Book of Yum

I first came across Asparagus Thin through Gluten-Free Mommy’s Gluten Free Menu Swap. I was intrigued by her international, healthy recipes and adventurous meal planning. I had thought about trying one of her recipes, but hadn’t had time yet when I came across her Gluten-Free Carob Brownie Recipe. I was immediately excited because I’ve been meaning to experiment more with carob and I had a big tin of carob powder in my pantry waiting for an opportunity like this. For the health conscious, carob doesn’t contain caffeine and is usually well tolerated by those allergic to chocolate. For this lunchbox edition of “Adopt-a-gluten-free-Blogger” I decided to make her recipe. After all, what lunchbox is complete without a little something sweet for dessert? The only ingredient that threw me was the sugar substitute. Perhaps in keeping with the Asparagus Thin name, the newly engaged Manda uses sugar substitutes in baking. I don’t use artificial sweeteners, but I thought perhaps agave nectar would be a good natural substitute. But I had a feeling that Manda’s proportions were for a powdered sugar substitute. Hmm. I decided to use 3/4 of a cup of agave nectar instead of sugar to combat the differences between liquid and dry materials, and otherwise followed the recipe as written. It baked nicely, and although at first I was afraid I might have overbaked it, my fears turned out to be groundless. The funny thing is that while the recipe was good hot, I actually found that I liked the texture and flavor better at room temperature or cooler. For some reason, a lower temperature brought out the subtle flavor of the carob. Also, at room temperature or cooler, the brownies seemed less chewy and more fluffy, oddly enough. It turns out the DH is not a big fan of carob, but I really enjoyed this recipe. I only wish I could find a gluten-free carob chip to add to them- I think that would take them from a tasty and almost healthy sweet to a real decadent yum-fest. Anyone know of any source of gluten-free carob chips?

This is a wonderful recipe for anyone interested in experimenting with carob. I hope you’ll check out more of Asparagus Thin’s tasty recipes, such as her Shundal Chickpea Snacks, Intriguing Cinnamon Mevlana Pilaf, or her Coconut Pumpkin Potato Curry. They would all be wonderful in a tiffin (an Indian lunch box) or as a tasty dinner at home.

*In the spirit of our Lunchbox/Tiffin/Bento theme, these carob brownies are pictured in a lovely metal tin I bought at a market in India. I inverted the tin and used it as a “brownie-cutter” to get a brownie the perfect shape. And then someone had to eat the scraps left, so… well… I did. Tough life, this food blogging business.

Interested in more gluten-free carob recipes?

Try these:
Gluten-Free Coconut Carob Cake Recipe
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Carob Cookie Recipe
Gluten-Free Carob Devil’s Food Cake Recipe
Gluten-Free Healthy Carob Brownies
Carob Banana Smoothie Recipe
Coconut Carob Truffle Recipe- with chocolate

Enjoy! I have found some seriously tempting carob recipes in the process of writing this post- I think it’s time for me to spend more quality time in the kitchen with my tin of carob! Please share the URL if you have a post with a tasty gluten-free carob recipes and I’ll add it to the list.

Have you enjoyed some gluten-free carob today?

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!