Baking Buckwheat Groats

• To cook buckwheat groats, allow twice as much liquid as grain. Whether you are simmering or baking, therefore, a cup of groats will absorb two cups of liquid. Before liquid is added, groats are often coated with beaten egg and toasted in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until separated and lightly browned. The finished dish is often called kasha, a general Russian term for porridge, but applied primarily to cooked buckwheat in the West. Kasha can be simmered on the stove top, usually requiring 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Alternatively, it can be baked in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 45 minutes.

Classic Baked Kasha

• Served as a main dish, classic baked kasha depends on sauted onions and mushrooms for it complex earthy flavor. Use chicken fat, butter or olive oil to add richness to the onion-mushroom mixture. Wild mushrooms add even more interest. Combine vegetables and toasted groats in a lightly-oiled baking dish. Add liquid and bake for 45 minutes at 350 F. Hearty enough for a main dish, the kasha mixture also makes a great stuffing for poultry.

Pork Chops and Kasha

• To feed a hungry crowd, add previously browned pork chops, chicken thighs or pork sausages to kasha just before baking. Vary the flavors of the dish further by adding tomato juice to the baking liquid or substituting beef or chicken broth for water. Cooking will take close to an hour.

Kasha Pudding

• An earthy cousin to rice pudding, kasha pudding combines grains with milk, eggs and sour cream or their non-dairy equivalents. Sweeten pudding with honey, brown sugar or maple sugar. Diced or grated fresh apple, dried fruits and toasted nuts all enrich this homey dish. Serve warm with additional sour cream or non-dairy topping.

Buckwheat Cookies

• Buckwheat flour is well known for its flavorsome contributions to pancakes and quick breads, but crunchy buckwheat groats can be added to cookies like oatmeal. Applesauce buckwheat cookies include both buckwheat groats and oatmeal along with wheat flour. Experiment with the crisp crunch buckwheat groats can bring to your favorite peanut-butter, chopped-nut or cereal cookie recipe.