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Quick & EasyBy Beverly Barbour
Homemade chewing gum and other good stuff made from wheat
A friend sent me a clipping the other day from North Dakota's Grand Forks Herald. The headline was, "Cream of Wheat has come a long way from start in North Dakota."
I hated oatmeal as a kid--too slippery. I didn't like dry cereals either. So my Dad and I had Braunschweiger and cheese on toast for breakfast every morning while Mom slept in. Fortunately, every time that any passing bug gave me an excuse to miss school, I was fed cream of wheat with brown sugar and thick cream while lying on the living room couch. It almost made the cold or stomach ache worthwhile.
No one ever mentioned that the wonderful wheat cereal wasn't a product of some big commercial producer of breakfast foods. It was actually invented by a miller named Tom Amidon living in Amidon, N.D., which is away out in the western part of the state near both Montana and South Dakota. In 1893 he pitched his new creamy cereal product to Diamond Mill owners George Bull and Emory Mapes in Grand Forks. The three clever men decided to add a few cases of the cereal in handmade packaging to a carload of flour that was being sent to New York.
It was a hit!
The owners were not hayseeds, they were pretty savvy fellows, especially for that time and place. A packaging process developed at the University of North Dakota's Center for Innovation increased the shelf life of Cream of Wheat and allowed the company to distribute its product around the nation.
They built the company by buying as much advertising as they could afford and they placed their full-page, color ads in such popular, high-media rate magazines as The Ladies' Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post. Their salesmen were required not only to sell Cream of Wheat to grocery stores but also to go into restaurants and order Cream of Wheat. If the restaurant didn't have it, the salesmen walked out in a huff and puffed on up the street to try the same ploy in other restaurants. It is called raising product awareness these days!
Once the advertising began, the company outgrew its facility in Grand Forks, N.D., and moved to Minneapolis 1897. In 1961 it was sold Nabisco, now a part of Kraft. Kraft Foods Inc., announced recently that the brand is a part of a $200 million sale to B&G Foods Inc. located in New Jersey. Cream of Wheat had a net revenue of $60 million last year.
An almost opposite use of the wheat kernel is serving it with its seed coat in place to make a wheat berry pilaf which is like a rice pilaf but with the nutty flavor of wheat making it much more flavorful. For those of us who love the flavor of grains wheat berries cooked alone or in combination with bulghur are a wonderful, nutritious treat. Caution: be certain that the wheat berries are not treated wheat seed.
Wheat Berry Pilaf
This recipe came from a friend, Libby Hillman, who was a wonderful cook and cooking school teacher. She developed the recipe when a farmer friend said dogmatically, "Libby, you go home and cook these wheat berries." She had never seen them before but she did as she was told and perfected this recipe.
1 cup wheat berries
4 cups cold water
2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
2 cups chicken or beef stock or water
Bouquet garni*
1/2 cup bulgur wheat, optional
1/2 cup rice, optional
vSalt and pepper
Either soak the wheat berries overnight in the cold water or bring them to a boil in the cold water. Simmer for 3 minutes, and, with the heat off, leave covered for 1 hour. Drain well. The water may be served for cooking the berries. Melt butter or heat oil in saucepan. Add onion and cook until wilted. Add wheat kernels and stir until they are coated with butter. Add stock or water. Place bouquet garni on top. Cover and cook 40 to 50 minutes. If you are adding the bulgur wheat and rice, stir in for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Season to taste. Makes 4 to 6 servings. * Bouquet garni is a mixture of flavoring ingredients tied together in cheesecloth or inside a stalk of celery and placed in the pot. If you can't get fresh herbs, coarsely crumble dried herbs and tie together in cheesecloth. Combine any of the following: 4 sprigs parsley or chervil, 1/2 bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme, white portion from 1 leek, 2 cloves. Some people also like to add garlic; I like to add trimmings from celery and scallions. It's all a matter of taste.
Wheat Salad
LaVina Lemieux of Rolette, N.D., soaks the wheat but doesn't use a lot of water. She then cooks the berries but not until they split because she prefers a bit of firmness in the wheat. This keeps well and is an interesting dish for a potluck.
1 1/2 cups wheat berries, uncooked
8 ounces cream cheese
1 carton (12 oz) whipped topping, or use whipped cream
1 can (15 oz) crushed pineapple, or use fresh
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
Soak wheat overnight and drain. Simmer with 5 cups of water on medium heat until water is gone. Cool. Drain pineapple and save separately. Combine cream cheese and dry pudding mixes; whip in pineapple juice. When mixture is smooth stir in the pineapple and nuts. Fold in the whipped topping or whipped cream. Fold in wheat and nuts. Chill before serving. Makes at least 12 servings.
Delicious Granola with Wheat Germ
Mary Helland of Devils Lake, N.D., makes a double-batch of this tasty mixture because her grandson loves to eat it on his way to school, right out of plastic sandwich bag. Grandma Mary puts a big spoon in the bag she makes for him so that he can get a quick energy burst as he walks. Actually, I like to dig a spoon in the jar about 3 p.m., in the afternoon--but find it hard to stop at one spoonful. I have to ration myself. Yeah, it's that tasty.
3 cups rolled oats, not quick-cooking
1/4 cup honey crunch wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower kernels
3/4 cup raisins or
1/2 cup almonds or pecans, or any nut you like
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine liquids and sugar, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Pour over dry ingredients and mix together well, trying to coat each piece. Spread out on a baking sheet with sides. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden, stirring every 5 minutes. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place up to 1 1/2 months. Makes about 6 cups of concentrated calories and flavor.
We used to chew wheat to make chewing gum when we were kids. The moisture and chewing turned the wheat protein to gluten--the strands that make bred rise.
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