Home grown QUINOA

[jackal10]

This year I have treid growing Quinoa, th mother grain of the Aztecs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Actually this was part of a winter bird friendly ley mix, inlcuding sunflowers, buckwheat, tricale etc, but mostly quinoa.

It grew surprsingly easily in ou UK East Anglian alkaline clay, withc colourful spectacular flower and seed heads.

Its related to the weed Fat Hen, which also grows well here, and for a moment I thought that was what we had. Maybe next year I'll also add amaranth

You can buy quinoa in health food stores, and it is a nutritous, high protein complete grain

Experimentally I threshed a a couple of heads by putting them in the food processor and sieving the result

I then floated off the remaining flower remains, and washed well. Quinoa is coated with a biter soap like saponin that must be washed off in warm water

I then boiled the grain - you cook it like rice. Note the embryo stalk, which is characteristic.

Delicous, nutty, with some texture. I'm surprised it is not more widely grown an used

Edited September 18, 2009 by jackal10 (log)

[Alessia]

Wow, that's so nice! I love quinoa! I wish I had a place where I could grow it! I was under the impression that it could only grow above 3000 m a.s.l., I guess I was wrong...

I just got back from my vacation in Bolivia and northern Chile - where quinoa is widely used. I even found out that there is more than one type, which I did not know.

In San Pedro de Atacama I had a lovely quinoa dish cooked risotto-style with loco and black cuttlefish ink. Chocolate-quinoa pudding wasn't too bad either.

Did you experiment any recipes?

[MikeJ]

Very nice. Have you thought about milling some of it to use in that sourdough of yours?

[Peter the eater]

I'm inspired. I didn't recognize anything until your last shot, no question that's some fine looking quinoa. Did it taste homegrown?

[jackal10]

The taste was fairly neutral, similar to commercial quinoa, except the grain size was quite small.

I should explain this as a bit of rough ground, with no fertiliser added. The grain was sown in May into a "stale seedbed" - the ground had been turned over in early spring, left for the annual weed to sprout which were then killed with glyphosate before sowing. I hand sacttered the seed and rough harrowed it.

You can add cooked quinoa whole to bread as a texture. You can't make bread just from quinoa as it has no gluten. You can make pasta and pancake like flat breads

Edited September 18, 2009 by jackal10 (log)

[MikeJ]

Jackal, I was thinking more of a handful of quinoa in the dough for flavour. I've seen quinoa flour at the supermarket and wanted to experiment with this, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[jackal10]

Its not strongly flavoured, although nutritous and would behave a bit like rice or potato flour.

It would change the bread texture, making the flour (and bread) softer I guess.

[andiesenji]

Our very own Rancho Gordo sells both regular "white" quinoa and a new variety "red" quinoa, if you want to try some that is traditionally grown without none of the agribusiness additions.

Quinoa is excellent in dishes that would usually be made with other grains - works great as a sub for wheat in tabbouleh and is very popular with vegetarians/vegans.

Excellent recipes can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=quinoa

and also here: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/basic-quinoa.php

I make a dish of acorn squash, stuffed with quinoa/amaranth and sausage. I don't have a recipe, just prepare the quinoa and amaranth, fry onions, sausage and ??? in a skillet, mix in the grains then stuff the partially pre-baked squash (cut side down in a little water for 30 minutes at 300) then bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the squash walls, until fork tender. I use regular sausage but have also prepared this with spicy Italian sausage.

Finish it by drizzling with balsamic vinegar.

Edited September 19, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

I love to do a basic quinoa that I learned from Bert Greene's Greene on Greens: toasting it first in some butter or oil (about 1 teaspoon per cup of quinoa, butter is really better, but oil will do if butter is not appropriate for your final use), until it smells wonderfully toasty and nutty but not scorched--you do stir it quite a bit--then adding 2 volumes of water, bring it to a boil, and leave it alone to simmer gently over low heat for 15 minutes. Give it another 5 minutes to rest off the heat. After that, it's ready to eat plain, topped with steamed or sauteed vegetables, beans, just a dusting of parmesan or pecorino or dry jack cheese and pinenuts....

What's unexpected about it for me is that it somehow combines being quite filling and sustaining with being very easy on an uneasy stomach--good for a day when your stomach is feeling a bit under the weather.