Almost any parent will tell you that their child doesn’t eat ___. It’s a rare child who will eat everything, but Stacey Antine, MS, RD‘s new book Appetite for Life proclaims to deliver a solution to the picky eater. I was a little skeptical, but having spent some time reading the articles and checking out the recipes, I have to admit, this book does look promising. As the founder of HealthBarn USA, an organization dedicated to introducing kids and their families to healthy eating habits and real food, Stacey knows what she’s talking about.

Appetite for Life begins with tips for introducing new foods to your kids, such as avoiding words like “yuck” in favor of a thumb up, thumb sideways and thumb down system for rating new foods. There is a great section for how to get your kids involved in cooking and growing their own food. This book has an excellent pantry list section, weekly meal planners and even educational activities for kids. Recipes are kid-approved and range from breakfast dishes like Sweet Potato Pancakes to more exotic fare for dinner like Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Herb Dipping Sauce. Appetite for Life has a wonderful selection of healthy snacks for those after-school munchies and a healthy, but delicious array of dessert choices.

{Giveaway}

The kind folks at Harper Collins have provided three copies of this lovely book for us to giveaway. We’re pairing these books with a package of our Flaxseed Meal, Buckwheat Flour and Cornmeal so you can try this delicious recipe (one of the author’s favorites) for Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes right away.

To enter, tell us what your least favorite food was as a kid. Me? I loathed lima beans and would pick them out of every dish my poor mom prepared with them. I’m not sure why exactly, but they were my nemesis in the food world. We’ll pick three winners randomly from all who enter by 11:59 pm on 09/09.

Congratulations to Charlene, Crystal and Georgia!

Fun to eat and fun to make. Photo courtesy of Appetite for Life

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

• 2/3 cup Buckwheat Flour
• 1/3 cup Cornmeal
• 3 Tbsp packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp ground Flaxseeds
• 1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp Sea Salt
• 1 large Egg
• 2 large Egg Whites
• 1-1/2 cups Low-Fat (1%) milk
• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Blueberries
• Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, ground flaxseeds, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

2. Add egg, egg whites, milk, and vanilla to flour mixture, and stir until moistened. Add blueberries and stir until blended.

3. Heat a nonstick griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Pour batter by ¼ cup onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on top, about 4 minutes. Turn over and cook a few minutes longer, until underside is golden. Transfer pancakes to a plate; keep warm. Repeat until all batter is used.

4. Serve with pure maple syrup or agave nectar.

Makes 6 servings (2 pancakes per serving)

This recipe from Spar for the Spurtle finalist, Lanie Smith, was a big hit at our cook-off on August 10th. While Lanie did not win with this dish, everyone who tasted it was thoroughly impressed. Lanie resides in Topeka, Kansas and writes the blog The Vintage Cook, where she puts modern twists on dishes that your grandmother made. Lanie will be guest blogging for us later in October, but for now, we wanted to share her wonderful recipe for Paradise Porridge Potstickers. I love this dish because it’s a little exotic and familiar at the same time. Plus, because the contest required that the dish be completed in under 30 minutes, this takes no time at all to whip up. (Watch Lanie’s entry video here.) Make these potstickers for a decadent breakfast or a fun appetizer. Enjoy!

Paradise Porridge Potstickers

• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
• 2-1/2 cups filtered Water, divided
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup natural Dry-Roasted Macadamia Nuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup fresh ripe Mango, peeled, seeded, fine diced
• 1 small ripe Banana, no brown spots, fine diced
• Gyoza Wrappers
• 3 Tbsp Canola Oil

Topping:

• 1/2 cup local Honey
• 6 ounces fresh Raspberries, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 cup frozen Coconut Milk Ice Cream, Coconut Gelato, or Vanilla Ice Cream

1. Soak 1/2 cup of Bob’s Steel Cut Oats in 1 cup filtered water (covered) overnight in the refrigerator.

2. In a heavy 3-quart pot, bring 1-1/2 cups filtered water to a rapid boil on high heat. Add salt.

3. Drain oats in cheesecloth-line colander over bowl. Reserve the oat-water. Stir oats into boiling water. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. In last two minutes, remove lid, increase heat to stir out moisture and oats become very thick. Remove from heat, pour into a large bowl and cool for two minutes.

4. Stir in nuts, Bob’s Red Mill Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar, nutmeg, mango, and banana.

5. Dampen the inner edges of wrappers with oat water. Place a tbs. of oat mixture on center of each wrapper, fold and pinch closed along the moistened edge with fingertips to make a moon shape. Dip in oat-water and shake excess.

6. Heat oil in a non-stick 12-inch fry pan to medium-low. Add the dumplings and cook until the bottoms are just light golden. Turn dumplings over and replace lid, cook another two minutes. Remove with slotted spatula onto serving plate.

7. Drizzle on the honey. Garnish with raspberries and one small scoop of frozen dessert.

Makes about 20 dumplings

We’ve been working on a special project this summer and it has sparked in us a new appreciation for some of our more unique grains, like amaranth. While I can’t tell you about our new project (expect to find out in early 2013), I can share some of the delightful recipes that we’ve tried. This fun use of amaranth may not make a whole meal unto itself, but it would be a great appetizer for a party or your next family gathering. Make it a meal by pairing with grilled eggplant, a Greek salad and warm pita bread. Alternately, you can take it back to amaranth’s South American roots with grilled sweet potatoes and this Mixed Green Salad with Grilled Scallions, Mango, and Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette. These tasty little cakes are incredibly versatile!

Amaranth Cakes

Yield 15 servings

• 1 cup Organic Amaranth Grain
• 2 Tbsp diced Onion
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• ½ tsp Sea Salt
• 1 ½ cup Vegetable Stock
• 1 Egg
• 2 Tbsp Gluten Free All Purpose Flour or flour of your choice
• 1 Tbsp chopped Basil
• Oil, to fry

Place amaranth, onion, garlic and stock in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.  Let cook until all liquid is absorbed, about 40 minutes.

Transfer cooked amaranth to a bowl and let cool.

Once amaranth has cooled, add egg, flour and chopped basil.  Mix well.

Heat oil over medium-high heat about ¼-inch deep in a wide skillet.  Drop 2 Tbsp batter per serving into the hot oil.  Let cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes, then turn to cook on other side.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Serve with tomato sauce or salsa. Or try this easy recipe for Tomato Jam.

Makes 15 servings.

When the new book from Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, Grain Mains, came across my desk, I was blow away. This book is right up my alley and a perfect fit for Bob’s Red Mill. Apparently, we were a good fit for Bruce and Mark, too, as you can read in this guest post from a few days ago. I love that our slogan is “Whole Grain Foods for Every Meal of the Day” and this book’s full title is “Grain Mains: 101 Surprising and Satisfying Whole Grain Recipes for Every Meal of the Day.” A match made in heaven if ever I heard of one!

As they say in this book, Bruce and Mark have taken whole grains from the side of the plate and put them right in the middle with 101 main dishes. They’ve skipped out on baking with whole grains (ok, there are two or three baked goods) and put their focus on using whole grains for everything from familiar, yet delicious, hot cereals and grain salads to more exotic fare like Posole Verde and Pumpkin-Quinoa Soufflé.

From a user-perspective, I was pleased to see this book also delivers a quick overview of the different grains and different methods for cooking them. They suggest alternative grains that will work in each recipe, in case you don’t have, say Job’s Tears or Teff, on hand. Stunning photography accompanies almost every recipe, a huge plus in my opinion. Additionally, each recipe has tips for making ahead, saving time, making it easier (or more exotic) and tester’s notes. All in all, I wish I was keeping this book instead of giving away a copy to one lucky winner. If you don’t win and want to get your hands on a copy, you can find this book on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble for $24.99.

{Giveaway}

The kind folks at Rodale have provided a copy of this book for one lucky winner. In addition to this book, we’ll kick in a package of our Hulled Millet, Hard Red Wheat Berries and Quinoa (if you should win and you’re gluten free, we’ll gladly swap the wheat berries for a gluten free option). To enter, leave a comment here telling us which whole grain is your favorite and what you like to do with it. We’ll select a winner randomly from all who comment by 11:59 pm on 8/30. Good luck!

Congratulations to Sue Crawbuck!

Millet Burgers with Olives, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Pecorino

Serves: 6

Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Time savers: Use 2 1/3 cups millet cooked until the grains are creamy like a porridge; begin the recipe at step 2.

• 3 cups (720 ml) Water
• 1 cup Millet
• 10 chopped dry-pack Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• 1 medium Garlic Clove
• 1/3 cup pitted Green Olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup Pine Nuts, toasted about 5 minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant
• 1/4 cup packed grated Pecorino-Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 4 large Caper Berries, stemmed and then minced
• 1 tsp dried Oregano
• 1 tsp dried Marjoram
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1. Bring the water and millet to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly until it’s like a thick, coarse, hot breakfast cereal, about 30 minutes. Uncover and stir well to incorporate any last bits of water. Scrape the millet into a large bowl and cool for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, fill a small saucepan about a third of the way with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Put the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic in a small bowl; cover with the boiling water. Steep for 10 minutes.

3. Drain the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic in a colander set in the sink. Add them to the bowl with the cooked millet. Add the olives, pine nuts, Pecorino, minced caper berries, oregano, and marjoram. Stir well, mashing the ingredients together. You want texture here, bits of this and that scattered throughout the burgers, not a baby-food purée. Use dampened hands to form the mixture into 6 patties.

4. Melt the butter in the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet, preferably a nonstick one. Slip the patties into the skillet and cook until mottled brown and somewhat crisp, about 4 minutes. Flip them with a thin spatula and continue cooking until set throughout, mottled brown on the other side, and now nicely crisp, about 4 more minutes.

Testers’ Notes

• Here, we’ve used an Italian palette to balance the aromatic millet. Note that the recipe calls for the larger, oblong caper berries, not capers.
• The timing for cooked millet is a bit dodgy since the grains are notorious for picking up and holding ambient humidity—as well as releasing it in a dry environment. Don’t stand on ceremony: lift the lid and check the millet as it cooks, adding more water as necessary. You want crunchy texture but no distasteful grit.
• These patties would be a treat on whole-wheat buns with a little purchased caponata as well as thinly sliced red onion and crunchy lettuce. You could also slice the cooked patties into bite-sized bits and toss them in a large, Italian-style, chopped salad, dressed with a creamy vinaigrette.
• These patties don’t reheat as well as some of the others, although they do make great late-night snacks right from the fridge, cut into small pieces and dipped in deli mustard.

Make It Easier!

In truth, these millet burgers can be made with lots of the ingredients found on your supermarket’s salad bar: olives of all sorts, roasted red peppers, and the like. Just keep in mind an Italian antipasto flavor palette to create your own version.

© 2012 by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

Later this week, we’ll be reviewing and giving away a copy of Grain Mains, the new book from Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. We wanted to know a little bit more about why they wrote this book and how they came to use Bob’s Red Mill products. The guys were kind enough to indulge us. Enjoy! 

Sure, recipe-testing for a new project can be daunting. Every cookbook author or food blogger knows that. But it’s also like an extended birthday party: lots of good food and lots of presents.

Well, not exactly presents. More like ingredients, all waiting to be unpacked and put away. Still, if you squint just right, you can see all those bags and boxes as the best party you ever threw yourself.

When we started working on our new cookbook, GRAIN MAINS: 101 SURPRISING AND SATISFYING WHOLE GRAIN RECIPES FOR EVERY MEAL OF THE DAY, we knew we’d have to stock up on whole grains. We looked far and wide—and placed quite an order online with Bob’s Red Mill one chilly autumn afternoon when the only heat was from the red and orange blaze of the New England maples in our backyard.

True to form, our order came in a big box. Really big. So big that our UPS carrier, hoisting it onto his shoulder, said, “Boy, you must like grains.”

He’s used to it. Someday, we’ll tell you about half a butchered pig arriving on his truck.

We took the box inside and cracked it open. It was like Christmas in, well, October. (Apparently recipe-testing for cookbooks works on contract, not cliché.) We had grains aplenty: rye berries, triticale berries, soft white wheat berries, spelt berries, Kamut, amaranth, barley grits, and millet.

Over time, we came to realize that a stocked pantry of whole grains is more than just fun. They’re money in the bank, investments that pay off over time. Whole grains are dried for long storage, so they last well into the winter, even beyond. When a bleak day descended on us, we knew we could figure out something for lunch or dinner, especially since we had whole grains on hand.

Because of that comfy security, we ended up writing a book of whole-grain main courses, breakfast to dinner. We skipped the baking recipes, blew off the side dishes, and moved whole grains to the center of the plate. As we came to see, whole grains are not just nutritional wonders, not just a staple of human civilization for millennia, but also the gourmet ingredients hiding in plain sight: for example, the sweet-and-sour slapdash of rye berries; the dank, chewy earthiness of hull-less barley; the mild, grassy pop of Kamut; and the sophisticated, slightly bitter undertones of buckwheat.

Yet whole grains are also sturdy, durable, long-lasting. Other gourmet ingredients are finicky—we’re looking at you, artisanal cheese—and have to be used within days. Whole grains stick around.

Which means they can become the very reason for dinner, not a side dish at the edge of the plate: bulgur burgers, spicy millet and coconut soup, brown rice stuffed cabbage, a wild rice salad with shaved fennel and pistachios, and even the best-ever granola, to name just a few. We’ve still got a full pantry, ready to make all the recipes in our book. And more besides. We’re thinking about lunch right now.

Photo courtesy of Melanie from Nutritious Eats

There is something about fresh pesto that positively screams summer. Its fresh flavors and snappy scent seem to cool my soul on a hot summer evening (of which Oregon has had its share lately). Buckwheat cooks in about 20 minutes on the stove top, so not only does this dish refresh, it won’t have you slaving in the hot kitchen. To make this vegan or simply lighter in flavor, leave out the Parmesan. Fresh chopped tomatoes would be a great addition to this salad, in my opinion. Serve alongside some crusty French Bread and sliced veggies for a cool, easy summer meal.

If buckwheat groats are hard to come by, kasha would work well in this dish or try a different whole grain for a special twist—millet, wheat berries, quinoa—any of these would be delicious. That’s part of the magic of pesto, there are few foods that it does not enhance!  

Buckwheat Pesto Salad

•     1 cup Buckwheat Groats
•     2-1/2 cups Water
•     1/4 tsp Sea Salt
•     2 Tbsp Olive Oil
•     1 Tbsp Butter, softened
•     4 cloves Garlic, finely minced
•     1/2 cup chopped Walnuts
•     1 cup finely chopped fresh Parsley
•     2 tsp dried Basil
•     1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
•     1/2 cup sliced Black Olives
•     1/2 cup Soy Bacon Bits (optional)

Directions

Step 1

Boil water with salt. Add groats, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and leave pan covered for about 5 minutes, then fluff with fork.

Step 2

Mix butter, olive oil, garlic and walnuts together. Separately combine parsley, basil, cheese and olives. Add butter mixture to groats, then add the parsley mixture. Salt to taste. Toss and serve. Sprinkle soy bacon on top, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Sweet & Easy Vegan is my kind of cookbook. I’ve been eating a dairy-free, egg-free diet for years, and at the time when I first started out on my vegan adventure, I was sure that cheese would be the thing I missed the most. Not so! As it turned out, I found myself craving traditional desserts more than anything else. Luckily I quickly discovered that vegan treats can be just as delicious— especially homemade vegan treats. I’ve since spent many a day in my kitchen experimenting with making vegan versions of my favorite desserts and baked goods, which can be rewarding when it works (sweet success!), but frustrating when it doesn’t (what a waste of time and ingredients!). That’s why I love Sweet & Easy Vegan—author Robin Asbell has already done that work for you, so you can jump right in and bake delectable vegan treats with confidence. When our friends at Chronicle Books offered us a copy to review, we knew that we just had to do a giveaway so we could share this gem with you.

In the book, Asbell offers over 80 sweet vegan recipes including cookies, cakes, tarts, fruit desserts, muffins and more. The author has also written a thorough introduction that covers the basics of vegan baking, discusses the benefits of whole grain flours and natural sweeteners, and includes a glossary of vegan baking ingredients. Sidebars sprinkled throughout the book give helpful tips on topics such as whole wheat pie crusts, alternative flours, and fair trade chocolate.

All this knowledge makes Sweet & Easy Vegan a great book for someone who is new to vegan cooking, but the appeal isn’t limited to beginners, or even to vegans for that matter. Anyone with a sweet tooth will appreciate the recipes here, which range from classics like yellow cake to more unusual treats like Lemon Pine Nut Cookies, and from decadent desserts like Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting to lighter fare like Summer Fruits in Vanilla Syrup. And who wouldn’t love a book with an entire chapter devoted to “Sweet Breakfast Treats”?

We hope you’ll enjoy this cookbook as much as we do. To get your mouth watering, here is a sample recipe from Sweet & Easy Vegan.

Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is something about the texture of coconut in a cookie; the way it stays moist and chewy is irresistible. The addition of chocolate and almonds makes for a triple temptation that will call to you from the cookie jar.

Makes about 8 big cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp nondairy milk, plus more as needed
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
• ½ cup/60 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ cup/65 g whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼  tsp salt
• ½ cup/120 ml canola oil
• ½ cup/100 g granular palm sugar, palm sugar paste, or Sucanat
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 1 cup/90 g unsweetened shredded dried coconut
• ½ cup/55 g sliced almonds
• ½ cup/85 g vegan chocolate chip

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C/gas 5.

In a cup or small bowl, whisk the 2 tbsp nondairy milk and the flaxseeds together and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine both flours, the nutritional yeast (if using), baking soda, and salt and whisk until well mixed.

In a food processor, combine the canola oil and sugar and process until smooth. Add the almond extract and pulse to combine. Add the flaxseed mixture and process until thoroughly combined. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the coconut, almonds and chocolate chips. If the dough is too crumbly to hold together, knead in up to 2 tbsp more nondairy milk.

Scoop a ¼ cup/60-ml portion of dough (oiling the measuring cup makes it easier to remove the dough) and form it into a ball. Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving about 2 in/5 cm of space between them. Using wet palms, flatten slightly to a thickness of just over ½ in/12mm.

Bake for about 16 minutes, until the cookies are quite golden around the edges, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.

Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the cookies will keep for about 1 week.

Would you like to win a copy of Sweet & Easy Vegan? To enter the contest, comment on this post and tell us who you would bake treats for if you win this cookbook. Would you make vegan sweets for your kids, your friends, your sweetheart—or maybe just for yourself? To help you get started with these yummy recipes, we’ll also send the winner a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, a package of Sliced Almonds, and a package of Shredded Coconut.  We’ll pick a winner from those of you who enter by 11:59 pm on 8/23. Good luck!

Robin Asbell, chef and author of Big Vegan and Sweet & Easy Vegan, will be teaching a class next month at the Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School in Milwaukie, Oregon! Get details on the class, “Healthy Baking with Robin Asbell,” and registration information here.

We are so pleased to announce that Laurie Figone won first place in Spar for the Spurtle 2 on Friday. All three of the contenders delivered delicious and beautiful dishes and I think the judges had their work cut out for them. Ultimately, the panel of celebrity judges selected Figone’s recipe as the winner based on taste, creativity and overall presentation. The judges – New York Times “Recipe for Health” columnist Martha Rose Shulman; food journalist, best-selling author and former Iron Chef America judge Kim Sunée; and Whole Living magazine Executive Editor Jocelyn Zuckerman – said the decision was a tough one, but that Figone’s dish really shined.

“Wow, winning a competition like this is truly a dream come true for me!” said an emotional Figone following the competition. “I am just so excited to go to Scotland and compete in the World Porridge Championship on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill, and I thank Bob and everyone at the company for the opportunity.”

We wish Laurie the best of luck in the coming months as she prepares to take her dish to the international stage at the 19th Annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Championship in October. Below is her winning recipe (watch her video here). From here, she plans to create a tomato coulis to top this dish and will begin honing her traditional porridge skills. We’ll share the tomato coulis when we get it, but for now, enjoy! [Note: This recipe can easily be made gluten free by using our Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats.]

Italian Pinhead Torta

My recipe for ‘Italian Pinhead Torta’ is reminiscent of a torta my Mother-in-Law used to make with white rice, eggs, oregano and Parmesan cheese.

By substituting Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats (or ‘pinheads’ as they are commonly called) for the rice, my torta now has an incredible texture that I love!!  I have also added fresh zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes for a hint of sweetness, mushrooms for their earthiness, fresh oregano to awaken your taste buds and Parmesan cheese to bring it all together!!

Mangia!!

• 1 oz. dried Portabella mushrooms, rehydrated in 1-½ cups boiling water for 10 minutes (reserving the liquid to soak the oats in).  After soaking; drain, squeeze dry and dice mushrooms.
• 1-½ cups Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats (also known as pinhead oats) soaked in reserved mushroom liquid for 10 minutes.
• 6 Tbsp Butter, divided
• 1 cup diced Onion
• 1 cup coarsely shredded Zucchini
• ½ cup diced Sun Dried Tomatoes in olive oil, drained
• 6 Eggs, room temperature
• ½ cup chopped fresh Oregano
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt with Parsley
• 1 cup dried Parmesan Cheese
• Fresh Parmesano Reggiano for garnish

1.  Heat 2 TBSP. butter in an 11 inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat.  Sauté onion.
2. While onion is sautéing, heat 2 TBSP. butter in a 10 inch saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add soaked steel cut oats and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes or until remaining liquid has evaporated.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Once onion has become translucent; add the following to the pan:  mushrooms, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes and steel cut oats; mix well.  Remove from heat.
4. In a large mixing bowl; beat eggs and then add garlic salt, oregano and parmesan cheese.  Mix well and then stir in steel cut oat mixture.
5.  Return 11 inch frying pan to medium to medium-high heat and add remaining 2 TBSP. butter.  When butter has melted, immediately pour in steel cut oat mixture and place a tight fitting lid on your pan.  Cook covered for 10 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove lid and remove pan from heat; invert onto a serving plate.  Immediately top with freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano.
6. Slice and serve.

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Servings:  12

Laurie Figone

Petaluma, CA

www.CookingWithLaurieFigone.com

UPDATED! Due to high demand, Carol Fenster’s class “One Dough Does It All” will be offered on both Tuesday, September 11th and Wednesday, September 12th. Call 503-654-3215 x 208 to register.

Now that our hottest months are behind us, the Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School is in full swing again. Check out these great classes for September. Call 503-654-3215 x 208 to register.

“One Dough Does It All” Gluten Free Bread Baking with Carol Fenster!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 and
Wednesday, September 12
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $60.00

Time is precious, so maximize your kitchen time with easy, versatile bread doughs that have many uses. One dough can be made into sandwich bread, Focaccia (Italian flatbread) or dinner rolls… just by making some minor tweaks. Another simple dough makes fabulous pizza for easy suppers or flavorful breadsticks for dipping into herbed oil or Italian marinara sauce. Cookbook author Carol Fenster will take you through the  steps of [1] how to make the basic dough using her versatile, time-saving gluten-free flour blend; [2] how to refrigerate the dough for a few days to improve flavor and texture (the secret of many artisanal bakers); and [3] tips for shaping the soft, sticky dough for best results.  Her recipes include: Basic Sandwich Bread, Italian Focaccia, Easy Dinner Rolls, Pizza, and Breadsticks.

Healthy Baking with Robin Asbell!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $50.00

Master plant-based baking, and learn about the benefits of using whole grains, natural sweeteners and real food in your desserts, with Robin Asbell. The author of Big Vegan, and the new Sweet and Easy Vegan Treats brings her vegan baking expertise to share.  Her recipes include: Coconut Banana Granola, Hazelnut Olive Oil Cupcakes with Hazelnut Frosting, Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Cinnamon Crunch Stuffed Bundt Cake, Raspberry Tart with Cashew Cream. Treats everyone will enjoy!

Wheat Wonderful Wheat with Amelia Hard!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $50.00

Popular Chef Amelia Hard has come up with another class focused on a single grain: wheat. The most important staple grain for a majority of the world’s population, wheat products are the basis of a marvelous array of delicious, healthful dishes. We’ll begin by sampling a delightful Wheat Berry Waldorf Salad with a lively citrus vinaigrette. Then a hearty Italian Spelt and Bean Soup, perfect for fall and winter, served with a super-easy Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread. Next Amelia will show you how to make a fabulous homemade whole wheat pasta, Herbed Whole Wheat Spaetzle. Then a zesty middle-Eastern dish, Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous with Olives and Quick-Preserved Lemon. The very special dessert will be Ravani, a Greek cake soaked in a luscious orange syrup. An additional recipe will be Toasted Bulgur Salad.