buckwheat for Jan

 At times, as the years have passed in my cooking life, I have found an ingredient or a process posing a challenge for me. As time has passed I discovered that if I think about something long enough, read the recipes, think, read, think, eventually I find myself reaching a point where I get out the ingredients (which I have amassed during the thinking phase) and make something..considered.

Reading recipes is not always a preparation to actually make that dish. It assists with my understanding of how the ingredient can be handled, how other people think about using it, the potential of the ingredient. Much to my husbands chargrin, I rarely follow recipes (he is meticulous and thorough, he shudders at my answers when questioned about how much of anything has gone into a dish,). I tend to gain an understanding through reading, then take the element I want to work on and start to build up practice.

As I have mentioned before, I struggle with buckwheat a bit. When my TCM practitioner Jan recently mentioned she had half a kilo of 'buckinis' (sprouted or activated buckwheat kernels) she had to 'deal with', a challenge was set. But I had already travelled through preliminary thinking stage. I'd considered baking recipes, braising recipes, even made pancakes with buckwheat- I was almost ready.

I hesitated over buckwheat because it has mucilaginous qualities which is a polite way of saying it gets slimy like mucus when over cooked. This quality is what makes kasha (the buckwheat porridge comfort food of Eastern European countries) so unctious. This is also what makes buckwheat difficult for me when trying to use it whole, as a rice or pasta substitute, or the base for a grain salad. Unctious is not what I wanted. I needed it to maintain it's integrity and to fluff at the end, be cooked al dente and palatable.

As if by fate, while dreamily skimming Ottolenghi's recipes after mentioning him in my last post, I came across the way. The way I was looking for to cook buckwheat. Simple, easy, this set of instructions answered the questions, addressed my reservations perfectly. I was set. So for Jan, here's a suggestion for buckwheat.

Buckwheat with mushroom saute

To cook buckwheat-
125g buckwheat (about 3/4cup)
220ml water (about 1 cup)

In a pan, bring the water to the boil, turn the heat to low, stir in the buckwheat.
Cover, cook 6-8 minutes (until the water is absorbed), stir once or twice again, set aside with the lid on.

While the buckwheat is cooking, heat a frypan on medium and slice 1/2 an onion or a leek and a clove of garlic. Start the onion off in the pan with a tablespoon of butter or olive oil and gently sweat the onion until it begins to release it sweetness, to soften and lose it's crunch. It can even get a bit golden, but must not burn or brown and dry out the pan. The moisture must remain for the mushrooms to soak up. Turn the heat lower if any of these things are happening.

Slice a large handful of mushrooms, or two large flats, or any mushrooms you have to hand, add them to the pan, stir and cover with a lid to steam/fry for about 3-5 mins. Stir intermittently. Once the mushrooms have softened and cooked, add in 1/4 t ground tumeric, pinch ground cardamom, chopped parsley or any herb you may have and a good handful of spinach leaves. Stir through to wilt the spinach, adding a splash of water (2-3 tablespoons, maybe) if the pan is drying out or anything is sticking. Cover briefly to steam/fry again, 2-3 minutes. The spinach will release some water also. Season with salt and pepper and serve on top of the buckwheat.

For a touch of lushness, I spooned on some ricotta we had in the fridge, but could recommend homous or even a drizzle of tahini to give a creamy finish to the dish.

That is it. Easy.
The important lesson to take is that buckwheat takes, at most, 10 mins to prepare. Buckwheat is now in my repertoire, just got to get the kids to eat it....