Eat Close To Home

I’ve been wanting to learn to make sprouted grain bread for a while. It seems to agree with me really well; easy to digest, and doesn’t spike my blood sugar like even whole wheat bread can. I used this recipe, which my Aunt sent to me a couple weeks ago.

It was an interesting process. First of all, I don’t know if I got some weirdo mutant wheat, but my 3 cups of wheat and rye and lentils made about 10 tightly packed cups of sprouts instead of the expected 4.5. I do think I let them “over-sprout” – they were supposed to have just the tips of sprouts starting to show, and mine had legs and arms and even small leaves. And possibly drivers’ licenses. But this took only 2-3 days, which is what the recipe said…

The over-sproutyness might also explain why step 2, blending the wheat berries in a food processor, smelled like I’d stuffed a salad into a blender. Fresh and green, but…are you sure this is going to turn into bread? I was dubious, but pressed on.

I had so many sprouts, I did two loaves. One as per the recipe (over 1/2 a cup of gluten? Seriously? And is it true that 99% of our gluten comes from China? Should I be worried about melamine?) and the other I used spelt flour and molasses instead. The spelt one did eventuall turn into something like “dough,” but the other one really looked more like batter even after raising.

So I did the kneading, raising, loaf-forming, and second rise, then baked. I was still dubious; while one loaf looked like a loaf, the other looked like zucchini bread. And they still had that distinctly vegetable smell.

I baked them for an hour and did, in fact, check that their internal temps  were 200 degrees. Pulled them out, let them cool, and sliced them. The wetter loaf was…wet. Sticky. Like, Boston Brown Bread, steamed toffee pudding sticky. Erm. On to the loafy loaf. Same thing.

Ok, so I’m out a couple bucks’ worth of ingredients and some electricity for the oven. Big deal. But hey, might as well nibble a corner and see if it tastes like sprouts.

And no. It didn’t taste like sprouts. It tasted like Grape Nuts.

Whuhhhh?

And…I kinda couldn’t stop eating it. My husband and I agreed: this was the most oddly compelling bread either of us had ever eaten. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say it was *good*, but … it really invited nibbling.

I’m definitely going to try again, and I’ll blend the sprouts up before they turn from “grain” into “grasslette.” But hey, if you want to experience something that can turn from salad to Grape Nuts, give it a try…

I made these for my mom for Christmas. The “dough” is made from peanut butter, chopped nuts, and some puffed rice cereal, softened and mixed with black oil sunflower seeds. I pressed it into this mitten-shaped cookie cutter, poked a hole for hanging, then popped them out and chilled them.

You need to be sure there’s enough peanut butter around the birdseed or they won’t hold together. One of these crumbled and ruined the effect…my birds didn’t mind cleaning up the crumbs, though.

I think 38 and rainy is much ickier than 28 and clear. So after a rather fun day of shopping in the ick, we really wanted to come home and nest. We threw this on and watched a movie, then finished making it and eating it after dark.

My beef stew is usually less…complicated? I certainly use fewer seasonings usually, but that may change after tonight’s version. Yum!

Smoky beef stew. Cooking time: 2-3 hours. Serves 3-4.

In a heavy pot, combine and brown:

• A splash of oil
• One onion, quartered
• One slice of beef shank (about a pound)
• Coarse salt and pepper

Deglaze the pan with:

• 1/2 bottle of beer

Add the following:

• A can of diced tomatoes, with juices
• A knob of ginger, peeled and cut in half
• 4-5 c. water (enough to cover everything about 3x the depth of the beef)

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer, covered, for about 2.5 hours until the meat is very tender. The liquid will boil away and leave a very thick sauce – be sure it doesn’t burn.

When the meat is cooked, take it out, remove the bone and gristle, and shred the beef.

Add to the pot:

• the shredded beef
• 2-3 carrots, in large chunks
• 2 fist-sized potatoes, in large chunks
• 1/2 a rutabaga, in large chunks
• Opt: 1/4 c. black olives
• Water to cover – though not as much as the first time (you want the sauce to be fairly thick)

Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Just before serving, season to taste with:

• Smoked sea salt
• Smoked sweet paprika