Pear Crumble Recipe with Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat

Hey. Welcome. Here we are in the Big Bold Health Test Kitchen, and I'm with my star Chef, Jillian Martin. I'm Jeff Bland, and we're Big Bold Health. And we're going to do something to celebrate the start of fall 2021. I'm pretty excited about this. You'll see before us. In case you can't see, let me just show you if I can lift this up. This is partial of our harvest of our pears off our pear tree outside the Big Bowl Health Test Kitchen. So we're going to make a Himalayan tartery buckwheat pear crumble. What do you think?

Pretty.

Pretty exciting.

Yes.

So the way we're going to divvy this up is I'm the sous chef, this is the master chef. She's going to take you through. It's a fairly simple recipe, but I can screw up even the most simple things. So fortunately, we have an expert. But let me just tell you what we're going to use. We're obviously going to use as our principal important ingredient our Himalayan Tartery Buckwheat organic regenerative agriculture produced flour. Now, for those of you that are not so inclined to use flour, I just want you to know we do have other ways of delivering the nutrition value. Those are our shake mix and our HCV rejuvenate capsules. But obviously, for this recipe, we're going to use the flour. Out of this is going to come the most remarkable pear crumble. So, Julian, are you ready to go?

Ready to go.

Okay, let's hit it.

All right, so first off, we're gonna have Jeff and I select our pears to use. Our recipe calls for four to six, you know, small to medium. So I. I like the sweeter the better. Natural sugars are gonna kind of come through in the more yellow, more ripened pears. These are all natural, all organic. You can see the bugs got to them. That's fine. That's great. That's kind of what we want. Adds the flavor. We've got this one with a nice blush here.

These two are kind of on the way to be maximum sweetness. So. So do we want six, or do we want four? We might as well take six because we. We have the riches of plenty here. So. So let's try this one, and let's try this one over here.

Okay.

Okay.

There we go. And if you want more bite to the crumble, the more firm, more green and ripe fruit is going to give you that.

So. Good suggestion. See, there's the difference between someone else. What they're doing and someone that doesn't, which is me. So now we're going to put these aside. I'm going to start preparing the pears, and you're going to teach people what we're doing.

All right, so we're going to get.

Our.

Items measured out for the crumble. We want to kind of get some oats in here.

Okay. So I need to just add. My great contribution to this is that I technically was competent to turn the oven on to preheat at 375. So that is my contribution to the technology underlying this whole experience. Excellent. Okay, good. All right.

So, yes, you always want to preheat. Makes everything go faster. And. Here. All right, so we've got everything in here. There's two methods of doing this. I kind of prefer the cut in and stir as you go method, but you can always microwave to soften your butter. I want to get that upper body work in, though, so I'm going to go ahead and just go in with it cold. All right, so I'm mixing all my dry ingredients for the crumble here. You just want to incorporate it really nice so that everything is kind of uniformly mixed.

That's.

That's what you're going for there.

Yeah. I've, you know, had a couple of experiences where I got a little. When I was making the buckwheat tartar be buckwheat pancakes batter, I got a little bit excited about getting them onto the oven too quickly. So my mixing was not homogeneous. Yes. And that's not the really best outcome from what you're trying to do. So I really agree with you. Blending to homogeneity is important.

It's key. Yes. In many phases of your cooking journey, you'll find that that's. That's paramount.

Yep.

Okay. So I've got this going in here. And I mean, we all know the basic idea here. Right. We're just going to kind of get it in there, crumble it down, and then after we have it mixed in and set to a nice kind of, you know, you don't want it even. You want the crumble to kind of have a differing texture, and it just adds to that interest and gives you different pockets of flavor. So we're going to mix it in, get everything all kind of combined and as cohesive as it'll get for a crumble, and then you want to throw it in the fridge as soon as you can.

Let me say something quickly about the pears. The reason that we selected today to do this is because We've been waiting for these pears to ripen to maximum sweetness. So, you know, often you are really kind of trying to get unripe pears that are granular and kind of grainy into a product of this type, and then you're disappointed because the flavor isn't full. So I would suggest using a little restraint and make sure your pears, because they normally in the store are picked a little bit prematurely, so you have to let them ripen up. So these are really. We tested them ahead of time. These are full flavor pears and it took us about four days after we picked them from the green to come into their yellow and more sweet flavor and proper texture.

Yeah, they're really good.

Yeah, they are.

They have a really good flavor and a good texture. Again, as you're saying, because pears have that kind of, you know, they can be a little gritty. So it's just nice we get away from that. All right, so this is about as crumbly and kind of combined as I care to have it.

Okay.

After I talked about it.

Okay.

We're doing this on the fly and that's what we're going to. Okay. So last thing that I failed to add somehow was our Himalayan tartary buckwheat. So as flour. Excuse me. So as important as it is to get everything homogeneous, as we just talked about, we're gonna go ahead and add this and I'll just be a mixin and a mixin' and that's fine. So we're doing this at. We had our almond flour at the half cup and we add a quarter cup. And because I'm adding this late, you can do it. Not recommended. Go ahead and kind of sprinkle it around and get it in there as best you can, and then you're just gonna have to work it. But again, if you can add it all together with the dry ingredients, blend it until uniform.

Now, one of the things that I've learned about using this tartery buckwheat flour, which is really interesting, is it depending on how you put other ingredients with it and then how you cook it, it's going to change color on you. And that's because all the flavonoids and the polyphenols in there are able to kind of find their own state of function relative to the temperature and the ph of the medium in which they find themselves. It's a little bit like food chemistry. And for me, as a chemistry geek, I. I love it. It's almost like using phenolphthalein as an indicator when you're doing titration. So don't be surprised if you see when you cook Himalayan tartary buckwheat flour containing recipe that you'll see the color change. It could be anywhere from light brown to orange. Even over longer periods of time, it turns a kind of orange greenish color. All of that is related to the chemistry of the various ingredients in the flour. So it's not something bad. It's just because remember, this is a live food. So there are enzymes within the Himalayan tartary buckwheat flour that are going to be working on things like the flavonoids to break down the glycones to a glycones. And I know that's a chemistry geek thing, but what it does is they're still all in there, but they then change their relative composition. And it just reminded me that I got to make a few of these pulverized crystallized ginger for flavoring. So that's the next piece of our.

Work here we're going to go for. Actually, I have all the perfectly. We've got about three to four tablespoons.

Okay. So we're doing a little bit of just dicing the ginger. But I want to remember for all of you that ginger is an unbelievable phytochemical rich food as well, spice as well. So, you know, we're adding kind of a symphonic orchestration of different active molecules in our final product. A lot of people say, oh, desserts are bad. Oh, you know, don't eat desserts. But actually desserts, depending upon what you put into them, can be very nutrient rich and can actually add extraordinary amounts of important phytochemicals to your recipe or your meal. And in this case, what we're saying is we're adding these ginger molecules which are extraordinary antioxidants and insulin signaling substances, along with we're adding the cumulating tertiary buckwheat, over 60 different phytochemicals that are known to be immune active. So it's, we're really producing a symphony. So this is not a dessert with harm. This is a dessert with celebration. Now, what are you adding there, Ms. Martin?

Yes, I'd like to say not with Harm, but with harmony.

Oh, very good, very good.

I just added some flax to this. I like the texture. You know, it's, it's up to you what you want to add. You can add almonds, you can add any, any number of seeds and, or nuts to this. So we're getting ready to cover it here and we're gonna throw it in the fridge for the time being to kind of solidify.

Did you want to add the ginger? Yeah. No. Or not?

Not yet.

Okay, good.

All right, so this is our crumble mixture. It's a little loose right now. That's why you're going to throw it in the fridge while we prep the rest of the inside of the crisp. And we will wash that now.

Okay. Beautiful.

Anytime that you see something that's liquid and liquids, nine times out of 10, you're going to add your sugar with your liquids because they do liquefy. So that's kind of an important step. Thank you, Jeff. All right.

You know, it's interesting. Just as an aside, I was never a big proponent of monk fruit sweetener, but I have to say that since we've been using tartary buckwheat in many recipes, I find it really is a very, very good debittering agent for the monk. For the tartary buckwheat, it tends to really take the. That aftertaste that some people say is bitter with tartary buckwheat. So I'm kind of become a strong proponent. Plus, the low glycemic index, you know, there's no sugar. So I think it's a dual good hit with the monk fruit sweetener used in these tartary buckwheat. Himalayan tartary buckwheat recipes.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Neutralizes that front of bitterness.

Did you want the ginger now or.

Yeah, so we're going to go ahead and throw the ginger in and then throw our whole fruit in.

Okay.

Hold everything over and get it all nice and coated.

Okay. I'm going to start adding fruit. Is that okay?

That's perfect.

This was again, four. Four pairs.

Six.

Well, that's right. Six. Oh, my word. Yeah. Six. Thank you. So, yeah. No wonder we have so much.

Yes.

Yeah.

So, and then once you get it on top of your liquid again, I like to just kind of fold it in, and it's going to coat everything really nicely and just get a really good even covering on all of that fruit. And then we're going to kind of pop it into the. Into the tray here. And then we'll top it with a crumble, which has been kind of getting a little firm and cool.

And, you know, what I found in doing some of this before is that some people are, like, put off when they look at the skins at this point, but after you've cooked it and put the crumble on, quite honestly, cosmetically, it doesn't really look bad at all. In fact, it looks quite nice and it does add more texture and flavor. And a lot of your vitamins and fiber are right below the skin, so you didn't lose it. So you're retaining the full goodness of a pear by doing it this method.

Absolutely. Yeah, I like it. And again, it adds that magic mouthfeel texture for me that I just really enjoy. I get that kind of hometown country feel. You know, it's a little bit more natural than the store bought kind of stuff that you might find. All right, so we're gonna go ahead and just decant this whole mixture.

This is the moment.

Here we go.

It's making my mouth water. Now. The smell of the spice is amazing.

That's really what kind of gets. It just sets the whole thing off. So you want to kind of just. I like to tamp it into an even layer. Some of the liquid, you know, it already starts its little extraction process through its various chemical processes. So it's going to kind of get a little uneven. Just kind of give it a little shake and shimmy there.

Now remember, we got all those good phytochemicals in the filling with the ginger and cinnamon, the nutmeg, so phytochemically dense. And now we go. And by the way, this is pretty high fiber too. Yeah. So now we're going to go and we're going to add the magic of Himalayan tartary buckwheat.

Yes, very exciting.

All right, so do you want me to show this and what you've come to the conclusion of your expertise as to how we want to make this most useful for putting on as a topping?

Yes, absolutely. So sometimes maybe your measurement's off, maybe it's an altitude or pressure kind of thing going on with the barometric atmospheric pressure. You never know what the, what the reasoning is. But sometimes your crumble doesn't kind of get crumbly, it gets more sort of cementy. So I'm going to add a little bit more drying flour. I'm just going to go ahead and boost our Himalayan tertiary buckwheat amount. I love it. It just kind of adds that little bit of bite to it and gets a really, really nice texture. Alright, so it's tight. It's looking pretty crumbly to me. We're gonna go ahead and do the rest of our fingers and get this topped and throw it in the oven.

Yeah, so I'm really reminded, I'm watching you do that, that there are a couple of important high percentage phytochemicals or phytonutrients. Present in Himalayan tartary buckwheat, one of which is rutin and the other, which is its family member, quercetin. And a lot of people don't understand that quercetin actually comes as a chemical modification of rutin. So rutin is then broken down by enzymes into quercetin. So when we do this whole process and we've allowed the mixture to sit for a while, we're actually. Once we've put mixture of liquid into it, we're actually allowing some of the rutin to convert to quercetin. So we're ending up with a balanced mixture of rutin and quercetin, both of which have unique effects as immune strengthening, nutrients. So, again, food chemistry. I know it's a little bit of a geek ism, but that's what happens as we allow this to sit for a while with liquid before we cook it. Now, when we cook it, we're going to be denaturing the enzymes, so once we cook it, then it won't be converting anymore. But up to the point of cooking, we're actually doing some food chemistry in the mixture as we've allowed it to sit for a while.

So we're going to go ahead and pop this in the oven.

Pop it is. I'll go over and open the door for you.

Here we go.

Okay. It's preheated one. 375? Yep.

375.

And.

And we're going to throw it in there for 30 to 35 minutes or until it gets a little crispy, little crumbly.

Okay. Okay. Are we ready?

So we are ready to get this out of the oven.

I heard the timer go off, and it looked very good when we did our inspection.

All right, so about 35 minutes in the oven. 375 fahrenheit.

Ooh, I like the looks of this baby. I like it. Oh, yes. That's Himalayan tartery Buckwheat at its best.

Absolutely. So it's still a little loose. You're going to want to let this sit for about 10, 15 minutes to just kind of cool down and congeal and get everything all mixed in.

So I've learned a number of things here, and I think one of the great takeaways that you gave us is that this basic recipe can be variations on a theme to many other examples with different fruits, different nuts, different seeds, different spices. But the concept of using Himalayan tartary buckwheat flour as your balancing topping is a really great secret because of the flavor, the nutrients, and the low glycemic response. The good glucose response.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And this recipe actually, as we made it, is gluten free. So that's another added bonus, which is really great.

I'm on it. You know, if I didn't have such an impetuous personality, I would be able to wait, say, another 30 minutes. But quite honestly, I burned the top of my mouth so many times because I can't wait. But I am going to hold off a little bit because this is still 350 degrees. So thank you, Ms. Jillian Martin. This has been such a treat working with you on this special dessert. I'm going to call it treat event. So thank you.

Thank you. Likewise.

So, Master Chef Jillian Martin. This has been a lot of fun for me. I'm learning some skills here, things that I normally have not done. No wonder my recipes don't always turn out as I like. But I think that we're going to have a product here. Now, one could conceive of other fruit that might do in doing this. So what would other fruits that would be amenable to this recipe?

Yeah, other fruits are obviously the classic apples, but you can also do kind of a blend, right? You can get some unripe mangoes or some of the firmer mangoes, and you can add those in with peaches. Kind of get a differing texture, differing flavor hit, maybe even add some different spices in with that. So it's more of a tropical kind of flavor. Add a little bit of coconut to your crumble, you've got a totally different dessert for a totally different time. Kind of exciting.

And, you know, when I look at the kind of do the calculations on calorie count for this dessert? Because a lot of people think, oh, jeez, desserts are really high calories. This comes out to being just a little over 100 calories per normal serve. So it's really a very calorie friendly dessert and it's nutrient packed. So if you do nutrients to calorie this scores high on the scale.

Absolutely. And I mean, really, if you're somebody that's kind of concerned about macros, you know, you're on some sort of ketogenic thing or you're working on a whole diet program, you can really kind of rest assured that as long as you're eating the correct portion, you're going to be within a really nice area and have a really delicious dessert.

Oh, but you just said something. I know, that's very. For me, it's like, okay, I'm on a calorie control portion size. But then I think well, that looks like I could maybe have a couple more portions. But see, that's the self restraint that we have to exercise. But I think once you start doing this. And the thing I love about the Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat is that it really blends with the sweetness of the fruit to produce a very different flavor than if you were to use, say, normal flour or just oats alone. It adds a really interesting enhancement of the flavor of the product.

Yeah, I would agree. It's that kind of almost like bitter front, but it comes in and smooths out the sweetness and makes it really, really nice and in my opinion, more palatable because I'm a little sensitive to sugar as it is. So, yeah, it's really, it's a nice way to get these phytonutrients in sort of more of a flavorful way instead of just constantly going for a savory hit. Enjoy a little sweetness.

Well, I can tell all of you you're going to enjoy seeing the product of this 30 minute cooking experience in a moment, but for me, this has been a pleasure sharing the food lab bench top with you in the production of this pear Himalayan Turkey buckwheat crumble. So thank you, Jillian Martin.

Thank you, Dr. Jeffrey Bland.