Teff Report
By Alice Osborne
I wrote a couple weeks ago about a flour I just discovered - teff. Our local health-foods store billed it as the "Flour of the Week," and now that I've worked with it, I can really see why.
Teff is an ancient and intriguing grain, tiny in size yet packed with nutrition. It is simple to prepare and similar to millet or quinoa in cooking. Teff is a great addition to our diet for taste, variety and nutrition.
Teff is LOADED with nutrition. It is higher in protein than wheat and has a high concentration of a wide variety of nutrients, including calcium, thiamin and iron. Teff has twice as much iron as both wheat and barley. And what is really exciting is that the iron from teff is easily absorbed by the body - not true about other food sources of iron. And a cup of cooked teff contains 387 mg of calcium which is 40% of the U.S. recommended daily allowance (USRDA).
Since the grains are so small, the bulk of the grain is germ and brand. It is very high in fiber and is thought to benefit people with diabetes as it helps control blood sugar levels. Teff contains no gluten which makes it a suitable grain for celiacs or people with wheat sensitivities.
All this said, you can see why I'm intrigued with this grain. I've spent the last few days experimenting with it and the results have been great! For instance, I started with baby steps - a blueberry and lemon quick bread, which was delicious. Here's the recipe I used, taken from the back of the teff flour packaging:
Blueberry Lemon Bread
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grated rind (zest) of one lemon
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Topping:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice from one lemon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one (1) loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream butter and then add sugar, a little bit at a time. Beat in the eggs.
In another bowl, combine and sift together the all-purpose flour, teff flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix in the grated lemon rind (zest). Add the flour mixture alternately with milk to the butter mixture. Gently fold in the blueberries.
Bake in preheat oven for approximately 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes; then remove from pan.
In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon juice for the topping. Spoon the sugar mixture over the warm loaf.
One of the things I really LOVE about teff flour is the creamy and smooth crust it makes for quiche recipes. Too often my quiche filling is sabotaged by a crust that's rather tough or in some way detracting from the filling flavor. Not so with the substitution of teff flour. All I did was go half and half on the flour - half all-purpose and half teff. The change was remarkable. The texture was pleasant and the flavor mild.
As I've been researching this grain I'm seeing more and more people substituting with this flour. My next adventure is going to be with muffins. From there I plan to move to chocolate chip cookies. THIS is the biggie - if this is successful, my anti-healthy-eating hubby might just buy in. I'll report back.
