49 replies to this topic

[helena]

Vongerichten's Millet Cake.




* Quotable Rancho Gordo.

[rancho_gordo]

I'll add it here as well:



Amaranth Souffle from The South American Table.

Amaranth is like a weed. It's drought tolerant, loaded with protein and can grow anywhere. You can eat the seeds or you can eat the leaves like chard. Instances of cultivated amaranth go back thousands of years.

I read recently that Spanish were horrified that the Mexicans would pop the seeds and mix them with agave syrup and make a candy called Alegria. What upset them was the fact they would shape the candy like their enemies and then they would eat them.

It's sticky when cooked so that's why it's used like a hot breakfast cereal. I'm trying to find new ways to make savory dishes with it.

[helena]

Good sources for interesting recipes:
Cook's Guide to Grains: Delicious Recipes, Culinary Advice and Nutritional Facts by Jenny Muir (including her interpretation of above mentioned millet cake);
Wolfert's Mediterranean Grains and Greens;


another interesting grain is freekeh (although it's technically a wheat)

[Suzanne F]

If you can wait until November, Lorna Sass is coming out with Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, in which she discusses those and more. She has basic recipes for amaranth, barley, buckwheat, various forms of corn (including posole), Job's Tears (?? ), millet, oats, quinoa, brown, red, and black rices, rye and triticale, sorghum, teff, various forms of wheat including wheat berries, Kamut, spelt, farro, and bulgur, and wild rice. And specific recipes for using the grains in combination with other ingredients for all types of dishes. She'll also have a list of sources.

I made her Basic Amaranth with some Peruvian kiwicha, and it turned out perfect!

(Disclosure: I copyedited the book, and put Lorna and Rancho Gordo in touch with each other.)

[helena]

After pulling out the above mentioned Muir's book i got overflowed with grain possibilities for dinners to come:
tonight - mushrooms (dried morels and fresh oysters) barlotto with duck gizzards confit.



coming next - posole verde;

[rancho_gordo]

(Disclosure: I copyedited the book, and put Lorna and Rancho Gordo in touch with each other.)

I sent samples and am crossing my fingers!
Thanks in a BIG way to Suzanne!

helena says:

tonight - mushrooms (dried morels and fresh oysters) barlotto with duck gizzards confit.

So what is barlotto?

[Liza]

I love raw amaranth in salads for it's great taste and gorgeous magenta-ness.
Must try that souffle, though.

[Cathy]

That soufflé is beyoootiful, RG!


I love JG's millet cake.

[helena]

So what is barlotto?

barley cooked risotto style.

speaking of barley, i should have mentioned barley flatbread from Casa Moro; it's very good - the recipe is available here

[Wilfrid1]

"Barlotto"? Why not "risley"?

[rancho_gordo]

I love raw amaranth in salads for it's great taste and gorgeous magenta-ness.
Must try that souffle, though.

I should clarify that the souffle used seeds and salads use the leaves. The leaves can also be sautéed like chard or spinach but I think they're best as Liza says, in salads.

I was reading last night that there are over 60 varieties of amaranth. Love Lies Bleeding and Joseph's Coat are two of the more decorative types. I grew Hopi Red (which is gorgeous) and Mercado (with a huge seed yield). They do cross if you plant them near each other.

[rancho_gordo]

I found this re amaranth:

Amaranth seed is high in protein (15-18%) and contains respectable amounts of lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are not frequently found in grains. It is high in fiber and contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C.

The fiber content of amaranth is three times that of wheat and its iron content, five times more than wheat. It contains two times more calcium than milk. Using amaranth in combination with wheat, corn or brown rice results in a complete protein as high in food value as fish, red meat or poultry.

Amaranth also contains tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E) which have cholesterol-lowering activity in humans. Cooked amaranth is 90% digestible and because of this ease of digestion, it has traditionally been given to those recovering from an illness or ending a fasting period. Amaranth consists of 6-10% oil, which is found mostly within the germ. The oil is predominantly unsaturated and is high in linoleic acid, which is important in human nutrition.

I should disclose that I'm now importing amaranth and quinoa from an organic farm coioperative in Bolivia, hence my interest.

[Daisy]

Is there a way to cook quinoa that eliminates that sharpish undertaste it can have?

[Abbylovi]

I found this re amaranth:

Amaranth seed is high in protein (15-18%) and contains respectable amounts of lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are not frequently found in grains. It is high in fiber and contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C.

The fiber content of amaranth is three times that of wheat and its iron content, five times more than wheat. It contains two times more calcium than milk. Using amaranth in combination with wheat, corn or brown rice results in a complete protein as high in food value as fish, red meat or poultry.

Amaranth also contains tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E) which have cholesterol-lowering activity in humans. Cooked amaranth is 90% digestible and because of this ease of digestion, it has traditionally been given to those recovering from an illness or ending a fasting period. Amaranth consists of 6-10% oil, which is found mostly within the germ. The oil is predominantly unsaturated and is high in linoleic acid, which is important in human nutrition.

I should disclose that I'm now importing amaranth and quinoa from an organic farm coioperative in Bolivia, hence my interest.

Shill!!!!!!!!!

[rancho_gordo]

Is there a way to cook quinoa that eliminates that sharpish undertaste it can have?

I think it you really need to rinse the hell out of it.

Mine is "polished" and doesn't have as much but it is there. I don't find it unpleasant. But I have had commercial quinoa that was so strong I almost couldn't eat it.