FOOD & GATHERINGS

WE ARE SO privileged to walk into a grocery store, hunting for our regular grocery list items. Consumers wanting to tread off the beaten path often have at their fingertips such items as rye flour, wheat berries, pearl barley, quinoa, oat flour and many more ingredients becoming more common in our grocery store aisles.

The variety of flours and grains has increased far past the all-purpose flour and long grain rice found on shelves years ago. With the following recipes let’s focus on rye flour, rye berries, buckwheat flour and buckwheat groats. This provides a few applications for that new bag of specialty flour and grains.

In pastries and other delights, set your sights beyond flour

BY SHIMA ZONNEVELD

grains fromThe goods

Chocolate, Strawberry & Buckwheat Scones

It would be great to use all buckwheat flour, but the end result is a very dense, heavy scone. Combining the two flours and using whipping cream as the liquid, make this a light and flavourful treat! Bring out your buckwheat flour and dried strawberries and here we go!

1½ c. all-purpose flour ¾ c. buckwheat flour (Tip: Once the bag is open, keep it in the freezer) 1 tsp. kosher salt ⅓ c. granulated sugar 1 tbsp. baking powder ½ c. butter (Tip: Put the butter in the freezer for a few hours prior to making the dough.) 1 c. whipping cream 1 tsp. vanilla ¼ c. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped ¼ c. dried strawberries, chopped 1 tbsp. Turbinado sugar for the top

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Measure out the whipping cream and stir in the vanilla, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Stir to combine these ingredients. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Using your hands, work the butter in gently, so there are little crumbles of butter throughout.

Add in the chocolate and strawberries and give a quick stir to distribute.

The last step is to gently incorporate the cream and vanilla mixture. At this stage, the less you handle the dough, the lighter the scone. The full amount of cream may not be necessary; the desired texture is to have a malleable craggy dough with a few dry bits left that can be squished in with your fingers. Scoop the contents of the bowl onto a work surface and shape the dough into a rectangle. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to approximately a one-inch thickness, trying to keep the rough shape of a rectangle. Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 12 scones.

Place the scones onto the baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops with the leftover residue of the cream and vanilla mixture. Sprinkle with the Turbinado sugar and bake for 18–22 minutes and the sides of the scones should be lightly browned. These are great served warm from the oven. However, they can be made ahead and frozen. To do this, freeze them on a sheet first and then transfer them to a freezer-safe container or bag. When you are ready to bake them, pop them out of the freezer, brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. The bake time will be a bit longer, so watch for the edges to turn light brown.

Buckwheat Groat Granola

Buckwheat groats are the hulled seed of the buckwheat plant. They are crunchy and add a fun twist to a typical granola recipe along with added nutrients!

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

1 ½ c. rolled oats

½ c. buckwheat groats ⅓ c. Pumpkin seeds ½ c. hazelnuts, skinned ½ c. chopped dates ¼ c. chopped dried strawberries ¼ c. crushed banana chips ¼ c. ground flaxseed ½ tsp. kosher salt ¼ c. avocado oil

¼ c. date syrup ½ tsp. vanilla Whisk together the oil, date syrup and vanilla and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the oats, groats, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, salt and flaxseed. Chop the dates and strawberries and crumble up the banana chips and set them aside.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to coat. Spread out the oat mixture evenly over the two baking sheets. Bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point. Let cool completely without stirring to allow for clumps to form.

Add in the dates, strawberries and banana chips and store for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

Rye, Poppy Seed & Parmesan Rustic Crackers

These peppery crackers are the perfect accompaniment to a warm bowl of soup or a snappy addition to a charcuterie tray. Quite frankly, they are also great as a snacking cracker throughout the day!

1 c. rye flour 1c. all-purpose flour ¼ c. poppy seeds 1 tbsp. black pepper 1 tsp. kosher salt ½ c. Parmesan, finely grated ¾ c. water

6 tbsp. olive oil Flaky sea salt (sprinkling on the top before baking) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together and stir.

In a smaller bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the water and the olive oil. Add a little bit of this at a time to the dry ingredients until the dough pulls together. Use your hands to work the dough and to mix in the wet ingredients. As soon as the dough comes together into a shaggy looking form, stop adding in water and olive oil. Don’t worry if there’s some liquids left over. On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and form into a ball using your hands. Divide the dough into four pieces and work with one piece at a time. (At this point, the dough can be frozen and taken out to make crackers at any time.)

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to the desired thickness; for crackers, try and go as thin as possible without tearing the dough. For cutting the crackers, a cookie cutter or using a knife and going rustic work equally well.

Place the uncooked crackers on the baking sheet, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake for 16–20 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Let cool completely and leave out uncovered to crisp these crackers up.

Buckwheat Soba Noodle Bowl

Buckwheat is a sneaky one, as it is not actually a grain. It belongs to a different botanical family than a typical cereal grain. It is considered a pseudo-grain or cereal along with quinoa. Buckwheat is also considered a complete protein… Score!

8oz. buckwheat noodles 2 c. baby spinach, finely chopped 1 red pepper, thinly sliced 4 small or 1 large yellow beet, grated 3 carrots, julienned 1 tbsp. cilantro, roughly chopped

Dressing

¼ c. unsalted peanuts ¼ c. water 3 tbsp. ginger, grated 2 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. honey 1 tbsp. rice vinegar 1 tbsp. miso paste 1 tbsp. avocado oil a splash of sesame oil a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (can be omitted or use a bigger pinch depending on spice preference)

In a food processor or using a hand blender, whiz up all the ingredients into the dressing.

Cook the buckwheat as per package instructions. These can be served while still warm or cooled down to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine the noodles, raw ingredients and dressing. Toss to coat and serve. This noodle bowl lends itself to lunch leftovers, except for the spinach. It will be fine the next day, but not past that. So if you plan on eating this for a few days, add your spinach in as you go!

Rye Pecan Banana Bread

Think banana bread won’t be amazing with rye flour? Think again, this recipe delivers a moist, slightly tangy banana bread experience! Feel free to sub out the nuts and go with the always classic chocolate!

¼ c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 4 very ripe bananas, mashed 1 egg, beaten ½ c. brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 ½ c. rye flour 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. baking soda ⅓ c. pecans, toasted and chopped

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line and grease, either with cooking spray or butter, a loaf pan.

In the bowl with the mashed bananas, add in the sugar, vanilla, and beaten egg and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and pecans.

With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until combined. Then slowly add in the melted butter and stir.

Pour this batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45–55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then cool the rest of the way on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

Rye Berry Nourish Bowl

Rye is a nutrient-packed berry and is also very high in fibre. Add it into soups, salads or even as a more nutritious filler in meatballs. Its nutty flavour and chewy texture work well in this nourishing bowl.

1 sweet potato 5–6 small golden beets 2 tbsp. toasted pumpkin seeds ¼ c. feta cheese, crumbled

1 c. rye berries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and have a small piece of tinfoil cut for the beets.

Using a fine-mesh strainer, rinse the rye berries. Add them into a pot filled with approximately 6–7 cups of water. Add in a heaping teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer and let the berries cook until desired tenderness. For a slightly chewy texture, the cooking time will be approximately 55–70 minutes.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into one-inch chunks, place on the prepared baking sheet and toss with one tablespoon of olive oil and a generous pinch of kosher salt.

Cut the ends off the beets, toss them with olive oil and wrap them in the tinfoil. Tuck the tinfoil package in the corner of the baking sheet.

Bake the sweet potato and the beets for 45–55 minutes. Look for char/ roasted marks on the sweet potato and the beets should easily be pierced with a fork.

Dressing

½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. black pepper ¼ tsp. dried oregano ¼ c. olive oil

¼ c. balsamic vinegar

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside.

In a bowl, layer the rye berries in one corner, top with roasted sweet potato, beets, feta and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with dressing and dive in! This bowl is delicious with all the elements warm, but it also stands up as a next-day lunch served at room temperature. t8n