Hello friends, hope you are all doing great. Firstly I would like to apologize for taking off just like that. I didn’t think that my absence would be noticed until I started receiving emails and comments from fellow food bloggers and regular visitors. I really feel very blessed to know that there are so many people to care about me. Thank you very much friends for your concern and wishes. A couple of things are happening at my end (everything good though) not allowing me to blog regularly and answer your emails immediately. I think it’s going to take some more time for me to get back to the routine here. I sincerely hope that you will still remember me and extend your support to the blog once I come back.

Now to the round up. This is the first time that I have not even posted a single recipe for the whole grain baking event. I did bake some delicious chocolate chip cookies using brown rice flour but didn’t get the time to write the post. Hopefully I will get to that in a couple of days and include it in the round up later. I didn’t want to keep the round up pending just to include my recipe, so here it is. Thank you my dear food blogging friends for whipping up so many mouthwatering dishes with brown rice.

Champa's Chewy Granola Bars

Champa's Vegan Banana Brownies

Champa's Almond Coconut Cookies

Kizzy's Eggless Persian Cookies

Priya's Brown Rice Chocolate Cookies

Priya's Savory Peanut Butter Cookies

Priya's Vegan Chocolate Cookies

Madhuram's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Priya's Onion Sesame Crackers

Priya's Vegan Rice & Oats Crackers

Sadhana/Muskaan's Multigrain Crackers

Champa's Orange Cranberry Muffins

Kizzy's Eggless Bluberry Muffins

Latha's Baked Brown Rice Appam

Priya's Multigrain Carrot Muffins

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Pineapple Muffins

Sweatha's Gluten Free and Fat Free Banana Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Chocolate Muffins

Priya's Brown Rice Patties (Baked)

Priya's Multigrain Chocolate Cake

When I chose ragi (a.k.a Finger Millet) for JFI I didn’t expect my inbox to be flooded with so many healthy recipes. Some of these ragi recipes are traditional, some very modern. There is something for everybody, so there is no more excuse for not using this healthy grain regularly. I thank my food blogging buddies for their enthusiasm in participating in this event and making this a grand success. Now let’s check the recipes.

The recipes have been classified under various categories. Please click the drop-down menu to see the recipes:

Shall we bake with whole grain rice this month? Whole-grain rice is usually brown – but, unknown to many, can also be black, purple, red or any of a variety of exotic hues. So for this event you can bake with any whole grain rice which is easily available.

Why brown rice is considered to be nutritionally superior to white rice when both have similar amounts of calories, carbohydrates and proteins? Like any other whole grain, brown rice (or any other whole grain rice) has the bran and germ intact. The outermost layer of the rice (husk) is only removed in brown rice whereas the husk, bran and germ are all removed leaving the starchy endosperm alone in white rice. In this refining process several vitamins and minerals are lost too, thereby making brown rice the best. To know more about the benefits and nutritional value of brown rice check here.

Whole grain forms of brown rice (or any rice) includes long or short grain rice, brown rice flour, cream of brown rice and even brown rice puff cereal. Make sure that the package reads whole grain or 100% whole grain. Recently I discovered brown rice farina also known as cream of brown rice. Bob’s Red Mill has a huge collection of whole grain stuff. So be sure to check for this brown rice farina too in the organic aisle of grocery stores or health food stores. Brown rice flour is also available from the same company. I have used both brown rice flour and cream of brown rice in Indian cooking instead of its white counterpart and the dishes turned out very good. Can’t wait to use it while baking.

• Recipes using Cream of Brown Rice
• Recipes using Brown Rice Flour
• Recipes using Long Grain Brown Rice
• Recipes using Short Grain Brown Rice

1 Bake anything egg less using one or more of the whole grain forms of rice (whole grain rice, whole grain rice flour, cream of whole grain rice, whole grain rice puff cereal etc).

2 Post it in your blog between Jan 18th 2010 and Feb 17th 2010. The dish can be anything sweet, salty or spicy. The recipes must be either vegetarian and eggless or vegan. If the recipe is from books/blogs/websites, please link back /mention the original source.

3 Multiple entries are more than welcome. Recipes posted prior to the announcement of this event are also welcome provided it qualifies the above criteria and is linked back to this event. Reposting is not necessary. As always there is prize for this event too and old entries will also be considered.

4 Email me your name, blog URL, name of the recipe, recipe URL, photo in 150w x 120h size to wholegrains(at)egglesscooking.com with Rice as the subject.

5 Non-bloggers you can submit your entries in Eggless Cooking Forums under Share Egg Free Recipes. You have to register first and it’s free! Send me an email after updating there and I’ll include it in the round up.

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year 2010. JFI was the first food blog event I ever participated after starting this blog. Now I’m a proud host of the same. Thank you very much Indira for giving me this opportunity.

JFI means Jhiva for Ingredients and every month a natural ingredient relating to India or Indian cuisine is featured. I couldn’t think of any ingredient other than Ragi (Finger Millet). I feel that this grain is being neglected by us (or at least by me) like many other healthy Indian food ingredients. We are generous enough to embrace ingredients from other parts of the world, not that its wrong, but I feel that we should do justice to cereals and grains grown in our home country too.

From this year onwards I’m going to take a resolution to try at least one Indian ingredient every month, which I have been neglecting all these days, starting with Ragi in Jan 2010. Are you with me on this? Thanks to the Internet and food blogs, I’m seeing a lot of ragi recipes off late. So it should not be a problem to prepare at least one healthy meal, if not more using whole ragi or ragi flour.

Send in your entries (old and new) and let us create a hub for ragi recipes to benefit everybody. Please note that the ragi flour we get in Indian grocery stores is devoid of the bran which is rich in fiber. So its not a whole grain flour, but this should not stop us from using this quite often, because something is better than nothing. If possible try to use the whole ragi by soaking and sprouting it.

Now for the rules of the event.

This month in the whole grain baking series we are going to experiment with whole grain forms of corn. Corn is a good source of vitamin A, manganese and potassium and it contains protein. In fact a new study shows that corn has the highest level of antioxidants of any grain or vegetable – almost twice the antioxidant activity of apples.

• Whole Cornmeal/Stone Ground Cornmeal (fine, medium or coarse)(Note that most of the cornmeal (read Quaker brand’s) found in regular supermarkets in the hot cereal aisle is de-germinated, in the sense, it is not whole grain. You can find whole cornmeal in the organic aisle or health food stores. The label should mention either whole or stone ground.)
• Popcorn
• Whole Grain Corn Grits (whole kernels chopped into bits. For whole-grain corn grits, search for those labeled “speckled heart grits”, one of the few types processed from whole kernel corn. Cooks in about 50 minutes).
• Hominy (a type of dried corn that has been cooked with an alkali to separate the inedible hull from the kernel. Cooks in about 90 minutes after overnight soaking. Available forms: whole kernel, grits).

Like any other whole grain flour whole cornmeal too should be stored in an airtight container in the freezer, to keep the oils in the germ from going rancid. This would give a shelf life from 4 to 6 months. Store dried whole kernels and popcorn in sealed plastic or glass containers. This should keep good for a year.

Since cornmeal is gluten free, it has to be accompanied by some wheat flour. I was able to find Bob’s Red Mill brand medium grind whole corn meal in the organic aisle of the grocery store. What I noticed was the corn meal being medium grind the cake I baked was gritty. It did not cook completely. So I processed the remaining in the food processor a couple (this is an understatement, I had to do it a lot) of times to get a finer texture. So I would suggest getting the finer one or have the patience to grind it.

• King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking
• Food Network
• Whole Grains Council

• King Arthur’s Flours
• War Eagle Mill
• King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking (This book is worth buying or at least borrow it from your local library. The collection of recipes is amazing).

1 Bake anything egg less using one or more of the whole grain forms of corn (whole corn meal, popcorn, hominy).

2 Post it in your blog between Dec 10th 2009 and Jan 10th 2009. The dish can be anything sweet, salty or spicy. The recipes must be either vegetarian and eggless or vegan. If the recipe is from books/blogs/websites, please link back /mention the original source.

3 Multiple entries are more than welcome. Recipes posted prior to the announcement of this event are also welcome provided it qualifies the above criteria and is linked back to this event. Reposting is not necessary. As always there is prize for this event too and old entries will also be considered.

4 Email me your name, blog URL, name of the recipe, recipe URL, photo in 150w x 120h size to wholegrains(at)egglesscooking.com with Corn as the subject.

5 Non-bloggers you can submit your entries in Eggless Cooking Forums under Share Egg Free Recipes. You have to register first and it’s free! Send me an email after updating there and I’ll include it in the round up.

I would be lying if I told that I was expecting a lot of entries for the Barley event. I knew that I won’t be receiving as many entries as I received for the whole wheat and oats event, because whole barley flour is not easily available like the other two. I thought this time for the round up I would be posting only my entries. Fortunately Priya, Sadhana & Muskaan, Sweatha and Swathi came to my rescue sending 11 entries in total. Thank you very much dear friends for supporting this event.

From cookies to cakes, quick breads to yeast breads, the participants have proved that barley flour is as versatile as whole wheat flour or even better. So check out these stunning barley flour recipes.

Breads & Rolls

Priya's Potato Stuffed Vegan Barley Flour Buns

Priya's Butternut Squash & Chocolate Breakfast Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Vegetables Stuffed Rolls

Priya's Vegan Whole Grain Breadsticks

Priya's Banana and Almond Quick Bread

Cake

Madhuram's Vegan Barley Chocolate Cake

Madhuram's Vegan Barley Flour Brownies

Madhuram's Vegan Barley Flour Sponge Cake

Cookies

Swathi Spicy Onion and Barley Crackers

Priya's Spicy Cumin and Barley Cookies

Madhuram's Vegan Barley Cookies

Sweatha's Barley Raisin Cookies

Muffins & Scones

Priya's Pumpkin and Multigrain Scones

Sadhana & Muskaan's Vegan Multigrain Muffins

Sweatha's Jam Filled Barley Muffins

Winner
Congrats Priya for winning again. Will send you a mail with the details of your giveaway.

The following cookie recipe uses only barley flour and we couldn’t tell it at all. Be sure to use whole grain barley flour. Some grocery stores carry a pure white color flour under the name barley flour but it’s not whole grain. It’s made from pearled barley.

In the whole grain baking series, we are going to experiment with barley this month. I request you all to extend your support you have given for the past 2 events, whole wheat and oats. Barley contains twice as much soluble fiber as oats and also is a high-protein whole grain. Whole (hulled) barley is the whole grain. Only the outer indigestible hull is removed, leaving the bran, germ and endosperm in tact. Pearled barley which is most commonly found in the supermarkets is nutritionally inferior to hulled barley because most if not all of the bran and germ layers are removed. So pearled barely is not classified as whole grain. Nevertheless, cooked peraled barley contains nearly twice the amount of fiber as the same size serving of cooked brown rice. So let us continue to include it in our diet regularly.

The next close thing to hulled barley is pot barley. Although it isn’t quite a whole grain, it undergoes minimal amount of refining that leave some of the bran and germ intact.

List of whole grain forms of Barley:

• Whole (Hulled) Barley
• Hull-less Barley (A new variety which is not widely available and supposedly even more nutritious that hulled barley)
• Barley Grits (Bits of whole barley. Cooks in half time of whole barely.)
• Barley Flour (Most barley flour is made from pearled barely, so read the label carefully to ensure it’s whole grain. Store it in the freezer)
• Barley Flakes (Equivalent of oats)
• Barley Couscous

Baking with barley flour:
Barley is high in protein but not as glutenous as whole wheat, so it is not suitable for building structure. So it’s better to pair it with either whole wheat flour or all purpose flour. Since cookies don’t rise much, substituting barley flour up to half the flour in a cookie recipe should not be a problem. For high-rising baked goods like muffins, quickbread and cake try substituting barley flour for one-fourth (1/4th) of the flour in the recipe. Yeasted breads too don’t rise higher if too much barley flour is used.

Sources for the above information:
The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook by Judith Finlayson and King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking book.

Recipe Ideas:

• Bob’s Red Mill
• Alberta Barley Council
• Hamilton’s Barley
• Golden Grains Farm

Hi friends, some of you might be wondering what happened to me? A couple of reasons kept me from updating the blog quite frequently. My initial plan was to update thrice a week and I was able to do only one post for the past 3-4 weeks. I think I’ll be able to blog more regularly hereafter. One good thing which happened in the past couple of weeks is I joined Wilton’s cake decorating course and today is the last class of the first course. So you can expect some posts on cake decorating in the following weeks. I’m planning to take the other 3 courses too.

Now for the round up; I thank all the participants for sending in your entries for the Wholegrain Baking – Oats Event. Renu, congratulations for winning this month’s giveaway. Please send me an e-mail with your address, so that I can mail your gift.

Bars & Brownies

Aarthi's Oatmeal and Peanut Bars

Divya's Oatmeal Granola Bars

Meeso's Oatmeal and Dates Bars

NC's Oat Bran Banana Brownies

Renu's Vegan Oatmeal Dates Bars

Sadhana/Muskaan's Oat Flour & Banana Bars

Madhuram's Oat Flour and Beet Brownies

Madhuram's Chewy Granola Bars

Cookies

Emma's Vegan Oatmeal and Craisin Cookies

Emma's Vegan Oatmeal Drizzles

Lata's Oatmeal, Apple and Raisin Cookies

Priya's Quick Oatmeal Cookies

Priya's Vegan Oat Flour and Sesame Cookies

Priya's Vegan Oat Flour Crackers

Sadhana/Muskaan's Oat Flour & Almond Cookies

Shoba's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Sweatha's Vegan Flourless Oatmeal Cookies

Madhuram's Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Madhuram's Wholesome Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Quick Breads

Divya's Fat Free Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Priya's Pretty Oatmeal Scones

Sadhana & Muskaan's Oats, Apple & Raisin Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Oats, Fruits and Nuts Scones

Madhuram's Pear and Oat Bran Muffins

Spice's Banana Oat & Wheat Muffins

Madhuram's Oatmeal Peanut Butter Muffins

Yeast Breads

Divya's Oatmeal and Wheat Yeast Bread

Priya's Oat Flour and Spinach Swirl Buns

Priya's Veagan Savory Oats Buns

Others

Saritha's Oatmeal and Apple Cake

Emma's Vegan Homemade Granola

Priya's Oats and Veggie Patties

Sadhana & Muskaan's Vegan Brown Rice Patties

Shanthi's Oats and Apple Crunch

Winner

These breakfast cookies go to my Wholegrain Baking Event – Oats hosted by me.