Grains and their Wonderful Flavors
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
• Buckwheat: Fagoprum esculentum. An ancient wild grass. Nature’s best source of rutin, a very beneficial vitamin C complex flavonoids.
• Kamut: Triticum turanicum. A rare, non-hybridized ancient wheat with very plump, golden kernels. Grown on the high plains of Montana.
• Golden Amber Durum Wheat: Triticum aestivum. The hardest variety of wheat that grows in the very few areas, but mainly grown in Montana and North Dakota.
• Rye: Seale cereale. A close relative of wheat. Rich, robust and deeply strengthening. Grown on the plains of North Dakota and even South Dakota.
• Quinoa: Chenopodium quinoa Willd. Grown at high altitude (11,000and up). Mainly found in the Andes mountains. Have a great punch of amino acids for your bodies needs.
• Short Grain Brown Rice: Oryza sativa. Grown in northern California. This grain is known as the “Most Perfect Food.”
• Organic Vegetables, Herbs and Spices: Carrot, Beet, Spinach, Flax, Parsley, Basil, Paprika, Garlic, Saffron, Clove, Red Bell Peppers, and Black Pepper. Have added nourishment and add a very colorful flavor to any dish or meal.
• Spelt: Triticum spelta. Also known as dinkle or faro. An ancient, distant cousin of modern day wheat. Grown by a great company now days in Michigan. And a few other areas of the United States of America.
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Earthly Eating Recipe
Panna Cotta and Rhubarb Compote
Serves: 10
8 cups whipping cream
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cup sugar
7 sheets gelatin (if using powdered gelatin, this is about 2 envelopes)
2 tbs. butter
6 rhubarb stalks (the larger and redder, the better) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cups white dessert wine
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1-3 tbs. grenadine for added color
1. Place the cream in a large saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the cream and toss the bean in as well. Add 1 cup of sugar.
2. Scald the mixture over medium-high heat, bringing it almost to a boil, but making sure not to boil it. Reduce the heat. Add the gelatin sheets, one at a time, whisking after each addition to make sure it is fully incorporated.
3. Remove the vanilla bean, and pour the mixture into individual 8-ounce ramekins or molds. Chill for 1 to 2 hours. While it is chilling, start the compote.
4. Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the rhubarb, remaining 1/2-cup of sugar, wine, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and grenadine. Simmer and stir into it’s the consistency of a purée. Taste and it you prefer it sweeter, add a little more sugar at this point.
5. Run a paring knife around the inside of the ramekins and turn out the panna cotta onto serving plates. Garnish with as much compote as you wish.
Happy Eating!
