Book of Yum

Those of you who follow this blog know I love fancy shmancy herbed and spiced breads. Sign me up for some rosemary-sundried tomato bread or onion rolls any day. I also love sweet breads- gluten-free cinnamon swirl, norwegian julekake. They make my pulse beat faster. If I could eat gluten-breads, I would try every fun variety of bread out there. But, as it is, I can’t eat gluten, so I have to make my own fun varieties. Delightful as fancy breads are, though, we still need a homespun everyday bread for lovelies like bread and butter (or soy free margarine), veggie sandwiches (hummus and avocado, how i love thee), and toast with meyer lemon marmalade. This bread is a vegan, rice free everyday sandwich bread inspired by an earlier roll recipe. I hope you enjoy! It makes one large loaf and will fill a 9*5 pan quite full or a slightly larger pan less full. Two half loaves are pictured- I made a sweet version as well as this one with one dough recipe.

*Looking for Adopt a gluten-free blogger? It is hosted by Shirley of Gluten-free Easily this month.

Sorghum Sandwich Bread Recipe Bread  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients 3 tbsp. ground flax combined with 3/4 cup water in food processor (or, if you eat eggs, 3 eggs whisked together) 1/4 cup oil 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/4 cups hemp milk (or other GF dairy alternative) 1 tsp. salt 1 TBSP xanthan gum 1/3 cup potato starch (NOT flour) or arrowroot or tapioca starch 2 cups sorghum flour 1 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch 1/3 c. GF teff or buckwheat flour (any wholegrain flavorful flour) 1 TBSP active dry yeast 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar Extra hemp milk for brushing kosher salt flakes (optional) Directions Grease bread pan and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 375 F. Blend or process flax and water until you have a frothy, egg-like texture. Pour into bowl of heavy duty mixer and then add oil, vinegar, and sugar, combining. Add dry ingredients. Warm milk in the microwave (or on the stove) and add to the bowl, gently folding it into the flour. Turn on motor, let ingredients combine thoroughly then turn power to medium and leave for 4 minutes while it stirs. Use spatula to spoon into bread pan. Brush top with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with (optional) kosher salt. Let rise until doubled in size. This usually takes 30-50 minutes. Don’t let it over-proof. Put in oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. You know it is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Resist urge to tear into it like a starving wolf. Well, try. When it has cooled completely you can slice into it. You can cut it immediately before serving or if you want to freeze it, slice it all, wrap in saran wrap and freeze in a ziploc bag.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Adapted for allergens (including rice) from my Adeena’s rolls recipes. Please do not replicate without my written permission. Thanks! Recipe ID:  1512 Added:  August 17, 2010 Last Modified:  August 19, 2010

Ever since I embarked on a special allergen-free diet for Baby Yum, I have been experimenting with some of the more exotic gluten-free “grains” or pseudo grains. Some of these have been a trial (amaranth, anyone?) and others have been a true pleasure to work with (quinoa, sorghum, millet). Quinoa is a grain that I long thought bothered my tummy, but it turns out other grains may have actually been the culprit. I’ve been enjoying tons of this cute little seed ever since I started my crazy-grain rotation diet, and am regularly amazed at its versatility. It makes a mean, if somewhat delicate, allergen-free muffin. But in its whole seed form, quinoa can also stand in for rice with amazing success. I’ve used it to make sushi, chirashi, fried rice, and lately, I’ve even been experimenting with it in Indian dishes. The last two weeks I’ve been obsessed with Indian recipes. My taste buds rebelled against plain-Jane allergen fare and begged for spices, spices, and more spices. And of course, Indian recipes are very good at presenting a rich array of flavors for the palate through the generous use of spices. I’ve been using coriander by the tablespoon, and cumin like it is going out of style. Good thing my local Costco caters to the Indian community here and sells it in quantity! Of course I could also buy spices from Indian markets, but I do have some concerns that the ground spices may be cross contaminated by flour milling and packaging. I’ve made scrumptious toor dal made by the Indian culinary goddess Manjula and an assortment of recipes from my favorite Indian cookbooks. Pictured above is a modified version of “Supreme Okra” from The Best of Lord Krishna’s Cuisine recipes. The original had enough salt to qualify as a cow-lick, but with some modification made plain old okra plate-lickingly delicious. For now, though, I’d like to share the recipe for the accompanying Masala Quinoa, a dish that was inspired by a recipe for rice but modified for pre-cooked quinoa with amazing results. I can safely say this is hands-down the tastiest quinoa I’ve ever had. I liked it so much that I made this recipe twice in one week; the second time I made it, it was for a long plane ride and it traveled beautifully. This is only the beginning. I’ve been experimenting with quinoa as a stand-in for rice in many Chinese and Japanese dishes, but now I see how well it works in Indian rice dishes, I have a feeling I’ll be trying quite a few more recipes in the future. I hope you enjoy this one!

Indian Masala Quinoa Recipe Main Course  Alternative Grains  Indian

Ingredients 2 or 2 1/2 cup cooked quinoa 3 tbsp mustard or canola oil 1 tsp black mustard seed 3 bay leaves 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 large onion, sliced thinly 1/2 piece ginger (peeled, julienned) 2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced 1/4 tsp turmeric 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro Directions Heat oil in a large skillet (nonstick ok) with a lid on medium or medium high. Add your mustard seed and bay leaf to the oil and let it sizzle. Add your cumin seeds and wait a few seconds before adding the onion. Saute onions until they start to soften and turn brown. Add ginger, tomatoes, and turmeric. Let soften and then add your quinoa, stirring it in gently and sprinkling with salt. Reduce heat and cover, cooking for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir once, sprinkle with cilantro, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff and serve. Notes *To prepare quinoa, rinse 1 1/2 cups quinoa and cook in rice cooker with 3 cups water, or bring same amounts to boil in pot, turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes. fluff and let sit, covered until you use. You can also freeze quinoa, defrost in microwave and use in recipes* The most delicious quinoa I’ve ever had.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Inspired by rice recipe from Bombay Cafe cookbook Recipe ID:  1511 Added:  August 6, 2010 Last Modified:  August 10, 2010