When I walked into the University District Farmer's market last weekend, I saw something I'd never seen before on their What's Fresh sign: "Freshly milled flour". W00t! We practically made a beeline for the stuff. But flour wasn't all we found. Bluebird Grain Farms sells freshly milled flour as well as a grain called Emmer. Emmer is a very old grain that isn't very common in the United States. It is still grown and used in Italy, particularly in Tuscany and Umbria. Emmer has a high protein content (up to 16%) and is often good for people with wheat or gluten allergies. We haven't tested this theory yet, but we did bring a sample to a friend with a wheat allergy. Hopefully she'll have something to report back on soon.
I was told that Emmer could be made into a risotto and with it's high protein content, we figured J's blood sugar might tolerate it. So we gave it a try. This recipe was inspired by a risotto recipe from Tasty, but really, it was mostly improvisation.
Ingredients (* = organic, & = local)
- 1 1/2 cups Emmer * &
- 3 oz dried assorted wild mushrooms *&
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
We picked up the mushrooms from Foraged and Found, a booth at the local Farmer's Market.
I soaked the mushrooms in 6 cups of hot water for about an hour. When I was done, I poured the water through a strainer into a large pot. The water was a lovely golden brown. I then chopped the mushrooms in to small pieces.
I added the emmer to the water and brought it to a boil. Then I added the mushrooms. I let the mixture boil for 10 minutes, then turned it down to medium and let it simmer for another 40 minutes until the emmer had the texture I was looking for. If you've never made risotto before, it should just look like a gooey mess of rice and mushrooms. I stirred in the grated parmesan cheese and we were ready to eat. (That's salmon with Tom Douglas' Tokyo Rub and Oven Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan with it).
Oh, and for the record, there was no appreciable blood sugar rise from all that risotto.
