Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup buttermilk, sour
cream, or yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ cups flour (all purpose or whole wheat pastry or a mixture of the two)
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Grease and flour two 8” cake pans or one 10” rectangular pan or spring form. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter together in double boiler. Mix eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Cool chocolate slightly and add to egg/cream mixture. Mix dry ingredients with wire whisk and add to the rest. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Corn Muffins
1 Cup cornmeal
1 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup sunflower oil
1/4 Cup maple syrup
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, oil a 12 seater muffin tin. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, and baking powder. In a seperate bowl, combine the milk, oil, maple syrup, and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, making sure not to over mix. Pour into muffin cups (they only fill about 3/4 of the cup) and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. A simple but delicious recipe great for breakfast.
Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(A favorite recipe at Four Star Farms)
Topping: (Thoroughly combine all topping ingredients)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts
3 Tbsp softened butter/margarine
Cake:
1 1/2 sticks butter/margarine
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 eggs
1 can whole cranberries (16oz) drained or 1 jar cranberry sauce/relish
3 cups Four Star Farms flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Heat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter/margarine, add sugar, and eggs beating after each. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Combine sour cream & flavoring, add alternately with dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Place half of the batter in a 9X13 pan, spread cranberries over the batter. Pour in remaining batter and sprinkle topping across the top. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, or until cake taster comes out clean.
Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
2 Cup milk
2 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Cup blueberries
2 Teaspoon honey
2 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt
2 eggs (beaten)
2 Tablespoon butter (melted)
Preheat griddle or frying pan on medium heat. Mix milk, eggs, and honey until frothy. Add butter and mix. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet. Fold blueberries in gently. Do not over mix, even though batter may be a bit lumpy and runny. Melt a teaspoon of butter and spread over pan. Ladle 1/4-1/2 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles appear on top, flip over, and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes until done. Add more butter to pan as needed. This recipe is great served with local maple syrup.
Herbed White Bean Dip
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, diced
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups cooked Jacob’s cattle beans
4-5 dashes hot pepper sauce (optional)
Over medium heat, sauté garlic and shallots in olive oil until soft. Add mirin, herbs and salt and reduce heat to medium-low. Saute for 5 minutes and remove from heat. In mixing bowl, combine beans with sautéed mixture and puree using a hand blender or food processor. Season to taste with hot pepper sauce and serve at room temperature. Makes 1 ½ cups.
Maple-Baked Apple Butter Beans
This recipe calls for kombu, a kelp sea green often available with bulk spices. The kelp contains a natural acid that tenderizes the beans as the seaweed itself melts away, leaving behind a luxurious sauce with complex flavor.
For this recipe, it is not necessary to soak the dry beans before cooking. Other local dried beans would work well in this recipe including Jacob’s Cattle and Soldier Beans.
¼ cup canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
½ cup apple butter
One 5-inch piece kombu
1 pound dried yellow-eyed peas
½ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons prepared mustard, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 300º. Put the oil in a large ovenproof pot or casserole with a lid over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the apple butter and stir for about a minute until deeply colored. Stir in 6 cups of water. Add the kombu, beans, maple syrup, and mustard. Cover and bake for 2 hours, ignoring it. Stir, then add water if needed to keep the beans covered, then cover again and cook until the beans are completely cooked, another 30 minutes or more. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir well to help break up the kombu, then taste and add more maple syrup or mustard if you like. Turn the oven up to 400º. Return the pot to the oven, uncovered, and bake until the beans are creamy and the liquid has thickened, another 30 minutes or so. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve. Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
A nice everyday cookie that is pretty enough to be a Valentine’s cookie on that special day.
1 cup almonds
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup spelt flour, or 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, combined
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup sunflower oil, or 1 stick butter, melted
1 (10-oz) jar raspberry jam
Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Grind the almonds in a food processor until they start to clump, then transfer to a large bowl. Place the rolled oats in the same food processor and pulse until they are fine, but not yet flour, and add to the almonds. Add the spelt flour and salt to the almond mixture. Mix until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and combine the maple syrup and sunflower oil in the well. Mix together until a smooth dough forms. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Press your thumb into each to make a good-sized indentation. With a spoon, fill each indentation with a small spoonful of jam. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies can be gently lifted off the baking sheet with a spatula without crumbling. Makes about 15 cookies from Butterfly Bakery, via Dishing up Vermont.
Spelt Naan
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 cups local spelt flour
1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
6 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp yogurt
– Mix yeast, sugar, and warm water in a bowl and set aside to begin to froth.
– Sift and mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture once it has become active, and then add half of the melted butter and all of the yogurt.
– Knead the dough with your fingertips and then lay it out on a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic.
– Let dough rise and double in size in a greased bowl for about 90 minutes. Then punch down and knead again for 5 minutes.
– Preheat oven to 400F.
– Divide the dough evenly (usually makes about 4 big pieces of naan) and roll into balls. Then roll or pat each out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 1/2″.
– Lay naan pieces on well-oiled baking sheet so they don’t touch, brush each with a little melted butter. Bake in a hot oven, flipping each piece when it gets puffy and golden. (Total baking time: 15-20 minutes, but check often!)
*Really good with curry and yogurt! (Or many other things…)
Sprouted Wheat Power Bars
8 oz. / 225 g sprouted wheat
2.6 oz. / 75 g almonds
2.6 oz. / 75 g dried currants, raisins, or apricots
large pinch / 1 g salt
Set aside roughly one third of the almonds and dried fruit to add later in the mix. Combine sprouted wheat, almonds, dried fruit, and salt and grind until smooth. I prefer a manual food mill over an electric food processor. The food mill gives a more even grind and gives you a chance to touch the dough and adjust the hydration if necessary. Three or four passes through the food mill will create a dough with a smooth consistency. Add reserved almonds and dried fruit before the last grind. Immediately shape into 1/4″ thick bars. You can also shape this dough into a small loaf. Bake at approximately 150°F to 200°F for 2-3 hours or until firm but not dry (loaves will take longer). Flip the bars or rotate the loaves once or twice during the bake. When cooled, wrap in plastic and store in the fridge.
The slowly falling temperature of a wood-fired oven after a bake is perfect for baking sprouted wheat power bars.
Good variations include pecan and dried cranberry, chocolate and dried cherry with rolled oat coating, and fresh fruit. Keep in mind that fresh fruit will make the dough wetter. To offset the extra moisture, you can coat the bars in rolled oats or mix rolled oats into the dough.
Recipe from Richard Miscovitch, Artisan Baker, presented at the 2011 NGGA Winter Conference
Wheat Berries with Caramelized Onion Sauce
1-cup wheat berries
3 Tbs. sunflower oil
4-6 local onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup local apple cider
1 bunch of local greens, chopped (any combination of kale, dandelion greens, spinach, arugula, collards, etc. would work)
1/2-1 cup crumbled Feta
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Begin soaking wheat berries in the morning. After about 8 hours, drain wheat berries and bring to a boil in plenty of fresh salted water, then reduce to a simmer and cook until tender (about 45 min.)
Meanwhile, sauté onions with sunflower oil over medium heat to about 15 min. Add salt and turn heat to low. Continue to sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until the wheat berries start to become tender and the onions begin to caramelize. Add the apple cider to the onions and return the heat to medium, and cook until most of the liquid has been reduce (5 -10 min.) Stir in the crumbled feta.
Serve the onion sauce on top of the cooked wheat berries. Top with freshly ground pepper. For added flavor, toss the cooked wheat berries with just a dab of Vermont butter!
Adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook.
Whole Grain Salad
(A recipe from Island Grains)
Rinse 2-4 cups of your whole grains to get rid of any chaff.
Soak the grains, if possible, for up to 24 hours in the fridge in lots of water and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
Fill the pot with water and boil like pasta until the grains are soft enough; some like their grains al dente, some like mushy. We find it takes 30 minutes to cook our rye this way.
Drain the grain into a colander, let it cool a bit, and put it in a big salad bowl.
Saute 1-2 onions and lots of garlic in butter until translucent, and add to salad.
Roast/saute/steam any vegetables you like, and add to salad (we love canned olives, roasted squash, sauteed peppers …)
Add cheese if you like cheese (feta is awesome).
Drizzle a salad dressing of your choice over the salad (e.g. creamy garlic or honey dill dressing).
Add seasonings (salt, pepper, spices) and stir.
Refrigerate before eating, if possible, to let the flavors blend.