Little do they know, they’re about to be massacred…
Katie’s Recipe for how NOT to cook Wheatberries
Yesterday, when I set off to cook my wheatberries, all was as it should have been. I put the pre-soaked berries under a low flame while I enjoyed breakfast. Afterwards, I lowered the flame to a simmer while cleaning up. So far, so good.
But then, since I was all sweaty from running earlier that morning, I sauntered upstairs to take a shower, completely forgetting about my wheatberries. Uh oh!
Emerging from the shower, I was greeted with a smell reminiscent of burnt toast.
“Hmm,” I thought to myself. “I didn’t have any toast this morning, and I don’t think my parents did either. What could that smell be?”
Answer:
Poor little wheatberries; they never saw it coming. (Not to mention the poor kitchen pot!)
But never fear; this story does have a happy ending. Luckily, there was still plenty of time to cook up another bunch of wheatberries before dinner.
(Below, a beautiful rainbow stir fry in a red-wine-vinegar sauce)
And they all lived happily ever after (in my tummy).
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Hahaha! Forgetting that you are cooking is something I think all of us have to go through. I bet that pan was a pain in the bum to clean.
Your meal looks gorgeous, all the color! I’m happy you had enough time to cook more wheat berries!
Haha oh how I LOVE the title of your post!
I bought a giant bag of wheatberries about a month ago and STILL have yet to try them out. Thanks for reminding me to keep an eye on the stove when I finally do ;o)
Ooohh…pretty colors! And those poor, poor wheatberries. I’ve done the same thing many times with brown rice. I usually prepare it in the mornings if I’m having it for dinner since it takes so long to cook. And sometimes, I forget…oops!
oh! poor wheatberries! I actually kind of learned to cook because my mother was always forgetting the food on the stove… But at the end you saved the day!
(thanks for blogging a disaster, I’m not the only one! woohoo!)
I’ve been doing the same thing with quinoa lately.. and there’s really no excuse to burn that! The suckiest part is cleaning that dang pot! Glad you saved the meal though!
I have never cooked wheat berries before, but thanks for the warning!
Yea, it is kind of lame how the airports make you throw out jars of nut butters; they are a perfect travel food!
haha..loved the title of your post…or rather the subtitle below. The rainbow stir fry seems to have more than made up for the kitchen mishap.
i did the same things with a batch of brown rice once! eek! i’m glad you had time to make more wheatberries! your post title is cracking me up – and the rainbow stir fry looks freak’n amazing! i want to put it in my face!
Lol You poor thing. I hate it when that happens! We’ve all been there, and most of us more than once. Your successful food looks great though!
Mmmm stir fry looks yummy- I am glad that you managed to cook some successfully. It is always disappointing when a cooking mishap occurs (I should know I have had loads!)
I agree with jennifer, the worst part about burning is trying to clean the pot afterward!
That was a beautiful story. How did they taste when they were all done? (Assuming you only ate the 2nd batch!)
Funny story! Reminded me of all those times I’ve burnt food. The stir-fry looks gorgeous.
The colors in that stir-fry are gorgeous! Glad you got to eat the wheat berries in the end. (Oh, and if you soak them overnight in water, covered, in the pot, then drain and cook the next morning, and they cook up much faster–less chance of forgetting!)
Do you really run every single morning?
aww, such a happy ending! i know how it feels to ruin something beloved and much looked faward to in the kitchen. im SO SORRY!
( well, at least you got a new batch cooked right?
We both had problems in the kitchen today! But at least other can learn what NOT to do from our mistakes, right???
I love how colorful your meal was!
Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all, can you?
I’ve never eaten wheat berries before. Now I’m curious about them.
I can empathize with the burned food.
I made a cheesecake on Sunday and started cooking down some strawberries for a glaze – forgot about them and burned them all into the pot. What a mess – and a bummer.
LOL!! Don’t you just hate it when you burnt your food!! I tried to make an upside down cake once and somehow I managed to burnt it :0( Cleaning the skillet was the worst part!!!
On another note, I’ve never tried wheatberries before, are they really good for you?! I’m really confuse about which is the best grain to eat!!!
Despite your small mishap, you still managed to make me want to try wheatberries!
Your title made me laugh! Aww…it is so sad when good food gets burnt but it happens to everyone! Usually with me it is rice but a few weeks back I was trying to make a peanut butter sauce and let me tell you, burnt peanut butter smells NASTY!
Glad your story had a happy ending though
Oh, boy, you burnt those wheatberries up good! Thank goodness you had purple cabbage to erase the memory.
yeah, wheatberries seem a little too labor intensive for me. i probably would have burned my house down. and the neighbors.
Oh poor wheatberries
And that pot! Have fun cleaning it up 
I’m glad you got to eat yumminess in the end though.
Your stif fry is so beautiful, what gorgeous colours. Hope you didn’t have too much trouble cleaning out the pot!
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I don’t think I’ve ever come accross wheat berries… Maybe I’ll have to start looking for them. (Although, I may not follow your recipe!)
OH NO!!!!! no joke I can never get wheat berries right.. they take too long and they always end up crunchy.. yuck!! hahah its ok your still a great cook!
What a colorful stirfry! I hate forgetting about food and burning it-not only do you have to start over and waste food, but the pot is a mess too.
aww haha how sad about your first batch of wheat berries!
but wow! the second try definitely looks gorgeous!
Well, I would love your recipe for how to SUCCESSFULLY cook wheat berries (the ones that survived look good!). Every time I have tried, they are good, but not fully cooked.
So sad! Here is how I cook my wheatberries and they are perfect everytime. 1/2 to 1 cup of wheatberries. Rinse you berries and put them in a stainless steal thermos. Add 1 qt of boiling water put on the lid and let them sit at least 2 hours, but I leave mine overnight. Perfection in the morning. Hope this helps.:o)
Ooohhh. I have a problem with forgetting things on the stove. I feel for you! I’ve seen enough of blackened pots to last me a lifetime! Though I know I’ll probably be seeing more:) I have fewer problems now though since I discovered thermal cookers! I had no idea these things existed. I saw a used one for sale and had to try it. Now I only need to stand at the stove for 15 minutes or so and if my attention doesn’t waver in that time, nothing needs to get burned!
BTW, a tip for getting off the last of the soot is to scrub it with coarse salt.
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