I have some lovely gluten-free friends. Though I am on a strict gluten-lots diets (wink), I love experimenting for my wheatless companions. There are so many beautiful grains with completely different flavors, textures, and baking effects. Wheat gets a lot of the spotlight, and its gluten power is quite incredible for making light, chewy loaves of bread with epic crust. But what about emmer? And buckwheat? And kamut and oats and brown rice and einkorn and barley and rye and spelt and millet and sorghum and teff and amaranth and quinoa? Many of these so-called "ancient grains" are extremely nutritious and very different
After traveling for over 2 months this winter, I learned a lot about what I miss about the home kitchen. I moved around almost every week and could not realistically carry my whole pantry of baking supplies and spices with me in my backpack, so the food I ate was simple. This was pretty easy to do in Hawaii, where juicy papayas and avocados grow all over and easily satisfy a low-budget traveller like myself.
Halfway through the trip, however, I was craving foods like kimchi and sprouts and of course, freshly baked bread. These things that take time and patience and a home base to create. I yearned for my own kitchen space to make a mess and experiment in without intruding on my hosts. Of course, my day to day experience was full of hiking and swimming and learning and failing how to surf, so I might not have wanted to spend hours babysitting my rising bread inside. In any case, it felt great coming back and rewinding into winter (still very mild) here in Oregon and cozying up next to a warm oven full of my kind of bread.
This bread is from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. Their approach is unique and very useful for a busy schedule, as there is no kneading involved and the recipe makes enough for baking multiple loaves a week. Very versatile, very simple, and very delicious!
I could probably change the title of this blog to something like "adventure through thyme" or "thyme to party" because, well, I love thyme. It's been my go-to herb for savory and sweet, and i keep on lovin its bright earthy taste. Out of all the huge rosemary and oregano bushes here on the farm, i am pulled towards the single wiry thyme shrub hiding amongst overwhelming comfrey. I visit it often and have so much affection for its small, yet generous offering. And here it comes, thyme and thyme again, into a savory sweet recipe.
Balsamic Thyme Strawberry Galette
I'm savory by nature. I always add a little extra salt to my granola recipes, and would choose good crusty bread over cake on most days. So when I make sweets, I like that extra balance of savory. That salty punch or lemony acid that cuts the sugary sweetness.
This recipe is my type of dessert. Low maintenance whole wheat crust encircles a pile of balsamic marinated strawberries, topped with fresh thyme sprigs. My enthusiasm for this recipe comes after a week of summer camp cooking for young kids. I was ready for something complex and earthy, and definitely not pasta.
The berries in this recipe came from our second everbearing strawberry crop this summer, and they are even more sweet and shiny red. Strawberries are such a summer pinnacle, and they marry incredibly well with savory additions like balsamic vinegar and fresh thyme. The crust for the galette (fancy word for a low-key pie), is made with mostly whole wheat flour, which turns out just as flaky and buttery than most white flour recipes and oh so hearty. I would experiment with a dough made with 100% whole wheat flour, or a combination with other flours, like emmer, rye, or spelt flours.
Enough talk, let's eat:
Sourdough Cornmeal Pancakes (with orange!)
So every Friday, after four days of weeding thousands of onions under the sweet hot Oregon Sun (I'm talking very southern Oregon), we celebrate with some pancakes. My partner Rion and I have gotten our method down, where I whip up the ingredients in a big bowl and he starts a'flippin them, one at a time on two cast irons (that's his style). We always seem to have some folks coming by for a bite, planned or not, and it is always such a wonderful morning feast. The dew is still rising from the leaf while we munch down our mini pancake stacks.
