Buckwheat side dish

[Alix]

OK, got some buckwheat I am going to use as our starch tonight. I'm sick of potatos/pasta/rice. So, I have boiled my ham bone and I'm going to use that as the liquid. I'm going to toast the buckwheat in my frying pan with some oil and maybe saute some onion and garlic in there too, then I'll pour in some stock and let it simmer til it sucks up most of the liquid.

My question is, do you think that is flavourful enough or should I do some other stuff to it? Add herbs? Chile flakes? Cheese on top at the end? Suggestions?

BTW, this is a version of what my Dad used to call kosha (sp?). Any Ukrainians out there with a more specific recipe for me?

[ella/TO]

My Jewish recipe for kasha......mix some kasha with a raw egg. Stir/mix over med. heat until kasha is dry. Cover kasha with boiling water and let simmer until all water is gone. Carmelize some onions, with lots of salt and pepper, mix into kasha......can use some gravy over this, and/or mix with farfelle, and if needed a bit more oil, Canola preferably.....ENJOY

[urmaniac13]

Buckwheat polenta is very popular in the apline region here. Just mix with regular polenta from cornmeal, circa 1/2-1/2, cook like regular polenta, and enjoy with your favourite sauce! Yum!

[Robo410]

buckwheat (or kasha) is wonderful and nutty in flavor. It tends to clump together unless the egg method is used. It works real well with medium grain rice 50/50 as they have equal cooking times etc. The ham broth would be very tasty. (I have Russian friends who are good cooks)

[Candocook]

Is kasha the same as buckwheat? I like buckwheat pancakes but I think the dish you are trying would be pretty bitter to my taste.
Don't forget about orzo and couscous--I know they are pastas, sort of.
Or mashed cauliflower.

[Alix]

Candocook, kasha is the dish made with buckwheat and it is not at all bitter, its sort of nutty tasting.

Ella, I've never heard of doing the egg thing before. I wish I'd seen this before I started darn it! I'll try that next time.

Urmaniac, not a big polenta fan. I like my kasha to be more grainy I guess.

Robo, thanks for the tips. I didn't realize I could mix it with rice to cook it.

What I actually did was saute some onions and garlic in some butter in my CI pan, then tossed in the buckwheat and toasted it a bit to bring out the flavour. Then I added the ham broth and put it in the oven with the other stuff to let it absorb the liquid. I cut the meat remaining on the bones into little chunks and added that to the kasha as I served. I THOUGHT I had some green onions that I was going to use as well, but alas, I was mistaken. The flavour was wonderful, (but I would like to have had the onions) but I let it get a bit mushy. No biggie for me, but the kids were a bit icked out. LOL. Thanks for the tips folks. I'll try the egg and rice thing next time.

[Candocook]

Oh, I have made kasha--and always called it "cracked wheat". This is not at all "buckwheat" to me, which is a fine flour with a very distinctive flavor.

This from Cook's Thesaurus sort of sums up what I am thinking. I think they are quite different things.

Buckwheat is loaded with nutrients, especially protein, and it has a nutty, earthy flavor. It's most commonly ground into a dark, gritty flour and used to make everything from pancakes to soba noodles. Eastern Europeans also like their buckwheat crushed into small groats, which they toast in oil and use to make side dishes and breakfast cereals.

kasha = kasza = roasted buckwheat groats = toasted buckwheat groats Pronunciation: KAH-shuh Notes: This is the Russian name for buckwheat groats that have been toasted in oil to remove buckwheat's natural bitterness and to bring out a sweeter, nuttier flavor. They come whole or crushed into a coarse, medium, or fine grain. Substitutes: buckwheat groats (Untoasted groasts have a milder, more bitter flavor compared to kasha. You can convert them into kasha yourself by cooking them in oil until they're rust colored.) OR rice

[Alix]

Kasha and buckwheat flour are very different. Isn't it funny how can be talking about the same thing and yet use different words? Any grain can be ground into a flour. I've never used buckwheat flour, in our house, we've only ever had the buckwheat groats.

And cracked wheat is different yet for me. It is the partially ground wheat kernel, not buckwheat. I use cracked wheat in cooked cereal and in bread.

[Candocook]

Yup, but when you said "buckwheat" the thing I know best is buckwheat flour, and hence my answer reflected that.