recipe to try: Gluten-Free Bread Recipe

source

Delicious Gluten-Free Bread Recipe

This gluten-free bread is tender, fragrant, dairy-free and rice-free, and easily egg-free with proper leavening. Though most gluten-free bread recipes rely on eggs for texture and rise, this recipe is also delicious baked vegan, without eggs (though in all honesty, two whipped eggs will make it rise higher). I use Ener-G Egg Replacer to make it egg-free.

Updated August 26, 2011

First- whisk together your dry ingredients and set aside:

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour (aka jowar flour)
1 cup tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour!)
1/2 cup GF millet flour or GF oat flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/ 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 packet rapid dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons

You'll need sesame seeds for the top; set aside for later. Or omit.

For the Breadman bread machine:

Pour the liquid ingredients into the bread machine pan first:

1 1/4 cups warm water (at 110 to 115ºF) 
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey- or raw agave nectar to keep it vegan
1/2 teaspoon mild rice vinegar or lemon juice
2 organic free-range eggs, beaten or 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 4 tablespoons warm water till frothy

Gently pour the mixed dry ingredients on top of the liquid.

Set your bread machine program for 1.5 loaf medium crust. I used the gluten-free cycle on the Breadman; if you don't have a gluten-free cycle, a rapid rise cycle will also work.

Check the dough after a few minutes of kneading- it should be closer to a muffin batter than bread dough, soft, but not cake batter wet. Adjust dry to wet ratio with a tablespoon of flour or warm liquid, as needed. Humidity influences the dough. As does temperature (your bread will rise higher on a hot day).

If you like a crusty loaf (or your past experience results in a gummy center/fallen top) remove the bread from the pan and place it in the oven at 350ºF for an additional 10 minutes- keep an eye on it and don't let it get too brown. It should be a light golden color.

Cool the loaf before slicing for best results.

Enjoy fresh from the oven- the first day (as with most gluten-free baked goods) has the best texture and taste.

Freeze leftover bread as slices, wrapped in a paper towel and bagged in freezer bags. Thaw to room temperature.

Baking time:1 hour

Yield: 1 loaf

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/02/delicious-gluten-free-bread.html#ixzz1nMzuL0aT

recipe: Slow Cooker Stew Recipe with Buffalo Sausage

I've made this mistake before and obviously haven't learned from it... I invited a few friends & their families for dinner, and tried a new recipe.  One of the friend's I invited have 2 celiac boys, and this gluten free recipe sounded good, so I tried it out for the first time while hosting.  Warning bells!

The recipe was ok, but I had to adjust it at the end to improve things.  The 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar that the recipe calls for is far too much and gave it strong sour overtones.  I had to add some brown sugar to temper it.  I couldn't find the fire roasted tomatoes, so I just used regular canned tomatoes in an Italian seasoning - that could have affected the intended taste.  I didn't have buffalo sausage, but I did have ground buffalo and had just taken a sausage making class, so I had an idea of how to season it.  The flavours in the dish didn't seem to compliment each other - the acidity of the vinegar bit into the potatoes and affected the broth.  I don't think that I would make this one again.

source

Slow Cooker Stew Recipe with Buffalo Sausage

This is a robust and rowdy recipe perfect for a crowd to slurp during half time or whatever time you happen to crave something hot, slightly spicy, and just plain winter day delicious. And there's not a bean in sight. Not one.  

Need it meat-free? That's easy, Babycakes. Just use vegan sausage. Or beans. Boom. Team Vegan.

Virgin olive oil, as needed
6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 large onion, sliced thin
4 medium carrots, chopped
4 cups thinly shredded green cabbage
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 14-oz cans Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes- diced or crushed as you prefer
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon each of: dried basil and parsley
Hot red pepper flakes, shake to taste
5-6 cups organic broth, as needed
8 organic free-range buffalo sausages, sliced

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil into the bottom of a Crock Pot or slow cooker and turn it on to High. When the oil is warm add the chopped garlic and onion; stir to coat. Add the carrots, cabbage and potatoes. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Add the canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, sage, basil, parsley, and hot red pepper flakes, to taste. Pour in enough broth to generously cover the veggies. (If you like more of a brothy stew add more broth; a thicker stew, add less.)

Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the potatoes and carrots are fork-tender and the cabbage is melty soft. 

Add the sliced sausages to warm through (they usually are cooked; if the sausages you use are not cooked, add them in at the beginning). If you need to add more liquid, add some extra broth. Cover and heat through for another twenty to thirty minutes till heated through.

Taste test for seasoning adjustments. Add a pinch of brown sugar to balance the heat or tartness, if you need to. Add more salt and ground pepper, if you need it.

Serves 8.

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/01/buffalo-sausage-stew.html#ixzz1nMyT6hZi

recipe: brown rice coconut milk recipe

I fondly remember a coconut milk rice dish that a previous roommate had, and regret never getting the recipe.  I prefer brown rice over white rice because it has more nutritional value, and also carries a better flavour.  I did a search for a recipe the other day and found one here.  It turned out pretty well.  I used the rice cooker instead of making it in a pot (having grown up with a rice cooker, I'm pretty lousy at having the patience to make it in the pot...I usually end up burning it).  Brown rice usually takes awhile to cook, so I had it going in the rice cooker an hour before I needed it to be ready. 

Ingredients:

• SERVES 3-4 as a Side Dish
• 1+1/2 cups brown jasmine or basmati rice
• 2 cups good-quality coconut milk (preferably regular, not 'lite')
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2+1/2 Tbsp. dry shredded coconut (baking type)
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, or other vegetable oil

Preparation (with a rice cooker):

1. Take the metal pot out of the rice cooker and place it on the stove on low heat.  Put the coconut oil in, until it has melted. Swirl the oil around the bottom until it is evenly coated.  (Don't forget to wear over mitts)
2. Add the rice, coconut milk, water, salt, and shredded coconut. 
3. Turn the slow cooker on and let it do it's thing (it will probably take close to an hour)
4. Fluff the rice with chopsticks or a fork, and serve with your choice of entree(s). If desired, coconut rice can be topped with a sprinkling of toasted coconut (simply 'dry-fry' 1-2 Tbsp. shredded coconut in a dry frying pan until toasted), OR top with a sprinkling of sweetened shredded coconut (as pictured here). ENJOY!

course: natural sausage making

This afternoon I headed over to 3P Natural and Exotic Meats to learn about how to make sausage.  I enjoy a good sausage and figured that if I knew how to make them, I could make my own with the ingredients that are within my restricted diet.

It was a nice little mom & pop shop.  The proprietor, Paul, and his assistant Dennis helped explain the inside scoop on sausages. When sausage has gluten in it, it's because it's been used as a filler.  For example, a butcher has taken a pound of meat and added some cheap ingredients and water turn it into 2 pounds of meat (plus filler) to make a bigger profit.  An inferior product!

Hot Italian Chicken

We used pork-intestines as casing.  This may turn some people off, but it's the best way to make sausage.  There is a cheaper alternative to use a man-made casing developed by grinding down and re-forming animal collagen, but it's tougher, harder to work with, and not as tasty.

Sausage should have about 30% fat content to make it moist & juicy.  Yumm.  If additional fat needs to be added, pork fat is selected because it mixes in the best.

Sage, Onion and Guinness Beef

We had chosen to make a batch of chicken, and a batch of beef sausage.  We were given the option on how to spice them ourselves.  Zac chose the sage & onion for the beef, and I chose the extra-hot spicy Italian for the chicken.  Once we had mixed in the seasonings into the ground meat, we put it into the sausage making canister,  and turned the crank to squeeze it out into the casing.  It was kind of like a caulking gun  (but bigger).  Then we learnt how to link the sausages.  Each alternate sausage needs to be twisted in the opposite direction.  We learnt the triple link method as well which created a prettier (but harder to cut) result.

product: Bobs Red Mill Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

I decided that I needed some snack foods around the house to keep me on-track when I got the munchies. I made a batch of these to freeze.

In the instructions, I substituted the egg it requested with the egg replacement powder (I left out the egg replacement water). The instructions warned that the dough would be crumbly, and it was. It needed to be packed together well before it formed a ball. One baked, the ball of dough didn't melt into a flat round cookie as I'm used to - it only melted a bit and stayed as a chunk.

Impressions: The cookie was pretty crumbly and sweet. It had a nice nutty flavour to it. I'm lukewarm to them. If I were to make it again, I would mix the egg replacement powder with the prescribed water, then mix it into the dry ingredients. I should probably keep less sugary treats on hand instead.

price: $4.85 from iHerb.com (use coupon code QEJ647 for $5 off)

product: PaneRiso Foods Brown Rice Bread

I picked up this product at Thrifty's: PaneRiso Foods Brown Rice Bread
Gluten Free, Wheat Free, No Egg, No Milk, no Lactose, no Cholesterol

Ingredients:
White rice flour, potato starch, water, canola oil, brown rice flour, natual colour, cultured edextrose, sugar, sea salt, yeast, modified cellulose, mono diglycerides

Contains: Soy
Made in a facility that uses milk and eggs

Impression:
The packaging read: 'Delicious Toasted'. I would now interpret that as meaning: 'Almost palatable toasted'. It was like eating cardboard! It was stiff, hard and tasteless. Disguising it under a generous smear of Peanut Butter and Jelly made it edible, but just. Not being one to waste, I ended up crumbling the loaf and using them as breadcrumbs in a different recipe where they worked out ok.

product: Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix

I'm trying out this product today:

Bob's Red Mill

Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix
Link to other Reviews

Wheat Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

Adjustments I made:
Instead of the 2 eggs, I used 2 Tbsp of Bob's Red Mill egg replacer powder (just the powder, no water). There are 2 sets of instructions: by hand and using the bread machine. I choose the bread machine route.

Impressions:
It was indeed a tasty hearty bread. If I wasn't aware that it was gluten-free, I wouldn't have noticed. The caraway seeds could turn some people off due to their strong taste, but I didn't mind them too much. The bread baked perfectly in the bread maker. I liked how the yeast conveniently came with the package. I would definitely make this again.

Purchased at:
iHerb.com $4.73 USD (coupon code: QEJ647 for $5 off)