Easy to make and whipped up in a matter of minutes, you can’t argue with a cookie. As long as your leavener is fresh and sifted, and you mix your dry ingredients well before combining with the wet, you’ll have great results time after time.
Author: Ben Lester
Fresh milled buckwheat flour imbues these traditional French crepes with a rich, earthy flavor. I first discovered this dish in my early 20s and was immediately in love with the combination of mildly sweet leeks, nutty gruyère and grassy buckwheat.
The buckwheat crepe or “Galette” became common fare in the west of France (Brittany and surrounding areas) in the 14th century when depleted soils struggled to grow wheat (the name buckwheat is a misnomer; it’s actually a seed). Crepes are typically filled with sweet ingredients, but buckwheat’s grassy flavor lends itself particularly well to savory fillings. For something that looks and tastes so fancy, this is actually incredibly quick and simple to prepare.
Of all the ancient wheats, emmer is particularly well suited for making grilled flat breads like pita. Emmer has an elastic dough structure which makes it easy to shape and toss around a fire – but it’s easy to make on the stove too!
High-quality beans, ideally navy beans, slow-simmered with molasses and bacon, are the foundation of this classic New England dish. Growing up outside of Boston it was a childhood favorite, and he never made it from scratch!
The number one requested birthday cake in our family, this decadent chocolate dessert is made with whole wheat flour. The extra bran and germ not only make it healthier, but extra moist and dense.
I learned to make this apple tart from a French Chef in one of the first restaurants I worked in. It is simply made by turning some apples into applesauce, rolling out and blind baking a tart shell, filling it with the apple sauce, and topping with sliced apples for the bake.
Gumbo combines uniquely southern flavors and textures, starting with the holy trinity of creole cooking: bell peppers, onions, and celery, and thickened with brown roux and sweet, viscous okra. Traditionally, gumbo features fresh seafood and andouille sausage, but as with most stews, it is meant to be a catch-all for the best of what’s around. You can even make it vegetarian. Serve over long grain rice (especially Carolina Gold!) with a sprinkle of filé powder, and Tabasco, of course!
This style of cornbread is crisp, crumbly and contains no wheat or sugar! It goes incredibly well with savory foods like bacon and collards or chili con carne, or you can mix them into the batter for an all-in-one cornbread meal.
Making ravioli is an easy way to maximize your pasta skills. It yields very “fancy” results with just a little practice and no special equipment. Fill your ravioli with ricotta or other cheeses, scallops, beef, mushrooms, squash, lobster, or crab.