Teff Gingerbread Muffins

Teff? Really? You bet. I love teff. Because I love whole grains!

Teff is originally from Africa. It's related to millet but with a much deeper, more sophisticated, almost molasses-like taste. It's stocked with phosphorus and thiamin; it's got seventeen times (!) the calcium as wheat or barley. And it's got a great fiber profile. As you may know, the specific mix of fibers in whole grains makes the nutrients more readily available to the body, far more accessible than refined grains that have those very same nutrients "added back" after processing.

Teff is the world's smallest grain, tiny little grains about twice the size of the period at the end of this sentence. In fact, "teff" in Amharic (a language of central Ethiopia) means "lost," probably a reference to how easy it is to lose track of those Lilliputian grains.

Ground, teff grains become a whole-grain flour. If you've never tried teff, now's the time! You can find teff flour in almost all large supermarkets--and in any health-food store, as well as from online suppliers. And since the flour is just the ground whole grain, you're getting the full teff punch in every bite of these muffins.

I'm going to give you them in two forms: one with butter and one with walnut oil. Either way, they're spicy and delicious, a real treat in the afternoon or for breakfast. Let's get to it.

Click to read more ...

Let's Talk: Detoxing Off Tasteless Fats

Only a week or so before REAL FOOD HAS CURVES comes out. (You can find it here.) We're so very excited about it. And to that end, we started an important discussion in the comments thread the other day, a discussion that's pertinent to the new book; so I thought I'd give it more space here.

It's about fats. As you know, there's been a fair amount about it on the blog--making your own lard, making your own butter. And that long discussion about canola oil--and finding the best you can, if you want to use it.

All that said, the research is pretty solid: you have to taste something to register the cues of satiety along your gut's enteric nervous system. I spell this out more fully in the new book, but here's some of it:

Click to read more ...

Walnut Genoise

Big statements need big foundations. Did you see this week in the NYTimes when the fancy classical music guru James R. Oestreich basically declared Mozart a hack? (Perhaps I overstate a tad for drama.) Now that's a big statement--which certainly wouldn't have had the same punch if your cousin Melvin had said it. "But Melvin, you watch Friday Night Wrestling." Call me crazy, but it doesn't have the same impact.

Which is why a layer cake is all about the genoise (French, from Genoa [for some obscure reason], jenn-WAHZ). Big statements, big foundations. These layers are sturdy but delicate, delicious on their own, but even better frosted. Other types of cake layers can be wishy-washy, too easily smooshed or too chewy, almost elastic. Blech. Even Melvin wouldn't approve.

Traditionally, genoise layers are made with butter. But Bruce has gotten into making them with walnut oil for a slightly nutty taste, just a little heft to meet the thick, rich frosting halfway.

Here's how to do the layers up right, a recipe from our Ultimate Cook Book.

Click to read more ...