Book of Yum

One of my favorite cookbooks is Bette Hagman’s “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread”. In my opinion, one of the best recipes in the book is her Quinoa bread (on pg. 70). It has a wonderful texture that comes from her four flour blend which uses bean flour and sorghum to make a high protein product with great flavor. Three tablespoons of quinoa add protein and a surprising amount of flavor, giving it an impressive brown bread flavor that seems ‘wheaty’ to me. It comes out of my programmable Zojirushi bread machine from the GF cycle very high and fluffy, with a lovely crust. I always let it cool to room temperature before cutting it, which prevents it from collapsing. Then I enjoy fresh slices, as it actually has a wonderful soft texture that doesn’t require toasting, at least for the first day or so. It’s very popular with DH as well. After the first day, I generally toast it and use it in sandwiches or as toast. It’s very good with butter or margarine and high quality honey. I also like it in grilled cheese sandwiches, with pesto or goat cheese with tomato and avocado, with tuna fish salad or egg salad, and even with hummus. It also makes a nice bread for a Gardenburger- nothing like a grilled tofu burger and condiments. Mmmm. But don’t take my word for it- try making it yourself! I didn’t get around to this recipe for far too long- and couldn’t believe what I had been missing all this time.

Note: With Bette Hagman, I find that my Zojirushi can handle a medium size loaf as long as it isn’t a sourdough recipe. Sourdoughs tend to get really energetic about rising, and then they deflate if they reach the lid. So, when I make sourdough breads I tend to make the small sized loaf.

rating: 9/10

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