Book of Yum

For this edition of the Adopt-a-gluten-free-blogger Event, I decided to adopt Pig in the Kitchen. I only recently discovered Pig in the Kitchen’s gluten-free blog, but she is one funny, engaging lady. While Pig in the Kitchen seems to be currently residing in France, she has ties to the UK and is visiting there this summer. It took me a while to figure this out but her blog is also vegetarian and vegan appropriate. Once I did realize this, I was even more excited to explore her recipes. But then of course, I had to pick a recipe. I looked at her muffin recipes, but that seemed too easy.. I thought about the Halloween biscuit cookies but since we’re moving and the house is in a state of profound chaos, that seemed a little too ambitious. Also we have no chocolate in the house, putting a big damper on that recipe and many of her decadent sounding desserts. But then I came across her recipe for Archimedes’ Gluten Free Bread Rolls. I have a weakness for delicious gluten-free roll recipes, and hers sounded unique, fairly easy to execute, and tasty to boot. But yet, I still wanted more. Then fate answered, in the form of the provocatively named Uneasy Bean Burgers. The homemade GF bean burgers were even depicted WITH the previously mentioned bread rolls. Clearly it was a sign.

Pig in the Kitchen’s small buns were also perfect for Bread Baking Day, with its theme of “small breads.” I started with the buns, and made them for lunch to share with the DH. The recipe was simple, but the dough was perfect to handle and I found her estimation on the water (the amount she personally uses) resulted in a very manageable dough. I followed the directions as best I could (thank goodness I have a scale that measures grams!) but I did wonder if the corn flour was meant to be corn flour or might refer to corn starch. I also used (finely ground) brown rice flour instead of white rice flour for additional flavor. I didn’t let the dough sit before shaping it, figuring that might discourage it from rising, but rather shaped my dough and let it rise on the baking sheet. It baked nicely, although it didn’t rise very dramatically, but the end result was a pleasant, small bun that reminded me in flavor of Bette Hagman’s masterful gluten-free french bread recipe (made with white rice flour and tapioca starch). DH ate them happily with the egg salad filling, and then later with the Uneasy Bean Burger. I think if I’d made a double recipe he might have continued eating them! (But this small recipe was refreshing, and the perfect size for a test run.)

One funny thing happened in the grocery store when I went to get the ingredients- I had a temporary brain spasm and couldn’t decide if courgette was EGGPLANT or ZUCCHINI. The perils of spending so much time and energy into learning Japanese, I’m afraid- as I put Japanese vocab in my head some infrequently used culinary vocab falls out. Oops. I bought both, but I really hated buying the eggplant because our local Nob Hill was operating in ye ol’ highway robbery mode and it cost $5/lb. Yikes! Then it turned out courgette was Zucchini, OF COURSE (which had been on sale and was a bargain at $1/lb)- at least I’d bought some so I was set. Ooh, but every time I look at my eggplant I get mad at myself (and Nob Hill) all over again. Anyway, sob story aside- I chopped up my vegetable ingredients, sauteed them in my cast iron pan, and then set them aside while I squished up my drained kidney beans on a plate. Oh, if only I hadn’t already packed the potato masher! I mixed them up with the sauteed veggies and then ran into an itty bitty problem- Pig in the Kitchen’s recipe called for Marmite, which I just don’t have. I decided to sub in Nutritional Yeast Flakes instead (I know, totally different ingredients, but they are both vegetarian flavor enhancers). I also didn’t have linseed, whole or otherwise, so I added some (ground) flax seed instead. Also, I don’t have access to the egg substitute she recommended, so I used a scant portion of Ener-g Foods Egg Replacer (more replacer powder to water than usual). I was happy to have an excuse to use my GF buckwheat flour. I didn’t have any exotic shapers/cutters unpacked, so I shaped each patty by hand and with a spoon and I thought they were quite easy to shape and turned out well. After baking on one side I decided to walk on the wild side and turn the veg burgers over and bake them another five minutes. I think that way the flour lost some of it’s faintly raw flavor and the texture on both sides was more even. Happily they stayed together just fine and there was no need for a stiff martini (although who’s going to turn one of those down! Certainly not me!) These little burgers were beautiful and delicious too, and I couldn’t help stealing one or three before we even made it to dinner.

Unfortunately we’d enjoyed Pig in the Kitchen’s mini buns so much at lunch there were only a few left for dinner, so I decided to give the veg burgers my own spin and make homemade corn tortillas to eat with them. I would had made pupusas, actually, but unfortunately I’d already packed the pupusa flour- still had the corn tortilla flour out (and was hoping to use it up!) I also couldn’t resist making a nice homemade pico de gallo recipe and pulling out some leftover cilantro chutney. Just squint your taste buds up a bit and it becomes mexican-food-appropriate, honest. Thanks to Pig in the Kitchen and the Adopt-a-gluten-free-Blogger-Event I was able to have a delicious, gluten-free AND vegan dinner that both I and my DH enjoyed. I am not sure I’ll make the rolls again because I love Adeena’s Rolls so much that it’s difficult for any other roll to compete, but I will definitely be making PITK’s tasty and economical (baked not fried!) Uneasy Bean Burgers again. After the recent slew of fried food (mostly pakora) that we’ve been churning out in the Book of Yum kitchen, it was almost a relief to get back to a lowfat, vegan recipe- and certainly better for the waistline! If you haven’t discovered Pig in the Kitchen yet, I strongly recommend that you trot (tee hee) over there as quickly as possible. I guarantee her tasty recipes and witty repartee will make you smile.

Have you tried any of Pig in the Kitchen’s Recipes? Tell me about it in the comments…

Roundup for the Adopt-a-Gluten-Free-Blogger-Event coming soon! Don’t forget to visit Cheryl’s site to adopt your blogger for the month of July (with roundup in early August). Also, please make sure you email me with your post NO LATER than July 7th- I’ll be on an airplane on July 9th so I don’t have much time to post the roundup and time is of the essence!

Read my other reviews of my fellow gluten-free bloggers’ recipes:
Naomi’s pita bread
Kate’s sandwich wrap
Accidental Veg Naomi’s french bread and zucchini
and last but never, ever least,
Karina’s Vegan Mac N’ Cheese.

This month the Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger event was hosted by the always helpful Thomas Dzomba at The GF CF Experience. I was momentarily at a loss- which of the fabulous bloggers that have recently come across my radar should I adopt? Gazing at my recently updated list of gluten-free bloggers I happened to spy Naomi Devlin of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried. Naomi is a force to be reckoned with in the gluten-free blogging community, not only for her incredible recipes, but also for her famous monthly Go Ahead Honey it is Gluten Free Blog Event. Naomi is also a pretty darned cool person all on her own, and is a homeopath across the sea in Bridport, Dorset. Naomi infuses her recipes with healthful ingredients in a creative way, and her blog is fun and interesting to read to boot. The tricky part for me this time was picking just one recipe. Luckily I was immediately inspired when I saw her photo for Sweet Potato Pitta Bread. Something about that orange, fluffy crust adorned with sesame seeds called my name, big time. And just like that, I had picked a recipe.

One slightly tricky thing about Naomi’s blog is that measurements are in ounces, and need to be weighed. Luckily I have a super handy kitchen scale that I picked up at Amazon just for these problems. Also, the recipe called for exotic sweet potato flour- this might seem like another problem except recently I discovered an incredible Korean Market, han kook in Sunnyvale that carried Sweet Potato Powder. This sweet potato powder was mixed with cornstarch, so if you want to buy some make sure you read the label. I don’t know if it is ever mixed with wheat starch, but anything is possible.

So, armed with all the ideal ingredients (except for date sugar), on one quiet weekday afternoon I prepared my ingredients, roasted a sweet potato, and tried Naomi’s tempting recipe.

I skinned and mashed my sweet potato, and as I was sifting the flour over it I started to have a really good feeling about the recipe. Sometimes you can just tell a recipe is well constructed. I got even happier as I mixed the dough. It was pliable and easy to work with, if a little sticky.

I shaped balls of dough:

And then I deviated from Naomi’s instructions a little. I put the ball of dough inside a quart sized ziploc bag:

And pressed it out into a circle by hand. It was so easy!

Without using any flour, the pita circle peeled right off:

I placed the dough circles in a pan:

I let the dough rise for an hour (although it didn’t rise much) and then baked it. The dough smelled and looked good, but unfortunately it didn’t puff for me the way it did for Naomi. I think it’s just one of those subtle things that happens when you get the recipe just-right. Then I split one of the pita to make a super tasty egg salad sandwich with fresh tomatoes and basil for garnish. Mmm… (And yes, tofu egg salad would have been just as good, if not better, but I was out…)

Our verdict?
I really liked the recipe and the balance of flours. The sweet potato added vibrant color, nutrition, and a great texture. Sorghum isn’t my favorite whole grain flour, but it worked here. I think Naomi’s come up with a winner with this recipe! DH liked it, but he didn’t rave. He is notoriously difficult to thrill with bread, though, and remember, he’s a glutenoid.
Any Changes?
If I were to make the recipe again, I think I would increase the yeast, because the pita really didn’t rise much for me. I think that would lighten them a bit and maybe (but not necessarily) make it more likely that they would do that lovely puffy air pocket thing. Many of the recipes that work well for me and are really reliable really amp up the yeast and I’d like to see what would happen here if I did that- I also might not let the dough rest before I rolled it out, or possibly might refrigerate the dough, but that’s crazy talk.
I had fun with this recipe and am so glad this event spurred me to make one of Naomi’s lovely recipes. And now, I really ought to get together an entry for her “go ahead honey” event, hosted this month by Ginger Lemon Girl. If somehow you haven’t seen Naomi’s blog, please go and take a look at her super-fabulous collection of recipes. Toothsome recipes that caught my eye include Poppyseed Cardamon Cake, Carrot Pulp Bread, and Peanut Butter and Coconut Mufins, but I have a feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg.
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Important Event Info:
For those interested, the next Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger event will be held between June 23rd- July 7th. If you are interested in hosting, please comment immediately. I had the feeling that someone had asked to host this month, but I can’t track down the comment or email, so please, if that was you, please post a comment here and let me know. If we don’t have any takers, I’ll host this month. Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness will be hosting next month. Participants- you can always check the Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger Headquarters to verify the host(ess) and event dates! Thanks, dahlings! So glad we’ve managed to keep this fun event going!