Wheat Berries

[Tom Gengo]

I have ordered a large quantity of white wheat berries w/ the intention of grinding to flour. I have been foiled by my grinder as I went cheap to start and I end up w/ flaked wheat on the lowest (narrowest) grinding. As such, and until I am willing to buy the mill that will certainly work, I am looking for recipes for wheat berries, flaked wheat, etc.

My first foray into wheat berries was 2 cups of cooked (75' @ simmer) wheat berries, minced parsley, chopped walnuts, rehydrated dried cranberries, crumbled blue cheese w/ a balsamic vinaigrette and S&P. I ended up spiking it w/ some additional red wine vinegar to sharpen the flavors. Came out very well. Really don't want to eat this dish for 3 meals x 365 days... Thanks in advance for your ideas.

[Wholemeal Crank]

I like to use spelt--a type of wheat--in lentil soup; here's a soup with chickpeas and a flavor more asian than european; I sometimes add it to vegetable soups, precooked or at least cooked in the stock first, because it takes such a long time to get to that tender/chewy texture; but mostly I mill my wheat, with a mill that makes properly fine flours for breads or pastries or whatever I want:

[llc45]

I love wheatberries and make many different salads from them - depending on what is laying aroung. For inspiration, I am sure that the 101ccokbooks blog has many great ideas.

[FoodMan]

If you want to a try something a bit different, Paula Wolfert published my recipe for a Lebanese soup called m'tabla in her latest book. With her permission I also posted it on my blog here.

Since you wanted to mill your own flour, I am guessing you are a baker. Try boiling a handful of wheat berries till soft and add them to whole wheat bread doughs (about 170gr per loaf). I do that with several breads following Peter Reinhart's tips and recipes. Actually I have a "soaker" at home now to make his whole wheat Struan bread that includes wheat berries and pearl barley.

[Porthos]

You can substitute wheat berries for spelt in this recipe. (Barley-Spelt Grain Salad)