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Farro

ElsieD

By ElsieD
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ElsieD

ElsieD

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For the first time in my life I bought and cooked some Farro the other day.  When cool, I added roasted sweet potatoes, corn, basil, cherry tomatoes and  mustard-dijon dressing.  I could not believe how good this was.  Any other Farro lovers?  What dishes do you make with it?

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted
Just now, ElsieD said:

For the first time in my life I bought and cooked some Farro the other day.  When cool, I added roasted sweet potatoes, corn, basil, cherry tomatoes and  mustard-dijon dressing.  I could not believe how good this was.  Any other Farro lovers?  What dishes do you make with it?

Yes, farro is delicious.  Makes wonderful grain salads and i especially like it in soups. Great in various minestrone or vegetable soups along with beans.

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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@ElsieD I just noticed that Smitten Kitchen is currently featuring a farro recipe called French Onion Baked Lentils and Farro. I'm not a fan of French onion soup, so I can't decide if it appeals or not, but there it is.

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BeeZee

BeeZee

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You can also find recipes for "farrotto" which is farro cooked like a risotto. I'm a fan of the grain for it's chew, it works for room temp salads or hot as a side dish, reheats well, and as @Katie Meadow says, great to add to soup because it doesn't turn to mush.

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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Alex

Alex

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Good timing! I was just reading through a lovely book I borrowed from the library, Italy by Ingredient (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), by Viola Buitoni, which includes a chapter about farro. I learned that it can be processed in three ways: integrale (whole grain), semiperlato (semi-pearled), and perlato (pearled, with the bran completely removed). She also offers six recipes: 

  • Summer faro salad
  • Farro, artichokes, and king trumpets soup
  • Cracked farro soup with crab and chestnuts
  • Spring farro spaghetti [I had no idea there was such a thing] with asparagus and peas
  • Farro and porcini-filled quail with chanterelles and chestnut sauce
  • Almond, farro, and peach cake
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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

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we're farro fans - used in 'all the above' + as a 'plain side'

 

as a 'plain side' a couple drops of lemon or lime juice really brightens up the flavor.

oh, and moderate salt is required - like potato, the taste is vastly improved with two smidges of salt....

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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I have cooked with farro, but I was not fond of it.  Unfortunately I have a case of farro someplace.  Probably just as well I cannot find it.

 

However there is a farro ravioli recipe I'd like to try from Kristen Kish.  If my health ever improves and I can find the farro.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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2 hours ago, BeeZee said:

You can also find recipes for "farrotto" which is farro cooked like a risotto. I'm a fan of the grain for it's chew, it works for room temp salads or hot as a side dish, reheats well, and as @Katie Meadow says, great to add to soup because it doesn't turn to mush.

I can't abide mushy grains in soups, so I tend to cook rice, barley, farro, noodles, whatever, separately and just add it into individuals bowls to serve. With leftovers of grain and soup I store them separately in the fridge as well. Sometimes I put a few tablespoons of cooled soup broth into the grain container so it doesn't dry out. Really the best way to control the texture of the grain.

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

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Posted (edited)

uhmmmm,,,  "a case" ?  we buy it dry in a bag. 

 

I stock / have all manner of dried beans, barley, rice - 3,4 varieties, pastas of every shape, orzo (ok ok, it's a pasta)

they all make their appearance regularly in the cycle of home cooking.

 

'not fond' - can relate . . . it maintains a chewy consistence.  it is not, for example, my choice for a 'stir fry' type dish.

works in a stew dish - subject to what percentage is a chewy grain vs. 'other' . . .

 

the one downside to cooking 'such stuff' separately is ... they may miss out on the 'secondary' seasoning effect of being cooked 'with the dish'

Edited by AlaMoi (log)
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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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3 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

uhmmmm,,,  "a case" ?  we buy it dry in a bag. 

 

I stock / have all manner of dried beans, barley, rice - 3,4 varieties, pastas of every shape, orzo (ok ok, it's a pasta)

they all make their appearance regularly in the cycle of home cooking.

 

'not fond' - can relate . . . it maintains a chewy consistence.  it is not, for example, my choice for a 'stir fry' type dish.

works in a stew dish - subject to what percentage is a chewy grain vs. 'other' . . .

 

the one downside to cooking 'such stuff' separately is ... they may miss out on the 'secondary' seasoning effect of being cooked 'with the dish'

If you cook the grain separately but in stock instead of water, that helps w flavor.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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31 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

uhmmmm,,,  "a case" ?  we buy it dry in a bag. 

 

In this case a case is six bags of farro.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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Out of curiosity I looked up some grain comparisons.

 

I ran across some mistakes when it comes to gluten content. A few sources misidentified barley as gluten free. It isn't, and neither is rye.  Both are contra-indicated for people who react poorly to gluten. Rice noodles are gluten free. But buckwheat noodles, or soba, are usually made with wheat and some percentage of buckwheat. You can find all-buckwheat soba but read ingredients carefully. In my experience soba made w/out any wheat is hard to manage when it comes to texture. 

 

Bulgar, cracked wheat, farro and freekeh are all wheat products and contain gluten. Grains without gluten are, off the top of my head, or course rice, amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat, which is a grass not a wheat.  Freekah, as far as I can make out, is toasted green wheat. It's a bit smokey and different, but good--kind of took me by surprise the first time I made it. 

 

Bulgur has half the calories of farro. And according to one source also has twice the fiber of farrow. Supposedly farro has more protein and iron. All these stats make me suspicious, so take them with a grain of....salt. I'm certainly no expert, nor do I have gluten sensitivity.

 

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

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uhmmm, okay. that's sane.

 

the mega-biggest issue I have with clubs aka Sam's and Costco , , , is 'the quantity'

 

large qty per "unit" is a proven 'profit margin' issue.

works, but regrets , , , is not 'in tune' with current demographics.

 

"baby boomers" are a very large influence - for the next 1o years or so

Generation XYZ is a negative influence - not married, no children, no household, just me,me,me,me.

 

every time DW comes up with an internet recipe, I have to reduce it from 12 to dozens of "servings" to two servings.

her and me.

no left overs.

 

places like Amazon focus on 'max value' - okay.  but there is zero value in buying stuff that is  eventually thrown away for "non-use"

 

I buy "high end" stuff that has long shelf life at Costco.  for meats, one can get USDA Prime grade for less than supermarket USDA Choice.

but, the quantity of "Prime" package requires us old geezers/baby boomers/empty nesters . . . to 'freeze the rest'

now , , , all honesty applied, , , ,  frozen any grade fails to meet one's expectations of the listed grade.

it is what it is.

accept, deny, introvert to some la-la land non-original excuse.

 

some stuff works, some stuff does not.

 

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

What does the summer Farro salad have in it?

 

Here you go. In the picture, it looks like kalamatas, but I'm sure any good black olive would do.

 

 

Summer farro salad.jpg

Edited by Alex (log)
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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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&roid

&roid

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Farro is great. Makes a brilliant filling for a nice squash like a delicata. Cook the grains first with some stock and aromatic veg then stuff the squash and roast - I like it topped with cheese such as talleggio or a soft blue. 

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Joe Blowe

Joe Blowe

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I've had this bookmarked forever. Time to get the rear in gear:

 

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/farro-risotto-farrotto-wheat-berry-risotto-radicchio-bacon-mushroom-recipe/

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So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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  • Topic Starter
Posted
1 hour ago, AAQuesada said:

Farro makes a great breakfast porridge. I used to do one that I would finish with an almond cream for vegans. So good!

 

Here is an example that looks tasty - https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/farro-breakfast-porridge-raspberries

This looks really good.  I don't have any raspberries at the moment but I have blueberries.  I can't think of why that wouldn't work, so I'm going to try it.

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cyalexa

cyalexa

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Posted
On 1/15/2024 at 9:59 AM, ElsieD said:

Any other Farro lovers? 

Me

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I6PtFnhxWeUdL5UVlXvsUdkqTz0jbDVZ/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1weSURHRcppsa_d3jA6G59y240mvAvfMb/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ybmmlAWoNPughBYUCpNZdAzGWDINywOl/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

 

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ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
21 hours ago, cyalexa said:

Me

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I6PtFnhxWeUdL5UVlXvsUdkqTz0jbDVZ/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1weSURHRcppsa_d3jA6G59y240mvAvfMb/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ybmmlAWoNPughBYUCpNZdAzGWDINywOl/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116025909429771776999&rtpof=true&sd=true

 

 

Thank you!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Qwerty

Qwerty

Posted
Posted

You should also look into Freekeh or "green wheat" which is another ancient grain. Freekeh is cracked and toasted with fire to remove the chaff so it takes on a toasty aroma and flavor. It (usually) has an irregular shape (some whole grains about the size of rice, some are cracked and broken) so it gives it a nice  mix of textures. Slightly chewy (though not as much as farro or spelt) and IMO better flavor. 

Check it out. 

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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Posted (edited)

I ended up buying the Kindle version of Everyday Whole Grains by Ann Taylor Pittman who at the time was the Executive Director of Cooking Light.  The grains covered are Amaranth, Barley, Brown Rice, Buckwheat, Bulger, Einkorn, Freekeh, Wheat Berries, Kamut, Millet, Oats, Quinoa, Rye Berries, Sorghum, Spelt, Teff and Wild Rice. For each of these, she gives a description of how to enjoy each of them, such as ground for flour, soups, porridge, side dishes etc.  Also given are basic cooking instructions for each, I.e. water to grain ratio and length of time to cook.  It is also stated if they are good sources of fiber, protein, folic acid and magnesium.  Finally, all recipes have the nutritional information.

 

I haven't had a chance to look through the recipes themselves yet, but I'm pretty happy to have all the up-front info.

 

 

Edited by ElsieD
Fixed typo (log)
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