These biscuits from Julie Wilcke-Pilmer were a prize winner in the Bob’s Red Mill Baking Contest at the Newport Celtic Festival earlier in the month. The picture is kind of hard to make out, but they’re absolutely wonderful! These are not the light and fluffy American-style biscuits, but made in the Celtic tradition and are much closer to cookies. Enjoy!

Empire Biscuits

• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 lb Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2-1/12 cups Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White Flour
• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill White Rice Flour
• 1 pinch Salt
• Jam
• Powdered Sugar Icing
• Maraschino Cherries

Cream butter and sugar well.  Add egg and vanilla and beat mixture. Fold in flour and salt.  Knead dough until mixture forms a smooth ball.  Roll dough out and cut with round cookie cutter to about silver dollar size.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and put trays in the fridge for 15 minutes.  Bake cookies for 10 minutes at 375°F.  Cookie should not be brown.  After cooled, jam one side of each cookie and put another cookie on top.  Make powdered sugar icing by mixing powdered sugar with enough water to make a nice paste.  Frost the top of each cookie and place 1/4 maraschino cherry in the center.  makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Tis’ the season of summer for Polenta Marionberry Cake. Here at the Whole Grain Store they are going fast! Great for picnics, parties or tonight’s dessert! Add a side of ice cream, coconut or whipped cream, yum. They will only be available through June, so hurry in or make one at home with the recipe below. My only advice for this recipe is to, mix the glaze while the cake is in the oven and pour over the cake when it is still hot. This helps the glaze spread more evenly and soak into the cake. Not only does the lemon glaze add a delicately tangy zing to this cake, it also holds in the moisture. Hope to see you soon and Happy Baking!

Marionberry Lemon Polenta Cake & Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups Unbleached White Flour
• 6 Tbsp Corn Grits/Polenta
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Oil
• 1-1/3 cup Buttermilk
• 2 Eggs
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 1-1/2 cups Marionberries

Glaze:                   

• 3-4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 cups Powdered Sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk wet ingredients and sugar together in medium metal bowl.
2. Add dry ingredients.
3. Fold in lemon zest.
4. Scoop into oiled cake pan and drop marionberries on top. If making cupcakes, line muffin pan with paper liners.
5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes for cake, 15-20 minutes for cupcakes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Whisk together lemon juice and powdered sugar for the glaze.
7. When cake has cooled completely, pour glaze over cake.

YIELD: 1 9-inch cake or 1 dozen cupcakes

An easy to make, versatile veggie burger, this recipe case easily be adapted to use a different kind of bean if Adzuki beans are hard to come by. We love this recipe because it contains barley, a nutritional powerhouse. Barley doesn’t get enough credit, in our opinion, in the culinary world. I guess it’s probably due to the fact that almost all barley on menus is pearled barley. Unlike pearled barley, whole barley is packed with fiber and nutrition. While oats are known for being a good source of fiber, whole barley actually contains more fiber. Oats contain 5 grams of dietary fiber per 1/2 cup, while barley contains a whopping 16 grams per 1/2 cup. Barley has a great, nutty flavor that makes these burgers really shine.

Not a big fan of frying? Do what I do at home and form these into patties on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes a side. It takes longer, but it’s a bit healthier. Bonus! Once these burgers have been cooked, freeze the leftovers they’ll hold their own quite well on a grill.

Bean and Barley Burgers

•     1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
•     2 cups cooked Adzuki Beans
•     1/2 cup Wheat Germ
•     1 Tb. Olive Oil
•     1/2 cup Onion, chopped
•     3 cloves Garlic, minced
•     1 tsp Sea Salt
•     1/2 tsp Sage
•     1/2 tsp Celery Seed, ground
•     2 cups cooked Whole Hull-Less Barley

Directions

Cook beans and barley as directed until soft, then mash beans and barley together. Fry onion and garlic in oil until golden. Add to bean/barley mixture along with spices and wheat germ and stir to combine. Form into 4” patties and fry on medium heat until brown on both sides. Makes about 8 burgers.

All it takes is a little creativity and a video camera and you, too, can enter Spar for the Spurtle. We’re not looking for a fancy high-budget video, any old smart phone will do. What we are looking for, however, is a creative dish using Steel Cut Oats. Whether it’s just a fancy version of your morning routine or a whole new culinary enterprise, show us what you’ve done and you might just win yourself a trip to Scotland! You have until 7/20 to submit a video, so get cracking!

Check out videos from last year for some confidence building- if they can do it, so can you!

Here are some really fun ideas that might just spark your creative bug. Find these and more on our Spar for the Spurtle Inspiration Pinterest Board.

• Savory Oats with Onions, Bacon, Cheese, Avocado, BBQ Sauce and Shredded Chicken from The Vegster
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oats from Oh She Glows
• Rosemary Maple Savory Oats from Spark Recipes.com
• Over Easy Savory Oatmeal with Kale from Clean Eating Chelsea
• Blueberry Coconut Baked Steel Cut Oats from Family Fresh Cooking
• Gingerbread Oatmeal from Rachel Kimbrow (a Spar for the Spurtle 2011 Finalist) (see video below)

Finally, visit the Golden Spurtle website and see what past participants have made.

Last week, the US State Department brought a group of seven women from the Africa Women’s Entrepreneurship Program on a tour of Bob’s Red Mill. This group, representing Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia, was touring around the United States to learn about different industries and how they can improve their businesses at home.

Topics included information on organic growing practices, import/export advice, overcoming social barriers, different packaging options, raising capital and crafting business plans. Each of these women own some type of business including organic farms, beauty products and investment firms, among others. After first visiting several cities on the East Coats, Portland was lucky enough to be asked to host this group and on the list of destinations was Bob’s Red Mill.

On Monday, June 11th, Bob and our Outreach Coordinator, Lori Sobelson, gave these ladies the grand tour of Bob’s Red Mill. Bob inspired these women with his stories of entrepreneurship (all of which you can read in his biography, People before Profit). The group was very interested in learning about his many ups and downs on his path to founding Bob’s Red Mill. Bob entreated them to value their employees and treat them as the very important asset that they are to the success of a company.

Afterwards, they met with our VP of Marketing, Dennis Gilliam to learn a little bit about how we market our products. Dennis taught them that the job of any marketer is to craft a genuine story around their brand. He asked each woman to tell them her story and as they did, you could see their faces light up and the passion each of them had for their business.

Truly, we learned as much from them as they learned from us and we hope to host another such tour in the future.

A few nights ago, I attempted my first-ever homemade risotto. Instead of rice, I used a grain called freekeh. We don’t carry freekeh at Bob’s Red Mill, but I had been curious after hearing about it from several different blogging friends. I was given some to play with, so I tried to find a recipe to try it in. Since it was my first time using it, I wanted a tried and true recipe. I stumbled upon a freekeh risotto and thought, “I’ve never tried making my own risotto, I’ll give this a shot.” The dish came out great, even if it was time consuming. I tried something I’d never done before and got to try a new grain at the same time.

The point of all this is that I’ve got risotto on the brain and stumbled across this recipe. Steel cut oats are ideal for making risotto because of their inherently creamy nature. The starches are easy to draw out and they hold their texture well. This ris-oat-o recipe from Gluten Free Gigi can be done in 30 minutes and comes out creamy and delicious. Gigi was a contender last year in our Spar for the Spurtle. I’ve included her adorable video here and her recipe below. Enjoy!

Herbed Oregon Cranberry Slow Simmer Ris-oat-o

Contributed by: Gigi Stewart from Gluten Free Gigi

•     1 cup Steel Cut Oats*
•     1/2 cup diced Onion
•     1/2 cup dried Oregon Cranberries
•     3 cups Vegetable (or Chicken) Stock
•     2 Tbsp Olive Oil
•     1 tsp Herbs de Provence
•     1/2 tsp Salt
•     1/4 tsp White Pepper

Directions

Step 1

Add vegetable broth to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Step 2

Add oats, onion, cranberries, olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper to a large skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon or spurtle for 10 minutes.

Step 3

Carefully add boiling broth, cover dish, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.

*Use our Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats to make this recipe gluten free.

Happy Father’s Day!

Thank you for tirelessly supporting our dreams and encouraging us to greatness.

From all of us at Bob’s Red Mill

What’s the deal with “natural flavors” anyway? There’s something that seems inherently unnatural about them. Aren’t “natural flavors” a bit redundant? Shouldn’t the flavor of something already be present without the addition of more flavors? That’s what I’ve been asking myself and I know many of you wonder the same thing. What is in those “natural flavors” anyway and why don’t manufacturers have to list their ingredients?

Natural Flavors as defined by the USDA are, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolystate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf of similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.” That just clears it up, doesn’t it?

From the above paragraph, I think I understand that a natural flavor can be derived from almost anything, but has not been chemically manufactured. These ingredients are used to enhance the flavor of the food to which they are added. Most often, you find these have been added to processed foods- chips, crackers, boxed meals, canned soups, etc. The FDA does not require companies to list what those natural flavors are derived from and is content with simply stating “Natural Flavor.” I suppose this is to protect a company’s ingredient- the one that makes the food taste like none other, the secret ingredient, if you will.

I don’t know how an ingredient list that states INGREDIENTS: Apple Slices, Water, Cane Syrup, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Spices, Salt, Natural Flavor and Artificial Flavor helps anyone. What is the natural flavor that is used here? Am I to infer that the natural flavor is natural apple flavor? It could be anything. I can’t seem to find a single reference to what those natural flavors are made up of to give you any real examples. It could be any combination of ingredients that fall under the USDA definition.

This is why so many people with food allergens and other restricted diets are up in arms and calling for a rewording of the Code of Federal Regulations to require companies to list what makes up these natural flavors.

At Bob’s Red Mill, we refrain from the term “natural flavors” and when we use flavorings, we list the ingredients. For instance, if you see Natural Vanilla Flavor on our label, you will also see “Sugar, Cornstarch, Vanilla Extract.” We think you have a right to know. Now if only the USDA and FDA felt the same way.

We tested this recipe recently to see if it was a good fit for a magazine article and the chicken strips disappeared so quickly that we thought you would enjoy it too! We love the creative use of quinoa as a chicken crust—what a fantastic way to add whole grains to your meal. I bet this would work well as a crust for all sorts of things- fish, tofu, etc. It’s also an easy recipe to make gluten free- simply use your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the white flour.  Serve this over a bed of lettuce for a healthy and delicious meal.

Quinoa-Crusted Chicken Strips with Chipotle Pepper Drizzle

• 1 cup Organic Quinoa Grain
• 2 cups Water
• Olive Oil Spray
• 1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into 3/4-inch strips
• 2 Tbsp Orange Juice
• 1-1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground Paprika
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup Unbleached White Flour or Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper, drained and chopped
• 1 small Chipotle Chile, canned in adobo
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro, plus extra for garnish

Directions

Step 1

On a sheet tray, spread two layers of paper towels.

In a quart saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain water and spread quinoa on paper towels to dry, about 30 minutes.

Scrape quinoa off paper towels and into a deep plate or pie pan.

Step 2

Slice chicken into long, 3/4-inch thick strips and toss in a bowl with orange juice, 1/2 tsp salt, cumin and paprika.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Step 3

In a deep plate or pie pan, whisk the egg. In another deep plate or pie pan, mix the flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Coat the chicken strips with the flour, then egg, then roll in the quinoa.

Step 4

Place a heavy sheet tray or baking pan in the hot oven for five minutes, take out and spray heavily with oil. Quickly place the chicken strips on the hot pan (making sure they do not touch). Spray with oil and bake 20 – 25 minutes.

Step 5

Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, puree the roasted pepper, chipotle and cilantro. Add the sour cream and remaining 1/2 tsp salt and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or eight small dipping bowls.

Serve the chicken on a bed of spinach, if desired, with sauce drizzled over or in bowls for dipping. Sprinkle with reserved cilantro.

Serves 8.

Find Nutrition Facts here.

This colorful salad combines couscous with a variety of vegetables, walnuts and feta cheese. A sweet cinnamon dressing tops it off for a unique and delicious dish. Serve alongside this wonderfully simple recipe for Grilled Eggplant from Martha Stewart, sliced watermelon and crusty bread for a full meal. Use our Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous for a slightly different, whole grain take on this salad.

Couscous Salad with Walnuts & Feta Cheese

Contributed by: Roy Pingo, cookbook author & chef

Serves 10 as a side

• 2 cups Golden Couscous (uncooked)
• 2 cups boiling Water
• 1 large head Romaine lettuce, torn into small pieces
• 1 cup chopped Walnuts
• 4 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
• 4-5 Mushrooms (washed & sliced)
• 2 medium Yellow Crookneck Squash (thinly sliced)
• 4 oz crumbled Feta Cheese
• Cinnamon Dressing
• 1/2 medium Red Onion, thinly sliced into rings

Cinnamon Dressing

• 1/2 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black Pepper
• 1/8 tsp Sea Salt

Directions

Place couscous in a heatproof bowl and add 2 cups boiling water; mix, cover and let stand for at least 10 minutes. Reserve at room temperature.

Combine lettuce, walnuts, tomatoes, mushrooms and squash in a large serving bowl and gently toss to combine.

Add the couscous and feta and gently mix. Pour the dressing (directions follow) over the salad, one tablespoon at a time, until dressed to taste. Top with rings of red onion and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Cinnamon Dressing: In a bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper until very well-combined.