golden brown. Serve under fish or meat.
5.12.2009
Farro, Two Ways
Once upon a time there was a grain called emmer wheat. It was the original grain from which all other grains derive. It was the primary wheat grown in Asia, Africa and Europe through the first 5000 years of recorded agriculture, feeding the Mediterranean and Near Eastern populations for thousands of years. It was the standard ration of the Roman Legions and, ground up, it was also the primary ingredient in polenta which was eaten for centuries by the Roman poor.
If you've never tried farro before (or haven't even heard of it), this familiar salad is an excellent way to be introduced. Understandably, farro is very popular in Italy which certainly explains the origins of this particular recipe. You might be thinking: boiled grains? But the olive oil and creamy mozzarella make it rich and the tomatoes provide a fresh and juicy contrast. Besides, the very texture of farro lends itself well to salads; it travels well to picnics and it can be mixed with many ingredients to create a lot of flavor options. In this recipe, I simply combined cooked (and slightly warm so the mozzarella softened) farro with sweet cherry tomatoes, chunks of fresh mozzarella, chopped fresh basil and dressed it lightly with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It is a perfect lunch: delicious, hearty and healthy.
Caprese Farro Salad(Adapted from Blue Bird Grain Farm's recipe)
Ingredients:1 cup farro
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped shallot
2 medium tomatoes (or halve several cherry type tomatoes)
2 tablespoons slivered fresh basil
4 ounces fresh mozzarella
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:Place the farro, water and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes. (Do not overcook, you want the farro to be tender, but chewy.) Drain excess water. This should make 2 cups cooked farro.
Place the warm cooked farro in a large mixing bowl and add the olive oil and balsamic, stir to mix well. Add chopped shallot, basil, salt and pepper and stir to combine all ingredients. Top with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Flavors are best when served warm or at room temperature
Simply because I became intrigued with farro and continued to search, I found this next scrumptious recipe in a cookbook called Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass. Served with a piece of grilled salmon it was a fabulous dinner. Fish seems to go beautifully with this hearty farro/mushroom dish, but I can see steak here as well.
Surprise your friends and family; they will be really impressed at this creative alternative for rice or potatoes- I can't begin to tell you how delicious it is- good for you too.
Farro with Mushrooms(Adapted from Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass)
Ingredients:3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup diced shallots
24 ounces Crimini mushrooms (Baby Bella), stems cut in half lengthwise and caps sliced in 1/2 inch slices
pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup basalmic vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon Marsala wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3 cups cooked farro (see above salad recipe for directions)
Method:In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the onion and garlic. Saute until they begin to soften, remove the garlic and then add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until mushrooms have released their liquid and are well browned.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar mixture and cook until liquid is mostly evaporated. Add cooked farro and heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring gently. Add the fresh thyme, correct the seasoning and serve warm.
Serves 4-6.
However, farro (the Italian name for emmer wheat) was a low-yield crop and by the beginning of the 20th century, higher-yielding wheat strains had replaced farro almost everywhere, except in parts of Europe and Ethiopia. My tale might have ended here except- isn’t this a familiar refrain?- some savvy French farmers began to supply it to elegant restaurants and those chefs began to use the grain in soups and other hearty dishes. Their success sparked renewed interest in farro and now the grain is enjoying a resurgence in popularity especially among trendy health-conscious cooks.
Farro is a barley shaped grain and has a chewy texture and nutty flavor. You can usually find it at Whole Foods or other health food suppliers and, surprisingly, at Amazon. I buy mine at Blue Bird Grain Farms.
If you've never tried farro before (or haven't even heard of it), this familiar salad is an excellent way to be introduced. Understandably, farro is very popular in Italy which certainly explains the origins of this particular recipe. You might be thinking: boiled grains? But the olive oil and creamy mozzarella make it rich and the tomatoes provide a fresh and juicy contrast. Besides, the very texture of farro lends itself well to salads; it travels well to picnics and it can be mixed with many ingredients to create a lot of flavor options. In this recipe, I simply combined cooked (and slightly warm so the mozzarella softened) farro with sweet cherry tomatoes, chunks of fresh mozzarella, chopped fresh basil and dressed it lightly with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It is a perfect lunch: delicious, hearty and healthy.
Caprese Farro Salad(Adapted from Blue Bird Grain Farm's recipe)
Ingredients:1 cup farro
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped shallot
2 medium tomatoes (or halve several cherry type tomatoes)
2 tablespoons slivered fresh basil
4 ounces fresh mozzarella
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:Place the farro, water and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes. (Do not overcook, you want the farro to be tender, but chewy.) Drain excess water. This should make 2 cups cooked farro.
Place the warm cooked farro in a large mixing bowl and add the olive oil and balsamic, stir to mix well. Add chopped shallot, basil, salt and pepper and stir to combine all ingredients. Top with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Flavors are best when served warm or at room temperature
Surprise your friends and family; they will be really impressed at this creative alternative for rice or potatoes- I can't begin to tell you how delicious it is- good for you too.
Farro with Mushrooms(Adapted from Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass)
Ingredients:3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup diced shallots
24 ounces Crimini mushrooms (Baby Bella), stems cut in half lengthwise and caps sliced in 1/2 inch slices
pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup basalmic vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon Marsala wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3 cups cooked farro (see above salad recipe for directions)
Method:In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the onion and garlic. Saute until they begin to soften, remove the garlic and then add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until mushrooms have released their liquid and are well browned.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar mixture and cook until liquid is mostly evaporated. Add cooked farro and heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring gently. Add the fresh thyme, correct the seasoning and serve warm.
Serves 4-6.
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