Cooking with "Grains for Every Season," by Joshua McFadden

[blue_dolphin]

I cooked so much from McFadden's first book, Six Seasons (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), that I pre-ordered Grains for Every Season: Rethinking Our Way With Grains (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) as soon as it was announced.  I've had it on my shelf for a while and thought starting a cooking thread might give me a needed nudge to get cooking from it.  

 

Here's what I had to say in another topic when asked what I thought of it:

Quote

While I've had the book for a while and have read it cover to cover, I haven't cooked from it yet, so you can take this with a grain 🙃 of salt.  Bottom line: if your giftees were happy with Six Seasons, I'd say they're likely to enjoy this as well.  I plan to give it to a number of friends that I gave Six Seasons to previously.  My caveat would be towards people who are already all-in on whole grains.  With Six Seasons, even cooks very experienced with vegetables could find a lot of fresh ideas in the book.  I'm not sure this one would be quite as much of a revelation for people who already cook with a lot of whole grains.  That said there are still fun new ideas like adding the crunch of quinoa to a tempura batter and a millet streusel that he uses on a butternut squash quick bread but sounds like it would be fun to sprinkle on other things.

It's not an encyclopedic grains reference book but the background on most of the featured grains is adequate.  The whole wheat flour chapter is mostly baking recipes.  I think it could benefit from a discussion on different types of wheat but he tends to include some AP or white bread flour in most recipes so parsing out the types may not be that important.  Most of the featured grains are represented with a nice assortment of different recipe types, others, not so much.  For example, the oat recipes sound appealing but they are all sweet.  I would have liked to see a savory oatmeal or something to mix up that chapter.  

There's a "Go-To" chapter with dressings, sauces and the like.  They sound good but they are not as fully integrated into the rest of this book as in Six Seasons where I felt that prepping some of them ahead really streamlined the other recipes.  Some people would disagree and hated that recipe-in-a-recipe trick so they'll be happy.  There are just a few go-to's that are repeated like the brined, roasted almonds and torn croutons.  The well known kale sauce also reappears here but with lots of variations added so it's worthy of the repeat.

Speaking of variations, they pop up regularly in the book.  There are several fold-out sections (pilafs, grain bowls, stir-fries and pizza) that offer a basic how-to template and six seasonal variations.  Others, like the kale sauce and the 6 variations on focaccia could have fit into that same framework.   I like the concept but have yet to put it into practice. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

My first cook from the book is this Savory Morning Bun with Sausage, Fontina and Broccoli Rabe p 224

 

I quite liked this and would make it again. I made changes to the filling but stuck with the recipe for the dough which is pretty much the same as that used in the Spelt Cinnamon Roll recipe which immediately precedes this one in the book.  I used hot Italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage, broccoli instead of broccoli rabe, a mix of gruyere and cheddar instead of fontina and I omitted the maple syrup, though it would probably work with breakfast sausage. I think this would be a lot of fun to play around with other combos and I think a vegetarian version using mushrooms instead of sausage would work nicely.
The dough starts with the same sort of cooked flour/milk paste as in Japanese milk bread, except using spelt flour. The dough rises until doubled, then goes into the fridge overnight.  Once the filling is ready, it comes out and gets rolled to 12 x 18":

 

Topped with the filling:

 

Rolled up into a cylinder:

 

Coiled into a spiral, placed in a buttered cast iron pan and put in a warm spot to proof for 1.5 - 2 hours.  This photo is from the start of the proof:

 

Across the room, at the very same time, this was also coiled into a spiral and in a warm spot:

 

After proofing for 2.5 hours, I barely saw any poof.  In spite of being covered, it was starting to dry and form a skin so into the oven it went:

 

 It doesn't look much different from the photos in the book so I think it came out OK.  

 

As can be seen from a slice, the bun has a crisp outer layer but inside, it's very soft and tender. Not heavy and no doughy or unbaked parts inside:

 

Since I took this in the spicy Italian direction, I tried serving it with some tomato sauce on the side.  It was good, but quite unnecessary as the sausage, broccoli and cheese are plenty flavorful on their own.

 

What has me sold on making it again is how nicely it re-heats.  The header notes say you can make it ahead and re-heat the whole thing.  I've just been cutting slices and re-heating them and it's worked really well. Maybe better than when fresh baked. 
 

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

Of course I'm cracking up at the co-spiralers   I've not had spelt in a dough - is it a nuttiness? I also need to expand my grianing. With your sausage I'd use the b-rab if available but good to know enjoyable with "garden variety" broccoli.- Did you roll dough straight on your granite? I do  

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Of course I'm cracking up at the co-spiralers

I know it's OT but I figured we can all use a smile these days!

 

1 hour ago, heidih said:

I've not had spelt in a dough - is it a nuttiness?

Yes, a bit nutty.  In this case, the recipe used half spelt flour and half white flour so the flavor isn't particularly strong.

 

1 hour ago, heidih said:

With your sausage I'd use the b-rab if available but good to know enjoyable with "garden variety" broccoli.

All my subs were based on what was in the fridge but I agree that something with more "bite" would be a better choice.

 

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Did you roll dough straight on your granite? I do  

Yep!  Big upgrade from the tile counters I had in my previous places! 

[blue_dolphin]

Whole Wheat Focaccia from Grains for Every Season p 266 is one of the recipes that offers a lot of variations.

The result is fine. I routinely sub up to half whole grain flours into other focaccia recipes that come out just as well so I can't say there's anything magical about it.

 

I made the Classic Focaccia topped with with olive oil, rosemary and flaky salt:

 

and the Caramelized Onion and Cheese Focaccia topped with caramelized onions and Parm:

 

Crumb shot with the onion & cheese on the left and classic on the right:

 

This recipe actually uses 2/3 white bread flour and 1/3 whole wheat plus a small amount of rye.  I used a mix of Glenn and Red Fife flours for the whole wheat.  There's an overnight starter, then the dough is mixed, given a series of 6 turns and folds at 30 min intervals, followed by an overnight to 48 hr rest in the fridge so it's one of lengthier focaccia recipes I've tried. 

The amount of dough this recipe makes is rather enormous.  With 1210g flour + 1040g water, that's over 2.2 kilos of dough.  The largest focaccia recipe, written for a half-sheet, that I've made is the one from Dessert Person which calls for 780g flour so this is a lot more.  The recipe says to knead the dough in a stand mixer for 8 min but once it got going, the dough was climbing up over the top of the dough hook so I had to keep stopping it to scrape the dough back into the bowl and eventually gave up.  I could have processed half at a time in the mixer but I decided the turns and folds could take care of things.  

 

 

Given the amount of dough, I decided to make one half-sheet (the classic) and one quarter sheet (the onion & cheese). 

The result is fine. I routinely sub up to half whole grain flours into other focaccia recipes that come out just as well so I can't say it's magical. 

If I owned 2 quarter sheet pans, I would have made 3 varieties.  Guess I could have used a 9 x 13 pan or gone halfsies on the half sheet but I didn't think of it.  Most of this will be for sandwiches so maybe it's just as well.  I think it would have overflowed the pan if I'd tried to put it all into one half sheet. 

The other variations in the book are:

• Cherry Tomato & Garlic
• Spring Onion & Olive
• Plum, Honey & Black Pepper (suggests serving with fresh goat or sheep cheese or ricotta)
• Rhubarb
• Apple Butter + thyme or rosemary

The sweet flavors intrigue me but I don't think I'd have use for a lot so maybe I'll just add a small strip of one next time I make a batch. 

 

[Maison Rustique]

Curse you, @blue_dolphin! You're a cookbook pusher!! 😅 You've got a way of making me want every cookbook out there and I'm supposed to be down-sizing.

 

Darling kitty!! 😍

Edited January 22, 2022 by Maison Rustique
typo (log)

[SLB]

10 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

Curse you, @blue_dolphin! You're a cookbook pusher!! 😅 You've got a way of making me want every cookbook out there and I'm supposed to be down-sizing.

 

I was about to post the Exact.Same.Thing. 

 

It's the photography.  Your pictures make me need the book.  Repeat, need.  

 

Sigh.  

[blue_dolphin]

10 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

Darling kitty!! 😍

 

28 minutes ago, SLB said:

…Your pictures make me need the book….

I think it’s the kitten and in the interests of full disclosure, the book does NOT come with a kitten 😻

[Okanagancook]

I made the Yogo Ranch Dressing.  It is very easy to make.  It is quite thick…needs thinning if using on a leafy salad.  Someone suggested using buttermilk as a thinning agent.  It would make a nice veggie dip as written.  I used chopped green onion tops as I did not have chives.  I also added the salt a bit at a time tasting as I went because it seemed like a lot of salt.

 

I will be making this again.

 

note….I used my homemade powdered onion which is very flavourful….just right.

[blue_dolphin]

15 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I made the Yogo Ranch Dressing

Thanks for that review.  I’m planning to make that today to go on the beet & wild rice salad. I was debating whether to make a half or full recipe and based on this, I think I’ll go with a full batch!

[Okanagancook]

I made half a batch which yielded about a cup of dressing.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Grains for Every Season: Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Beets, Cucumbers and Dill p 294 made with Yogo Ranch Dressing p 313

Nice, healthy-ish lunch. Peeling and roasting the beets in small chunks seemed fussy but it certainly does enhance their sweetness. I neglected to seed the cukes - putting instructions like that over in the ingredients list apparently challenges my little brain 🙃.  
I wish I'd had some of @Okanagancook's homemade onion powder for the Yogo Ranch Dressing.  I let it sit for about 3 hours prior to plating and the onion powder flavor was still a bit harsh.   Didn't bother me in the salad but I should probably have made it a day ahead and as she reported, it's very thick.  I just went for small dollops here but it does need to be diluted to actually "drizzle" as this recipe calls for.  

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Grains for Every Season: Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Beets, Cucumbers and Dill p 294 made with Yogo Ranch Dressing p 313

Nice, healthy-ish lunch. Peeling and roasting the beets in small chunks seemed fussy but it certainly does enhance their sweetness. I neglected to seed the cukes - putting instructions like that over in the ingredients list apparently challenges my little brain 🙃.  
I wish I'd had some of @Okanagancook's homemade onion powder for the Yogo Ranch Dressing.  I let it sit for about 3 hours prior to plating and the onion powder flavor was still a bit harsh.   Didn't bother me in the salad but I should probably have made it a day ahead and as she reported, it's very thick.  I just went for small dollops here but it does need to be diluted to actually "drizzle" as this recipe calls for.  

I will definitely be making this. I love beets in any form - this looks amazing.

 

 

[Okanagancook]

It is really worth drying store bought onions so you can make onion powder.  They need to be very dry and even still they clump a bit.  Just store in a wide mouth jar so you can break them up if need be.

 

the salad looks fantastic.  Thanks.

[heidih]

Your dill looks beautiful -FM? I'd have been tempted to buzz some of it into the dressing to release flavor more - or was soje of it fonely minced? I agree on roasted beets - worth the effort.

[weinoo]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:38 PM, blue_dolphin said:

 

The sweet flavors intrigue me but I don't think I'd have use for a lot so maybe I'll just add a small strip of one next time I make a batch.

 

Have you ever tried one of these?  They're fairly classic...

 

Schiacciata all'uva

 

Another...https://www.fontanaforniusa.com/blogs/news/schiacciata-alluva

[Maison Rustique]

The dill jumped right out at me, too. Even during warm weather I can hardly ever find fresh dill. I've tried growing it and just can't seem to keep it going. 

[blue_dolphin]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Have you ever tried one of these?  They're fairly classic...

 

Schiacciata all'uva

 

Another...https://www.fontanaforniusa.com/blogs/news/schiacciata-alluva

 

Sort of but I should try it again.  Ottolenghi has a grape & fennel seed focaccia that gets sprinkled with sugar.  I tried it but left off the sugar.  I should do it again, maybe with this recipe as I think the whole wheat flavor would complement the sweetness.  

I also made a Tuscan grape bread from a Diana Henry recipe and liked the toppings but thought the bread itself was boring.  That could be fixed.

[blue_dolphin]

Grains for Every Season: (not) Chanterelles and Wilted Kale Quiche in Whole Wheat Flaky Pastry Dough p 255

Never will I ever be able to afford a full pound of chanterelles to put in quiche so I used regular old creminis and seasoned them with TJ's Umami blend in lieu of salt. I don't have a 10-inch tart pan so used a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan, which the recipe specifically said not to use. I can see why as the filling was so deep that it took forever to set up, hence the top being more browned than the recipe intended.

The pie crust was interesting. I have never blind baked a crust at such a low temp (325°F) or for such a long time (recipe says 30 min with weights + 20 empty, mine took an hour). I've got the other half of the dough in the freezer and may use my regular time and temp to see if this is necessary. It is indeed nice and flaky with the edges puffing up quite bit. I added an egg wash as I always do with a quiche as it helps prevent leaks and is easy to do since you're already beating up a bunch of eggs.

I've noted enough changes that you can see I can't really rate the book recipe but I found the process interesting and the quiche was fine but not one of my best. A pound of chanterelles might take it over the top but that's not happening in my world!

[blue_dolphin]

Grains for Every Season: Buckwheat Scones, Your Way p 85.  I made a half recipe of these - 6 scones. They are very light and delicious and the size is just right.

This recipe uses buckwheat, whole wheat and all purpose flours.  It suggests making them "your way" by adding any combination of candied ginger, dried fruit, chocolate, toasted nuts and/or fresh or frozen fruit and includes recipes for vanilla, Meyer lemon, maple, or chocolate frostings or a nut glaze. 

Given today's date, I chose the mix-ins that I'd use to make Irish soda bread: caraway seeds and dried currants that I plumped in Irish whiskey. I considered making a whiskey glaze but ended up just brushing the tops with cream and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar, another of the topping options.

@tikidoc's cream scone recipe is my go-to. Just cream, no butter, just mix, shape and bake without the chilling step here. I may try just subbing the buckwheat and whole wheat flours into that recipe but this one is awfully good, too!

[blue_dolphin]

Grains for Every Season: Grated Carrot Salad with Peanuts, Raisins and Wheat Berries p 231

Good combination of flavors, textures and colors. I made this according to the recipe except substituting pistachios in for the peanuts.

 

[Okanagancook]

That looks interesting.  I bet the textures were great with the wheat berries and nuts.

[blue_dolphin]

9 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

That looks interesting.  I bet the textures were great with the wheat berries and nuts.

Yes!  And the raisins are plumped in warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice so they add a nice sweet/tart punch. 

I thought I might want to add some feta or something but it's quite good as is. 

[heidih]

and I would be the goofer using craisins instead  But I am going for that combo

[blue_dolphin]

Grains for Every Season: Broccoli, Tuna and Wheat Berry Gratin p 236

Josh McFadden is from the midwest and clearly has an affection for tuna casseroles.  There was a deconstructed green bean casserole and a summer squash "Tuna Melt" casserole in Six Seasons and here we have his take on a broccoli version.  Takes me back to the meatless Fridays of my childhood where something like made regular appearances and a canned "cream of" soup was surely involved.  This one  is better with a garlicky cheese sauce and the addition of some chewy wheat berries that make it a complete meal.  I used smoked tuna for some extra flavor, skipped the optional Garlic-Chile Crunch but otherwise followed the recipe in a scaled-down version. 

Not sure I need to make this again but it was a satisfying meal.