Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

Somehow, I managed to buy half of the ingredients for this recipe and half the ingredients for another recipe and didn’t realize it until I started cooking. I ended up with a Frankenstein recipe: the head of this recipe with the body of  Sass’ Thai Chicken Soup recipe. Fortunately for our bellies, the results were pretty tasty (cold cereal was the backup dinner). The curry paste gave the stew a gentle heat that went nicely with the coconut milk. Neither flavor was overwhelming and, in fact, it mostly tasted of tomatoes. Next time, I might try using less tomatoes and more of everything else.

I substituted red curry paste for the garam masala (an Indian spice mixture) and served the mixture over brown rice. I kept the unsweetened coconut milk, but ditched the fresh ginger and the pistachio nuts. I also cut my chicken into bite-sized pieces while Sass used whole chicken tenders.

Hmmm. It might be more appropriate to consider Sass’ recipes as inspiration, which, in my opinion, is the earmark of a truly good cookbook.

This is the last recipe out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way. Overall, I really enjoyed cooking out of this book, and I’ve got to hand it to Sass who comes up with some really easy ways to incorporate whole grains into one’s diet. I’ve got some new recipes that will go into regular rotation around our house, as well as an appreciation for the flavor that whole grains can add to baked goods (my modified lemon poppyseed muffins with spelt flour are killer).

And, since I really mangled Sass’ original recipes for this stew-like dish, I’m posting my version after the jump.

Chicken in red curry paste adapted from several recipes in Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass

Note: Use this as a starting point to create your own flavors. If you want something really spicy, add more of the curry paste. Don’t like curry? Leave it out and add thyme or some other dried herb. This stew would be good over any grain. I just happened to have a bag of brown basmati rice that I wanted to use up. We got two dinners out of this dish.

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1-2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 can diced tomatoes (I used roasted garlic diced tomatoes because that’s what I bought).
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk, well stirred (I used light coconut milk)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked brown rice

In a large frying pan, heat up a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium or medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute until soft and starting to brown. Add the chicken and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste and stir until the chicken and onions are coated.

To the chicken mixture add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower the  heat so the mixture is simmering. Cover and let cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is done.

Once the chicken is done, stir in the coconut milk and adjust the seasonings. Serve over brown rice or your favorite grain. Green peas make a nice side dish.

Remember this post a couple of weeks ago? Well, ever since then, I’ve been beating my head against a wall called Lemon-Poppyseed Muffins. And the wall has been winning.

From the first time I made these muffins, I thought they had promise, but also some problems. I thought the lemon flavor was overpowered by the other ingredients. I though they weren’t sweet enough, that they didn’t have enough rise and that they were too crumbly. So I made batch after batch, trying different combinations of ingredients. I compared recipes from other cookbooks and consulted one of the best scientific baking tomes of late, Bakewise by Shirley  O. Corriher.

In the end, I got the lemon flavor where I wanted it by increasing the lemon juice and brushing the hot muffins with sweetened lemon juice. The leavening problem was solved by drastically reducing the amount of leavening that the original recipe called for, and using all baking soda. Substituting a half of a cup of all-purpose flour for a half of a cup of spelt flour made the muffins lighter and less crumbly.

Because I made so many changes to the recipe, I’ve decided to go ahead and post my version after the jump.

Lemon-Poppyseed Muffins
Adapted from Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

1 1/2 cups of spelt flour
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbs of poppyseeds
1/2 tsp of baking soda
3/4 tsp of salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tbs melted butter
Zest from 2 lemons
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze: Juice of one lemon sweetened with powdered sugar to taste.

Place a baking rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a standard 12-muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and lemon zest. Process until everything is well combined and there are no large pieces of zest visible. The mixture should smell strongly of lemon. If you don’t have a food processor, use your fingers to mix the sugars and lemon zest. Rub the mixture with your fingers until the zest releases its oils into the sugar.

In a large bowl, combine the spelt flour, all-purpose flour, poppyseeds, baking soda and salt. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the buttermilk, sugar mixture, lemon juice, melted butter and vanilla. The liquid may look lumpy or curdled, but that’s okay.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix quickly, but gently, until there are no streaks of flour. Don’t overmix; the batter will be lumpy. Fill the muffin cups almost full (I use an ice cream scoop) and immediately put the pan into the oven. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

While the muffins are baking, take the juice of one lemon and mix in powdered sugar to taste. The amount will vary depending on how sour the lemon juice is. I usually add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. I like my juice on the tangy side; you can make it as sweet as you want by adding more sugar.

As soon as you remove the muffins from the oven, brush the tops with the sweetened lemon juice using a pastry brush. Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes before turning them out on a rack.

Every quinoa recipe I’ve made out of this book seems to include corn. Maybe it’s like Sass said – these two new world ingredients just seem made for each other. Whatever the case may be, they do taste wonderful together. And this soup is primarily corn and quinoa, with a bit of shrimp and red pepper thrown in for color and texture.

Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass

See those sad little hockey pucks? Those are my second attempt at Sass’ cornmeal biscuits using the modified recipe I found on her website. Alas, they weren’t much better than my first try.

Flat as the biscuits were, they were pretty tasty slathered with butter and raspberry jam. Still, I think I’ll hang up my cornmeal biscuit apron and move onto other things.

Chocolate things.

Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

I first heard about quinoa a couple of years ago. At the time, it was really hard to find and I soon gave up looking for it. These, days, however, it’s easily found in the natural foods section of most grocery stores. Quinoa was a major protein source for the Incas and is often called a “super grain” because it contains all of the essential amino acids the body needs. It is a tiny, round grain and pops when you bite it. I find quinoa to be fairly neutral tasting, and I prefer to use it like rice. The standard method of cooking it is to boil the grain like pasta, until it is tender. Then drain and use.

One note about quinoa – It is covered with a very bitter substance that must be rinsed off before cooking. I usually rinse the grains for 3-4 minutes under running water.

So, on to the recipe. It was good. The quinoa tossed with the roasted red pepper dressing was light and flavorful and I really liked the addition of corn to it. I can see making this salad during the summer with fresh, grilled corn and maybe some fresh basil. In fact, this salad could easily stand on it’s own, without the meat.

The pork chops are rubbed with a mixture of olive oil, chili powder, garlic, cinnamon and salt before pan frying. The spice rub nicely complimented the pork and wasn’t overpowering. Again, I’d like to try grilling the pork chops.

Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

The picture I had in my head of this dish was nothing like it turned out to be. I was imagining a creamy, warm, white liquid in which black grains of rice floated. What I got was black. Black liquid, black rice, etc. Looking back over the recipe, I’m not sure where I got the idea that black rice woudn’t turn everything it cooks in black. I mean, Sass even says that in the headnotes to the recipe. Yes, I am a dork.

But, despite looking like black maggots floating in black ink (now there’s an image for you), this was really very tasty. Sometimes I find rice puddings to be boring and one dimensional. This was neither, and, as a bonus, it turned my tongue purple. Now how many rice puddings can say they do that!

The recipe itself is very easy. You boil black rice until tender, add in a can of coconut milk (I used the light stuff) and some sugar and boil until the liquid is reduced. I topped mine with almonds and mandarin oranges, but next time I’m going to try whipped cream or coconut ice cream.

Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

This was one of the first recipes I marked out of this book. Besides the novelty of making my own popcorn (Wait! Popcorn doesn’t grow in microwave bags?), I love caramel popcorn. My family has a caramel popcorn recipe that we’ve been making since I was a little girl. It is gooey and good and maybe, someday, I’ll post it here.

But this recipe called for almonds. And, if you haven’t heard, I love almonds.

So, my first task was to figure out how to make popcorn. From scratch with no air popper. I know it can be done, because I’ve seen Alton Brown do it. Sass’ method of making popcorn involves tossing the kernels with a bit of oil, dumping them into a paper bag and microwaving them. It sounded easy. It sounded too easy and I was suspicious. Besides, Sass warns that some microwave manufacturers advise against popping popcorn in the microwave. What? I thought that’s what microwaves were made for. Oh my God. Was I going to blow the house up? Would I forever smell of burnt popcorn?

It was time to step back from the recipe and eat some chocolate. Which I did, for several days while contemplating the enormity of my task.

Finally, I decided I was being a dork and I just needed to do this. So I tossed the kernels in oil, plopped them in the paper bag and set the bag in the microwave. I hit the start button and ran to the other side of the room, mentally reviewing where the fire extinguisher was, the location of the nearest exit and whether or not I should warn Bryan that catastrophe was imminent.

Then I heard the first kernel pop. Followed by a second, then a bunch of pops, and the smell of popcorn filled the air. When the popping had mostly stopped, I stopped the microwave and gingerly moved the greasy, hot paper bag to the counter. After a few deep breaths, I carefully opened the bag and . . . I had popcorn. Real, fresh popcorn that tasted like corn instead of chemicals. It wasn’t stale or too salty. It was good. It was so good that I almost ate all the popcorn right then and there.

But, I had a recipe to make, so I dutifully made caramel, tossed it with the popcorn and almonds and scooped it into balls. Yeah, balls of dentistry horror. These puppies darn near wrecked a year’s worth of dental work that Bryan and I just finished. I think I let the caramel cook too long, because they had an odd burnt taste. Bryan and I each ate a popcorn ball, then I pretty much picked the almonds out of the others. Next time, I’ll stick with the Crossley family caramel popcorn recipe and just add almonds.

Look at those muffin liners! They are called tulip muffin papers, and I love them. I need to open my bakery just so I can bake everything in them. Sadly, those muffin liners were the best part of this recipe.

The muffins weren’t bad. They were just kinda tasteless. They had a really nice texture and were dense and moist, but they were sadly lacking in the lemon flavor. And the sugar. My major beef about this recipe is the amount of sugar that is called for. Sass says to use 1/2 to 2/3 c of packed light brown sugar, to taste.

WTF?

To taste? How do I know how they are going to taste if I haven’t baked them yet? And once I bake them, it’s a little late to be adding more sugar. Deciding to error on the less sweet side, I used 1/2 c of sugar, and it wasn’t nearly enough. 

Yet, I liked the texture enough that I’m going to play with this recipe. I’m going to cut down on the buttermilk and increase the amount of lemon juice. I’ll probably increase the sugar to at least 3/4 c. I also think a light lemon glaze would help up the lemonyness.

Stay tuned . . .

Note: I bought the tulip muffin papers from kingarthurflour.com. A simple google search revealed several more places that you can buy them at, including Amazon.

Currently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

Over the past year, Bryan and I have become flank steak aficionados. We tend to eat it at least several times a month. It takes well to marinades or rubs, cooks up in a flash and is delicious cooked on the grill, the stovetop or under the broiler. And I always have a bag of brown rice in the cupboard. In fact, except for the meat, I had everything in the house needed for this recipe.

The brown rice salad consists of brown rice (duh!), cucumber and carrots with a dressing of peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. At first, I was afraid the peanut butter would be overpowering, but it wasn’t. In fact, we could hardly taste it. The dressing needed a little more acidity, so next time, I’ll up either the rice vinegar or add some lemon juice to it.

The flank steak was delicious, although the marinade was pretty tame. It added a little bit of flavor, but not a whole lot. I marinated the meat for about 6 hours, so next time I’ll try marinating it overnight.

Unfortunately, the pictures don’t do the dish justice. It was delicious and healthy and something I’ll definitely make again.

Currently cooking from Whole Grains, Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

I only have few food dislikes. I hate liver (and am too old to be told it is steak, mom!) and I hate oatmeal. I dislike liver because of the taste. My dislike of oatmeal, however, all comes down to texture. I don’t care how good it tastes, it’s like eating snot – slimy, mucousy, stringy snot!

Sass has several recipes for breakfast oatmeal in her book, but I’m not going to try any of them. Why not? See the above paragraph. Instead, I’m going to tell you how I cook oatmeal. It may be a little strange, but it delivers oatmeal that is snot-free. For you oatmeal purists, you may want to stop reading now.

The first thing I do is use steel-cut oats. They may take a little longer to cook, but they retain their grainness. So, take a big pot and fill it with water (I never measure how much water, but it is probably about 2 or 3 quarts. Bring that water to a boil, add some salt and then add about 2 cups of steel-cut oats. Boil the oats until they are tender, usually about 15-20 minutes. Then (and here’s the strange part), drain the oats and rinse them in hot water until there is no sign of mucous. You should be left with distinct grains that don’t look or feel gummy. Drain well. 

I usually eat these oats reheated and topped with yogurt, fruit and almonds. If I’m not feeling the sweet, I’ll top them with some butter and salt and pepper.