Cooking with Grains

There is a new television series on called Fusion Grain Cooking with Chef Brad. Chef Brad dedicates each episode to a single type of grain and shows multiple ways to use each grain. I love it! So far he has episodes on wheat, popcorn, rice, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, farro, millet, barley, amaranth, teff, and kamut. He is also making a couple of holiday cooking shows using whole grains which will air this fall. The show airs on BYU TV and can also be seen in entirety on BYU TV's website HERE.

Chef Brad's website is an excellent resource as well. He tells all about individual grain types as well as listing recipes, including those from his show. I've made a few of his recipes and enjoyed them. You can access his grain education section HERE, and his many recipes HERE. The recipes specifically from his cooking shows can be found HERE.

Pressure Cookers - Your Grandmother's Microwave

Pressure cookers are NOT the scary things they once were, but they ARE just as quick and easy. We had a class earlier this month to learn the basics of using a pressure cooker and I had a lot of fun trying some new recipes! I originally bought my pressure cooker to cook dried beans and until recently, that's all I've used it for. Now I've realized how easy it is to cook all kinds of things - even frozen chicken breasts and meatballs.  And it makes wonderful, easy risotto.

Using the pressure cooker uses less energy since the actual time the stove is on is less.  This is great for everyday use, but it would be even more helpful is you were trying to conserve energy during an emergency situation.  It is also a very nutritious method of cooking since the food is cooked quickly, maintaining more nutrients.

There is a printable handout HERE that covers the background of pressure cookers, what to look for if you're planning on buying one, resources for information and recipes, and some recipes that I've tried and liked. My favorite cookbook for pressure cooker recipes is Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass. It gives wonderful background information on how to use a pressure cooker and great recipes with lots of variations. There aren't any photos in the cookbook, but I still highly recommend it and I've included a few of her recipes in my handout so that you can get a glimpse of how well I think it is written.

Online Sources for Milk & Grains

Here are just a few online sources for powdered milk, corn for grinding into cornmeal, and spelt (a grain similar to wheat).

Milk:

Provident Pantry Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
Emergency Essentials

Country Cream Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
Grandmas Country Foods

Maple Island Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
Alpine Food Storage

LDS Church Cannery Nonfat Dry Milk
Provident Living

Nestle NIDO Instant Dry Whole Milk
My Brands

Morning Moo Low fat Dry Milk Alternative
Augason Farms

Corn:

Whole Corn for Grinding (not Sweet Corn)
USA Emergency Supply
Walton Feed

Spelt:
Wheat Grass Kits
Emergency Essentials
Purity Foods