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Welcome November 4, 2008 Print E-mail
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
This month, we're celebrating home baking with local wheat.

We've always known that parts of eastern Washington and Oregon along with eastern Idaho and Montana constituted a kind of Pacific Northwest bread belt. Some of our counties, like Whitman County in eastern Washington, boast the highest yields per acre in the country. With 2.2 million acres under cultivation, Washington is the fourth largest wheat producing state in the union, and together, Washington and Oregon produce about half the nation's supply of soft white wheat, the kind that's best for cakes, quick breads, cookies and pie.

But until very recently, it wasn't entirely clear how we could get a steady supply of local northwest wheat in our own home kitchens. 85% of northwest wheat is exported outside the U.S., much of the crop is purchased by Asian markets. And most folks in the northwest bake with commodity wheat grown elsewhere.

In 2007, Stone Buhr started marketing Washington grown wheat directly to Washington consumers through local grocery stores. Originally based in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood around the turn of the last century, the mill catered to local bakers and homemakers. Now, the company is refocusing on its local roots. Purchasing a special blend of all-purpose wheat from Shepherd's Grain, a cooperative of 16 progressive family farms here in the pacific Northwest who collectively practice a unique form of highly sustainble agriculture called "no-till" agriculture.

Conventional farming can reduce topsoil by up to an inch a year. No-till farming employs driect seeding without turning over and breaking up the soil, so soil erosion is reduced, diesel fuel is saved, and soil carbon is kept in place. The practice offers comparable yields at competitive prices.

Ad we think the all-purpose flour and the whole wheat flour are perfect for making our favorite breakfast breads. Try this week's recipes and see if you think so too.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls
Most cinnamon rolls are made with yeast, but a kind of biscuit based facsimile has been the fashion in my house ever since my kids were born. With yeast based rolls, I have to plan ahead and make the dough the night before. These little hummers come together in a matter of minutes -- no prior planning required. Oddly enough, my kids say they like the quick version better than the ones that take more time and effort.

Whole Wheat Pound Cake
This cake is hardly health food. It’s as rich in butter and sugar as any cake out there. It’s based on a formula from Shirley Coriher, the food scientist who gave us Food Wise and more recently, Bake Wise. She is celebrated for her recipes which are text book examples of how to bake perfect cakes, pies and cookies. We took her super rich recipe for pound cake a s appoint of departure and replaced the shortening with organic palm kernel oil and half the flour with whole wheat flour. Instead of potato starch, we opted for soy flour and discovered that we had stumbled upon the ultimate breakfast cake. We freeze slices in individual zip-lock bags and pop them into the toaster for breakfast.

Pumpkin Streusel Breakfast Cake
Fresh pumpkin purée is very different from canned pumpkin. To make your own, steam some fresh pumpkin or other winter squash, minus the skin and seeds, then puree the cooked squash in a food processor or with a potato masher. Fresh pumpkin puree is less expensive, but if it's too much bother, frozen squash purée (preferably organic) is a close second to fresh -- in fact, once its baked into this cake you can hardly tell the difference. Green pumpkin seeds give the streusel topping character and crunch. For a memorable brunch, serve this cake with well-browned pork and apple sausages on a Sunday morning in the fall.
 
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