Basics- Wheat

Bags of wheat! Buckets of wheat! Barrels of wheat! Bushels of wheat! Stored in the forgotten corners of your basement or garage!

Yes, you all know what I'm talking about.

Your food storage.

So....what do you do with it? Years ago my mother set out to answer that exact question, in an attempt to both use our food storage and create an inexpensive alternative to the whole grain bread we buy. It began with a manual hand grinder and about a million and a half bread-making experiments. Now we have two grinders, manual and electric, and we make our own whole wheat, preservative-free bread, bagels, cookies, cinnamon rolls, etc.

First a word about the type of wheat. There are different types of wheat, the most common being red, closely followed by white. The difference though, is less to do with the color and more to do with the protein content of the wheat. We have found that white wheat works best as a replacement for white flour, because of the similar protein content, and can work in pastries and desserts without much change in texture and flavor (just make sure it's ground very fine). Red wheat tends to make baked goods heavier, but can be remedied by adding an extra egg in place of some of the liquid in a recipe. In general high protein flours make good loaves of chewy artisan bread while low protein creates a better crumb for cakes and muffins.

Here is one of our favorite recipes to get you started.

Honey-Whole Wheat Bagels

1 cup water (75 to 85 degrees)

3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably white wheat)

1-1/2 Tbsp. honey

1-1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/2 tsp yeast

For bread machine: place ingredients in bread pan in following order: water, honey, wheat flour, salt. Make small indentation in flour and add yeast to indentation, making sure yeast does not come in contact with liquid. Start bread machine--set on “bagel” or “dough” program.

By hand: double recipe if desired. Measure water into a bowl. Add yeast and dissolve. Add honey to water mixture and stir. In a separate bowl mix flour and salt, and then add to water mixture, saving 1 cup to flour board and knead with. Stir flour into water and then turn out onto floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover with a cloth and let rise until double.

to finish: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Divide dough into equal pieces (6 for 1 recipe, 12 for double recipe) Roll into a ball and poke a hole in the middle. Roll and shape into a bagel shape. Place on baking sheet. Let rise 20 min. Fill a large pan 3’’ deep with water, add 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Gently lift bagel from baking sheet and gently submerge in water, cooking 30 seconds on each side. Remove bagel to paper towels and let drain, then place on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 min until bagels are lightly browned and surface is shiny; remove from baking sheet to wire rack to cool. Serve with Honey-Walnut spread.

Honey-Walnut Spread

Mix one 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (reg. or light) or yogurt cheese, softened, with 1 1/2 Tbsp honey. Add 3 Tbsp. walnuts. Chill

Banana Lassi

I hate old bananas. Once they've lost their green I think they taste really awful, which is a problem when you buy your own bananas and can't depend on your siblings to eat them for you. Luckily my roommate has a magic bullet (think little tiny single person smoothie blender) and while playing with my old bananas I came up with this recipe which I've been craving every night since I made it. I call it banana lassi after it's more traditional cousin from India.

Ingredients-
1 banana
1/4-1/2 cup plain yogurt
a dollop of honey ( usually I just drizzle as much honey in there as I can fit on a spoon....than lick the spoon)

Blend. Drink. Rejoice in your potassium and calsium filled creation.

Best Whole Grain and Nut Pancakes

 My most favorite pancakes ever! The oats and walnuts make them so light compared to the usual whole wheat pancakes. And They're so good for you! I am thinking about experimenting with changing the oil and sugar content.....

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine. In a large bowl, combine ground oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, oil, egg, and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix wet ingredients into dry with a few swift strokes. Stir in nuts, if desired.
3. Lightly oil a skillet or griddle, and preheat it to medium heat. Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet; cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes per side, or until brown. 

Basic Granola

Dry Ingredients:
4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1-2 cups nuts and seeds of your choice
1/2 tsp salt
seasonings (optional)

Glaze:
1/2 cup flavorless vegetable oil
1/8 cup water
1/2- 3/4 cup sweeteners (a mixture of dry and wet sweeteners works best: honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, agave nectar, brown sugar, white sugar, etc...)
seasonings (optional)

1/2- 1 cup of dried fruit (optional)

Preheat oven to 275. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Put all of glaze ingredients in a sauce pan, cook over medium heat until they come to a boil. Pour glaze over dry ingredients and stir until evenly coated. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take the granola mixture by handfuls and squeeze it tightly before placing it on the baking tray. It will soon look like you've created a small mountain range of uncooked granola. This is good; the mountains will turn into clusters, and we like clusters.

Carefully put the cookie sheet in the oven without demolishing your mountain range and set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes carefully turn the granola, bringing the edge granola to the middle (you may have to demolish some of your mountains, but try to keep the clusters in tact). Bake the granola for another 20 minutes. Take it out and add any dried fruit you desire and stir it again. You may now break up the mountains into your preferred cluster size (Shoe size? dress size? preferred cluster size?), And bake it for another 20 minutes. Take it out and let it cool. It may not seem done but with dry out as it cools, so don't worry if it's still a little soft when it comes out of the oven. Eat with milk, yogurt, plain, or however else you fancy.

Here is my favorite variation (Beware: This is for adventurous taste buds!):
Spicy Cranberry-Ginger Granola
To dry mix add:
nuts and seeds- pecans, sunflour seeds, seseme seads
1/8 cup turbinado sugar
2-3 tbsp candied ginger (minced finely)
2 tsp allspice

To syrup add:
sweeteners: 1/2 cup corn syrup, 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Add: 1 cup dried cranberries during baking.

Arroz con Leche

• Milk -- 4 cups
• Short-grain rice --1/2 cup
• Cinnamon stick -- 1
• Orange or lemon peel -- 2 strips
• Salt -- pinch
• Raisins -- 1/4 cup
• Sugar -- 1/2- 1/4 cups depending on taste
  
• Butter -- 2 tablespoons
• Vanilla 1 teaspoon

1. Place the milk, rice, cinnamon stick, orange or lemon peel and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Immediately reduce heat to very low and simmer, stirring often and scraping bottom, for about 45 minutes.
2. Add the raisins and sugar and simmer for another 15 minutes. Stir often to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Adjust sugar to taste and serve hot or cold, sprinkling the top with some ground cinnamon.

Notes:
I always skip the raisins and the orange peel (two things I usually don't have). the original recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar, but it was a little sweet for me. This is the way I use up any souring milk in my fridge.

Latkas

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Mix in potatoes and onion.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. In batches, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the potato mixture into the skillet. Press to flatten. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Crisp Waffles

• 2 eggs (or egg whites)
  
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 2 cups milk
  
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup oil (or applesauce)
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups white flour (or 1/2 cup white & 1/2 cup wheat)

Heat waffle iron. Beat eggs with hand beater until fluffy; beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth. Pour batter from cup onto center of hot waffle iron. Bake until steaming stops, about 5 min. Remove waffle carefully.

Cinnamon Rolls

Combine:

• 1 cup mashed potatoes
  
• 1 cup warm water
  
• 2 Tblsp. yeast

Let stand. Scald:

• 1 cup milk
  
• 2 tsp. salt
  
• 2 Tblsp. butter

Mix above ingredients into 3 cups of flour. Add:

• 3 beaten eggs
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 6 Tblsp. shortening
  

Directions:

Add 5-6 cups flour until you have soft dough. Let rise ‘til double. Roll out on floured board; spread w/melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Roll up and cut into 2” slices. Place into pan and let rise until double. Bake at 325 degrees. Check at 30 minutes--keep checking until center rolls are done.

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 2 Tblsp. margarine
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1 tsp almond extract
  
• 1 to 2 Tblsp. water