By: Lonny Josephina

Lonny Josephina — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 05:57:56 +0000

As promised, some buckwheat recipes. Sorry it’s taken so long - I have a
gorgeous 7-month old boy with three top teeth coming through (and I’m still
nursing - ouch), so it’s hard to get to the computer these days.
Some of them use buckwheat flour, some the whole buckwheat groats.
BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES/FLATBREAD from The Yeast Connection Cookbook
I’ve been having these for breakfast for the past few days - either made
with just flour and water then served with a poached egg, or made with an
egg and spread with tahini and honey. I even took some on a picnic yesterday
filled with salad like a sandwich. They freeze well. I feel really good
starting the day like this and I’m full until lunchtime (which is unusual
for me)
1 cup white buckwheat flour
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1 cup liquid - this can be either 100% water, or a mixture of egg and water,
or a mixture of egg and soy/rice milk

Combine ingredients using enough water to make a medium-thin batter. Heat up
a griddle pan, oiled if necessary - let the batter stand a few minutes while
the griddle preheats. Spoon tablespoonsful onto hot griddle. As batter
thickens, add a little more water, so cakes will stay thin.
Variation: replace up to 1/3 of the flour with ground nuts or seeds.
BUCKWHEAT BANANA BREAD from The Yeast Connection Cookbook
I haven’t made this recipe but it demonstrates how you can make flour out of
the groats. I guess you could just as easily substitute the groats for the
same amount of flour (possibly a bit less), if you can get hold of flour
easily.
2 tbsp flax seeds, ground
1/3 cup water
1 1/3 ‘cups ‘white’ (unroasted) buckwheat groats
1/2 cup pumpkin (or other) seeds
2 tbsp tapioca flour (can use other starch flour e.g. spelt)
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts or other O-friendly nuts
1/4 cup walnut oil or other O-friendly oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
1/2 tsp unbuffered, corn-free vitamin C crystals
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp boiling water
Preheat oven to 400C. Combine flax seeds with water in a small saucepan.
Bring to a rolling boil and immediately remove from heat. Set aside to soak.
In a blender, grind 1/3 cup of the groats into fine flour. Place strainer
over a mixing bowl and pour in the flour. Rub the flour through with a
spoon, returning unground pieces to blender. Repeat 3 times or until all
groats have been ground.
Oil and flour an 8×4 inch load pan.
Combine pumpkin seeds, tapioca, salt and ginger. Blend on high 1 minute,
stopping twice to scrape the bottom. Add seed mixture and nuts to flour, and
whisk together well.
In a blender, mix the oil and bananas. Add the vitamin C crystals and flax
mixture, and blend for 1 minute.
Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in boiling water and add to the batter and stir
with a few swift strokes until water disappears (don’t beat it). Quickly
scrape batter into pan and place in hot oven.
Immediately reduce temperature to 325C. Bake for 70 minutes or until a
toothpick thrust into the middle comes out dry. Remove from oven and cool in
pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack.
VARIATIONS:
The following may be used in place of banana:
- 2 cups fresh pineapple puree (use more as ‘jam’ to ice the bread)
- 2 cups fresh applesauce
- 2 cups chopped ripe pears
- 2 cups pureed green seedless grapes
Making your own crackers may seem like the straw that broke the camel’s
back, but these will ring the changes from rice cakes and Essene bread…
BUCKWHEAT CRACKERS from The Yeast Connection Cookbook
1 cup white buckwheat flour
1/4 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp cold-pressed sesame oil
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 400C. Mix the flour, starch, salt and seeds in a small boil.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the oil and water. Stir
with a fork. As the flour absorbs the liquid, the dough will start to clump
into a ball.
Oil the centre of a cookie sheet (the flat kind without edges is easiest).
Leave the outer ege, about 1″, unoiled. Scrape the ball of dough onto the
middle of the cookie sheet. Pat it into a flat rectangle.
Oil one side of a sheet of waxed paper or foil. Place the oiled side down on
the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out very thin (it will
approximately fill the oiled space on the cookie sheet).
Cut the dough into 2″ squares. Salt the tops lightly if you wish, using a
salt shaker (don’t overdo it). Place crackers in the oven; immediately
reduce oven temperature to 350C. In 12 minutes remove them from the oven and
lift off the crispy crackers around the edge (they tend to be thinner) and
put them on a wire rack to cool. Separate the remaining crackers with a
spatula. Turn the oven off and return those crackers to the oven for 10-20
minutes until they’re crisp enough for your taste.
TOASTED BUCKWHEAT WITH PIQUANT SAUCE AND TAMARI SUNFLOWER SEEDS From Evelyn
Findlater’s Wholefood Cookery School
Serves 4
225g/8oz buckwheat groats, ready toasted (buy pre-toasted, or toast yourself
under grill or in dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes)
225g/8oz onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium zucchini, cut in thin 2 cm sticks
1 good size green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1 level teaspoon celery seeds, crushed
1 large bay leaf
1 level teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
340g/12 oz ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or use canned)
1 level teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcester Sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped mint leaves (optional)
110g/4oz Tamari sunflower seeds (recipe follows)
Saute onion and garlic in the oil for 6 minutes with the lid on. Add the
zucchini, green pepper, celery seeds, bay leaf and coriander and cook for 4
more minutes. Add tomatoes, paprika, Worcester sauce, lemon juice and mint.
Serve the buckwheat and the sauce in separate bowls, and have the tamari
sunflower seeds in a separate bowl ready to be sprinkled on the individual
servings.
TAMARI (or SHOYU) SUNFLOWER SEEDS - make any quantity you wish
Set oven at 325F/160C/Gas Mark 3. Put some sunflower seeds on a non-stick
baking tray and toast in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of
the oven and sprinkle some tamari or shoyu sauce over the hot seeds. Stir
with a wooden spoon to coat all the seeds. Return to oven and continue to
toast for another 10 minutes. Let get cold on tray, and store any you are
not using immediately in a screw-top jar. Kids love these - a great ‘O’
alternative to potato chips. Of course, cooking seeds is not as good for you
as sprouting them which releases all the enzymes, but these are really
yummy! Can also be made with pumpkin seeds for an even better O treat.
Alternatively, you could just dry-fry the seeds with the tamari in a frying
pan on top of the stove for a minute or two - my husband does this and
they’re great. Once, we ran out of tamari so used diluted miso instead -
delicious.
BUCKWHEAT BENGALI
Great served hot with roast lamb or chicken. Serves 6.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup buckwheat groats
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder (couldn’t find this on the food lists - if it’s an
avoid just leave out)
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock or water
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Heat oil and gently cook onion and garlic until soft and lightly brown. Add
buckwheat and spices and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add lemon juice and rind,
stock and raisins. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Top with slivered almonds and coriander.
Enjoy!

By: Aimee Junita

Aimee Junita — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:15:26 +0000

[ER4YT-O] Buckwheat
classed as a Neutral-Beneficial grain - actually it’s a seed, but cooks and
I always thought that I did not like buckwheat as it was too strong but I
just bought some frozen waffles that are okay as far as ingredients for O’
and I really like them. Good for a rushing out the door kind of morning
(with protein of course) I would be very interested in your recipes.
Thanks.
Gina

By: cynthia80

cynthia80 — Fri, 26 Dec 2003 21:09:01 +0000

Belinda,
Buckwheat is a great grain alternative. Cooked with a little egg as “kasha”
it makes a good, savory breakfast. I’ve read that it’s very beneficial for
hypertensives but can be irritating to the stomach. Skipping three days in
between meals with this grass/grain is a good idea. I’ll look forward to your
recipes. I haven’t but the one.
Melinda in Montana

Comments on: Buckwheat

By: Lonny Josephina

By: Aimee Junita

By: cynthia80