Einkorn Fettucini

There are few things in the culinary world that are easier to make with flour than pasta. The ingredients are as simple as they come. Flour. Eggs. A pinch of salt...and then a little kneading.

If you cannot make fresh pasta with our flour then you just aren't trying. 

Here is a great recipe for fresh Fettucini made with our own organic Einkorn Flour.

2.5 cups of fresh GFG Einkorn Flour (you can also use Red Fife or Park)
4 eggs
Salt (pinch)

In a mixing bowl the flour and salt can be combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs. At this time an optional ingredient can be added - 1tbl of olive oil. I don't think this is necessary, but it doesn't seem to hurt and probably gives the pasta a little buttery texture when all is said and done.

Knead the ingredients together until a smooth consistency is reached with the dough. At this stage you can set your pot of water to boil. I always add a splash of olive oil to the water.

Come back to your dough and proceed to roll it out onto a floured surface. You need to roll it very thin so perhaps dividing the dough into two balls is better. You can use a rolling pin or the bottle of wine you happen to be sipping from while you cook to roll the dough.

Once the pasta is thin enough go ahead and cut strips that are fettucini sized...about 1cm. I used our pizza wheel to cut the pasta. It occurred to me after that you can simply fold the sheet of pasta over itself a couple times and then cut the strips! Duh. Once you have your pasta cut into strips, the water will be at a rolling boil and you can toss it all in. It will cook very quickly, perhaps 2 minutes, so be ready!

Served simply with a little butter, lemon, salt and pepper it is a remarkably simple lunch or dinner. Of course it also goes along beautifully with any pasta sauce you can dream up. Enjoy!

GFG's Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a family favourite on our farm. I like them crispy for dunking in my afternoon coffee. This instantly brings me back to when I was a kid on Nana and Papa's farm where the same ritual was played out 40 years ago. Cindy and the kids like them a little more chewy and with Chocolate Chips. So, take your pick how you like your peanut butter cookie. Either way, they're pretty darn good.

1/2 cup butter - room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter - It has to be crunchy peanut butter or it's not a peanut butter cookie.
1-1/2 cup GFG Park or Red Fife flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 - Cream the butter and sugars
2 - Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter and beat well
3 - In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients
3 - Add dry to wet and mix until incorporated

Drop suitable spoon fulls of dough onto a cookie sheet and make a criss cross pattern with a fork. Again, if you don't do this...it's not a peanut butter cookie.

In the meantime, you will have pre-heated your oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is ready, bake your cookies. This is the tricky part. The cookies go from chewy to crispy really quick. So if you like chewy cookies they will cook in about 8 mins. Once they just start to turn colour around the edges. Leave them to colour fully for another 2 minutes or so and they will be crunchy when they cool, ready for coffee.

Tis' the season...Butter Tarts!

I am a huge Butter Tart fan! Butter Tarts have always been a family favorite and my Nana was awesome at making them every Christmas. Christmas for me would not be the same without those syrupy, sweet treats. As I got older, that became my present from her. For as long as she could bake I received a tin of butter tarts each year. That is a very fond memory for me.

I don't think that I have her recipe anywhere...I have flipped through the family's All-Star recipe book that my Mom put together for us. But, this recipe comes close and is really easy to prepare.

I used our Soft White Wheat for the pastry. It is still an Entire-Grain flour, but you wouldn't know it. The pastry is light, tender and flaky....but, it is SO flavourful; beyond anything available at any store.

So, here is the recipe for you that I use from food.com.

http://www.food.com/recipe/award-winning-butter-tarts-14756

For the pastry I don't use a recipe. Here is my description of what I do.

1) A certain amount of Soft White Wheat flour...perhaps 4-5 cups.
2) A pinch of salt
3) A certain amount of lard. I'd say around a cup
4) Ice cold water

I use our Kitchen Aid with the whisk beater. I add the salt to the flour and stir. Then I add the cold lard that I've cut into small pieces.
I start the mixer on medium and let it blend in the lard until it is starting to break down into smaller pieces. The ideal goal with be to have "pea" size pieces of lard in the flour
I then turn the mixer to low and slowly start adding the cold water. I add very little at a time and I let it mix well. Add enough water so that the mix finally comes together into a dough consistency. It will take awhile. Ball up the dough and keep in the fridge until you need it.

pie!

I love pie. I love to eat pie. I don't love to make pie crust. Here is the simplest, easiest and our family's favorite pie crust recipe. It is courtesy of Allrecipes.com and I've been using it for about a year now. You can change it up by adding a little vanilla or cinnamon, or both...or you can just leave it alone and enjoy the taste of Gold Forest Grains fresh milled flour to come through in your baking.

Rhubarb Pie with a spelt crust and crumble topping on a summer's eve

This pie crust recipe lends itself especially to open top type pies...pumpkin, lemon meringue, etc. However, with a crumble topping of flour, butter and sugar it does a remarkable job of pies that need a top like apple, blueberry and the like. 

At busy times of the year when I don't have even 5 minutes to bake a pie we'll buy them from the farmers market...they're never the same and the family complains how bland they are. White, processed flour will definitely be bland.

The best part of this pie crust recipe? You don't even need to dirty a bowl. All of the ingredients are mixed in the pie plate and you're ready to go! 

A new customer!

Sunset at Gull Lake

We are very proud to introduce a new customer of ours. Clarissa and Thomas of Gull Lake Centre purchase freshly milled HRS Flour, Rye Flour and our famous Pancake Mix for use at their camp. It looks like a wonderful place for a kid to spend a week in the summer! Please have a look at their website and support them if you are able.  

Geoffrey McGill's baking!

Farmer Poached Eggs on Crusty Toast

Back in December Geoffrey came up to my table to purchase some supplies for his day long baking course he was hosting for some friends. That morning they had spent some time at Old Strathcona Farmers Market picking up the ingredients they would need for the various dishes that Geoffrey had planned. What I didn't expect was that he would take such wonderful pictures of the finished baking and share them with me. What a wonderful surprise! So, here they are for everyone to enjoy. 

Buon Pizza Margherita 

Pull Aparts

Dinner Buns

Crusty Rustic Bread

Focaccia with Roasted Market Vegetables

crepes with strawberry maple sauce

I made some lovely crepes this morning with our Soft White Wheat flour. It was a little trickier to make crepes using an entire grain flour, but I got it working and they tasted amazing if I do say so myself.

Here's what I did:
Crepe Recipe:
1 cup soft white wheat flour (you can sift it if you prefer)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted butter or less if you prefer

Just mix all the ingredients. It should be a runny consistency, unlike pancake batter which is thick. Heat the frying pan to medium low and add some butter. When the griddle is hot apply the batter and then tilt the frying pan around to spread the batter thinly. Let the crepe cook until the edges appear cooked and then flip it and brown the other side. Easy!

Strawberry Maple Sauce
3 cups frozen organic strawberries
1/2 - 1 cup organic maple syrup
Sugar to taste (if you like)
1/2 cup water

Boil the strawberries, water and sugar until the berries are soft. Mash them with a fork and reduce the sauce until you get the thickness you prefer. Add the Maple Syrup. Done. Easy!

We filled the crepes with a spoon full of organic Strawberry Yogurt and rolled the crepes on the plates and then drizzled (ok, poured) the strawberry maple sauce over the top. You could also add some icing sugar for fancy decoration, but we couldn't wait to do that. We also cooked up some Side Pork from Irvings Farm Fresh...yummm!

odd jobs

Lately, since being laid off from my off-farm job I have had to look for work elsewhere. It has been an adventure to say the least. Not many people want to hire someone who needs to be able to leave work for days on end to seed, or mill flour, or haul grain or whatever else is occurring on the farm. I need a job with flexibility and part-time hours that pays well. I have taken a couple consulting jobs helping other companies to achieve their own safety program. I have also offered to help my brother-in-law Darel with his screw pile business. In the spare time, I have spent a few hours here and there trying to get the interior of the house finished. Cindy has taken a full-time job in the city for the first time since we've been together.

Of course, more important than all of the above has been the efforts to grow the flour business. That is where my passion lies...the farm. Last night I had a meeting to present my flour and grain products to The Old Strathcona Farmers Market jurors. That was interesting, but no indication whatsoever if I was successful in getting into the grand ole market. We'll see.

While none of this crap is terribly bad, we are not in danger of losing our home for instance, it has given me the opportunity to realize the importance of making the farm work financially or simply getting out of it altogether at some point in the future. Trust me, getting out of farming is the last thing I will contemplate. Still, it has crossed our minds that if our farm venture doesn't work it will mean downsizing to hobby farm status at best while I get permanent full-time work off-farm.

Of course, all of this thinking gets me thinking about food and prices and sustainable agriculture. Driving through St. Albert today I saw a sign in front of the McGavins Bakery that said in big bold lettering CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP BREAD 10 for $12. That sign is the exact reason that agriculture and especially family-farm type agriculture is in serious trouble in North America. I would venture a guess that nowhere in Europe would a sign like this exist...I could be wrong. If you haven't had a chance, watch the Movie "Broken Limbs". It is a documentary on apple farming in Washington state. Incredibly inspiring to watch, cleverly portrayed and completely insightful. I am embarrassed by that sign in St. Albert. I continue to feel badly that we live in a place where people in general look for the cheapest food as opposed to the best food. I am so glad for the customers that chose to support our little farm at City Market and Alberta Avenue Market and the bakeries that buy from us.

In the meantime, we happily struggle ahead with our plan to provide incredibly fresh flour at a reasonable price to as many people as possible. I hope that it is a win-win proposition.

2011 market special

For the entire market season this year we will be offering a special price for each and every market event that we attend. Here's the deal...if you purchase One 500g(1 lb.) bag of Organic Golden Flax plus any two other 1.7kg flour or grain products you will only pay $20. So, that's three bags of Gold Forest Grains products for $20. It could be a combination of any three products that include at least one package of Golden Flax.

1- Flax (normally $5) + 1 Whole Wheat Flour ($8) + 1 Pasta/Pastry Flour ($9) = $20 ($22 value)
1 Flax + 2 Whole Wheat Flour = $20 ($21 value)
1 Flax + 2 Whole Grain Rye Flour ($10) = $20 ($25 value)

You get the idea.

We also offer a convenient way for you to purchase your Gold Forest Grain products early in the day before we run out and then continue your shopping for as long as you like without having to lug your purchases around. Just come and buy your Market Special  early and we will give you a receipt for your purchases while your selections are stored waiting for your return at the end of the day.

bread night

I noticed that we were low on bread yesterday so I decided to bake a loaf. I must tell you that this recipe and methodology is the simplest way to bake bread I have ever come across. I mean when somebody says that they baked bread the image comes to mind of an exhaustive day of kneading, rising and baking. I decided to bake a loaf at around 6:30 and it was out of the oven by 8:30. Most of this two hour time in preparing the bread was spent sitting on the couch watching The Nature of Things on boxee.

Now granted, this is not the artisan bread that we are accustomed to eating from places like Bon Ton Bakery, Dauphine Bakery & Bistro or even Avenue Homesteader's latest creation, but it is a nice tasting and healthful loaf of bread that is great for sandwiches and toast. It is easy to make because if I can do it...it is easy. 

1.5 cups of milk in a sauce pan heated to around 100 degrees. Add 2 tsp of yeast and 2 Tblsp of honey once it gets to temperature. Stir in the yeast and honey till well mixed and set it aside while you prepare the other ingredients. It will begin to bubble and foam within 10-15 minutes.
In our Kitchen Aid mixer I place 4 cups of flour.
Get ready:
2 tsp of salt (don't add the salt to the flour just yet.)
1/4 cup of oil. We use organic olive oil but melted butter works too or whatever.

Now that the yeast mixture is working away there should be a layer of foam on top. Turn on the mixer with the bread hook attachment and add the milk/yeast/honey to the flour. Then add the oil. Once it has mixed a bit you can slowly add the salt.

I let the mixer knead the dough for around 10 minutes or so. While it is working I grease/flour a bread pan.
Once the dough is kneaded it will be very elastic feeling and slightly moist to the touch. Shape it to the bread pan and place the pan in a warm spot with a light kitchen towel over top. I flour the top of the loaf so it doesn't stick to the towel. We place the pan on the floor in front of the wood stove where it is nice a cozy. Last night I let it raise like that for about an hour. You can let it go as long as you like I suppose. Pop it in a 375 degree oven for 45 mins and the picture is what you should end up with.

great sunday!

I had what I would call a 'great day' today. The sun is shining and our little straw bale house is, as usual, at a nice and comfortable 22 degrees. That in itself is not a big deal other than the fact that we have not had a source of heat in the house for four days now other than burning one stove-load of scrap door-trim cuttings last night. It was a little chilly when we got home from visiting with friends and there was some scrap lumber trimmings laying just outside the front door. So I grabbed them and lit a fire and it burned for a little while and was just enough to take the chill out of the house for the night. The stove was cold this morning as it was only a partial load and it was small pieces of 1" wood. We woke this morning and it was comfortable enough that I didn't light a fire...we just did some cooking for breakfast and the room temperature was perfect. Throughout the day today the passive solar design did its job and right now as I type, I could not be more comfortable. 

We took a little drive earlier this afternoon to visit with some people who milk Jerseys. We have always loved the breed and wanted to see their little operation and visit with some like-minded people. We took home a gift of 1/2 litre of whole milk to try. It brought back some strong memories of Uncle Pete and Aunty Dianne's farm to see that thick layer of off-white cream floating on the surface of pristine white milk ice cold in the jar. I cannot wait for a nice jersey milk latte this evening after supper.

Which brings me to the last part of a great day...I made pasta! I borrowed Kevin Kossowan's pasta ummm press? machine? It's a thing that rolls out pasta dough and then you can also use it to cut pasta...whatever that is called. It was a wonderful little machine with a hand crank that worked magnificently. I played around with a simple pasta recipe of 1lb flour and 6 eggs. Using my Pasta and Pastry Flour I took my time kneading and got the dough to a perceived perfect state for pasta. First off though, I did sift the flour to remove most of the bran and germ. There is still enough in the flour to make it obvious, but feedback from experts and my own intuition told me to sift it. The dough rolled out through the machine looking like store-bought, but smelling so fresh and 'grainy'. It boiled up quickly to perfection and tastes well, like pasta I suppose. That is a triumph in my family when something works out to taste or look like it should. The only difference being that it is fresh and homemade and organic. It was very satisfying as I kneaded the dough to think about handling kernals of wheat last spring in the seed drill and now in February I was making pasta with the wheat from those seeds! 

I boiled up the fresh pasta 'al dente' and mixed in some tomato pasta sauce. Then I put it in a large casserole dish and I will cover it with a shredded blend of cheeses including what I choose to spare of my small block of Smoky Valley Goat Cheese's "pyraneese (ripened)" cheese. This cheese is my new favorite cheese in the world. I haven't tasted better...ever.

Anyway, this was part of my day today...a wonderful day filled with wonderful foods, wonderful weather, family and friends. I feel lucky.

alberta avenue farmers market Feb 10

we'll be spending some time tonight getting ready for market tomorrow. I am bringing 50lbs bulk flour with me for Tim who called our farm last week. If anyone else wants flour in bulk, let us know ahead and we'll mill it up for you just prior to market day and bring it with us along with our regular packaged flour. Give us a shout with any questions.

more snow and flour deliveries

As I type it is snowing yet again. I do not know what the total accumulation has been so far this winter, but it is enough. Walking through the fields is nearly impossible and it is usual to sink up to my hips when I break through a crusted drift. The piles around the farm are over 6 feet tall from where the tractor has been pushing. The old snow blade is taking an absolute beating and has broken and bent several times and in several places. I need to spend an afternoon with the welder to get it back into shape.

The flour sales are going strong and we are getting calls daily...we thank all of you who are ordering flour very much for your support. We are still going through some growing pains for the delivery of the products. We recognize that we want to make it as easy as possible for people to purchase from us, but it is difficult to make special trips for one little bag of flour. We are working on a few solutions including a regular weekly drop-off spot in St. Albert. Of course for those of you who order larger amounts of around 60 pounds or more it is worthwhile for us to deliver in a more timely basis somewhere closer to home. 

Just please bear with us and we will establish a pattern for our customers that everyone can live with. We are in Stony Plain monthly at a minimum and St. Albert 3 times a week at a minimum. We are also in East Edmonton each Tuesday. We are in South Edmonton once a month. Of course, like I said earlier, if you have a larger order we can make special trips and include other farm business in our travels. 

Please make your order as early as possible to allow us the time to mill your flour and package and then have time to deliver it to your most convenient pick up spot. 

Hand Powered Flour Mills

I received an e-mail today from a nice fellow asking where he could obtain a hand-powered grain mill. I knew that they were still being produced, but I was at a loss as to where you could buy one. I did a little snooping and here you go Wayne! This looks like a good article on what to look for in a mill. Now keep in mind that I have never used a hand-powered mill, but the one that kept popping up in my searches was the Country Living Mill . It sounds as though it is quite an effort to use these mills...perhaps a couple pulleys and a stationary bicycle are just the ticket to work off some of the calories from all those tasty buns you make with your home ground flour!