Shrimp and Grits, a classic dish of the American South.

For years, we’ve been told by our customers in the South that our grits are not “real” grits. The only “real” grits are white grits according to Southerners. Sure, they still like our yellow corn grits, but they’re just not the same. We’re happy to announce that we now offer White Corn Grits, which we’ve dubbed “Southern-Style” to let you know that these grits are the real deal.

Like our yellow grits, these white corn grits are milled from top-quality California corn and have a rich corn flavor. Most grits at the store have the bran and germ removed to allow them to cook more quickly. The process we use to grind these grits allows us to retain most of the healthy bran and germ without compromising the inherent fluffiness and stickiness of true grits.  That’s why, when you eat our grits, you’ll see little brown flecks (the corn germ) mixed throughout. Even though we’ve left these nutritious bits in, our grits still cook up in five minutes and are as creamy and delicious as any you’ve ever tasted. You can even use our white corn grits to make the Italian dish polenta.

Corn grits are wonderful any time of day. For breakfast, try adding shredded cheese and topping with an egg. Fried Corn Grits is a favorite dish at our Whole Grain Store where they are cooked and left to sit overnight in the fridge, then sliced and fried (recipe on package) and topped with *gasp* maple syrup. Trust me, they are wonderful. Use them to make the traditional Shrimp and Grits or top with marinara or gravy for a hearty dinner dish.  They’re so versatile, we find it hard to ever tire of them.

These White Corn Grits will be available in your local stores in the coming months. We’ve had a bit of a hiccup on our website, so this product is not yet available to purchase there. We don’t have a gluten free version of these white grits yet, but we do still make our gluten free yellow corn grits.

Giveaway

To help make up for the website hiccup, we’re giving away a package to five lucky readers! How to enter? Simply leave us a comment here on this blog post that tells us what you would make with these Southern-Style White Corn Grits. We’ll select five winners randomly from all who comment by 11:59 pm on Monday, May 14th.

We’ve really been on a, ahem, roll around here lately and let me just say that we’re not done yet! We’ve got one more new item to tell you about later in the week and, yep, you guessed it, we’re going to give some away, too!

If you’ve never been able to try our extra thick rolled oats before, now is your chance. These oats are rolled extra thick, making them heartier and chewier than our old fashioned rolled oats and light years away from quick and instant rolled oats. Extra thick rolled oats are a truly old-fashioned oatmeal. As Bob would say, “This is what oatmeal should taste like.” Our conventional extra thick rolled oats have long been a customer favorite in our line, which is why we’re so excited to be able to offer them to our gluten free customers, as well.

As with our other gluten free oats, these are grown on dedicated farms that plant only ‘pedigreed’ seed stock in oats-only fields. Each delivery is sampled using the R5 ELISA Gluten Assay to ensure the absence of gluten and packaged in our gluten free facility. Please be aware, however, that a small percentage of people cannot tolerate even the purest of oats. If you are unsure whether oats are suitable for your diet, please check first with your health advisor before eating them. Read more about oat (or avenin) sensitivity here.

These oats will be available in stores near you in the coming months, but if you absolutely cannot wait (and you don’t win), they’re on sale on our website at 25% off through the month of May.

Giveaway

We’d like to giveaway a package of our new Gluten Free Extra Thick Rolled Oats to three lucky winners. To enter? Simply leave us a comment here on this blog post and tell us one gluten free product you that wish we would make. We’ll pick three winners randomly from all who enter by 11:59 pm on 5/9/12 (that’s end of day tomorrow).

Steel cut oats have long been a favorite cereal at Bob’s Red Mill. Over the years, we’ve found that some people are daunted by the longer cooking time. Really, it’s not surprising. Steel cut oats take between 10- 20 minutes on the stove top and are near-impossible to cook in the microwave.  We have all sorts of tips and tricks to help you enjoy a hot bowl of steel cut oats in a hurry- everything from a slow cooker to a thermos. Still, the process is too complicated for some and not worth the energy for others. That’s why we’re happy to say that we now offer a quick-cooking variety.

These organic quick-cooking steel cut oats (also available as conventional) cook in 5 to 7 minutes on the stove top and are perfect for the thermos method*. Quick steel cut oats are made with the same high-quality oats that we use for our regular steel cut oats, but they are processed slightly differently to allow them to cook more quickly. These oats are cut on a specialized rotary granulator mill into slightly flatter pieces than our regular steel cut oats. They still taste wonderfully different than rolled oats, but they are a bit different than our regular steel cut oats. Their faster cooking time, makes them a great ingredient for baking and cooking. Try this wonderful recipe for Steel Cut Oat Fries with Cherry Dipping Sauce to see for yourself.

These two items will be on store shelves within a few months, but you can order them on our website if you simply cannot wait.

*Bob’s Famous Thermos Method: No joke, this is how Bob makes his steel cut oats when he’s in a hurry. Place 1 cup quick cooking steel cut oats and 3 boiling water in an airtight thermos at night. In the morning, you will have cooked steel cut oats. With these new quick cooking steel cut oats, we’re pretty sure you could do this when you first rise in the morning and have them ready by the time you get to work.

Steel Cut Oat Fries with Cherry Dipping Sauce

Yield 5 -7 servings

Steel Cut Oat Fries

• 1-1/2 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Water or Stock
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 1 cup Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats
• Sea Salt to taste
• Ground Black Pepper to taste
• 4 oz Chevre or other soft goat cheese
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups Olive Oil
• Oat Flour as needed

Line a 4 ½  x 6 ½ -inch metal baking pan with plastic wrap and set aside.

Bring milk, water and butter to a boil in a large heavy saucepan.  Gradually whisk in Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until oats are very thick and start to pull away from the sides, about 8 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Immediately transfer the oats to the prepared baking pan, spreading evenly so height is consistent throughout.  Refrigerate until cool and firm, about 1 hour.  To store overnight, cover when cooled and keep refrigerated.

Turn oats out onto a cutting board and cut into ¾ x 3-inch rectangles.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to very low, about 200°F.  Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Place flour in a plate or pie pan.  Lightly coat the oat fries in flour, shaking off excess.

Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, fry oat fries until golden-brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Add more oil, if necessary, but make sure the oil has warmed to medium-high heat before continuing frying.  Transfer fries to paper towels with a slotted spoon and let drain.  Place fries on a clean baking sheet and keep warm in the low oven while frying remaining batches.

Serve with Cherry Dipping Sauce.

Cherry Dipping Sauce

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Shallots, minced
• 2 Tbsp + additional to taste Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 cup Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 2 Tbsp Evaporated Cane Juice
• 1/2 cup Dried Cherries, chopped
• Sea Salt to taste
• Ground Black Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium skillet oven medium heat.  Add shallots and sauté until translucent.

Add balsamic vinegar and stir well for about 1 minute, making sure to scrape up any pieces stuck to the pan.

Add stock and increase heat to medium-high.  Add evaporated cane juice and dried cherries, stir well and let simmer until thick, about 10 minutes.

Let cool slightly and serve with Steel Cut Oat Fries.

Giveaway

We’d like to share a few packages of these great Organic Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats with you. We’re giving away a package of these new oats to three lucky winners! How to enter? Simply leave us a comment here on this blog post that tells us what you would make with quick cooking steel cut oats- could be plain oatmeal or some fancy oatmeal concoction! We’ll select three winners randomly from all who comment by 11:59 pm on Monday, May 7th.

Ever since Duchess Kate Middleton was reported to have slimmed down for her wedding dress using the Dukan Diet*, oat bran has seen a huge surge in popularity. Whether or not you believe in the Dukan Diet, oat bran is an incredibly healthy addition to your diet. For starters, oat bran is high in dietary fiber. The soluble fiber helps soak up bad (LDL) cholesterol from the blood stream, while the insoluble fiber helps move that cholesterol and other waste out of your body. Oat bran also packs a pretty good protein punch with 5 grams of protein in a 1/3 cup serving size. Between the fiber and protein, this cereal is a fantastic way to fuel your day. Oat bran can also be used in smoothies and baked goods such as muffins, quick breads, cookies and more.

Since our introduction of certified gluten free oats in 2007, we’ve been getting request after request for gluten free oat bran. For the last two years, folks here at Bob’s Red Mill have been working to bring you the high-quality oat bran you’ve come to expect from us and ensure it is grown and tested to be gluten free. Well, folks, they finally did it! We’re pleased as punch to be able to offer the health benefits of oat bran to our gluten free customers!

Our new gluten free oat bran is made from the same oats that we use to make our gluten free rolled and steel cut oats. These oats are grown on dedicated farms that plant only ‘pedigreed’ seed stock in oats-only fields. Each delivery is sampled using the R5 ELISA Gluten Assay to ensure the absence of gluten and packaged in our gluten free facility. Please be aware, however, that a small percentage of people cannot tolerate even the purest of oats. If you are unsure whether oats are suitable for your diet, please check first with your health advisor before eating them. Read more about oat (or avenin) sensitivity here.

This product will start appearing in your local stores in the next few months. If you simply cannot wait, we’ve got this product on sale through the month of May at 25% off on our website. Check it out here.

Giveaway

We’d like to giveaway a package of our new Gluten Free Oat Bran to three lucky winners. To enter? Simply leave us a comment here on this blog post and tell us what you would make with gluten free oat bran. We’ll pick three winners randomly from all who enter by 11:59 pm on 5/3/12 (that’s Thursday). 

*If you are interested in the Dukan Diet, please know that they have approved our oat bran as a good substitute for the special oat bran called for in the book.

Bob’s Red Mill is proud to introduce pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous, to our line of entrée items. Pearl couscous is made from toasted wheat flour that has been rolled into small pearls. This type of couscous is much larger than Moroccan couscous and is similar in taste and texture to pasta. Contrary to popular belief, couscous is considered to be pasta not grain.

Our new pearl couscous comes in three varieties—natural (unflavored), whole wheat and tricolor. The tricolor is made using spinach powder and tomato powder to produce lovely green and red hues that are mixed with the natural pearl couscous. The color is really the only difference between the tricolor and the natural. There is no flavor or nutritional difference. Whole wheat has the nutty, full-bodied flavor you expect from whole wheat pasta. All three cook in less than 20 minutes and make a great addition to soups, salads and pilafs.

There are so many wonderful ways to dress up these special pastas! You can add a simple pesto or marinara sauce for a quick dish or take a culinary adventure and use a recipe with Indian or Middle Eastern flavors. We have a few recipes on our website, but a quick search on the internet delivers myriad ways to use this simple ingredient. If you have a favorite recipe, we’d love if you would share it with us. Simply visit our site and select “Contact Us”  to submit your recipe.

Now for the juicy bit! I’d like to give 5 lucky winners a package of Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous and a package of Tricolor Pearl Couscous.

How to win:

All you need to do to enter is post a link to a recipe using pearl (Israeli) couscous that appeals to you in the comment section and tell us what makes it sounds delicious. For example (and you can’t use this one!):

Here is a link to a recipe using pearl couscous to make a pesto salad. This sounds good to me because I LOVE pesto and it looks quick and easy.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=1883

I will select five winners randomly from all those who comment by midnight on 05/06/11. Winners will be announced by 05/12/11.

Let me rephrase that… Introducing Two New Granolas and Two Reformulated Granolas! Yes, we’ve been working in our product development lab again which means we’ve got some new things to share with you.

We have always loved our granola, but over the years we have become disappointed with its lack of crunchy clusters and slightly embarrassed by its ingredients (read: maltodextrin). We wanted a clean ingredient list that we could bring home to our grandmothers and, gosh darn it, we wanted crunchy clusters to mix in our yogurt! We’ve spent the last few years tweaking and perfecting our granola until we came up with four granolas that we would feel confident entering in the state fair.

What did we do to make these granolas outshine their previous selves? First, we cleaned up the ingredient list a bit to use things like honey and molasses instead of maltodextrin. Second, we changed the equipment to allow for larger clumps of granola and prevent the clumps from jostling too much and crumbling apart. Finally, we decided to add two brand-new flavors to make these granolas even more irresistible—Cinnamon Raisin and Honey Oat (my personal fav). The two flavors we reformulated to be even more delicious are our Natural and our Apple Blueberry Granola.

These new granolas are available on our website (on sale for the month of April) and will start appearing on store shelves in the coming months. I wish I could say they were gluten-free, but I can’t. Rest assured, gluten free folks, we have something special in the works for you and hope to introduce it this fall.

We want to share our love for these new products by offering you a chance to be among the first to try them. I’m giving away four packages of granola- one of each flavor- to 10 lucky winners! AND I’m going to make it easy on you to enter.

How to Enter:

Four packages of granola is A LOT of granola, so all you need to do to enter is leave a comment here  on the blog or on our facebook page and tell me ONE person that you would share this prize pack with and why. I’m not going to tell you how you should share it, but it seems to me that everyone knows someone who would love a package of granola. I’ll select 10 entries by random selection from all of those who enter by 04/15/11 at midnight. I’ll announce winners on 04/18.

Both of our new soup mixes are 25% off through April.

The last few weeks in Portland have been fairly spectacular, weather-wise. As the date to launch our new soup mixes drew closer, I started to worry that the weather might be too nice for soup. Of course many of you are still in the throes of winter, but some of us have been enjoying a beautiful spring. This week, however, has proved to be as wet as it comes and really reminds us why Oregon is so green. A hot bowl of soup sounds pretty good today.

For years our customers have loved our 13 Bean and Vegi soup mixes. They’re simple, with no seasoning added, and full of carefully selected ingredients to create soups that are versatile and hearty. After receiving many requests from our customers to offer a wider variety of soup mixes, we’re happy to bring two new blends to you—Bountiful Black Bean Soup and Whole Grains and Beans Soup.

Bountiful Black Bean soup combines black turtle beans, black-eyed peas, navy beans and pearl barley to create a beautiful blend that works well as a simple black bean soup or can be dressed up with roasted vegetables and spicy sausage. We leave the seasoning up to you, but have included a delicious recipe on the package for inspiration.

Whole Grains and Beans soup is just as full of whole grain goodness as it sounds. We’ve  combined red beans, red lentils, pinto beans and brown lentils with our Grandé Whole Grains blend to bring you the heartiness of a bean soup with a variety of grains including Kamut® wheat, oat groats, buckwheat and many others.

Both soups take approximately 1-1/2 hours to cook from dried beans into a delicious soup perfect for a cool evening. Serve with our Irish Soda Bread for a meal that is sure to please. Both soups are 25% off through the month of April.

Gluten Free Quick Oats and Gluten Free Oat Flour are produced from high quality, gluten free oats.

We are more than delighted to announce that we are now producing Gluten Free Quick Cooking Rolled Oats and Gluten Free Whole Grain Oat Flour. Both of these new products are produced from the highest quality gluten free oats grown on dedicated oat-growing fields by a cooperative of 200 farms. Each farm delivery is sampled many times and tested with an R5 ELISA gluten test to ensure the absence of gluten.

Our gluten free customers have found our Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats and Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats to be a welcome addition to their diet and have not hesitated to share this with us. While some people with celiac disease may not tolerate even the purest of oats, many of our customers have enjoyed these heart-healthy additions to their morning routine.

Not only do oats add a wonderful nutritional boost, they also open up a realm of baking that was previously hard to replicate using the products available in the marketplace- oatmeal cookies, granola, muesli, the possibilities are endless with gluten free oats. Adding gluten free quick oats and gluten free oat flour only opens up more possibilities!

To celebrate these new additions to our gluten free line, we’ve partnered with Carol Fenster to bring you an awesome giveaway. Carol was a huge advocate for bringing these products to you, so we’re giving away 10 autographed copies of Carol’s beautiful 1000 Gluten Free Recipes. To sweeten the pot, we’re adding a package of gluten free oat flour and gluten free quick oats for each of our 10 winners.

Gluten Free Oat Flour is a wonderful way to add the nutrition of oats into your gluten free baking.

How to enter:

Please read this carefully or you may not be counted in the giveaway. You must complete number one to be entered, but you have more chances to win by completing the additional entry tasks.

1. To be entered you MUST do this: Leave a comment on this blog post and tell us what you would make using Gluten Free Quick Oats. This must be done at www.bobsredmill.com/blog.

Additional Entries:

1 Entry: Visit Carol Fenster’s site, Savory Palate, and locate Carol’s Culinary Cues and sign up for her newsletter. THEN, report back to the blog and tell us that you subscribed.

1 Entry: Become a friend of Carol Fenster on Facebook . THEN, report back to the blog and tell us that you did.

1 Entry: Become a friend of Bob’s Red Mill on Facebook. THEN, report back to the blog and tell us that you did.

Carol Fenster's book is a beautiful collection of 1000 recipes for every occasion.

1 Entry: As a friend of Bob’s Red Mill on facebook, post a message on our wall and tell us why you want to win.

1 Entry: Follow us on Twitter (@bobs_red_mill). THEN report back to the blog and tell us that you did.

1 Entry: If you have a blog or website, post about this contest and link back to our blog. THEN report back to our blog and tell us that you did.

Don’t forget to return to the blog to tell us what you did to earn extra entries. The contest ends on 04/30/10 at midnight. Winners will be announced on 05/03/10.

04/02: UPDATE: Since so many of you are already friends of ours on Facebook or following us on Twitter, just leave a comment that you’re already doing this and we’ll still count it as an entry.

Chia is a good source of protein and dietary fiber.

Over the years, we have received many requests for chia seed and we are happy to announce that we are now producing black chia seed. Chia has been recognized by health professionals worldwide for being an excellent source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Chia contains the same amount of Omega-3 as Flaxseed Meal, but does not need to be ground before consuming to reap the benefits.

The seeds of the Chia plant are small, about the size of poppy seeds, and range in color from silvery white to black. Our chia seed is mostly black, but contains some white seeds throughout. They make a great addition to salads, breads, hot cereal, and yogurt. A traditional staple of the Inca and Mayan peoples, chia was consumed by mixing the seeds with agua fresca or juice and taken as a ritual in the morning to power them through the day.

The soluble fiber in  chia seed produces a gel-like substance when combined with water. This gel takes longer to digest in the stomach, which keeps you feeling full longer. We’ve done some experimenting with chia seed here and have found the gel works well as an egg replacer in baked goods. Chia seed is naturally gluten free, but is not being packaged in our gluten free facility.

Giveaway:

To celebrate chia, I’m giving away 30 packages of chia seed to my lucky readers.

There are 30 chances to win and three ways to enter,  so here’s how to increase your odds:

Blog: In the comment section below, tell me what you’d like to know about chia and we’ll not only enter you in the contest, but try our best to get an answer for you.  I’ll select 10 winners randomly from all those who post on our blog by Monday, 02/08 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Winners will be announced on Tuesday!

Facebook: Post a comment/question  on our Facebook page (to make sure you don’t get missed, please use “Chia Contest” somewhere in your comment), 10 winners will be randomly selected from all Facebook entrants. I’ll select 10 winners randomly from all those who post on our facebook page by Monday, 02/08 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Winners will be announced on Tuesday!

Twitter: Tweet a comment/question to us: @bobs_red_mill (use #chia to tag it), 10 winners will be randomly selected from all Twitter entrants. I’ll select 10 winners randomly from all those who send us a tweet by Monday, 02/08 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Winners will be announced on Tuesday!

Chia seed is about the size of a poppy seed and packs a nutritional punch.

Bob’s Red Mill is getting ready to launch chia seed next month and we’ve been busy doing research into what makes chia such a special seed. We know it tastes good and we know it has high omega-3 content, comparable only to flax and hemp seed in the plant kingdom. In my research, I found this article by Dr. Weil discussing what makes chia such a beneficial seed to add to your diet.

Enjoy!

Chia for Health- Dr. Weil