Many believe that cancer strikes because of poor genetics or poor luck–because of factors that are outside our control. Some believe it’s simpler than that; it strikes because we’re living longer and have more time to develop the disease. Yet there is much evidence to suggest that cancer often strikes because of the lifestyle choices we make, and because our eating habits and the quality of the foods we consume have deteriorated. No culture in all of human history has ever eaten as we do now.

How did it happen? How did  the thread of well being that wove one generation to the next begin to unravel? One answer, I think, is that large-scale, continual change has been the reality for as long as most of us have been living. We’ve grown so accustomed to it that we rarely consider how unusual the extent and pace of this change has been. Further, the transformation of both our food supply and food habits promised to be “new and improved.” Without adequate perspective, most of us couldn’t know where these developments would lead or predict that the unraveling might destroy our garment of good health.

While it’s true that poor health is built into our modern food system, the story does not have to end here. We all have the power to step around this system and, in our own homes and without much difficulty, to understand and undo many of these changes.

Real food--past, present and future

©Photo courtesy of: DTR@Ruhlman.com

The following are specific examples of how our eating habits and food quality have changed since WWII. These examples are worth noting for two reasons: because they correlate with rising cancer rates, and because they are all under our control.

• Introduction of refined vegetable oils and trans fats. Since WWII, we have transitioned from traditional fats like butter and olive oil to industrial vegetable oils and trans fats, which have no nutrients and can fuel cancer growth because of their high rates of omega-6 fats. In excess, omega-6 fats cause internal inflammation.
• Feeding farm animals grain instead of grass. In response to a postwar increase in demand for animal foods, farmers implemented shortcuts to save time and money, chief among them feeding animals corn and soy (nearly all of it genetically altered) instead of grass. These seeds have an abundance of inflammatory omega-6 fats and nearly none of the beneficial omega-3 fats found in grass. In addition, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid thought to have important anti-cancer benefits, is found in foods that come from grass-fed animals. It is missing in animals that live on grain.
• Reliance on antibiotics and hormones in raising livestock. It has become common for farm animals to be given antibiotics to promote growth, or simply to prevent disease rather than treat it–the latter compensating for methods of feeding and rearing that are inherently unhealthful. Many cows are also given hormones to fatten them faster and to increase their milk production. When we consume milk and meat from these cows, the hormones we take in can stimulate the growth of our own cells, including cancer cells.
• Use of pesticides in growing food. The 1940s and 1950s marked the beginning of the pesticide era. Decades later, most of us carry internal traces of more than 200 environmental chemicals, many of which play a role in the initial development of cancer cells, and in the development of individual cancer cells into dangerous tumors. On a broader level, immune cells are able to work better and harder when they are protected from toxins.
• Increased intake of sweeteners. Consumption of sweeteners has increased exponentially since WWII. Here, I am referring to white and brown sugar, and also to high-fructose corn syrup, which was developed and marketed in the last 40 years and is toxic to our bodies. These sweeteners weaken immune strength. They also cause blood sugar spikes that prompt a surge of insulin and insulin growth factor (IGF). This surge makes cells, including cancer cells, grow faster and enhances their ability to spread into neighboring tissue.
• Reliance on processed and packaged foods. Postwar prosperity stimulated our appetite for processed and packaged foods; these have been sold to us as a convenience but they are more correctly impostors–looking like food and filling us as food does, but providing little or no nourishment and even causing harm. Most processed foods contain refined vegetable oils and trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup or sugar, and white flour. Processed foods may look like the foods that nourished past generations, but they are less nutritious; they promote inflammation; and they encourage weight gain–all of which increase cancer risk.
• Reliance on a few ingredients to provide all our nutrients. Since WWII, the pace of our lives has quickened in unimaginable ways and, as we have become busier, our diets have become less diverse. We used to get nutrients from a variety of foods. Yet today, according to scientist Stephan Guyenet, processed foods made with white flour, sugar and refined vegetable oils comprise more than 50% of our calories. These food choices harm us in two ways: by the damage they cause in their own right, and by the way they crowd out foods that offer a diversity of nutrients for detoxifying carcinogens, strengthening immunity and quieting internal inflammation.

Inflammation: The Tie that Binds

Nearly all of the changes described above increase inflammation inside of us, which matters because inflammation is the underpinning of cancer and other modern illnesses. Even among those who have cancer, patients with the lowest levels of inflammation have the longest lives. According to Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, inflammation levels, which are easy to measure, are a better indicator of patient survival than is overall health at the time of a cancer diagnosis.

Our understanding of inflammation and it’s role in disease is relatively new, which is why we haven’t heard much about it when it comes to disease prevention. Another reason is that that avoiding inflammation is inexpensive, not patentable and doesn’t require a prescription, so it’s not in anyone’s interest to spend time promoting preventive measures.

Changes We Have the Power to Make

It is always easier to avoid a problem than it is to fix it after it has happened. Yet it is not too late for us to reconnect with food that is real rather than manufactured, and to reduce our chances of getting cancer or of having it recur. The following are ideas you may want to consider for moving forward–choosing a pace that feels comfortable to you:

• Limit refined vegetable oils and trans fats like margarine–especially those made from corn, soybeans, safflower, cottonseed, and sunflower seeds. Replace them with butter from pastured hens, olive oil or virgin organic coconut oil. On the rare occasions when these won’t do, refined coconut oil or canola oil may work as a back-up. While these two oils come with some considerations and might best be used moderately, they are not thought to be inflammatory.
• Look for meat, dairy products and eggs from animals raised on grass, and from animals that have not received antibiotics or hormones. Chickens always receive some grain, but they should be raised primarily on pasture; labels will say “grass fed” or “pastured.” Animal products will also be labeled “free of antibiotics and hormones.” (A certified organic label says nothing about whether an animal was raised on grass, but it is an indication that animal foods are free of antibiotics and hormones.)
• Whenever possible, opt for food that is grown without pesticides. Organic certification is one proof of purity, but you can also ask the farmer who grows your food. You may remember from past posts that the Environmental Working Group publishes a shopper’s guide to pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables. This guide can help you prioritize your organic purchases.
• Consider filtering your tap water to minimize your intake of toxins like flouride, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Carbon and reverse-osmosis filters both do the job well.
• To the extent you can, cook at home. This may challenge you, but remember that most restaurants use the cheapest quality ingredients: refined sugar, industrial vegetable oils, and meat and dairy products from animals fattened on grain and given antibiotics and hormones. When you eat out, you can control what you eat, but not the quality of what you eat–and quality is what matters most.
• Remember to read labels. To avoid listing sugar as the first and largest ingredient, food manufacturers often list it under many different names: evaporated cane juice, molasses, corn syrup, honey, sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, and more. Watch for and avoid these hidden sugars, as well as refined vegetable oils and white flour.
• Aim for reducing your intake of sweets and keep in mind that, because sugar can be addictive, it may take time–a month or even longer–for sugar cravings to subside.
• As often as possible, replace white flour with whole-wheat flour. See Bold Baking #1 for ideas on how to make this substitution work.
• Broaden your diet to include a variety of plant foods that promote health and work against many common forms of cancer. It’s ideal to eat all sorts of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. You can supplement these with high-quality meat, fish, eggs or dairy if you make these foods a part of your diet.
• Learn to recognize and appreciate living fermented foods, which can inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells and play a role in detoxification. See Living Foods.
• Try to work cancer-protective foods into your diet. For individual cancer cells to develop into dangerous cancers–and for existing cancers to spread– they need new networks of blood vessels to feed them. Inflammation enables the creation of new blood vessel networks, so foods that reduce inflammation are cancer protective. These include certain green teas, mushrooms, spices and herbs. For more information, refer to Foods that Fight Cancer, by Beliveau and Gingras.

In Closing

We need ways of food gathering, cooking, and eating that support good health rather than work against it–and that assume we have patience, a willingness to learn, and a durable vision of what a good life entails. Cooking at home; knowing the farmers who grow our food; eating in season; relying on a variety of fresh ingredients that are free of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones; consuming only grass-fed animal products; limiting our use of sweeteners, and using traditional fats are the threads we can use to re-weave the fabric of our well being.

Cancer-Fighting Green Tea

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul

To get the most health benefits from a cup of green tea, you need to steep the tea leaves for about 10 minutes. This works beautifully with Japanese Green Tea. But if you’re drinking Chinese Green Tea, which is the variety sold in most grocery stores, this long steep will cause the tea to be bitter. A good solution is to steep the same tea leaves (or tea bags) 3 times over the course of a day, for about 3 minutes each time, so you still benefit from the full complement of polyphenols.

With this approach, only the first cup of tea will contain caffeine, which is information you can use if you generally prefer your tea to be caffeine-free. Since caffeine is released quickly into water, to eliminate caffeine simply steep tea leaves (or tea bags) in just enough water to cover them for about 30 seconds. Then discard the water and cover the same tea leaves with enough water to make a full cup. This time, allow the tea leaves to steep as you normally would. This decaffeinating technique works with all varieties of tea.

Keep in mind that, with or without caffeine, you need to drink green tea within an hour or two of steeping it to benefit from its full polyphenol punch.

Ingredients

1/2-1 teaspoon Japanese Green Tea leaves, or 1 teabag
6-8 ounces cool water

Recipe

1. Heat the water, bringing it close–but not all the way–to a full boil. Using boiling water tends to “cook” the leaves and make green tea bitter. (Yet the hotter the water, the more polyphenols are extracted from the tea leaves. So your tea water should be very hot, but not boiling.)

2. While the water is heating, put the green tea leaves into a ceramic or glass teapot. Or, if you’re using a tea bag, simply place it into a mug. Then pour the hot water over the tea leaves and steep them for 10 minutes. If you’re using a tea bag, try moving it up and down in the mug as it steeps to increase the extraction of polyphenols.

3. Strain the tea into a mug or, if you’re using a tea bag, simply remove it. Discard the tea leaves or tea bag.

4. Enjoy your tea within an hour or two.

Remember, if you are using Chinese Green Tea, follow the instructions above, but steep the tea leaves or tea bag for 3 minutes. Then repeat twice with the same tea leaves.

Sources for my favorite Sencha Japanese Green Tea Leaves: Kushi Store, Goldmine Natural Foods

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul

One of the most important ways we have of replenishing and strengthening the population of microorganisms inside of us is by eating living foods–also called fermented foods. Fermentation is as old as humanity. The process transforms our food, preserving it and making it more nutritious and digestible; the food then transforms us.

Around the world, fermented foods are prized for their contribution to good health and long life. Our modern American culture, however, has lost much of its connection to these foods and its appreciation of their many benefits. Living fermented foods can be hard to come by and, where they are still found, we often don’t recognize them or value their importance.

Put simply, living fermented foods matter. They have the potential to impact our well being in such a significant way that they are worth getting to know–and worth appreciating for their power to support a level of good health that is vibrant, deep and lasting.

Sourdough Starter and Cabbage for Kraut

©Photo courtesy of: DTR@Ruhlman.com

Defining Living Fermented Foods

Fermentation gives us chocolate, wine, beer, bread, salami and sauerkraut. It also transforms milk and cream into yogurt, cheese, cultured butter and buttermilk. For more adventurous eaters, fermented foods may include tempeh, miso, kimchee, fermented vegetables, beet kvass, kefir and more. In truth, nearly all of the foods we consider “gourmet” are the product of fermentation.

It’s important to know that not all fermented foods are still alive when we consume them. To be “living”–that is, to provide us with the benefits that living microorganisms offer–they must not have been heated to the point at which microorganisms die. So, sourdough bread is alive before it’s baked, and even though it can be highly nutritious, it is not a living food when we eat it. Similarly, fermented foods like pickles or sauerkraut that are bottled and heat-processed to remain stable on a shelf are not living foods. And sauerkraut or pickles made with vinegar may be tasty, but they are more correctly preserved foods; they are neither living nor fermented.

Some fermented foods bear tell-tale signs that they are alive. Miso and fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, kimchee and pickles will be refrigerated when  you buy them. Fermented vegetables will also contain herbs, spices, and salt as their only other ingredients; vinegar will not be listed on the label. Yogurt, yogurt shakes and buttermilk will say “contains live cultures” on the container. For all of these to remain potent living foods, you need to refrain from heating them.

The Many Ways That Living Fermented Foods Improve Our Health

Before our ancestors had refrigerators, fermenting was their primary means of preserving milk, cream, vegetables, fish and meat. Fermentation worked as a natural preservative by using microorganisms to break down foods, a process that happens to be toxic to food-spoiling microbes. Now that we have refrigeration, there are other reasons to treasure living fermented foods; the overarching one is that fermentation is a living process capable of changing, in important ways, the character of our gut and of the foods we eat. More specifically, fermentation:

• Improves digestion. Most of us have used or consumed antibiotics, processed foods, sugar and chlorinated water. All of these make it difficult for the diverse population of microflora within us to flourish. Fermented foods, on the other hand, dramatically improve digestion by promoting the growth of healthy intestinal flora. This enables us to absorb more nutrients from the foods we eat so, over time, we get a higher level of nutrition from the same quality and quantity of food.
• Makes foods more digestible. Fermented foods are essentially pre-digested, which makes it easier for us to absorb their nutrients. Some people who don’t tolerate milk, for example, can eat yogurt without difficulty.
• Makes foods more nutritious. Fermentation creates new nutrients in foods. More specifically, as the microorganisms in fermented foods mature through their full life cycle, they create vitamins that were not present before–including B vitamins like folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and biotin.
• Strengthens immunity. Since 70%-80% of our immune system resides in the digestive tract, a healthy digestive system is the key to a properly-functioning and robust immune system. It is also our first line of defense against disease.
• Removes toxins from food. Fermentation reduces or eliminates toxins in food. Cassava, for example, contains cyanide until it is fermented. Many whole grains and beans contain phytic acid, an “anti-nutrient” that limits our ability to absorb and retain minerals, until it is neutralized by soaking (a form of fermentation).
• Makes foods more flavorful. Fermentation changes the flavor, aroma and texture of foods in wonderful ways. Consider how milk becomes tangy yogurt or the way fresh, crunchy cucumbers turn into sour dill pickles.

Living fermented foods are ideally taken as condiments, and a small portion a day seems to be enough to reap their many benefits.

What About Probiotics?

A high-quality probiotic supplement may be useful for a period of months if you are ill, if you have been on antibiotics, if you tend not to remember to eat fermented foods regularly, or if your digestion is weak and your population of beneficial microorganisms is low.

Our grocery store shelves are also lined with foods and drinks that have had probiotics added to them, but these seem to be a costly marketing ploy. They approximate old-fashioned living fermented foods that contain diverse microorganisms, but the fermentation process is missing–and the process is the point. If you need a probiotic supplement, it would be better to find a good one and take it as “medicine.”

Living fermented foods are natural probiotics. They sow your inner garden with seeds that have been used for all time and, unlike manufactured foods, have always been a part of our culinary tradition.

Finding Living Fermented Foods

Fermentation is generally not an industrial process; it can’t be in our litigious society where foods have to be sterilized with chemicals or heat to remain stable during transport and for long periods on store shelves. Further, making living fermented foods is as much an art as it is a science, which makes the process difficult to standardize; each batch is unique. For these reasons, living fermented foods are best made on at home or on small farms by people who care about our food heritage and about quality.

The best way to obtain living fermented foods is to look for them at farmers’ markets or in the refrigerated sections of local health food stores–or to make them yourself, which is not difficult. You might look at making your own fermented foods as a way of embracing the living energy in your own environment, building inner well being out of the living forces around you.

My favorite book on fermenting at home is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. If you are at all intrigued by the idea of fermenting yourself, you will want to have this book on your shelf. And if you decide to give fermenting a try, consider starting with yogurt. When you make it yourself, which takes little time, the quality and flavor are so superior to that of even the best commercial yogurt that I suspect you will not go back to buying it.

How To Make Homemade Yogurt

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul

There are two simple steps to making homemade yogurt. The first is to heat the milk and then partly cool it. The second is to ferment the milk for a period of hours. All varieties of milk–sheep, cow, or goat–work for making yogurt, with each providing a slightly different result.

Ingredients

1 quart whole milk (or, for a richer yogurt, use 1/4 cup heavy cream and 3-3/4 cups whole milk)
1/16 teaspoon yogurt culture (I like ABY612 from the Dairy Connection), or 2 tablespoons plain yogurt with live cultures

Recipe

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk (or milk and cream) to 180 degrees, watching carefully to be sure it doesn’t boil. Elevating the temperature in this way thickens the final yogurt, so even if you are working with raw milk, do not delete this step.

2. When the milk reaches 180 degrees, remove it from the heat. Let it cool a bit and then pour the milk into a glass canning jar and let it continue to cool on the counter top. If you want to speed the cooling process, you can immerse the glass jar in a bowl of ice water.

3. Check the temperature, and when the milk reaches 110 degrees, the optimum fermentation temperature, add the culture or yogurt and mix well.

4. Keep the mixture at 110 degrees for about 6-7 hours, or until it reaches the desired consistency.* Note that the yogurt will thicken as it cools so, with each batch, note the consistency after it has been refrigerated and then make adjustments with your next batch. (Yogurt fermented for 24 hours is said to be lactose-free.)

5. Refrigerate the finished yogurt and use within a few weeks.

*I generally use two different approaches for holding the temperature of the warm milk. With both, I begin by wetting a thin towel with warm water and wrapping it around the canning jar. Then I place the wrapped jar into an inexpensive Salton 1-quart yogurt maker and cover it with the plastic lid. Or I put the wrapped jar into a small, sturdy cooler (not a lunch bag, but a real cooler) and surround it with more warm, wet towels. With this second approach, experience has taught me to re-warm the towels every couple of hours.

Other ways to hold the temperature are to place the canning jar into a large pot of warm water; then keep the water on the stove top over the lowest heat, checking the temperature of the water to be sure it hovers around 110 degrees. Or, if your oven has a reliable 110-degree setting, put the canning jar into the pot of 110-degree water and place the pot into the oven for the desired amount of time.

The fact that feeding a family feels challenging, however, does not reflect on us. It doesn’t feel hard because we ourselves are limited; it feels hard because it is hard. The task is intrinsically challenging and can, at times, be a struggle for every one of us. I have built my personal and professional life around food, yet there are still days when I want to hide under the covers as dinner time nears.

When kids are at an age or phase that makes them more selective about what they eat, the task looms still larger and can become more frustrating. It’s demoralizing to shop for food, prepare it, and then watch it be pushed away. And it’s disheartening to finally find nourishing food our children will eat, and then have it wiped off their list because peers deem it “uncool.”

Finding the fortitude to face the challenge squarely and to meet its demands creatively takes a lot of energy, especially when food manufacturers spend millions selling us quick and cheap “solutions.” Time is the great commodity, after all; we might resist giving up what precious little we have when our efforts are unappreciated or rejected. “Not worth it,” our small internal voice may say.

After spending more than two decades feeding my own children, who range in age from twenty-one to five, there are still questions I wonder about:

• What is nourishment really? When I was growing up, my grandparents lived an hour away. Each time I visited, they had a ramekin-filled treat waiting for me: either jello with sliced bananas or chocolate pudding. I enjoyed these equally and, despite their few nutrients, they nourished me. Even today, I have one of the special ramekins on my desk holding odds and ends and within close view. My attachment to this memory makes me wonder what actually constitutes nourishment. Maybe a loving attitude and loving gestures–and a feeling of having been considered–are among the most important nutrients we offer. Perhaps even jello served with love can help sustain a child by passing on the caring that went into it’s preparation. In the ideal, I wonder if food needs to express both good intentions and love to nourish us on the deepest level.
• What is our responsibility? How much looking away when our children are not eating well is all right, and how much is an abdication of our responsibility? When is giving into their demands for “what their friends eat” all right and when is it simply surrender? And when is it okay to care a little less when the caring becomes too difficult or when our ideals and efforts are rejected too many times? As parents, the responsibility for making healthful foods available to our children probably falls to us; if we don’t do it, who will? But, after that, we may need to let go and give children room to express their preferences, respecting the normal push-pulls of early childhood and later peer group pressures that affect what children eat. Maybe our most important responsibility is to focus on eating well ourselves–on embodying the ideal–and trust that, with exposure and gentle guidance, what our children eat will work itself out in time.
• How much choice do we give our children about what they eat? The answer to this question probably needs to change over the years and with each child. It may be that our role is to arrange our tables so that children, on their own, can reach for and select whatever they need for their growth and nourishment. This would mean filling our tables with healthful options that increase as children grow and then any choice is all right: We decide what to offer and they choose what to eat. Young children might eat only salad one day and only soup another, but over a week or so they would likely get the balance of nutrients they need.

It is because I still have questions–and because I still wonder at the challenge of it all after decades of enjoying, and even loving, food gathering, cooking, and dishing up food for children–that I can offer this: If feeding a family is a struggle for you, know that it is for most of us. We press on on, not because it is easy, but because we all must eat. When we eat well, our bodies are nourished. When we eat as a family, we are all kept circling in the same orbit. It’s not only the food that works this magic. It’s the food and the talk. The food and the laughter. The food and the encouragement and validation that get dished up day after day. Each one of us, no matter how big or small, deserves a place at the table. To make room is empowering and deems each of us worthy. And making room now is important because the really dependent days of children are few and fleeting; sports and music lessons and clubs soon narrow our window of opportunity.

In the end, the best way to feed a family may be to care and prepare, and then let go, just as we do when a holiday approaches. Think about how we work to complete all we can ahead of time. We take care of the details that will make the holiday memorable, and then we let go and allow it to unfold, enjoying the experience no matter what happens because we know that we can control our own contribution–what we give to the experience–but we cannot control the outcome. Family meals work the same way.

Our role may be to put in energy and care when we gather and prepare food–at a level that we enjoy and can sustain. When we can’t cook ourselves, we can find sources of good clean food and buy it, and we can try to find pleasure in the process. Without being negative or overly-controlling, we can also set standards that we believe are necessary and true. I am certain of this: If we can find a way to enjoy the time we spend in the kitchen, and if we can keep the struggle away from mealtime, our children will come to appreciate the foods we serve.

In the end, the foods children eat or reject (their autonomy) and what we want them to eat (our agenda) are less important than our willingness to keep at the task: eating well ourselves, offering food joyfully, and letting go of the rest.

Here is a recipe that makes everyone in my house happy, including me. It’s as easy as real homemade pizza can be. It tastes good. And it’s an extension of last month’s post because it’s whole-grain baking that really works. No-Knead Whole-Grain Pizza Crust

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul

These small cream scones were created by Alice Medrich, and I have adapted the recipe just a bit. They are easy to make and a wonderful way to introduce buckwheat flour into your baking. If you like, you can substitute whole-wheat pastry flour for some of the all-purpose flour–a change I like to make. You can also use more or less cream in the filling, depending on how indulgent you want these shortcakes to be. If you don’t have access to buckwheat flour but want to make a whole-grain scone, simply take the total flour amount and make it half whole-wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose flour.

For the shortcakes:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour (1.7 ounces)
1/4 cup maple crystals
1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream, plus extra for brushing tops

For the filling:

1-1/4 cups heavy cream
maple crystals to taste
2 to 2-1/2 pints (16-20 ounces) fresh strawberries, rinsed, patted dry, hulled, and sliced

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and place a rack in the center position in the oven. Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of parchment paper to protect the bottoms of the shortcakes from browning before the interiors are cooked.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the flours, maple crystals, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and pour the cream into it. Use a rubber spatula to push the dry ingredients from the sides of the bowl into the well, cutting and turning the mixture just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the dough looks rough and shaggy.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the sides of the bowl 5 or 6 times, pressing loose pieces into the dough, until it holds together and the bowl is fairly clean. The dough should not be smooth.

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and pat it into a 6″ square, about 3/4″ thick. Trim the edges using a sharp knife and quick downward pressure so as not to compress the dough (this approach gives you the best rise).

5. Cut the dough into 9 squares and place them at least 1″ apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with cream and bake the shortcakes until the tops are golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

6. Meanwhile, in a chilled bowl, whip the cream, sweetening it lightly to taste as the cream thickens. If your berries are sweet, you may not need the maple crystals at all. Continue beating until the cream holds a soft shape–not too stiff.

7. Slice each shortcake horizontally in half. Place the bottom halves on serving plates. Top each with a scoop of berries and a dollop of cream. Cover with the tops of the cakes and serve.

Note: You can serve the shortcakes warm or at room temperature. You can make the whipped cream a few hours ahead of time and keep it covered in the refrigerator. You can wash and slice the berries up to an hour before serving them.

This soup recipe, which I’ve adapted slightly from one included in Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking, makes good use of the garlic scapes that crowd farmers’ markets in early spring. If you like soup that has a  rustic texture, there is no need to strain it. But for a finer texture and a more elegant result, don’t skip this step.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 dozen garlic scapes, flower buds discarded and green shoots chopped
3 small russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2″ dice
6 cups vegetable stock
2 large handfuls spinach leaves, stemmed
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup buttermilk, optional

Recipe

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the scapes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and stock, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and beginning to break down.

2. Remove the soup from the heat and add the spinach, stirring  until it wilts.

3. Puree the soup using an immersion blender. For a fine texture, strain it through a sieve lined with two layers of cheesecloth. Or puree the soup using the fine or medium holes of a food mill, which will strain the soup as well.

4. Season the soup with lemon juice, sea salt and pepper, and add the buttermilk for a silky texture.

This recipe, which I’ve tweaked only slightly, comes from Cucina Simpatica, a cookbook written by Johanne Killeen and George Germon. It’s a delicious addition to a brunch or lunch menu and takes little time to pull together.

Ingredients

2 pounds asparagus, tough ends discarded
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
a sprinkling of coarse or fine sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spread the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle it with olive oil. Sprinkle it with sea salt and roast it in the oven until it is done to your liking. The amount of time will depend on how tender you like it and on the thickness of your spears. It generally takes 15-20 minutes.

3. While the asparagus is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet and break the eggs into the pan, taking care to keep the yolks whole. Cook the eggs until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft.

4. Remove the asparagus from the oven and divide the spears among 4 plates. Using a spatula, transfer one egg to each “bed” of asparagus, leaving only the tips of the asparagus exposed. Top with cheese, drizzle the melted butter left in the skillet over the cheese, and serve.

This is a very special pizza crust. It’s easy to make; it also tastes good, handles well, and has, for me, moved pizza out of the ranks of ambitious undertakings and into the realm of food that works when there’s little time to spare. You will not miss the white flour that’s included in most pizza dough recipes, and you will not miss the kneading either. With this recipe, making whole-grain pizza at home becomes practically effortless—and I don’t use that word lightly.

The vital wheat gluten included in the ingredient list is optional, but I like to add it because it makes a tender dough that rolls out beautifully. In practical terms, this means you get a crust that rolls out large; if you like a thin crust, you will get two pizzas, each about 10” x 14.” If you like a thicker crust, simply roll the dough smaller and thicker. Taking into account the long, slow rise of this dough, if you want to serve pizza for dinner one night, just pull the dough together the evening before, which will take five minutes, and your dough will be ready to roll before dinner the next day.

Dough Ingredients

¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups lukewarm water (110 degrees), divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for parchment paper and rolling pin
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2-1/2 cups whole-wheat bread flour
½ cup rye flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten, optional

Pizza Ingredients

2-1/2 cups pizza sauce*
1 pound fresh, or 8 ounces shredded, mozzarella cheese

Recipe

1. Sprinkle yeast into ¼ cup of warmed water and let it sit for 8-10 minutes to ensure that it’s active. You should see a creamy foam develop, and if you stick your nose into the bowl it should smell like bread. (If you do not see the foam or detect the smell of bread, discard the mixture and start again with new yeast.) Once the yeast foams, add the remaining 1-1/4 cups water, along with the rest of the dough ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon or your hands until the flour is evenly moistened and the ingredients are well mixed. The dough will have a sandy appearance and will not feel sticky. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave on the counter top for about 16-18 hours in a room that is as close to 70 degrees as you can make it. Two or three times during the rest, you may need to lift the cover of the bowl to release trapped gas. (You don’t need to wake up in the night to do this step; just lift the cover in the morning.)
2. One hour before you plan to bake your pizza, preheat a pizza stone on the lowest rack of a 500-degree oven.
3. Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Let each half rest covered on the counter top or in an oiled bowl for 30-40 minutes.
4. Lightly oil 2 pieces of parchment paper, each about 11” x 15” and place one ball of dough on each piece. Flatten each ball into a disc and let one rest, covered with plastic wrap.
5. Take the other disc and, if it feels sticky, sprinkle it lightly with flour. Using an oiled rolling pin, roll the dough out on top of the parchment paper—into a 10” x 14” rectangle (if you used vital wheat gluten) or a 9”-10” round or rectangle. If you like a thicker pizza crust, roll the dough smaller and thicker. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15-30 minutes. Repeat this process with the second disc of dough.
6. Cover the first dough you rolled with a generous portion of tomato sauce—the amount depends on the size of your pizza. For a 10” x 15” pizza, you will need about 1-1/4 cups of sauce. Then cover the sauce with half of your mozzarella cheese.
7. Using a pizza peel, slide the pizza, along with the parchment, onto the pizza stone and bake for about 15 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is lightly browned.
8. Repeat this process with the second pizza dough.

*To make a simple pizza sauce, fill a 2-quart saucepan with diced tomatoes from one 28-ounce can, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2-4 cloves peeled and crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring the contents of the saucepan to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Puree and season to taste with additional sea salt and freshly-ground pepper before using.

Embellishments

For a good-tasting and nutritious pizza topping, wash and chop about 3 pounds of escarole for one pizza. Then coat it lightly with olive oil and sprinkle it with fine sea salt. Put it on top of the mozzarella cheese before cooking the pizza, and bake the pizza for the same amount of time.

In Transition

If you’re transitioning away from pizza dough made with white flour, you may want to substitute 1 cup of white bread flour and 1-1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour for the 2-1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour in the recipe. Add the same quantity of rye flour called for. This change will lighten the flavor and texture of the pizza dough.

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul

The Problems With Refined White Flour

There is no trick to using refined white flour to make light and tender baked goods; it handles these jobs effortlessly. But there is something else white flour does in the process. It creates inflammation inside of us by pushing blood sugar up in a dramatic spike and then plummeting it down again. This is a roller-coaster effect we should avoid because our most devastating diseases, including cancer, are often preceded by years of subtle internal inflammation. Blood sugar spikes happen whether we use white flour in sweetened baked goods or in savory baked foods like biscuits, breads and pizza dough. Another problem with white flour is that it has been stripped of  nutrients, so rather than label it a food ingredient, we might think of it as a “tool” we can use to lift baked goods, and to lighten their flavor and texture, but only when nothing else will do.

Why Whole-Grain Flours Are Better

There are many varieties of whole-grain flour that we can use for baking, and all are nutritious and flavorful. While there are some baked goods that can handle a transition to all whole-grain flour, others will not. But even a portion of whole-grain flour added to a recipe will lessen its impact on blood sugar in a meaningful way, minimizing the roller-coaster effect. In addition, substituting at least some whole-grain flour makes baked goods less flimsy and more substantive, while adding flavor and complexity. The whole grain flours I have used most successfully are barley flour, oat flour, buckwheat flour, whole-wheat bread flour, whole-wheat pastry flour and rye flour.

Miniature chocolate cupcakes made with whole-wheat flour

Whole-grain fruit and nut bread

A Golden Rule of Bold Baking

If I could encourage one change to the way you bake–one Golden Rule to follow–it would be this: Every time you bake, replace up to half the white flour in your recipe with whole-grain flour. Nearly every baked good, whether savory or sweet, can handle this substitution. You may need to add slightly more salt to make the change work, and you will know this by tasting the finished product and then making a decision for the next time. In my experience, most people will not notice the switch and those who do will often find the recipe improved. This is true even of finicky children, and it’s because whole-grain flour has flavor, character and integrity that are missing from white flour. This switch works for pie crust; it works for pizza dough; it works for muffins, cakes, quickbreads, and pancakes. It works, period.

How to Substitute Whole Grain Flours

The information below can help you learn how to use whole-grain flours in baking; if you already use them, it can offer new ideas and approaches. The points I have included reflect years of experimentation and my own best thinking on this topic. Yet, like all good learning, the process is ongoing. As I make new discoveries, I will share them with you.

• Whole-wheat bread flour, made from hard wheat, is best for pizza crust, bread, foccacia, and some pancakes. Whole-wheat pastry flour, made from soft wheat, is better for muffins, biscuits, popovers, scones, waffles, pie crusts, cakes and many pancakes. Think of chew as a goal when you use whole-wheat bread flour; think of tenderness as a goal when you use whole-wheat pastry flour.
• Batters comprised of all or mostly whole-grain flour benefit from a rest before baking. A rest will improve the flavor; it will also lighten the texture, making it smoother and less grainy, and give the flour needed time to absorb liquid in the batter. A rest can be as short as 15-30 minutes to be effective, but it can also be as long as overnight in the refrigerator. For a longer rest, baking powder remains potent, but baking soda should be left out and then mixed in thoroughly just before baking.
• If you completely eliminate the white flour in a recipe and replace it with all whole-grain flour, you will generally need slightly less flour than the original recipe called for. Three cups of all-purpose flour becomes about 2-3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of whole-wheat flour; in this case, the total flour has been decreased by 2 tablespoons (1/4 cup=4 tablespoons).
• Converting a recipe to all whole-grain flour may increase the volume of batter. In a muffin recipe, for example, you may get more than the standard 12 muffins. In a cake recipe, you may need to allow for a slightly longer baking time.
• If you convert a recipe to all whole-grain flour and find the result too dense or “wheaty,” try adding a tablespoon of orange juice in place of the same quantity of liquid to mellow the wheaty flavor. You can also add back a small portion of all-purpose flour. This will lighten the texture, increase the rise, and add strength to your baked goods (“adding strength” means that what you’re baking will hold together and not fall apart).
• Most cakes, banana breads, lightly-textured blueberry muffins, and scones work well with up to half whole-wheat pastry flour. Popovers can accommodate half or, for those with a more sensitive palate, about one-third whole-wheat pastry flour. Biscuits and hearty muffins–banana and bran, for example–can be made of all whole-wheat pastry flour.  Pancakes and waffles work well with all whole-wheat flour, either pastry or bread, depending on the recipe. I make delicious bread and pizza dough with a combination of whole-wheat bread flour and rye flour, and use no white flour at all. Of course, these are my observations and conclusions; as you begin to experiment, you will draw your own conclusions based on your tastes and preferences.
• To achieve a light texture in sweetened baked goods, it is best to mix whole-grain batters until the ingredients are just combined and no longer.
• Whole-wheat flour is an ideal match for bananas, so you might begin your experimentation by adding a portion of whole-wheat pastry flour when making banana bread, cake or muffins.
• Oat flour pairs well with chocolate. You don’t need to buy oat flour; simply put a portion of rolled oats (not quick oats) into a spice or coffee grinder and grind the amount you need, taking care to make it extra-fine. Use oat flour in place of the all-purpose flour in a fudgy brownie recipe and see what you think. Oat flour tends to keep baked goods moist without making them heavy or dense.
• Barley flour is fun to work with because it adds variety to your ingredient list and imparts a pleasing flavor. Since its gluten is weak, it doesn’t promote a good rise, but it can be added successfully to muffins, cookies, and pie crusts. Using too high a percentage will cause your baked goods to fall apart. I find it works well to substitute barley flour for up to a quarter of the all-purpose flour in a recipe.

A final thought: Appreciating the character and integrity of whole-grain flour in baked goods may require our palates to adapt, slowly and over time. It’s good to keep this in mind because it means that baked goods made with a large percentage of whole-grain flour may not hold their own alongside airy confections made with white flour and refined sugar. Served alone and with confidence, however, they will be savored. And, over time, they will be preferred.

Sources for Superior Baking Flour and Two Books on Whole Grain Baking

All baking flour is not equal; this is especially true of whole-grain flour. Factors like how and when it was milled and how it was stored make a significant difference to the taste and quality of your baked goods. In addition, using superior flour allows you to include a higher percentage of whole-grain flour than you would otherwise be able to. I rely on three companies for all of my baking flour:

King Arthur Flour: This company has been doing business for 200 years, producing a huge variety of wonderfully consistent, high-quality baking flours. They also sell many baking supplies, as well as their own cookbook called Whole Grain Baking. If you run into baking trouble or have general questions, they provide a Bakers’ Hotline, and the people who staff it are both knowledgeable and eager to help. King Arthur Flour

Anson Mills: This is a small, young company dedicated to organically growing, harvesting and milling near-extinct varieties of heirloom grains. Their flours are costly but beyond compare, especially their Colonial Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour. I also use their Buckwheat Flour and Red Fife Bread Flour. When you have a few minutes, you might enjoy looking at the delicious recipes on their website. Anson Mills

Fiddler’s Green Farm: This is a small organic farm, with a business owned and operated by two Maine families. They stone-grind and mill flour to order, just as Anson Mills does. I use both their Rye Flour and their Whole-Wheat Bread Flour. Fiddlers Green Farm

There’s one other book I want to mention: Pure Dessert, by Alice Medrich. It’s a beautifully written and photographed book that presents whole grain flours (and other high-quality ingredients) used in interesting ways. This book does not fall under the “health food” category by any stretch; it’s a gourmet dessert cookbook that, if you bake a lot, you may want to consider for your cookbook shelf. It includes several recipes that will familiarize you with buckwheat flour, chestnut flour and other whole-grain flours. The book is displayed under “My Favorite Tools” in the left column of this blog post if you want to have a look.

Click here for the recipe for Miniature Chocolate Cupcakes: Recipe

Copyright 2010, Ellen Arian, Ellen’s Food & Soul