The Backyard Homestead

by Carleen Madigan

  Sprouting Grains and Beans

  The seeds that you store, such as the grains and dried legumes, can be sprouted to provide fresh vegetables for salads, casseroles, and soups. Sprouts can be roasted, ground up, and used to enrich breads, cookies, and other baked goods. Sprouting greatly increases the food value of the seed and its digestibility, because some of the fats and starches are converted to vitamins and sugar. A dry seed becomes a homegrown vegetable in your kitchen any time of the year.

  Nutritional Values

  This table is based on information in the USDA Composition of Foods, Agriculture Handbook 8.

  Sprouting is simple. The easiest method is to put a few seeds into a clean, quart-sized canning jar. Use about ¼ cup of large seeds, such as beans, and less of the small seeds like alfalfa. Cover the top of the jar with a piece of cheesecloth or fine-screen wire, held in place by a screw band. Fill with water and soak overnight.

  The next day, pour off the water and rinse the seeds with cool, fresh water. The cheesecloth acts as a sieve on top of the jar. Pour off all excess water and put the jar in a dark place, such as a kitchen cabinet. The temperature should be warm but not hot; seeds may turn rancid at over 80°F (27°C).

  Rinse the seeds several times a day with fresh water, always pouring it off, leaving the seeds damp but not soaking. In three or four days, you will have nutritious sprouts ready to serve raw in salads or in cooked dishes. Store unused sprouts in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for several days.

  Large bean sprouts such as those of kidney beans, soybeans, and garbanzos will need to be steamed for 10 to 15 minutes to tenderize them before using. Sprouted grains to be used in recipes such as breads can be roasted and ground before you use them.

  Seeds will not sprout well if they have been heated at over 130°F (54°C) to dry or to destroy insects. If you intend to use some of your wheat or other grains for sprouting or for planting, do not use this heat treatment on them.

  When buying seeds for sprouting, be sure that they are pure, untreated seeds suitable for eating. Many seeds sold for planting have been treated with fungicides — they will still sprout, but they are poisonous.

  The US government advises that young children, the elderly, and other individuals who may have compromised immune systems avoid eating raw sprouts because they have caused food-borne illness outbreaks. Raw sprouts present food safety problems because conditions under which they are produced — growing time, temperature, water activity, pH (a measure of acidity), and nutrients — are ideal for the rapid growth of bacteria. Even sprouts grown in the home present a risk if eaten raw; many outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated seed.

  Sprouting grains in a mason jar

  Cooking with Cornmeal

  The number of dishes one can create with cornmeal boggles the mind. If you’ve been indifferent to it until now, it’s probably because you’ve had only the degermed kind, which has a texture like beach sand and not much more taste. When you grind your own cornmeal or buy it fresh and still containing the germ, you will find it has a fluffy consistency and a sweet-corny taste utterly unlike anything you’ve tasted before. Your home flour mill will also grind corn. Although you sometimes hear that a blender can also do the job, the resulting meal is coarse and irregular.

  To double the variety of cornmeal recipes, try toasting the meal lightly by stirring it over low heat in a heavy skillet or heating it on the lowest setting on a cookie sheet in the oven, stirring often, just until it begins to turn color. All recipes taste quite different made with toasted cornmeal. Often, since toasting removes moisture from the meal, you’ll find you have to increase the moisture content of a recipe. Just relax and add a little milk or water until you have your usual consistency.

  If you’ve been indifferent to cornmeal, it’s probably because you’ve had only the degermed kind, which has a texture like beach sand and not much more taste.

  Corn Bread

  This recipe is based on one used at the Moosewood Restaurant in New York, whose cooking and recipes have probably done more to spread enthusiasm for whole foods than any other single effort. The difference is that this recipe uses whole-wheat flour and cornmeal; Moosewood’s uses unbleached white flour. The whole-wheat flour produces a darker corn bread. If you’d prefer yours to be pale, substitute an equal amount of unbleached white flour for the whole wheat in the recipe.

  1 cup cornmeal

  1 cup whole-wheat flour

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ¼ cup honey

  1 cup buttermilk

  1 egg

  3 tablespoons melted butter

  Sift together the dry ingredients and beat together the liquids, then stir everything together. Be thorough but do not overmix or the corn bread will be tough. Spread the batter in a greased 8-inch-square pan and bake about 20 minutes in a 425°F (218°C) oven.

  Yield: 8 generous servings

  Johnnycakes

  These are really only pancakes with a little cornmeal added — a good way to introduce the skeptical to cornmeal.

  ¾ cup unbleached white flour

  ¾ cup fine cornmeal

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  1½ teaspoons baking powder

  2 eggs, beaten

  1¼ cups milk

  2 tablespoons melted butter

  Sift together the dry ingredients; combine the liquids. Stir the liquids into the dry ingredients quickly, mixing only until blended. Don’t worry about lumps. Cook on a lightly greased hot griddle and serve at once. You can make these as thick or as thin as you like. Allow the batter to stand for a few minutes to make a thicker johnnycake; thin it out with more milk for a thinner cake.

  Yield: 4 servings

  Polenta

  This is a close Italian cousin to cornmeal that has become a popular and versatile dish. Try making it simply and dress it up with different cheeses, meat sauce, or a spicy fresh tomato sauce. This version, however, is good enough to eat by itself with a garden salad.

  4 cups water

  1 cup yellow cornmeal

  1 teaspoon salt

  2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

  1 teaspoon dried oregano

  ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Freshly ground black pepper

  1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the water and the cornmeal.

  In a saucepan, bring the remaining 3 cups of water to a boil, then pour in the moistened cornmeal and salt, stirring constantly with a whisk so that lumps do not form. Cook over low heat until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

  2. Add butter, oregano, and Parmesan, mixing well. Add pepper to taste and serve with your favorite sauce, or stir in another cheese, such as fontina or sharp cheddar.

  Yield: 4 servings

  Topping Polenta

  There’s just no end to what you can put on top of polenta. Try a fresh, lightly cooked tomato-onion sauce made with fresh plum tomatoes from your garden and a light sprinkling of freshly grated cheese.

  A completely different approach is to sauté a variety of fresh vegetables in a little oil and serve them over the polenta. A mixture of zucchini, green onion, green pepper, and chunks of fresh tomato complements the corn taste beautifully.

  Or melt some cheese on top of the polenta and use no other sauces.

  An Italian friend suggests the following sauce as one that is wonderful with polenta, and can be cooked even while you are stirring the latter. (And you might want to make a double recipe of the polenta to go with this much sauce.)

  Olive oil

  2 cups diced onions

  3 cups tomato puree

  1/8 teaspoon sage

  1/8 teaspoon thyme

  ½ cup chopped and broiled mushrooms

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  2 cloves garlic, crushed

  3 tablespoons minced parsley

  1 cup grated Pa
rmesan cheese

  Pour 1/8-inch layer of olive oil in frying pan and heat. Sauté onions until golden. Add tomato puree, sage, thyme, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add parsley and stir.

  The serving can be varied by placing polenta on a platter and covering with sauce, then sprinkling with cheese, or by making two layers of polenta, each topped with sauce and cheese.

  Basics of Making Bread

  Making bread is not difficult. Like other activities that we soon enough take for granted (such as driving a car and planting a garden), several steps must be linked in sequence. That sequence, however, is somewhat flexible.

  There are few rules in baking, few measurements that must be precise. Making bread intimidates people because the behavior of yeast mystifies them (they don’t quite trust it) and the steps seem long and complex. But after you have done it a few times, you will assimilate this process until you can make bread with a light heart and confidence.

  About Yeast

  Baker’s yeast is usually available in one of two forms.

  Active yeast: granulated yeast that must be activated in water.

  1 packet = 1 tablespoon

  Compressed yeast: moist, live yeast sold in small cakes. Must be used within 2 weeks.

  1 cake = 1 packet of dry yeast

  Let’s take one good, simple bread from start to finish, elaborating upon each step so as to banish awe. These instructions are given in detail, but the procedure is quite simple and is applicable to almost every yeast bread.

  Easy, Basic, and Good White Bread

  Assemble all the ingredients before starting

  2 cups warm water

  2 tablespoons honey

  1 tablespoon active dry yeast

  2 tablespoons light oil

  2 teaspoons salt

  5–6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

  2 tablespoons raw wheat germ

  ½ cup nonfat dry milk

  Proofing Yeast

  1. The most critical judgment you make comes at the very beginning, when you test the temperature of the water in which you dissolve the yeast. It should be warm, not tepid and not hot — around 100°F (38°C). If you have a thermometer, use it. If not, run the water over your wrist; if it feels definitely but not uncomfortably warm, it’s okay.

  2. Put 2 cups warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add the honey and the dry yeast. Stir. Set aside for a few minutes; it will take about 3 to 15 minutes, depending on the temperature of the water. As the grains of yeast activate, they begin to foam.

  Combining Ingredients

  1. When the yeast is bubbly, add the oil, the salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat this mixture extremely well; this stimulates early development of gluten, the magic ingredient in the flour that gives bread lightness and a fine texture. If you have an electric mixer, use it to beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 minutes or longer. Otherwise, beat it with a wooden spoon, at least 200 strokes. When you have finished beating, the surface of the dough may have a glossy look — this is a good sign.

  Breadmaking Supplies & Equipment

  Necessities

  • Yeast or some other leavening agent (usually)

  • Water

  • Flour

  • Bowl or other container

  • Wooden or similar strong spoon

  • Two knives and a fork (for some kinds of mixing)

  • Surface for kneading

  • Something to bake on or in (pan, cookie sheet, tile, coffee can)

  • Something to cover dough (towel, shirt, pillowcase, plastic wrap)

  • Oven (stovetop, fireplace, outdoor fire)

  • Measuring cup

  • Measuring spoons

  Helpful to Have

  • A second bowl

  • Electric mixer or hand beater

  • Loaf pans

  • Sharp knife

  • Rubber spatula

  • Single-edged razor for slashing loaves

  • Pancake turner

  • Pastry scraper

  • Pastry brush

  • Wire rack

  • Reliable oven and/or good oven thermometer

  • Instant-read thermometer

  • Pastry blender

  Options & Frills

  • Two pastry brushes: one for melted butter, one for glazes

  • Bread pans in many sizes, a variety of casseroles, soufflé dishes, tube pan, fluted molds, special French bread pan

  • A large, convenient surface to use solely for kneading bread

  • Heavy-duty electric mixer with dough hook

  • Plant mister for spraying

  2. Add the wheat germ and dry milk and mix them in. Then add 2 to 3 cups more of the flour, a little at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough is too stiff to stir and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

  Kneading

  1. Kneading is like dancing — most any way you do it will be okay. A delicate touch is fine, but it will take longer to produce a state of elasticity. Energy and decisiveness will get you there more quickly. If you have a heavy-duty mixer with a dough hook, you can use it to knead. If you are kneading by hand, choose a kneading surface (bread board, tabletop, or other clean surface) that is about the level of your wrists when your arms are hanging at your sides. Anything higher will tire your shoulders.

  2. Sprinkle the kneading surface with flour. Dip your hands in flour. Dump the dough out of the bowl onto the surface. Turn the dough around and over to coat the outside with flour, patting it into a cohesive mass. Begin to knead.

  3. Take the far side of the dough and fold it toward you, stretching the dough and then folding it as though you were folding a sheet of paper. With the heels of your (floury) hands, push the folded portion down and away from you. Give the whole piece of dough a quarter turn, fold, and push. Repeat. Each time you will be folding and pushing a different segment of the dough. Do it over and over. Ten minutes is a good ballpark figure.

  The dough will be rough and sticky at first. You may have to keep dipping your hands and sprinkling flour onto the dough and onto the board; add only as much flour as you need to keep the dough from being too sticky to work with. Too much flour makes a dry loaf; you want to end up with a dough that is smooth but still soft and pliable. When you push it, it springs back. Eventually, it will become smooth and satiny.

  First Rise

  1. Rub a large bowl with soft butter or brush it with melted butter. (Oil tends to be absorbed by the dough, which then sticks to the bowl.) Place the dough in the bowl and turn it until all sides are coated with a thin layer of butter, or brush the top of the dough with melted butter. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.

  2. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free spot. Many people recommend the inside of the oven. If your oven has no pilot light, preheat it for half a minute, turn it off, and put the bowl inside. Or put the bowl in the oven with a pan of hot water on the shelf below.

  3. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. You can test it by poking a finger into the top of the dough, about an inch down. If the hole you have made remains, it has risen enough. This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours. If the dough gets away from you and rises too much more than double, it’s best to punch it down and let it rise again in the bowl before you proceed.

  Punching Down

  Give the dough a good sock with your fist. This is called punching down the dough. Take the dough over to the lightly floured work surface and dump or pull it out of the bowl. Knead it a few times to press out gas bubbles, then take a sharp knife and cut the dough into two equal pieces. Cover them with a towel and do something else for 5 to 15 minutes while the dough rests.

  Preparing Pans

  Grease two 8- or 9-inch loaf pans. Use soft or melted butter, preferably unsalted. If you don’t have loaf pans or prefer free-form loaves, grease a baking sheet and sprinkle it lightly with cornmeal.

  Shaping<
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  Take one piece of dough, pat it with your hands into a rough ball, and flatten it to a size about twice as wide as your loaf pan and slightly longer. Fold the two long sides under so that they meet in the middle of the bottom. Tuck the two short ends under. Gently press the loaf against the board to help the folded dough stick to itself. Place the shaped dough in a loaf pan or on the baking sheet. It should fill the pan no more than half full. Repeat this process with the remaining piece of dough. Brush the tops of the loaves with soft or melted butter.

  Second Rise and Baking

  1. Cover the pans or baking sheet with a towel and put the loaves in a draft-free place to rise again until they double in size, usually

  45 minutes to an hour.

  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C).

  2. Place pans in the oven and bake about 25 to 30 minutes. Resist the impulse to open the oven door and peek during the first 15 to 20 minutes.

  Bread Ingredients

  • Salt

  • Milk

  • Nonfat dry milk or evaporated milk