USING HOME-GROUND GRAINS

Mary-Howell Martens

Even though we operate an animal feed mill, almost weekly I get questions about using local organic grains for food.  I welcome these questions - this is a matter very close to my heart.  We try our very best to eat what we raise, including fruit, vegetables, meat (pork, chicken, beef), dairy (milk, butter, cheese, buttermilk, yogurt) and of course, grains. 

When most people consider eating local, they first think of tomatoes and other garden vegetables, since everyone knows that a tomato ripened in a garden tastes much better than a January tomato from the grocery store.   There is just as much difference between fresh ground grains and the old dead flour you can buy!  The complex flavors of bread, pancakes, cornbread and other such foods, made from fresh ground flour will amaze you – because there is real flavor and complexity.  But fresh ground grains are also far more nutritious because they are truly WHOLE grain, complete with the germ, the bran, and all the vitamins, minerals, and fiber. 

Here are some recipes that are reliable, delicious, and mostly use products we can grow here in New York, perhaps even on your own 'farm' (even if your farm is actually your backyard). 

Cooking with fresh flour isn't difficult, you just need a grain grinder, a source of whole organic grains, and a little imagination.   I suggest you start with recipes you are most familiar with -  your favorites -  and start substituting with some fresh flour.  Gradually increase the amount of fresh flour.   You will notice differences in the way whole grains work, because the absorb moisture differently than aged flour. You may need to adjust the consistency with either a little more liquid, or a little more flour.  You may also want to add some gluten powder to yeast breads, this may help them rise more reliably.

There are a number of good grain mills available, both electric and non-electric..   My favorite grinder is the KoMo Fidibus 21 (www.yourethecure.com) but there is a good selection of other grinders at Lehmans (www.lehmans.com) and other places.

You can grow your own organic grains, even on a small garden scale, and then harvest them by cutting the straw with pruning sheers or a sickle, tying into loose bundles, and hanging in a dry location to dry.  To thresh, rub the heads to release the grain, then winnow by pouring the grain between 5 gallon pails, with a fan blowing air at the stream of grain.  If you prefer, you can find locally grown grain from area farmers, or purchase grain at bulk food stores or online. 

There are several types of grain that work well for home grinding.  Wheat is the obvious first choice, but that isn't as simple as it seems.  There are hard wheats (red and white) that are high enough in gluten to make yeast bread that rises well.  There are also soft wheats (red and white) that make a flour more suitable for muffins, cakes, pancakes and quick breads..  A grain called spelt tastes much like its cousin, wheat, but contains different proteins, and is particularly low in gluten. Often people who are wheat intolerant can eat spelt without a reaction.  Other wheat-type grains include durum and emmer, sometimes considered semolina wheats.  These are quite hard, with a vitreous appearance, and make great macaroni and crackers.  You may also want to try rye and triticale (a wheat/rye cross).  Barley is a terrific grain, but like oats and spelt, must be dehulled before you can use it in food. 

Home ground cornmeal is a treat that few have tasted these days, with a deep, rich, sunny flavor totally lacking in grocery store cornmeal.  I prefer open pollinated varieties of corn for grinding, they are less selected for commercial high yield production, and have more variation in appearance and color.  They are also less likely to carry genetically modified genes.  Corn needs to be ground at a much coarser setting, otherwise it will clog up the grinder.  If you want a finer, flour type texture, grind it first coarsely, and then regrind the coarse cornmeal.  In addition to cornbread and other recipes containing cornmeal, try dusting bread and pizza pans with cornmeal with cornmeal before baking for a nice artisian touch.

Please Note - fresh grains, especially fresh ground cornmeal,  must be stored in the refrigerator or freezer OR used within 2 weeks of grinding.  Grocery-store cornmeal is ‘de-germinated’ with the many of the nutrients removed so it will keep longer.  Fresh cornmeal also contains the oil, and therefore will go rancid fairly quickly if stored unrefrigerated.

If you can find dehulled oat groats or can grow varieties of hull-less oats, you can make some really terrific tasting oat meal.  Lehman's has an oat roller device, not electric, which will crush oat groats to a coarse oatmeal shape.  These then can be cooked for cereal, granola, or used in oatmeal cookies.  You will find that rolled oat groats have much more texture and flavor than commercial oatmeal.

To figure out how much grain you need to grind, usually a cup of wheat berries produces a little less than 1 ¾ cups of flour. A pound of wheat berries will produce about 4 ½ cups of flour.

I'm a really busy person, with the feed mill, the farm, children, church - I don't have time for lengthy cooking.  Probably you don't either!  For many people, their image of baking bread is still of Grandma, up to her elbows in flour, cooking all day.  Well, that's not me!  I rely on a good bread machine to do the kneading and most of the baking.    After years of using a Breadman machine, last year I splurged and got a Zojirushi BBCCX-20 bread machine - its not the top of the line, but it is definitely a nice machine, and with the amount I use it, I think its well worth the money.  I use it almost daily, baking a loaf of bread in the evening for breakfast, or kneading dough for pizza, flat bread or rolls.  It is a wonderful tool that makes baking homemade bread out of fresh ground flour almost daily be a very reasonable job for busy people.

But – before we go any further, you will want to start with this first recipe!  The butter is best made from fresh raw milk, but can be made out of purchased pasteurized cream, but I would avoid ultra-pasteurized. 

HOMEMADE SOURED-CREAM BUTTER - Let raw milk sit unchilled overnight and skim off cream, refrigerate.  Skim enough raw milk over 2-3 days to collect 1 quart of cream    The skimmed milk can be used to make homemade ricotta cheese.  With an electric mixer, beat cream for about 10 minutes until butter separates from buttermilk.  I cover the mixer with a kitchen towel to prevent splashing and spattering.  Pour into colander to drain off buttermilk.

Over sink, squeeze and knead the mass of butter with hands, folding it over and over to squeeze out as much water & buttermilk as possible for about 5 minutes   Add salt to butter (about 1 tsp per pound of butter) and fold/knead  for about 1 minute.  Butter should be then be refrigerated.  If you have an excess of butter, you can place plastic wrap in a ½ cup measuring cup and then fill with butter, pressing it in firmly.   Gather up the plastic wrap to enclose and freeze for a measured 'stick of butter' that can be used in baking. 

Leave the buttermilk un-refrigerated for 24 hours to thicken and culture – it  makes a wonderful beverage, and can also be used in many recipes.  Add some of the cultured buttermilk to fresh cream, let this stand at room temperature for 24 hours for delicious fresh sour cream.

1 cup buttermilk or water

2 tsp melted butter or olive oil

2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour (can substitute ½ cup rye flour)

1 cup white (or white whole wheat) flour

2 Tbsp gluten

1 Tbsp dough conditioner (optional)

2 Tbsp sugar (or more for sweet breads)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

Mix ingredients together and use bread machine directions.  Knead with machine for full time.  Let rise through one rising cycle and remove if needed for other uses,.  A quarter cup of rye flour or a half cup of emmer wheat flour can substitute for the same quantity of wheat flour. 

1. Dough can be left in bread machine to bake into a 1 ½ lb loaf
2. Dough can be removed after first rising, and divided into rolls and baked in oven.
3. Dough can be used for pizza or stromboli crust, breadsticks or soft pretzels. 

4. Or, this works particularly nicely - the dough can used to make Flat/Pita Bread (or Indian ‘Naan’) - Divide dough into 8 equal balls.  Press into flat rounds and place on greased baking sheet.  Spray tops with more oil.  Let rise for 20-30 minutes.  Heat skillet (preferably a grilling type pan with grilling ridges) to medium hot, spray with oil, move dough rounds gently onto hot surface, grill until golden on one side, flip and finish grilling on second side.   Remove and serve with homemade butter.  Can be used to make gyros. 

We have found that the bread dough can be made several days in advance and refrigerated in a plastic bag until ready to cook into flatbread, pizza dough, pretzels etc.  Probably this approach works better with these breads than with loaves where uniform rising is more important.  If made with buttermilk, the ‘sourdough’ flavor from the refrigerated dough is really exceptional.

½ cup cottage cheese or homemade ricotta cheese

1 ¼ tsp yeast

1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour

¾ cup white flour

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp salt

several shakes Tabasco or other hot sauce

½ cup mashed potatoes

1 whole egg

¼ cup buttermilk or water

If using cottage cheese, drain in a colander for 30 minutes.  Add all ingredients, including the grained cheese, and process according to the bread machine manufacturer’s instructions.

HOMEMADE RICOTTA CHEESE– Don’t think you can make cheese?  Think again!  If you have milk, you can easily make this ricotta cheese.  The curds form when acidic vinegar is added to hot milk, it is not a cultured cheese.  We made several batches a week from the milk from our cows, using it in recipes or just eaten by itself or on salads.  It has a wonderfully satisfying flavor.

Let 2 gallons raw milk sit unchilled overnight and then skim cream for butter   Heat skimmed milk gently (very low heat) until 190^o F , stirring and checking temperature often.   Turn off heat.  Add  one cup apple cider vinegar and stir very gently to mix.  Let curd rise for about 5 minutes.  Pour into a fine colander and let drain.  Mix 2 tsp salt (or to taste) into drained curds, crumbling by hand.   Add about 1 cup fresh milk to salted curds.  Let chill for several hours.  It can be eaten fresh like cottage cheese, or used in recipes.

EVERYDAY SPELT WAFFLES – A quick warm breakfast, golden crispy and with all the rich flavor of fresh ground grain and homemade butter.

1 ¾ fresh ground spelt flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1Tbsp baking powder (I prefer Rumsford brand, with no aluminum and no GMO’s)

2 eggs

¾ cup milk or buttermilk

½ cup olive oil or melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix in  milk, eggs and oil, mix until just moistened.  Cook on waffle iron until golden brown.   Serve at once with plenty of homemade butter and maple syrup.

3 cups spelt or wheat flour (or part white)

½ cup fresh cornmeal

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder (Rumsford!)

½ tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

1/3 cup orange juice concentrate

1-2 cups cut up fruit (peaches, pears, blueberries, bananas, apricots etc)

3 tsp melted butter

about 1 cup milk or buttermilk

Beat wet ingredients together and mix dry ingredients together.  Mix the 2 together.  Add enough milk until consistency is thick but liquid, like muffin batter.  Fry 3 inch pancakes in skillet until golden.  A grilling skillet with ridges makes interesting-looking crispier pancakes. 

NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S BISCUITS – Meals in my North Carolina grandmother’s house usually included steaming hot biscuits, snow white inside, crispy brown on the outside, made with Crisco or lard, perfect for lots of butter, honey, or country ham.  I love biscuits!  My grandmother might not recognize these exactly, but we think they taste better – with the grainy flavor of fresh ground grain and richness of real butter.

2 cups of spelt flour (can substitute up to ½ cup of emmer wheat)

1 cup white flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

¾ cream of tartar

¾ cup butter

about 1 ¼ cup buttermilk

Mix all the dry ingredients. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands, rubbing and crumbling until the mixture is uniform and crumbly.  Mix in buttermilk gradually to form a soft dough.  Turn out onto floured counter and knead lightly – don’t knead biscuit dough much or it will become tough.  Pat into a rectangle and cut biscuits with water glass, or form by hand into flattened rounds.  Place onto greased pan.  Bake at 425^o for 15 minutes until golden.  Serve with butter, honey & jam.

SOFT SPELT MOLASSES COOKIES – a big, soft chewy molasses cookie, packed with layers of flavor -  assertive ginger, smooth molasses, warm cinnamon, spicy cloves, rich butter, earthy grain, and a clean finish that with not a hint of preservatives or corn sweetener.  It is one of life’s true delights!   My father loves these cookies, so when we go down to North Carolina to visit, I make up a batch of the dough and bring it along to bake when I get there .  At least half of the pleasure is the smell of the kitchen while these cookies are baking!

3 ½ spelt or whole wheat flour (use soft white or red wheat)

1 cup white flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

4 ½ tsp ground ginger (don’t skimp on the ginger!)

½ tsp salt

1 cup butter

½ cup olive oil

2 cups organic sugar (or part brown sugar)

2 eggs

½ cup molasses

In medium bowl, stir together flours, spices, baking soda and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, oil, and sugar, add eggs.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Refrigerate until fairly stiff.  Roll into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, and place on pans.  Bake at 350^oF for 11-12 minutes until lightly browned – do not overbake.

NORTHWOODS SPELT BERRY SALAD – we went to a conference in St. Cloud, MN  everal years ago and ate this wonderful chewy salad.  Refreshing cold for unusual picnic fare.

1 cup spelt berries, cooked until tender in salted boiling water   Add olive oil, prepared brown mustard, balsamic vinegar, salt, dried cranberries, toasted almonds or hickory nuts, and garlic salt to taste.  Refrigerate overnight.

EMMER EGG NOODLES – many people remember a grandmother or mother making bread, but most of us are now generations removed from making noodles.  What a shame!   With a food processor, noodles are easy, fast, and vastly better than grocery store macaroni.  Not only that, rolling the pasta with a hand-crank machine is a great activity to do with children or a favorite person.  Then all you need is a light sauce, perhaps a sprinkle of cheese, maybe a bottle of wine, and you have a fine meal, worthy of any fancy restaurant. But much less expensive!

In a food processor, add 3 cups of freshly ground flour made from a semolina-type wheat like Emmer or Durum. Add 1 tsp salt, 3 eggs, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and 1-2 Tbsp water.   Pulse a few times to mix, then process for about 90 seconds until the dough forms a ball.  You may need to add some white flour to make a smooth  non-sticky dough.  Using a hand crank pasta machine, knead the dough by running sheets through at the lowest setting 5-6 times, turning and folding the dough.  When smooth and elastic and reasonably rectangular, thin the sheets by cranking up to a higher setting.  Cut and place on cooling racks to dry.  Cook 3-4 minutes in boiling water.  Serve with fresh tomato sauce or a light creamy cheese sauce.  Or add to chicken or beef broth for an easy soup.

1 cup fat ( ½ cup  butter and ½ cup oil, or all butter, or part Crisco)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla, coffee or maple extract

2 Tbsp molasses

2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour

3 cups oat meal

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinammon

Cream wet ingredients until light,  Mix dry ingredients together in bowl and mix into wet ingredients, beat well.   Add –

½ cup raisins, dried cranberries or other chopped dried fruit

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned – do not overbake!    ** more oil will make a crisper cookie, more Crisco-type shortening will make a chewier cookie, using some butter gives better flavor.  Up to a half cup of olive oil can be substituted.

WAPSIE VALLEY CORNBREAD – on our farm, we have been experimenting with open pollinated corn varieties for about 10 years, selecting strains that do particularly well.  Wapsie Valley is an old OP corn variety that produces about ¾ yellow kernel ears and ¼ red kernel ears.    It makes great cornmeal! 

1 cup fresh ground  cornmeal

1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour

¼ cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder (Rumsford!))

¾ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk or milk

¼ cup oil or melted butter, lard or bacon drippings

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cornmeal.  Mix eggs, buttermilk (or milk), oil.Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Spoon a 9 inch oven-proof skillet (cast iron works best) or into a muffin tin (mini muffins are great for kids).  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly brown.  Serve with butter and molasses, honey or jam

1 cup fresh ground  cornmeal

1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk or milk

3 Tbsp olive oil or melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients and mix well.  If you have fresh sweet corn, cut about ½ cup from cobs and add to the batter.  Fry on hot frying pan or griddle until browned and crispy. Serve with butter and jam, maple syrup, or molasses, or as accompaniment with soup.   You can substitute the salt with onion or garlic salt when making ‘hush puppie’ pancakes.

DOWN HOME SPOONBREAD – to me, spoonbread is an ultimate comfort food – warm, soft, sweet, rich, a little bland, and carrying all sorts of memories of my grandmother’s large old-fashioned North Carolina kitchen.  It is technically a soufflé, though few of my grandmother’s friends would have called it that.  We usually had it with fish, though it makes fine breakfast food.

3 tbsp butter

3 eggs

2 cups milk

¾ cup fresh ground cornmeal

1 tsp salt

Heat milk.  Add cornmeal and cook until thick.  Cool.  Separate eggs. Add egg yolks and salt to cornmeal mixture.  Whip egg whites until stiff.  Stir whites into other mixture gently.  Turn into greased baking dish, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until center is set and top is golden and crispy.  Serve with pasture-raised ham and homemade applesauce for a fall comfort supper, or with fresh broiled fish and coleslaw.

LITTLE RED HEN CORN CHIPS AND DIP - Don’t we all get in the mood for corn chips and salsa – its just such a nice combination, especially for parties!   These corn chips truly are like some the Little Red Hen would make – we grew the open pollinated corn (both Wapsie Valley and Oaxacan Green), hand-harvested the ears, hand-shelled the kernels, ground them into fine flour and then made the chips.  They are thicker and ‘corn-ier’ than grocery store chips, packing enough flavor to stand up to a highly seasoned homemade salsa and homemade sour cream!

1 ½ cups finely group corn flour

1 cup white or whole wheat flour

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

enough warm water to made a soft dough

Knead the dough lightly, roll out very thinly on a floured surface.  You might even want to use a hand crank pasta machine to get them really thin.  Cut into triangles or strips.  Dry them on both sides by cooking briefly on a dry warm skillet.  Heat 1 inch of oil in heavy skillet until a small piece of corn chip will sizzle vigorously.  Fry chips quickly, turning when brown on one side.  They will puff.  Drain on paper towels.  Toss with a little more salt.  Serve with salsa and sour cream.

SPELT POUND CAKE  -  THIS IS THE REAL THING!   Years ago, when I worked for Harris Seeds in Rochester, NY, we often brought in homemade food in for coffee break and office parties.  Steve Elliott and I were both just out of college, with shiny new Horticulture degrees and little practical experience.  He brought this poundcake to an office party, it was his grandmother’s recipe and to me, is the very essence of what a good poundcake should be – almost impossibly rich, dense, eggy with deep buttery flavor and no artificial preservative overtones.  The grainy flavor just adds complexity. It is something to be truly savored in small slices, topped with fresh fruit or accompanied with a really good cup of strong coffee.

1 cup butter

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 ½ cup spelt or whole wheat flour

1 ½ cup white flour

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ salt

8 oz sour cream (you can use homemade)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

Cream butter and sugar well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.  Mix flour with salt and soda, add to wet ingredients, alternating with sour cream.  Mix thoroughly.  Blend in flavorings.  Bake in greased and floured bundt or tube pan for 1 hour & 15 minutes at 325 degrees.  Chill, slice and serve with lightly sugared sliced peaches or other fresh fruit.

HOMEMADE CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP – I grew up on Campbell’s Cream of Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, my mother’s favorite lunch for us especially during the winter.  I loved it as a child, but now find the cloying sweetness and excessive saltiness of canned soup unpleasant.  Why?  Because now we know what cream of tomato soup should taste like – a rich white sauce, fresh or home canned chunky tomatoes, some sautéed onions and garlic, just enough salt and sugar to balance.    Top with crispy garlic-y croutons made from homemade bread.  Have seconds!  And making it is almost as fast as opening a can.

3 cups milk

4 Tbsp spelt or whole what flour

4 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 tap sugar (or to taste)

Heat, while whisking, until thick.  (Please note - whole grain flour will not clump in a white sauce, so you can add more flour to thicken if needed even when sauce is hot)

In another pan, sauté 1 sliced onion and 1 clove sliced garlic in olive oil until translucent.  While this is cooking, peel 2-3 fresh tomatoes, remove seeds, dice in fairly large chunks, add to onions.  Cook until slightly thickened and the ‘raw’ flavor is gone. Add tomatoes to white sauce, adjust salt, sugar and pepper as desired (to taste 'right', cream of tomato soup may need a surprising amount of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes).  Serve topped with fresh hot croutons and fresh basil.

SPELT BREAD CROUTONS   Slice homemade spelt bread and cut into cubes.  In skillet, heat olive oil and garlic. Add bread cubes, and toast, stirring frequently, until crisp,

RUSTIC APPLE TART – I can picture this pie being brought to the table at a rural French bistro restaurant, a chunk of farmstead cheese on the side.  The bright fall flavors of good local apples, mellowed with the richness of heavy cream that thickens and blends with the apple juices while cooking.  My family prefers vanilla ice cream to cheese and I guess I agree with them, but when I take the tart out of the oven, somehow that country French images rises with the fragrant steam.

 Pie crust

1 cup spelt flour

1 ¼ cup white flour

2/3 butter or shortening

8-10 Tbsp water

Roll one big pie crust between pieces of wax paper. 

 Filling

6 cups thinly sliced appled, with half with peel still on

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsp spelt flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup heavy cream

Toss to coat thoroughly.   In pie dish, place crust with edges hanging over.  Add filling.  Lift up pie crust edges andgather them over the top of the filling, making a rough 'dumpling' with the crust loosely folded most of the way over the filling.  Brush lightly with water and liberally sprinkle sugar on the crust.  Bake until apples are soft and crust is golden.

FRESH FRUIT PIZZA   - Last fall, we hosted our state senators at a reception at Lakeview Organic Grain.  We wanted to treat them and the other guests to some really special local organic homemade goodies.  I put this together to showcase local fruit, with our grains and dairy products.  It is little messy to eat while carrying on polite conversation with senators, but no one seemed to mind!

Pie crust  (see above)

Roll one big pie crust between pieces of wax paper, and place on a jelly roll cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly browned.

Vanilla cream cheese pudding

¾ cup sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

3 cups milk

4 beaten egg yolks

3 oz cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

Mix sugar and cornstarch.  Add milk and cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Mix eggs in bowl, add several spoonfuls of the hot milk mixture to the egg, mixing thoroughly, then add the eggs and the cream cheese to the milk.  Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.   Remove from heat, add the extracts and cool.  Spoon evenly over the cooled pie crust.  Top with assorted fresh fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, sliced kiwi, sliced peaches.  Glaze with heated peach or apricot jam.

SHEILA’S SPELT WEDDING CAKE - When our Lakeview mill manager, Daniel Hoover and Elizabeth Garrett, got married last October, they asked our office assistant, Sheila, to make the wedding cake - a favorite hobby of hers.  But when Sheila heard that Daniel's mother is gluten intolerant, she created a special cake just for Ada Mae.  Although the primary wedding cake was certainly beautiful and delicious, everyone agreed that the spelt cake really tasted better!

2 cups spelt flour

1/3 cup white flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 ½ c sugar

¾ cup butter

3 eggs

7/8 cup buttermilk

21 oz (or 3 cups) apple pie filling (or equivalent amount, homemade)

Sift flour before measuring and resift twice with first 6 ingredients.  Cream butter and sugar together, then add eggs, one at a time.  Alternating with dry ingredients, add the butter and milk and mix together with 2/3 of the apple pie filling (reserve 1/3 of the filling for later)  Pour batter into well greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes on wire rack.  Remove layers from pan and cool completely.  Spread remaining apple filling between layers and ice with cinnamon cream cheese icing.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

3 ¼ confectioners sugar

With an electric mixer, beat all ingredients until well blended and smooth. 

FRESH FRUIT PUDDING – This recipe has been our family’s summertime mainstay for many years.  It takes us through the summer season, starting with rhubarb, progressing to cherries and apricots, then on to peaches, plums, and finally pears.  No matter what, it is always great, and makes a good breakfast too.

¾ to 1 cup sugar

½ cup spelt or whole wheat flour

3 eggs

3 Tbsp milk

Mix together well in microwavable bowl.  Add 3-4 cups of fruit - fresh, canned, or frozen.  Rhubarb, peaches, apricots or sweet or sour cherries work best. Cook in the microwave on medium-high for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. 

SMOKED PASTURE-RAISED CHICKEN – Much as we love good fresh organic grains, we like meat too!  We raise about 100 pastured meat chickens and 5 pigs each year for our own and our friends’ meat needs.  Because pastured chickens tend to be more physically active, with more texture to the meat, brining is a particularly nice way to ensure moist, flavorful meat.

Brine - In a non-aluminum container, mix 2 gallons of water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup salt, 2 cloves of garlic (cut up), and a handful of garden herbs (tarragon works great), or a Tbsp of dried mixed herbs. Add a whole, raw chicken.  Refrigerate for 5-8 hours.

Smoking - Start a fire with wood, or if using a gas grill, soak smoking chips.  When fire is hot, push coals to one side.  Remove chicken from brine, rinse thoroughly, pat dry with paper towels, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with garlicy spice mixture (like Montreal seasoning).  Enclose chicken in aluminum foil completely but loosely.  Place on grill topper and then on grill for indirect heat.  Close grill, and let smoke for about an hour, checking occasionally and turning.  Check temperature with a probe thermometer through breast and thigh.  When temperature reaches 160 degrees, remove and let sit, covered for 1 hour or until cool.  Can be removed from bones, chilled, and made into a very satisfying chicken salad by adding mayonnaise, pickle relish, cucumber, and a splash of tarragon vinegar.

Brined chicken, prepared in the same manner, can also be cooked in a very hot oven set at 425^o.  Cook for about 1 hour, until the temperature of the thigh reaches 160 degrees.  Do not overcook.