The last two weekends, we've been offering tastings of our favorite ancient grain: Farro. As I've mentioned before, our Prairie Farro is quite versatile. It's great in soups, salads or as hot cereal. It's a big, nutty, flavorful grain that feels hearty and healthy.
Lately, I've been making quite a bit of "Farrotto" -- like risotto, only with Farro. The trick here is to pre-cook the Farro a little to open up the grain and get it ready to absorb all the goodness in which you're about to simmer it. (Our Prairie Farro takes a little longer to cook because it's the whole grain. Most other Farro or Emmer you might find in stores is cracked or pearled, which is fine if you want to shave off a little cooking time, but pearling does strip away some of the nutrients and fiber and flavor of the grain. We're big proponents of eating truly whole grains so we everything is there to do as nature intended it to do, so our grains are always whole.)
Here's a favorite version, but feel free to play around with spices, etc.
Prairie Farrotto
1 cup Prairie Farro (Email us at farmer -at- prairieheritagefarm.com to order some. We ship!)
1 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic
½ onion, chopped
1 Stalk celery
1 medium carrot
1 cup broth
½ c dry white wine
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried sage (or basil or whatever strikes your fancy)
Parmesean cheese (for the top)
Fresh parsley (for the top)
In large pot, boil Prairie Farro
for 45 minutes to an hour, until tender and chewy. Drain. (I boil
our Farro like you would pasta – in lots of water and then
drained.)
In heavy-bottomed large saucepan
or pot, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until softened.
Add celery and carrots and saute
until glistening.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and
sage.
Add Farro and stir, gently
sauteeing the grain until shiny.
Add wine, broth and bay leaves and
turn heat down to a low simmer.
Simmer for about 30 minutes to an
hour, adding more broth and stirring as needed if grain gets dry.
Serve hot and sprinkled with good,
strong Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
Prairie
Heritage Farm is now taking signups for 2012 Grain and Bean Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm shares. "Shares" are $200
and include 50-70 pounds of a variety of organic, family-farmed
ancient and heritage grains and legumes. (Sign up information here or at the bottom of this page.)
Once
you get to know the suite of grains and legumes we grow at Prairie
Heritage Farm, you'll love them forever. You'll use them every day.
You'll want to name your children after them. (Seriously, Sonora -
one of the heritage wheats we grow - is a great name, right? How
about Lucile Emmer?) (Lucile Emmer is the variety of Farro we grow.)
But,
we know from our own experience that cooking with fresh whole grains
and legumes takes some getting used to.
With
that in mind, here are seven things you can do, and reasons you
should join our Grain and Bean CSA:
1.
Bake with fresh flour.
And
not just bread. Crackers, (graham crackers, even), pancakes, cookies,
pizza. We even use our whole wheat fresh flour to thicken soups and
best of all, make dynamite roux. Fresh flour is more nutritious. Did
you know that most of the flour that you buy at the grocery store has
gone through an enormous amount of processing, even the "whole
wheat" flour? The store-bought flour has been stripped of most
of its nutrients then "fortified" by adding a few of them
back in. And, the store-bought flour is certainly not fresh, as it's
been sitting on the shelf for months, necessitating preservatives and
stabilizers.
2.
Cook with whole grains.
And
we mean really, truly whole grains. (We don't pearl or process
our grains or lentils in any way, meaning they are fully in tact when
they get to you.) Most of our grains simmer for about 45 minutes and
come out plump, chewy and ready for folding into your favorite dish.
Pilafs, soups, salads, risottos (or “farrottos” as they're
sometimes called) are gorgeous with whole grains. The possibilities
are endless. One of our favorite members calls our grains “rice-like”
grains, not because they're like rice, but because he uses them
instead of rice. Brilliant way of looking at it. We serve gumbo over
Bronze Barley or Prairie Farro. Barley mushroom risotto anyone? Or,
vegetable-fried Farro?
3.
Cereals and porridge.
Your
blender or Vitamix will crack these grains (just throw them in and
run for a minute or two) into quick-cooking cereals of all kinds. One
of our members likes to mix all the grains up, crack them and boil it
all up for multi-grain cereal. Bronze Barley porridge was one our
daughter's first foods.
4.
Pack in protein with legumes.
Oh,
the lentils. They're not just for soup, you know. Spice them up and
use them as taco filling. Puree them with tahini for hummus. (Lentils
make great hummus too!) Make lentil burgers that will put anything
store-bought to shame. Shame I tell you!
5.
Connect with a food history.
And
not just for educational purposes, either. These older crops are not
only more interesting and more flavorful, but they're also better for
you. We raise these crops because of their valuable genetics and to
preserve these endangered seedstocks. The varieties we grow are known
as landrace varieties. Landrace crops are genetically diverse and are
able to adapt to changing environments and climates. Their
development over the millennia by farmer selection has allowed our
bodies us to adapt alongside them. In the past half-century, crop
scientists have rapidly and dramatically changed the structure of our
staple grain crops for higher yields, genetic homogeneity, short
stature, and drought resistance - all to the detriment of our ability
to enjoy these grains. The gluten structure in these modern varieties
has changed to such a degree that many people have developed wheat
allergies and can no longer eat any wheat products made from them.
6.
Support sustainable, family farming.
Prairie
Heritage Farm is owned and managed by Jacob and Courtney Cowgill, who
both have returned to their roots in Central Montana. We believe that
family farms nourish not only the people who work them, but the
people they feed and communities in which they live -- which is why we moved back to rural Montana. We wanted to be part of reinvigorating the land and communities that raised us. We believe
organic agriculture, diversification, and a robust local food system
are good for the health of our farm, our customers, ourselves, and
our planet.
7.
Experience a taste of place.
Members
in the Grain & Bean Share experience what is known as terroir
-- or taste of place. We want people to think about grains like
wine drinkers think about grapes: a particular piece of land is going
to impart certain characteristics on a crop (and different from year
to year) and knowledge of those characteristics is going to create a
better loaf of bread, a better cracker, a better pasta. And, members
will be supporting local farmers with the staple foods they eat. One
of our friends and customers put it this way, “there is something
almost magical about eating what actually grows in Montana. I love
that this special place -- which has been my family's home for four
generations -- is veritably in the food I am feeding my children.
They eat Montana.” We couldn't put it better ourselves.
To
sign up, send your check to: Prairie Heritage Farm P.O.
Box 914 Conrad, MT 59425 (Please include your
address, phone number and email address with your check so we can
keep in touch with you.)
Farro is a big, nutty wheat that's great for salads, soups, risottos and the like. It makes pretty great pasta too.
The stuff we grow and sell -- Prairie Farro -- is an ancient wheat from the Fertile Crescent that
dates back to nearly 20,000 years ago. The grain has been discovered
in archeological digs and in ancient tombs and is believed to have
developed from crosses between wild grasses. It was likely harvested
in the wild before people began to select the best plants for
cultivation.
Farro,
known also as Emmer, is often sold pearled, so it has less bran on
the kernel.We leave ours completely intact, so nothing has been
removed from the kernel that would compromise any of the nutrients
the grain has to offer. Its nutritional profile is similar to modern
wheat except it is higher in protein, iron, phosphorus, zinc, and
copper. It is a versatile grain that can be used in breads, crackers,
and salads.
Farro's star is rising, let me tell you. Of all our grains, it's the one people spot on our market table, run over and say, "I've been looking for this!"
Since we started growing and selling it four years ago (btw, not to brag or anything, but Prairie Heritage Farm is one of the only local producers of farro in Montana. We sell direct to
customers through our grain CSA farm share, at farmers markets and by
special order. We ship too! Email farmer@prairieheritagefarm.com), I've been mostly using farro in soups and cold salads (like this one) and the occasional risotto (or, farrotto), but in the lastT few months, I've started exploring warm farro salads, especially with greens (because it seems like there is no. end. to the greens piling up in our house right now.)
My favorites so far have been this recipe and this recipe.
But I combined them to make this winner:
Warm Prairie Farro Salad With Baby Beets, Blue Cheese and Greens
1 to 1 ½ cup farro (not pearled)
1 bunch mustard greens (or arugula would work here too), chopped (2-3
cups)
1 bunch baby beets with greens
½ wedge blue or cambozola cheese
½ cup walnuts
Dressing:
3 Tbs red wine, apple cider or balsamic
vinegar
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
Rinse farro well. Add farro to pan
with 2 cups water (for one cup, 2 cups water. For 1 ½ cups, 3 cups
water.) Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
While the farro is simmering,
separate the baby beets – cutting off the beet part, scrubbing and
placing in a shallow pan (you're going to simmer them a little, just
to soften.)
Chop the beet greens a long with
the mustard greens. (We used Mizuna, btw, but I think you could sub
chard or kale here too.)
Mix up the dressing and in a
separate bowl, crumble the cheese and add in the walnuts. (You'll
use the cheese/walnut mixture to top the salad at the very last
minute.)
Once beets are simmered (about 5-7
minutes) to your liking, add to large bowl with greens.
Drain the cooked farro and add
directly to the bowl of greens and beets. You want to just slightly
wilt the greens with the heat of the farro. Stir quickly until the
greens are soften as you like them.
Fold in the dressing.
Once the salad has cooled a
little, top with the cheese/nut mixture and serve.
