Ooo…That Smell. Freshly Milled Grains

(c)2012 Edmud Rek/Rekfotos

I love to share a taste, or smell. As a former chef and now a crackateer, I guess you can say I am in the tasting and smelling business. I am constantly offering samples of our crackers, shortbread cookies, granola, and especially, when we have a new flavor! I’m offering a tastes anyone who humors me simply prefaced by “You have to taste these!”

I recently met Sophie the lead miller, grain tester and bread baker for La Milanaise at a restaurant in Montreal. This impassioned young woman has approached milling organic grains like a not-so-mad scientist. In her “lab” test kitchen, she studies the properties of grains from the milling, fermentation and through to the baking. She tells how she brings her own bread to restaurants rather than eat theirs. AND to show that an understanding of how heritage grains react to moisture and the benefits to longer fermentation make huge improvements to texture and flavor. (It’s not just flour and water.)

We spoke a little about her experience with gluten-free. Even though chickpea flour makes beautiful dough, Sophie believes the gluten-free trend is coming to an end and focus is now on ancient grains. With more natural gluten levels and the uncanny ability to adapt to all types of growing conditions. She explains the plant naturally wants to survive, even thrive. She explains few of the heritage wheats can be planted in spring, or winter. It just adapts. Where the crossbred grains tend to show instabilities after seven years, which is not good for farmers who are trying to establish their crop. (Huge benefits here!)

With heritage grains and a dedicated miller, the artisan baker is most happy. When we get our weekly flour delivery a wonderful mixture of smells of toasted grass and warm earth floats through the kitchen. At the market, my eyes light up when someone asks me about our cloth bags filled with Red Fife wheat. I’ll hold up the bag and say, “Here, smell!”

Farmers Market Selling Secrets

By participating in several farmers markets, over the years, we have learned a few ways that help us to increase our sales and maximize our presence.

Here are some tips that you can use if you are selling:

1. There is an old saying in the retail business, “Pile it high and watch it fly!” Have plenty of product and display it all on the table not underneath.

2. Add some risers to the table legs. It gets the items you are selling closer to the people who may buy them. Remember three-foot marketing and try to have things within three feet.

3. Have labels and prices that are easy to read throughout your display. Make it apparent what you are selling even from a distance. You have a split second to capture someone’s attention amongst many other vendors.

4. Sample. Sample. Sample.

5. Acknowledge someone as soon as they come to the table. Especially, when you are helping someone else.

6. Offer a special price for buying more than one item.

7. Create different heights with your display. Baskets and risers work well.

8. Have items neatly arranged and as things sell. Re-merchandise so the table looks full and not picked over.

These are just a few things that we have tried that work for us and may help you whether you are planning a yard sale, lemonade stand, or run a retail store.

Feel free to comment below of you have any tips to share.

2012 The Rise of the Artisan Cracker

(Evelyns Cheddar Crispies Cracker and Monfortes Buffalo Milk Cheese. Photo Credit ©2012 Edmund Rek/Rekfotos.com)

Looking back fondly on last year (2011) we had tremendous growth partnering with nearly thirty new specialty stores surrounding Toronto and a new account in Nova Scotia and we were contacted by a specialty distributor in New Jersey who supplies New York City. As great as that sounds (say in unison: NEW YORK CITY!) we are going to focus the beginning of this year developing the relationships we have, be present advocating for local food and supporting farmers markets and hopefully inspire others to do the same. A new market like Ottawa, or NYC is something we are strongly considering for 2012. But, as small batch producers who bake our crackers to order, slow and steady growth has been the best way to expand and offer a quality artisan cracker.

2011 also brought us a new cracker and shortbread flavors. Inspired by one of our original crackers the “Salty Oats” the “Oat Cakes” have been very well received at the farmers markets and are starting to be available in a few stores starting this week. A “Rose Cardamom Shortbread,” turned to be the perfect partner in crime with the “Lavender Shortbread” to bring out your inner cookie monster. We look forward to other ideas and opportunities to bring local heritage grains to market. Muesli, granola, a hot cereal and a couple pancake mixes have been our newest inspirations.

We are a chef and baker rooted in the local, organic and good food movements; Evelyn’s Crackers has been a product of that. We also look forward to acting beyond advocators, but also as educators and offer insight to foods, how to prepared them and offer ways for you to participate in your own local community.

As always, we are grateful to our Ontario farmers who share in our commitment to offer wholesome food:

CIPM Farm;
Stoddards Farm;
Franz Seeberger;
Dancing Bees;
Hoovers Maple Syrup.

From Porridge to Polenta: cooked cereal grains made easy

Cooked cereal grains have been a staple throughout civilization and “provide more food energy worldwide than any other crop.” As whole grains, they provide more vitamins, minerals and protein than their refined counterparts. (After removal of the bran and germ where mostly carbohydrates are left behind.) Ancient farming communities from areas in and around Egypt and Iraq first domesticated emmeri wheat, einkorn wheat and barley.

Beyond west Asia there are several important staple cereal grains grown worldwide: maize (Americas, Africa), rice (tropical, temperate regions), sorghum (Asia, Africa), millet (Asia, Africa), oats (worldwide), rye (colder climates), fonio (Africa), buckwheat Europe, Asia), quinoa (Andes).

Closer to home, our three favorite cereals are congee, museli (hot or cold) and polenta.

Congee is eaten all over eastern Asia, mostly for breakfast, or a late supper. A little rice and a lot if water (about 1:10 ratio) are cooked together to a porridge consistency. It’s personality is in the accompaniments: grilled pork, egg, chili, scallions, cilantro, you name it! It’s a blank canvas of any flavor inspiration.

Birchemuesli, or muesli, is a popular Swiss German breakfast cereal and late night snack. Renouned for being healthy it originally was prepared for recoverying hospital patients. Full of oat flakes (sometimes wheat, or rye), seeds, nuts and fruit it is often soaked ahead of time in water, cream or yogurt. We have been making our own version of “muse-li” and eat it as a hot cereal. A great way to start the day as the chill of winter is upon us. (About 1:4 cereal to water; cooked until thickens and grains are tender; serve with sheep’s yogurt, cinnamon (copious amounts), our granola and maple syrup).

Polenta: one of the three holy “P’s” behind pizza and pasta is not always considered a cereal. More often, this creamy, starchy, once Roman staple is cooked with seasoned stock, cream, milk, or water and paired with sauces, meats and vegetables. You can add less liquid and slice and grill the polenta after it cools and becomes firm. We use organic stone ground corn from Stoddarts Farm that has both coarse and fine grain mixed in (and it actually smells like corn!). The liquid base is 1/2 stock and 1/2 milk with bay leaf, salt and touch of cayenne pepper, plenty of garlic cooked in butter and a lot of grated cheese stirred in at the end. (I mentioned stir.) The best polenta is stirred constantly throughout cooking to prevent scorching and splatter as it thickens. (1:5 ratio cornmeal to liquid for creamy; 1:4 for firm; cook until thickens and the grains are tender; Buckwheat can be substituted or added with the cornmeal.)

Many whole cereal grains are available to us can easily be added to our diet. Freshly milled ones have a obvious benefits of more flavor and can be healthier for you. Try and buy from the source. A local farming community (or farmers market) is a great place to look. Although often more variety, keep in mind store bought ones will have gone through a distributor and may have been warehoused for some time.

Whey Butter. Way Cool.

It has been awhile since butter molds graced our kitchens and many of us are jumping at the chance to buy freshly churned butter at local farmers markets.

Butter is an important staple in many cultures and is a huge industry around the world. In the past 10 years India is the leader in production followed by the US, Germany and New Zealand where France is the leader in consumption

Cow milk is most commonly used, but other animals, such as goats and yaks are known to be great providers in other countries. In Tibet, a mixture of barley flour and yak butter is staple food. Fermented, or “rancid” yak butter is consumed as a hot tea in the Himalayas. Moroccans bury clarified butter in the ground and age it for several months. Salting butter is a great preservative.

There are several varieties of butter:salted/unsalted, clarified (butter that has had almost all of it’s water and butter solids removed by heating/separating), cultured butter (butter that is made from sour or fermented milk giving the butter a stronger flavor), and whey butter (whey–a liquid by-product of cheese that is added).

Whey butter, our new favorite, has a slightly salted flavor, but not as “cheesy” as cultured butter. It is great for sweet and savory applications. We use butter from Stirling Creamery and is one of our secret ingredients in our shortbreads. It adds depth and flavor to our baking both sweet and savory. Due to the fermentation in the whey there may be some health benefits, too.

I recently made butter using a wooden butter mold acquired at an antique market. A simple design, four sides and a rectangular plunger with a small wooden handle. Now, if you have ever walked away from a mixer and over whipped heaving cream by mistake, you know the butter sticks to the whip and the liquid splashes about making a mess. (I was carefully applying the same technique.) With some success, and the butter still soft, I placed it in the mold, pressed down on the handle and waited for a few minutes. I had a perfectly rectangular shape about an inch thick. It didn’t have much flavor and wasn’t very rich or buttery. There obviously is a bit more to making a tasty butter. The fat content of the cream needs to be higher and maybe a slower churning vs whipping is the key.

I am leaving the butter-making to the professionals for now, but it was fun being curious and playing with my food. I have great butter mold as a book-end to prove it.

2011 Feast of Fields: Evelyn’s Crackers

It was a beautifully warm and sunny day at this year’s at Feast of Fields held at the Cold Creek Conservation in the King Township, Ontario. This event has been held annually for the past 25 years in celebration and advocating for organic farming. This year I met Frank Mazzuca who stopped by to chat about Red Fife and other organic grains. Here is Frank’s video diary of the event. Yours truly make an appearance at 13:30 minute mark. Enjoy!

Why Slightly Seedy is Better Than White Bread

While speaking to dozens of people at the farmers market we find there is a huge demand for gluten-free. Interestingly, the majority of people seem to be lacking a genuine gluten intolerance and still choose to avoid it anyway. As a result, there is a flood of gluten-free foods, many of which are quite awful. Quite early on we intended on making a gluten-free cracker, but have hesitated. Partly because gluten protein is vital to the structure and texture of the crackers, but also because it implies that gluten is bad. Well, on Saturday I spoke to someone who helped me put this into perspective.

Rebecca is a nutritionist and also a foodie, so I felt in good hands asking her some questions about gluten. She explained how some people would have issues eating a slice of white bread, for example, and less so with a whole grain cracker. Even though they both have gluten, there is no fiber in the white bread (devoid of anything really) so there is a chance for it to stay in the bowel longer (possibly fermenting), which can cause bloating, which is one of the symptoms. Where as the Slightly Seedy cracker that has the Red Fife whole wheat grain, oats, flax, sesame seeds an pumpkin seeds all of which promote better, and quicker digestion . So it really isn’t a gluten thing for certain people, but rather the quality of the flour that includes the whole grain.

How to Eat a Cracker

First, use your fingers and feel the weight and thickness of the cracker. Then look closely at the color and texture. Are there seeds, or whole spices. Turn the cracker over. Is it the same on both sides. Hold it …

Eat Only Local Food – Can You Do It?

I met a young woman, Rebecca, who is participating in a school project where she only eats food grown in Ontario for two weeks. She came up to our booth at Riverdale Farmers Market this week and bought a bag of Red Fife Wheat on the first day of this month long sabbatical. I couldn’t temp her with crackers as she was looking only for staples. Being in a farmers market, I told her, she was starting in the right place. I gave her my card and told to her call me if she needed help and that I looked foreword to reading about it in her blog. She looked a little surprised and said she hadn’t thought about doing one but was a good idea.

The next day Rebecca called me sounding a little stressed. She was looking for soy milk (as avoiding dairy), garbanzo beans, oil and chicken. I sent her to St Lawrence Market to Ying Ying Soy Foods who processes organic soy beans grown by Marcus and Jessie in Dashwood Ontario and may have soy milk, but definitely have tofu. (They also participate in the Wychwood and Brickworks Farmers Markets.)

Potts of 4 Life in Kensington Market is a great place to look for local foods and may have a varieties of beans for her. Although, garbanzos may be hard to find. Natures Way Organics (also at Wychwood and Brickworks) has sunflower oil this year and it’s great. they also grow beans and will have them later in the year.

Again, the markets are best place to start and most have meat and chicken vendors. But, due to a provincial standard they are only allowed to sell frozen. (Something to do with transporting perishables.) Not the smartest move. A lot if frozen meat is brought to the market in coolers and put back in the freezer several hours later. This back and forth, partial thaw and freeze, may happen several times. I bet more meat would sell being fresh without this rule to protect us.

Not to taint the meat vendors but I sent her to Sanagan’s Butcher, also in Kensington. In his second year, this young butcher is developing quite a following. Dealing directly with Ontario farmers, oftentimes you can get meat hours old from the abattoirs. Being quite small, he orders a couple times a week and sells out by the weekend.

I look forward to learning more about Rebecca’s new diet. Her roll up your sleeves determination will come in handy. I wonder if she will influence others to join in her adventure, creating a ripple effect of location conscience eaters? Or maybe the opposite may occur and she develops an extra appreciation for the well mechanized and fully-stocked chain grocery store?

I guess her blog will tell.

Wychwood Farmers Market