email this pageOne day in the mid-1970s, Rustebakke got to thinking that something was off. “Here I was spraying my wheat with poison,” he says in his gravelly twang, “and we were eating this stuff—and feeding it to other people, too.”
So, in 1979, when his friends were thinking about retirement, Rustebakke kicked into high gear and transformed his spread into a certified organic farm growing hard red spring wheat. “The Cadillac of wheat,” he says. “You won’t find any better.”
To match his new harvest, Rustebakke bought a brand new granite stone mill, which doesn’t crush the wheat the same way steel rollers can. Today, Rustebakke’s son John has taken over most of the farming duties; Alvin and Dorothy work in packaging and distribution, selling their organic whole-wheat and golden wheat flours, wheat bran, and unground wheat berries, terrific for adding a nutty crunch to soups and salads. Theirs is an on-going success story, three generations of American farming, adapting and changing to meet the times.
Refrigerator Bran Muffins
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Ingredients
2/3 cup wheat bran
1 1/3 cups boiling water
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
Vegetable cooking spray
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup pasteurized egg substitute
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 375F. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray.
4. Add 1 cup buttermilk to bran mixture; stir well with a whisk. Add remaining buttermilk, egg substitute, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla, stirring until smooth.
4. Add flour mixture; stir until a thick batter forms.
5. Fill each cup with 2⁄3 cup muffin batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned. Makes 2 dozen muffins.
Recipe by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, Relish the Healthy Table, "Waves of Grain," Sept. 2008.
Wheatberry Salad
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Ingredients
4 quarts water
1 cup diced celery
1 pound roughly chopped smoked turkey or rotisserie chicken
1 tart apple, such as Northern Spy or Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced (about 1 cup)
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans tablespoons walnut or corn oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2. Place wheat berries in a large bowl; stir in remaining ingredients. Serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 10.
Recipe by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, Relish the Healthy Table, "Waves of Grain," Sept. 2008.
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