Recipe
May 27, 2012
Warm Wheat Berry Salad Recipe
Salad
Step 1: To prepare the wheat berries, rinse them under cold water. Place in a medium pot and cover with 2″ of water. Bring the pot to a boil and season with a big pinch of salt (about 1/2 tsp). Cover and simmer over low heat until tender but still chewy, about 1 hour. Drain the wheat berries (if any excess water remains). You should have about 6 cups of wheat berries.
Step 2: To make the vinaigrette, run the lemon wedges under a stream of cool running water for 15 minutes to rinse away excess salt. You also can soak the wedges in a generous amount of water overnight. Drain the wedges, remove the pulp, and cut away as much pith as possible without losing any of the rind. Mince the rind. In a small bowl, mix the rind with the onion, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, and honey. Season gently with salt and pepper (the rind will be salty), then whisk in the olive oil.
Step 3: To make the salad, if using fresh peas, blanch them in a pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes, then drain. If using frozen peas, rinse them briefly under running water. Fold the peas into the wheat berries, followed with all but 2 tbsp of the vinaigrette. Mix in the mint and fennel fronds, then taste, seasoning with salt if needed. Keep warm.
Step 4: To serve, in a large bowl toss the pea shoots with salt, pepper and the remaining 2 tbsp of vinaigrette. Lay a bed of pea shoots on a serving platter. Spoon the warm wheat berries on top.
Preserved Lemons
Step 1: In a large bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and herbes de Provençe.
Step 2: Slice off the ends of the lemons and cut smaller lemons into 4 wedges, larger lemons into 6 wedges. Coat the wedges generously in the cure. Layer some cure at the base of a ceramic or glass storage container (a wine bottle chiller or large mason jar works well). Layer in the wedges, sprinkling more cure between each layer. Squeeze 1 or 2 of the lemons over the top, then coat the top layer generously with the remaining cure. If the lemons aren’t completely covered, sprinkle a layer of salt over the top. Cover the container and set aside for 4 to 5 days.
Step 3: In a few days, lemon juice will leach out of the wedges and mix with the salt, creating a brine. Check to see that the lemons are submerged. You might need to put a plastic lid on top of the lemons and put a weight, such as a ramekin, on the lid to prevent the wedges from bobbing to the surface, which inhibits proper curing. Place in a cool corner (preferably under 65°F), giving the lemons a periodic stir, and cure for at least 1 month but preferably 4 months. Once cured, the lemons will keep for at least a year in the refrigerator as long as they stay submerged in the brine.
See more recipes from Paul Virant and Kate Leahy.
Reprinted with permission from Paul Virant and Kate Leahy’s The Preservation Kitchen (2012 Ten Speed Press).
Directions
Yield:
Salad
Step 1: To prepare the wheat berries, rinse them under cold water. Place in a medium pot and cover with 2″ of water. Bring the pot to a boil and season with a big pinch of salt (about 1/2 tsp). Cover and simmer over low heat until tender but still chewy, about 1 hour. Drain the wheat berries (if any excess water remains). You should have about 6 cups of wheat berries.
Step 2: To make the vinaigrette, run the lemon wedges under a stream of cool running water for 15 minutes to rinse away excess salt. You also can soak the wedges in a generous amount of water overnight. Drain the wedges, remove the pulp, and cut away as much pith as possible without losing any of the rind. Mince the rind. In a small bowl, mix the rind with the onion, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, and honey. Season gently with salt and pepper (the rind will be salty), then whisk in the olive oil.
Step 3: To make the salad, if using fresh peas, blanch them in a pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes, then drain. If using frozen peas, rinse them briefly under running water. Fold the peas into the wheat berries, followed with all but 2 tbsp of the vinaigrette. Mix in the mint and fennel fronds, then taste, seasoning with salt if needed. Keep warm.
Step 4: To serve, in a large bowl toss the pea shoots with salt, pepper and the remaining 2 tbsp of vinaigrette. Lay a bed of pea shoots on a serving platter. Spoon the warm wheat berries on top.
Preserved Lemons
Step 1: In a large bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and herbes de Provençe.
Step 2: Slice off the ends of the lemons and cut smaller lemons into 4 wedges, larger lemons into 6 wedges. Coat the wedges generously in the cure. Layer some cure at the base of a ceramic or glass storage container (a wine bottle chiller or large mason jar works well). Layer in the wedges, sprinkling more cure between each layer. Squeeze 1 or 2 of the lemons over the top, then coat the top layer generously with the remaining cure. If the lemons aren’t completely covered, sprinkle a layer of salt over the top. Cover the container and set aside for 4 to 5 days.
Step 3: In a few days, lemon juice will leach out of the wedges and mix with the salt, creating a brine. Check to see that the lemons are submerged. You might need to put a plastic lid on top of the lemons and put a weight, such as a ramekin, on the lid to prevent the wedges from bobbing to the surface, which inhibits proper curing. Place in a cool corner (preferably under 65°F), giving the lemons a periodic stir, and cure for at least 1 month but preferably 4 months. Once cured, the lemons will keep for at least a year in the refrigerator as long as they stay submerged in the brine.
See more recipes from Paul Virant and Kate Leahy.
Reprinted with permission from Paul Virant and Kate Leahy’s The Preservation Kitchen (2012 Ten Speed Press).
[img_assist|nid=2128901|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=middle|width=225|height=251]Jeff Kauck