Exploring new possibilities with the WonderMill

http://www.thewondermill.com/

Recently I reviewed a book titled “Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook” and using a recipe of this cookbook I needed to have some quinoa flour.  Instead of purchasing already grinded quinoa flour, I decided to buy the quinoa and grind it myself with the WonderMill.

Within seconds, the quantity I had purchased was all transformed into flour.

Apparently I had enough to make four recipes of muffins.   While reviewing the book, I made mango muffin using the quinoa flour.   Since I had to do another post for the WonderMill, I decided to do a different kind of muffin still based on the recipe I had taken from the book.

This time, I decided to put chocolate chips and dried cranberries instead of the fruit suggested in the recipe.

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup of softened butter

1 egg

1/2 cup low-fat milk

3/4 cup unbleached white flour (okay I will admit that I only had regular flour)

3/4 cup of quinoa flour (freshly made!)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups of mixed chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees.

Beat together the sugar and the butter.

In a separate bowl, beat egg and then add the milk.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add alternating milk and egg mixture with sugar mixture. (Since my sugar mixture was already in the bow of my KitchenAid mixer, I decided to alternate between the liquid and the dry ingredients instead.)

With a spoon, fold in the chocolate chips and the dried cranberries.

Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

These muffins were delicious and didn’t last long in a family of six people.   One recipe will give you about 12 muffins.   Note that I made a double recipe and even with extras, there are no more of them in our fridge.  The taste was a little bit different than regular chocolate chip muffins due to the quinoa flour we used.   However I know that they are healthier as well. 

The WonderMill is a wonderful tool to have at home to make your own flour.   Some situations might require some families to choose to grind their own grain.  This machine will do an incredible job rapidly and without making too much noise.   The quick result can be used immediately in any kind of recipes you have.   This machine also has three different levels of grinding – for pastry, for bread and coarse.   The fact that you can pick the grinding level makes the WonderMill a machine that is ideal for many recipes.

As I mentioned in a previous post about The WonderMill, finding a place where you can buy the grain is a bit tricky in our area. Though I have found a place that is about 40 minutes from our home, I wish it could be available at Bulk Barn or other health stores.   This time around I was able to purchase the quinoa at BulkBarn which was fabulous as there is one close to home.   However, they don’t carry many different kind of grains.   I wish I could get spelt there but I will have to go to the store close to downtown to try that grain.  

I am definitively impressed with the performance of the machine and hope to be able to use it more in the future. At the store I have found, it is possible to purchase the grains in the 10 lbs bags if needed be.    We are still trying to figure out if it is worth it monetarily to do so. 

The WonderMill is available for purchase at the following vendors in Ontario - BERRY HILL LTD in St. Thomas, Canadian Family Resourses in Newton, Castor River Farm in Metcalfe, Cradlerock Homestead in Desboro, and Quality Marketing in Brantford. The price of the WonderMill is 299.99$ Canadian.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the product for review purposes from WonderMill. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook

The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook
Written by Wendy Polisi
Published at Skyhorse Publishing

About the book

With over 200 pages of quinoa-inspired cuisine, The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook is unlike any other quinoa cookbook. Inside you’ll find Wendy’s exclusive, hand-crafted recipes, photographs of every recipe, nutritional information for every recipe, and alternative ingredients and preparation methods. Included are vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, fast & easy, eating clean, quinoa recipes for kids, and even desserts! Let’s take a quick peek at the recipes included: Strawberry Spinach Quinoa Salad, Black Bean and Quinoa Tostadas, Quinoa Burgers, Almond Fudge Quinoa Brownies, Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza, and much more!

Who is Wendy Polisi?

Wendy Polisi’s goal is to create whole nutritious foods that are also exceptionally delicious. She came across quinoa by accident—as a busy mom, she felt run-down and out of shape, but after trying out a quinoa recipe one day she was hooked—and she’s never looked back. She lives in Arizona with her family.

My Thoughts

I never cooked with quinoa before.  I’ve heard of it.  I was curious about it.   But up until today I didn’t have the courage to try it out.    So when I received this book to review, I had the obligation to go purchase some quinoa because honestly how can someone review a cookbook without trying at least one recipe.

So I went to Bulk Barn and purchased a small quantities of quinoa.    Now what will I do with it?    I needed to find a recipe…  This book contains recipes for every possible meal you want to serve: breakfast, appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, sides, pasta, polenta, pizza, breads, muffins, desserts.   There is even a section for cooking with kids.    Honestly, I never seen such a complete book on a specific ingredients before!

I looked at each recipe in the book before deciding to go ahead and try the muffins.

All I needed to do was to transform the quinoa into flour and thanks to my WonderMill this was done in seconds!  Look at this amazing quinoa flour freshly made at home. 

Before I give you the recipe, I must admit that we changed it a bit.  You see the recipe is supposed to be blueberry muffins but after going to the Farm Boy my husband and I we quickly realized that the price of blueberries were quite high so we purchased mangoes instead.   Will the switch work?   The only way I could know is by doing the recipe.   So here’s the recipe.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup of softened butter

1 egg

1/2 cup low-fat milk

3/4 cup unbleached white flour (okay I will admit that I only had regular flour)

3/4 cup of quinoa flour (freshly made!)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups blueberries, dredged in 3 tbsp quinoa flour (okay here’s the switch here… I had mangoes, remember?)

Preheat the oven at 385 degrees. 

Beat together the sugar and the butter.

In a separate bowl, beat egg and then add the milk.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add alternating milk and egg mixture with sugar mixture.   (Since my sugar mixture was already in the bow of my KitchenAid mixer, I decided to alternate between the liquid and the dry ingredients instead.)

Don’t forget to flour the fruits…

With a spoon, fold in the floured fruits.

Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

The results are beautiful yummy muffins that the whole family will enjoy tomorrow morning. 

This marvelous muffin was eaten by my husband and I and we both thought it was delicious.   Mind you we have never had cooked mango before so not only we tried out quinoa but we also experimented with the mangoes!   

This recipe was easy to do and doesn’t take much time.    I suspect that you could replace the blueberries with any fruits you would prefer – even chocolate chips!

I still have some quinoa flour so now I have to figure out what else we want to try.   I am more willing now to try other recipes from this cookbook and discover the wide range of possibilities that quinoa offers.

If you want to try something new in your meal preparation, I suggest that you check out The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook to expand your taste buds and your repertoire of recipes.

The Quintessential Quinoa Cookbook is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Thomas Allen. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.