Middle Eastern Influenced Kernza®
Serves 2-3 People
Yogurt: 15 min.
Main Prep.: 45 min.
Cook Time: 30 min.
Total: 1 hour. 30 min.
Equipment
- Medium Sauce Pot w/Lid
- Strainer (Optional)
- Rubber Spatula
- Digital Scale (Optional but recommended)
- Spice Grinder (If not using pre-ground spices)
- Mixing Bowls &/or Tupperware
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Ingredients
Kernza
- Roughly 1 Cup Kernza (after soaking, rinsing, draining)
- 1 Cup Chicken stock
- 1/2ea. Onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1/2ea.-1ea. Eggplant (diced-½ inch-& fried)
- 1/4 Cup Roasted Red Pepper (From a jar is fine)
- 2 Tbsp Parsley (rough chop or torn)
- 6ea. Mint Leaves (rough chop or torn)
- 1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
- 2 ½ Tsp. Spice Blend
- 2ea. Clove
- 2ea. Cardamom pod
- 1ea. Bay Leaf
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ Tsp. Salt
Spice Blend
(All ground, parts by weight. Volume is acceptable if scale is not available)
- 2 parts Sumac
- 1 part Cinnamon
- 1 part Allspice
- ½ part Black Pepper
- ½ part Paprika
Yogurt
- 1/2 Cup Yogurt (using Faye 2%)
- 3 Tbsp Buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp. Sumac
- 2 tsp. Dill
- Packed ½ Tsp. Mint Leaves
- 1 tsp. Lemon Juice
- ¼ tsp. Salt
Show in Imperial
Ingredients
Kernza
- Roughly 140-145g. Kernza (after soaking, rinsing, draining)
- 250g. Chicken stock
- 180g. Onion
- 2Cloves (8-10g.) Garlic
- 100g. Eggplant (diced-½ inch-& fried)
- 50g. Roasted Red Pepper (From a jar is fine)
- 4g. Parsley (rough chop or torn)
- 6ea. Mint Leaves (rough chop or torn)
- 36g. Pine Nuts
- 4-6g. Spice Blend
- 2ea. Clove
- 2ea. Cardamom pod
- 1ea. Bay Leaf
- 24g Olive Oil
- 4g. Salt
Spice Blend
(All ground, parts by weight. Volume is acceptable if scale is not available)
- 2 parts Sumac
- 1 part Cinnamon
- 1 part Allspice
- ½ part Black Pepper
- ½ part Paprika
Yogurt
- 120g Yogurt (using Faye 2%)
- 45g Buttermilk
- 2g Sumac
- 4g. Dill
- 8ea. Mint Leaves
- 8g. Lemon Juice
- 2g. Salt
This recipe was inspired by “Musakhan,” a popular Palestinian dish. Spices like cinnamon and allspice pair wonderfully with Kernza, and sumac (the dominant spice in Musakhan) is also a Midwest staple. Win-win! Feel free to add more of your favorite herbs, or substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock to make it vegetarian!
In Advance:
- Soak 80g (½ Cup) of Kernza and ¼ Tsp. Salt with enough water to cover completely for a minimum of 8 hours. Up to overnight.
- Slice Eggplant into “coins” or “planks” (bisections), salt each side of slice, lay flat between two layers of paper towels (or on a resting rack), and let sit for at least an hour up to over night.
- Dice sliced eggplant and fry in ½ inch of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Drain diced/fried eggplant on paper towels. Salt while hot.
- Prep. yogurt
- Blend Spices
Method (Using Soaked Kernza)
-
Add oil and pine nuts to sauce pot, and heat together on medium heat until nuts are a light golden brown. Stir Constantly!
- Remove pine nuts, and reserve oil.
- With the reserved oil and same sauce pot, heat on medium, and add the diced onion. Sweat until just beginning to turn translucent.
- Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add spice blend, bay leaf, clove, and cardamom, stir for another 30 seconds.
- Add Kernza and salt. Stir until combined.
- Pour in chicken stock. Stir until combined.
- Bring mixture to a boil, cover, and drop heat until mixture is at a steady simmer.
- Cover pot, and set timer for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove lid and if necessary, continue stirring over heat until the liquid coats the grain and does not pool or leech out of the mixture.
- Remove pot from the heat, add in red pepper, fried eggplant, parsley/mint, and mix to combine
- Adjust salt to your liking.
- Serve “family style” with yogurt on the side, or individually by spooning Kernza on top of a thin layer of yogurt.
- Garnish with Parsley and Mint (torn or whole).
- Enjoy warm!
Yogurt Method:
- Finely mince dill and mint
- Combine all ingredients in small mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Adjust salt & lemon to your liking.