Whole Wheat Cuisine

					One of the pleasures in cooking, besides eating what you cook, is ‘cooking from scratch.’ Although ‘cooking from scratch’ is at the other end of the spectrum of cooking out of a box or can, ‘cooking from scratch’ still needs to be qualified. It may be that for some people ‘cooking from scratch’ means using, for example, any type of flour and then adding other ingredients to that (yeast, eggs, salt, etc) to make bread, or some other flour based product. Well, I go even beyond the ‘from scratch’ than that. Instead of going to the store and purchasing flour, I go to a granary and purchase, well, grain — lots of grain! I then take this grain home (in a trailer) and then grind it into flour. Why do that, some may enquire? Well, there are a few reasons. For one thing I will always have an ample supply of a basic and vital food item in my home in case an emergency should arise that would prevent me from readily obtaining food, like for example, during a time of a natural or man-made crisis. It affords me with the peace of mind that I can always feed my family no matter what happens (being anything less than a total disaster, e.g. an atomic bomb direct or near direct hit). I cannot imagine what it would be like to go hungry for an extended period of time, or even worse, to witness any members of my family, or close friends doing so. I know that many people throughout the world suffer from daily hunger to some degree or another, and even right here in North America, but why put my family at risk in possibly having them go without food because none would be readily available? Storing what you use, and storing what is able to store well for a long period of time such as whole wheat kernels, and then using what you store makes a lot of sense to me. The other reason for storing whole wheat and using it on a regular basis is for reasons of nutrition and taste. Some would argue that instead of going to all the trouble and expense of grinding your own wheat kernels to produce flour, why not just purchase a large quantity of already ground whole wheat flour? Well, one problem with this is that the shelf life of flour is nothing even remotely close to that of whole wheat kernels even if the flour is stored in proper containers and at cool temperatures. Associated with this is the fact few people know about in that once a whole wheat kernel has been processed, i.e., ground into flour, it begins to diminish in nutritional value almost immediately. This means that in many instances nearly all essential vitamins oxidize from the flour within three days. In fact, the essential oils contained in the germ of the wheat quickly begins to go stale (or rancid, as in the fact that rancidity has been detected as early as 2 to 14 days after milling * (Larsen, J.U. Aurions Bagebog. Olivia, Koebenhavn, 1988)) and consequently losing what is essential for our health AND delight to taste. Yes, this is the other factor — taste, or flavor. I am not an epicurean by any means, but even I can really taste the difference between the so-called fresh baked store-bought bread and the bread I make immediately after grinding the whole wheat kernels into flour. Believe me, the difference in taste is remarkable, and not just to me (who may be biased), but to EVERYONE who has ever tasted my bread. NOTE: I have an excellent treatise by Judy Campbell, B.Sc., Mechtild Hauser, and Stuart Hill, B.Sc., Ph.D., P.Ag. on the nutritional value of fresh, stone-ground flour vs. regular white and other flours. If you want to read it just let me know (my contact information is on the last page of this “Note book”) and I will send you a PDF copy of it. There is also the benefit of the ‘journey’ or process. This has a lot to do with Zen Buddhist teachings that help me to be in and enjoy the moment of making something so natural and beneficial for me and my family’s well being. Going down to my food storage area and listening to the sounds and feeling the texture of the wheat kernels as I scoop them out of the storage bucket is so satisfying and reassuring. In fact, just twisting the lid off of the container and peering into the bucket to behold all of that golden brown grain is a delight that’s hard to put into words. It’s as if very little else really matters; I have what I essentially need to live and be healthy. There are only a few other things that matter besides this. And it’s right here, in my basement, in large quantities. Finally there is the benefit of financial economy. I got so exasperated when I went to the super-market, and going down this long aisle displaying all of these various types of bread, and not having even one kind appeal to me. Oh, sure there were some brands that I liked better than others, but at what cost? I was paying over three dollars, and sometimes even close to five dollars for a so-called “fresh baked” specialty bread and still didn’t end up being totally satisfied with it. So I started to reminisce about the time when many years ago I used to make my own breads and pastas out of fresh, stone-ground whole wheat flour, and finally said, “Enough! I’m going back to that. The heck with paying three, four, and even five dollars for a loaf of second rate bread when I can make my own SUPERIOR bread for a FRACTION of what I am paying now!” So I took my wheat grinder out of storage, purchased a Bosch * mixer similar to the one I used to have, and along with the wheat that I already had procured, I started to make n’ bake again. I never looked back. In fact I figured that at the rate we are consuming our own fresh baked whole wheat products, we will have paid for everything in less than a year. After that, every loaf of bread I make will be almost as if it is free for years and years before needing to purchase another shipment of wheat (Yes, I told you: We have a lot of wheat stored). NOTE: I am of the opinion that only a Bosch mixer with its 750-800 watt motor and special kneading blades will be able to effectively knead whole wheat bread, and do so for many years before requiring service. If you settle for something else (usually less expensive) you may not realize favorable results — to be sure, not the results I get with my Bosch. My opinion, nevertheless “caveat emptor.” About the above photo: The teacup is to give you a reference for size, the rolling-pin for artistic merit, and the pasta and bread to make your mouth water! The white pasta rack is made out of PVC pipe (my own innovation) which can be taken apart for long term storage or transport, or for intermittent storage between use by just turning the base legs parallel to the upper racks (hence, the fittings are not glued to the pipes). The pasta noodles you are looking at were produced from 4 cups of whole wheat kernels which produced nearly 6 cups of whole wheat flour. The other ingredients that went into this batch of noodles were: eggs, a tiny bit of gluten flour, water, and a ‘secret’ ingredient that I use sometimes (1 Tblsp of ??? — sorry, it’s a secret, and no, it’s not MSG). The three of us will get two to three meals from the pasta as a main dish. The bread was made from 9 cups of whole wheat kernels, (which produced about 12 cups of whole wheat flour), extra virgin organic olive oil, raw honey, salt, water, and granulated yeast (mixed in with ½ tsp of white sugar), and nothing else, i.e., none of the other stuff you find in most commercially produced breads. Each mini-loaf weighs approximately one pound! These loaves store wonderfully in the freezer and are taken out one at a time to replenish the one consumed. It takes about two hours to make a batch of bread, but only about one hour is needed for actual ‘work,’ i.e., grinding the flour, mixing the ingredients and cleaning up. The other hour or so is the time required to let the bread rise and bake. I find that it gets easier each time I make a batch of bread. I have a routine, or ‘system’ now and I don’t even have to think all that much about what I am doing. Hence, the adage: “That what we persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not that the nature of the thing changes, but our power to do increases.” In this photo you can see a close-up of the 100% whole wheat noodles just after they have been made. I sometimes vary the thickness depending upon what I feel like eating. This is about as thin as I like them, although I have made thinner. There are also times when I make broad noodles (linguini) or very broad strips (not cut) for lasagna. You can cook these noodles right away which is called “pasta fresca” (“fresh paste”), but it’s best to let them dry out so the pasta will end up being a little more “al dente” (“to the tooth,” i.e., firmer in texture instead of a mushy noodle). It takes very little time to cook these noodles. If cooked immediately after making them, then they are done in about one to two minutes in boiling water. If allowed to dry out then the time increases to about four minutes or so. The bran in these noodles makes them different than the whole wheat noodles you buy at the store. The texture is less dense, I suppose you could say. They break apart easier, which is okay, and in fact some people find it easier to eat (especially younger children). If you want a step-by-step, fool-proof recipe for baking a very light loaf from pure 100% whole wheat flour, please contact me using the information at the end of this ‘Notebook’ and I will be more than pleased to send it to you.