I am SO in love w/this really old guy I ran across in Costco - we often have 3 meals a day together!

M

music-city-missy

Well-known member
His name is farro and he was cultivated as far back as 5,000 years ago even though he's been around thousands more years.

He's virtually unchanged (by humans)over the years. He's healthy. But most of all he's extremely versatile and tasty. No to mention that he's got this irresistable chewy, toothiness to him.

Forgot to mention that because he hasn't been changed by humans, he is much healthier and higher in protein than his relatives - modern wheats. Also, because he hasn't been changed, he has less gluten and some people that have problems with gluten find they can add farro to their diet - whole grain or ground into flour for baked goods.

I mean, how much better can it get?

 
Breakfast with farro

So for breakfast I make a batch of this to last most of the work week but I love it so much that I find myself eating rather large portions. I love the texture that both steel cut oats and farro create plus the additional nutrition.

You can sort of cook these together calculating the water need for each and timing and add each at the right point but it comes out a nicer texture to do it separately and mixing.

1 c Steel cut oats
1 Farro
1/2c Quinoa
1 c Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal (but you could use other similar hot cereals - I just like this one because it has a little of everything)
1/4 c Farina/Cream of Wheat
1/2 c Dried Fruit
1/2 c almonds toasted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup cold ground flax seed

Use percentages to your taste - the above is a guess since I just pour.

When cooking separately (except you can easily cook the cereal and farina together and throw the flax in if you want but it doesn't have to be cooked), I add extra water and let the dried fruits, particularly dried apples and apricots, cook with them - just a quick cook to plum them.

Blend all together, put in a container and refrigerate. To serve, heat then stir in a spoon of local honey (for allergies), cinnamon (helps with blood sugar), and soy milk. You could also use regular milk or almond milk and to be even more adventurous, kefir or yogurt. If you want a little sweeter - I use some things like black strap molasses (iron) or agave syrup. Or just plain old brown sugar or granulated sugar.

So I am not that big of a health nut but this is addictive - play with the textures and flavor - add good old fashioned rolled oats. Go more savory and put some grits or polenta (although they work sweet too) and top with a whole poached farm fresh egg (I still think they are healthy especially in moderation not to mention a cheap good source of protein).

 
I cooked farro for the first time last fall. It is delicious, but I don't have a good...

...source at a reasonable price.

Sprouts used to carry it in bulk, but no longer.

Michael

 
Farrotto perfected!

Again - portions are approximate - adjust to fit your taste.

6 shallots finely chopped
1 c fresh mushrooms of choice mushrooms sliced, med.dice, or roughly chopped
olive oil
butter
3 c farro
1 c white wine
about 2 qts stock
1 t tomato paste (optional)
1 T fresh thyme finely minced
1 T arborio rice flour (see note)
1/2 c freshly grated Italian cheese blend - I use Parmesan, Pecorino, and Gran Padano in my blend
salt & pepper to taste

Saute mushrooms and shallots in a combination of olive oil and butter until nicely caramelized. Add farro and cook slightly until toasted a little. Add the wine and cook until asorbed. Proceed just like a traditional risotto at this point. Stir in the tomato paste and thyme. Then start adding the stock (I have used just chicken, but tonight I used some really rich beef stock as well as some mixed stock that had mushroom 'stock' in it) and cook until each addition has been absorbed by the farro. However, I will say that it's not risotto so you can add pretty large amounts of stock at a time. When the farro is getting close to being done - say 10 minutes out, add the arborio rice flour and keep adjusting the moisture while it cooks and adds that creaminess of a real risotto and make sure you keep it creamy at the end where it spreads when plated. Stir in the cheese and give it a minute before finishing with salt and pepper.

Serve with a shaved piece of cheese on top. This is so hearty and meaty it really doesn't need much else but maybe a vegetable like asparagus but it would make a nice side for meats.

You can do a roasted tomato version or stir in some dark leafy greens that have been almost chiffonaded. Anything you want. But if you do farro, mushrooms and leafy greens - you have an incredibly nutrient dense dish.

To make the arborio rice flour - I put 1/4 cup of arborio rice in my small Cuisinart. I took a while but I got about a tablespoon which did the trick. I will play with the leftover partially ground rice and see if I can find a better way to grind it or something - it was HARD and doesn't grind easily. It might take a real spice or grain grinder to do a good job. I also am thinking of soaking to moisten it and if it turns into a paste so what, it will work too.

 
Michael - Check Costco but even the bulk at Whole Foods isn't very expensive

The small package I first purchased at Whole Foods and then forgot until recently, was expensive. But they have it in bulk and it was a good bit less.

Purity Foods carries it online and 5 pounds (they call it spelt) was -$6 for regular and -$8 for organic. Pretty darn cheap. I am sure there are plenty of online sources and as it is becoming more popular, it's only going to increase availability and decrease the price some - I understand production is what has kept it fairly expensive until recently.

 
When I was looking at buying some, I remember reading where it is often...

...called 'spelt', but it is not technically the same. Some websites were quite adamant it was not the same, and urged the gentle reader to seek out farro specifically.

Other sites said they could be used interchangeably.

Michael

 
I've read that they are not the exact same thing but interchangeable

and that they both have a lot of the same characteristics and nutrition.

 
Last week I purchased some Farro from the farmers market

They have a gal there that sells all kinds of grains (some I've never heard of). I made the attached salad and it was delicious. It was chewy and satisfying. I was reading some other recipes and they said you need to soak it overnight. My recipe had you cook it "risotto" style. Any thoughts? I'd never had it so wasn't sure if it was suppored to be that chewy.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/farro-with-artichokes-and-herb-salad

 
Farro is definitely chewy. It's somewhere between brown rice & wild rice on the chew factor.

 
Which Farmer's Market was that Lori?

Was it the Escondido or Vista market? Was it Good For You Gourmet?

 
Boy Dawn you are good. It was at the Vista Market and it is

Good for you Gourmet. I'm off again this am to the market.

 
Hey Lori!

Her name is Sandy and she is one of my best friends. I have known her for years.
I love her stuff and she is such a great person. I just talked to her a couple days ago. Tell her Dawn from Missouri says hi, and then tell me the look on her face...lol!

 
Darn, wish I'd seen this earlier. We actually stopped at her booth

and a friend of mine bought some things and talked to her at length about bread making and using grains. Next time I go I will for sure stop and tell her hi. What a small world. I think she is located pretty close to your friend that makes the chocolates.

 
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