Sorghum

[Maison Rustique]

I have a milkman (I'm not being sexist, that is what the company calls them.) from a local dairy. They offer a lot more than milk products and last week they had sorghum. Growing up, I recall my Dad loved it. I can't really remember what Mom made with it, but she likely substituted it for any recipe that called for molasses or served it with hot biscuits and butter. So, with that memory of my Dad, I had to order a jar.

 

Now I'm trying to figure out how I will use it. I found this recipe for Pecan Cobbler that sounds pretty darned good, but haven't made it yet. I saw a recipe using it in a brine for chicken that seemed interesting and I could also see it to make a glaze for ham. 

 

Any sorghum fans here?

[pastrygirl]

Regardless of how your dairy delivery person identifies, I think you could use sorghum in place of corn syrup.  Maybe pecan pie or soft caramels?  As a molasses sub, how about gingerbread?

[Tropicalsenior]

Food and wine has an interesting article on sorghum. I'm not sure about their suggested use for using it in salad dressings but it would make an interesting addition to barbecue sauce. My mother used to make sorghum muffins that were delicious but she used the sorghum flour.

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Maison Rustique said:

Now I'm trying to figure out how I will use it.

 

This link should take you to a list of on-line recipes that call for sorghum syrup via Eat Your Books and may give you some ideas. Gotta say David Lebovitz's sorghum ice cream with sorghum peanut brittle sounds pretty good to me!

 

1 hour ago, Maison Rustique said:

Any sorghum fans here?

 

I believe @kayb is a sorghum fan.

 

53 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I'm not sure about their suggested use for using it in salad dressings

I just ordered some sorghum syrup to try in a salad dressing.  It's for a spinach & arugula salad with black eyed peas and sweet potatoes which sounds good for fall.  I suspect I could have subbed in maple syrup or date syrup or even pomegranate molasses but, of course, I wanted to try a new thing 🙃

 

I also recently picked up a bag of whole grain sorghum from Bob's Red Mill.  I've got a bunch of recipes marked but haven't tried it yet.  

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by blue_dolphin
to add link (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

17 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

just ordered some sorghum syrup to try in a salad dressing

I'm not surprised at that. You are the absolute queen of salads and make gorgeous salads that no one else would even think of.

17 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I also recently picked up a bag of whole grain sorghum from Bob's Red Mill

Damn, another thing I can't get here. I can suggest, though, that you try them in muffins. My mother's muffins were one of my favorite food memories.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[liuzhou]

I was confused, as usual. You appear to be talking about a liquid called sorghum. The only sorghum I know is a grain. Here it is used, in human food and drink contexts, like rice in porridges (congee) and as the main grain in baijiu, China's strong liquor. It is also used in animal feed and in biofuels.

 

But I learn that in the US it is a molasses-like substance made from a sorghum syrup. Hmmm.

 

Red Sorghum is a great movie (and book) set largely in a sorghum distillery.

 

Red Sorghum

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[blue_dolphin]

21 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Here it is used, in human food and drink contexts, like rice in porridges (congee) and as the main grain in baijiu, China's strong liquor. It is also used in animal feed and in biofuels.

 

Sorghum is used for all those applications in the US as well as the production of sorghum syrup. Most sorghum spirits made in the US are made from fermented sorghum syrup, similar to a rum, rather than fermenting the whole grain and unlike baijiu, they're rather a niche item rather than a mainstay of the liquor market.

 @Shelby has shared photos of sorghum, aka milo, growing on her farm. 

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Sorghum is used for all those applications in the US as well as the production of sorghum syrup. Most sorghum spirits made in the US are made from fermented sorghum syrup, similar to a rum, rather than fermenting the whole grain and unlike baijiu, they're rather a niche item rather than a mainstay of the liquor market.

 @Shelby has shared photos of sorghum, aka milo, growing on her farm. 

 

 

Yes, I know the uses are mainly the same.

China imports $billions of USD worth of sorghum from the USA to supplement its own production.

[Shelby]

37 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

 

Yes, I know the uses are mainly the same.

China imports $billions of USD worth of sorghum from the USA to supplement its own production.

My milo might be in China right now!

[Katie Meadow]

Yes I'm a fan! Of the syrup, that is. My first taste was "sorghum butter" served with bread at a restaurant in Tennessee. It  was just sorghum mixed into butter. We eat a lot of biscuits in our house, and I keep the sorghum in a squeeze bottle within arm's reach of a biscuit, whether the biscuit is fresh out of the oven or toasted the next day. I like it in hot cereal too and sometimes on pancakes when I don't feel like maple flavor. Doesn't taste like anything else, I don't think. I don't cook with it but I imagine it would work well along with other sweeteners in a pecan pie. 

 

I am also a big fan of Steen's cane syrup, which is less sweet than sorghum and more mellow than molasses.That works in pecan pie, granola, etc. Also on biscuits! 

[Maison Rustique]

15 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Yes I'm a fan! Of the syrup, that is. My first taste was "sorghum butter" served with bread at a restaurant in Tennessee. It  was just sorghum mixed into butter. We eat a lot of biscuits in our house, and I keep the sorghum in a squeeze bottle within arm's reach of a biscuit, whether the biscuit is fresh out of the oven or toasted the next day. I like it in hot cereal too and sometimes on pancakes when I don't feel like maple flavor. Doesn't taste like anything else, I don't think. I don't cook with it but I imagine it would work well along with other sweeteners in a pecan pie. 

 

I am also a big fan of Steen's cane syrup, which is less sweet than sorghum and more mellow than molasses.That works in pecan pie, granola, etc. Also on biscuits! 

I need to make up some sorghum butter and make some biscuits! Or pancakes! Now I'm hungry!! I have heard of Steen's but have not had it. I'll check it out. Am sure I can order online if I can't find it locally,

[liuzhou]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

My milo might be in China right now!

 

...and I might be eating it for breakfast.

[Katie Meadow]

19 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

I need to make up some sorghum butter and make some biscuits! Or pancakes! Now I'm hungry!! I have heard of Steen's but have not had it. I'll check it out. Am sure I can order online if I can't find it locally,

Both are easily available at Amazon

[Maison Rustique]

I am planning Thanksgiving foods and decided to try something last night, I roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots with fresh rosemary, then drizzled with some sorghum (syrup) a few minutes before taking it out of the oven. Really delicious, though I'd like to see a little spice with it. Definitely has potential for the holiday meal.

[blue_dolphin]

I posted this in the Salad topic, but I'll add it here as well.  It's the Black-Eyed Pea and Sweet Potato Salad that's made with a sorghum vinaigrette and I thought it was very good. 

The recipe is from Zingerman's Bakehouse Celebrate Every Day cookbook. I found the recipe via Google books at this link. Hope that works, I have random success with Google books links!

It calls for diced red peppers and I used a mix of Fresno and cherry bomb peppers - a little heat is nice. I added some chopped, toasted almonds for crunch. 

 

The header notes say they use sorghum syrup from Muddy Pond, a brand that I've seen on Amazon. I actually ordered my sorghum syrup before I got the book and based on a recommendation from a friend, I ordered this bourbon barrel aged sorghum syrup from Bourbon Barrel Foods.  Unnecessarily expensive, I'm sure, but it's tasty!

[Maison Rustique]

@blue_dolphin thank you, that looks wonderful! And I just happened to get black eyed peas in my Rancho Gordo order the other day.

[gfron1]

I go through 5 gallons a sorghum each month at the restaurant. We use it daily in both sweet and savory applications. I prefer it to molasses as its a bit more complex especially the freshly pressed juice when its boiled down. I also use the flour quite a bit for my gluten free breads...but that's not what you're asking about. Word of caution - cutting corn syrup in is rampant. You'll be able to tell if the syrup begins to separate - a corn syrup texture and a more gritty texture. Many Amish and Mennonite communities press sorghum.

[heidih]

     Good to hear frim you @gfron1 I know you source as locallly as possible. I think we have a new eGullet sorghum trend                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[donk79]

I could have sworn that we already had a thread discussing sorghum.  I was wrong!  But we did cover it a bit in the "Molasses" thread, and those posts are informative and well worth reading.