Oh, dear! It's been far too long since I've last posted on here. Baking has pulled me back. Sorry, Mary, for slacking on this blog...I really need to make it more of a habit.
Without going into detail about why, Dr. Farah, the chiropractor that shares an office with my acupuncturist, Barry, has been really helpful and recommended I try cutting out wheat from my diet. This is no easy task, but I took on the idea quickly and am running with it to see if it helps with my issues. Along with cutting out wheat comes the idea of gluten-free cooking, so I'm trying that on for size. For those of you that are unfamiliar but have heard about gluten-free this and that, check out the wikipedia page www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free
I started becoming curious about cooking and baking without gluten when I landed a job years ago at Rice restaurant: the owner, David, was interested in me coming up with a breakfast menu full of baked items (some rice-related) and he wanted to try to cater to those that couldn't eat gluten or dairy, so I experiemented and came up with a scone and a crepe to offer. My friend, Nathania, who attributes some allergic reactions she gets to dairy and gluten, loaned me a cookbook and I liked it so much that I bought it for myself: The Gluten-Free Gourmet revised edition by Bette Hagman. I like it because it simply breaks down a list of options and substitutes, lists hidden gluten (like in some instant coffees and envelope glues (!)), and has a ton of recipes from yeast breads to desserts to meals.
I dug into the dessert section when it came time for Nathania's birthday- I was determined to make her a tasty cake with frosting...I think I wound up searching online for something that worked out pretty well. I found this resource at the time: http://www.theppk.com/ (The Post Punk Kitchen) where they have info on vegan baking.
Since I'm not that great with keeping up on blogs (for shame since I have one) and have a ton of other interests I didn't keep experimenting that much unless something came up like a birthday or gift for someone that I wanted to bake for. Now that I am faced with some health issues of my own that I'm trying to tackle naturally and the fact that I've been baking non-stop anyway to hone my skills for that perfect job to come along, this comes as a perfect time to experiment once again and try out a bunch of gluten-free/ wheat-free/ dairy-free recipes. Since I'm going to be saying gluten-free a lot let's just abbreviate it to g.f., cool?
Since I haven't had a full-time job since June (ack!) I've had time on my hands to bake (I've been working as a receptionist part-time in another chiropractor's office), so my mission is to practice practice practice! I started out wanting to make it my mission to bake yeast breads (the usual gluten-filled kind) so now I'm trying both, being very careful not to let any wheat, etc. touch the utensils, bowls, etc. that I use for the g.f. stuff. Besides the g.f. cookbook, I'm also using Amy's Bread by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree as well as this Chinese cooking resource: http://www.chinesefood.about.com/
I've made it a job in itself (or at least that's how I rationalize it in my head so that I don't stress out too much) and this is what I've baked so far, along with it's outcome: Wed. 12/22- Chinese Sticky Cake- tastes just like the ones from Chinatown!, Thurs. 12/23- Chinese Sponge Cake- light and fluffy, and g.f. Chinese Sponge- not as light but very moist with a slight bean flavor but very good!/ Mon. 12/27- Tradional Baguettes- pretty good! I need to perfect the look of them, and more g.f. sponge cake/ Tues. 12/28- g.f. Oat Bread- too dense/ g.f. grainy sourdough- not bad, a bit too 'sour' tasting and still too dense, and Cinnamon Raisin Bread- excellent! but I need to wrap the dough tighter as the raisins kept falling out when I sliced it/ Wed. 12/29- g.f. sourdough bread- pretty good! but doesn't taste like sourdough bread at all/ Tues. 1/4- g.f. Grainy Sourdough- not bad, a bit too sour tasting, still a little too dense/ today, Fri. 1/7- g.f. English Muffins- good, easy, and just like the real thing...here's the recipe:
Gluten-free English Muffins
1 c. rice flour (next time I'm getting brown rice flour)
1 c. tapoica starch/ flour (same thing)
1/3 c. dried milk or non-dairy sub.
1 tsp+1/2 tsp+1/4 tsp (sorry, I halved the orginal recipe) xanthan gum (so necessary to buy for g.f. baking)
1/2 tsp salt.........a) put all in mixing bowl and blend
1 tbsp. yeast granules
1/2 c. lukewarm water (75-77 degrees)
1/2 tbsp sugar...........b) mix and sit for a few mins.
1 1/2 tbsp shortening (I use organic all-vegetable or else solid coconut oil)
1/4 c. hot water...........c)blend these, then add it to the dry mix and blend
2 egg whites.........d) add to mixture and blend
e) go back to yeast mix, add to mixture and beat on high for 4 mins.- it will be a sticky dough. Spoon onto rice-floured waxed paper, flatten a bit and sprinkle more rice flour, then top with another sheet of waxed paper- roll out 1/2 in. thick, cut out circles (I used the lid of a jar as I don't own english muffin tins) and bake in a pre-heated 350 deg. oven for 20 mins. on a greased cookie sheet. The recipe says to flip them over and bake for another 20 but that's only if you have tins. Mine turned out a bit puffy on top so they look more like biscuits and when you fork-split them they're nice and airy!
I'm so glad as George and I always have english muffins on hand and the last pack we bought isn't getting eaten up like usual!
I will continue to add to my baking list and post recipes up here....
~Jess
Without going into detail about why, Dr. Farah, the chiropractor that shares an office with my acupuncturist, Barry, has been really helpful and recommended I try cutting out wheat from my diet. This is no easy task, but I took on the idea quickly and am running with it to see if it helps with my issues. Along with cutting out wheat comes the idea of gluten-free cooking, so I'm trying that on for size. For those of you that are unfamiliar but have heard about gluten-free this and that, check out the wikipedia page www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free
I started becoming curious about cooking and baking without gluten when I landed a job years ago at Rice restaurant: the owner, David, was interested in me coming up with a breakfast menu full of baked items (some rice-related) and he wanted to try to cater to those that couldn't eat gluten or dairy, so I experiemented and came up with a scone and a crepe to offer. My friend, Nathania, who attributes some allergic reactions she gets to dairy and gluten, loaned me a cookbook and I liked it so much that I bought it for myself: The Gluten-Free Gourmet revised edition by Bette Hagman. I like it because it simply breaks down a list of options and substitutes, lists hidden gluten (like in some instant coffees and envelope glues (!)), and has a ton of recipes from yeast breads to desserts to meals.
I dug into the dessert section when it came time for Nathania's birthday- I was determined to make her a tasty cake with frosting...I think I wound up searching online for something that worked out pretty well. I found this resource at the time: http://www.theppk.com/ (The Post Punk Kitchen) where they have info on vegan baking.
Since I'm not that great with keeping up on blogs (for shame since I have one) and have a ton of other interests I didn't keep experimenting that much unless something came up like a birthday or gift for someone that I wanted to bake for. Now that I am faced with some health issues of my own that I'm trying to tackle naturally and the fact that I've been baking non-stop anyway to hone my skills for that perfect job to come along, this comes as a perfect time to experiment once again and try out a bunch of gluten-free/ wheat-free/ dairy-free recipes. Since I'm going to be saying gluten-free a lot let's just abbreviate it to g.f., cool?
Since I haven't had a full-time job since June (ack!) I've had time on my hands to bake (I've been working as a receptionist part-time in another chiropractor's office), so my mission is to practice practice practice! I started out wanting to make it my mission to bake yeast breads (the usual gluten-filled kind) so now I'm trying both, being very careful not to let any wheat, etc. touch the utensils, bowls, etc. that I use for the g.f. stuff. Besides the g.f. cookbook, I'm also using Amy's Bread by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree as well as this Chinese cooking resource: http://www.chinesefood.about.com/
I've made it a job in itself (or at least that's how I rationalize it in my head so that I don't stress out too much) and this is what I've baked so far, along with it's outcome: Wed. 12/22- Chinese Sticky Cake- tastes just like the ones from Chinatown!, Thurs. 12/23- Chinese Sponge Cake- light and fluffy, and g.f. Chinese Sponge- not as light but very moist with a slight bean flavor but very good!/ Mon. 12/27- Tradional Baguettes- pretty good! I need to perfect the look of them, and more g.f. sponge cake/ Tues. 12/28- g.f. Oat Bread- too dense/ g.f. grainy sourdough- not bad, a bit too 'sour' tasting and still too dense, and Cinnamon Raisin Bread- excellent! but I need to wrap the dough tighter as the raisins kept falling out when I sliced it/ Wed. 12/29- g.f. sourdough bread- pretty good! but doesn't taste like sourdough bread at all/ Tues. 1/4- g.f. Grainy Sourdough- not bad, a bit too sour tasting, still a little too dense/ today, Fri. 1/7- g.f. English Muffins- good, easy, and just like the real thing...here's the recipe:
Gluten-free English Muffins
1 c. rice flour (next time I'm getting brown rice flour)
1 c. tapoica starch/ flour (same thing)
1/3 c. dried milk or non-dairy sub.
1 tsp+1/2 tsp+1/4 tsp (sorry, I halved the orginal recipe) xanthan gum (so necessary to buy for g.f. baking)
1/2 tsp salt.........a) put all in mixing bowl and blend
1 tbsp. yeast granules
1/2 c. lukewarm water (75-77 degrees)
1/2 tbsp sugar...........b) mix and sit for a few mins.
1 1/2 tbsp shortening (I use organic all-vegetable or else solid coconut oil)
1/4 c. hot water...........c)blend these, then add it to the dry mix and blend
2 egg whites.........d) add to mixture and blend
e) go back to yeast mix, add to mixture and beat on high for 4 mins.- it will be a sticky dough. Spoon onto rice-floured waxed paper, flatten a bit and sprinkle more rice flour, then top with another sheet of waxed paper- roll out 1/2 in. thick, cut out circles (I used the lid of a jar as I don't own english muffin tins) and bake in a pre-heated 350 deg. oven for 20 mins. on a greased cookie sheet. The recipe says to flip them over and bake for another 20 but that's only if you have tins. Mine turned out a bit puffy on top so they look more like biscuits and when you fork-split them they're nice and airy!
I'm so glad as George and I always have english muffins on hand and the last pack we bought isn't getting eaten up like usual!
I will continue to add to my baking list and post recipes up here....
~Jess
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