Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Gluten Free Bread - the best and easiest recipe yet!

My mom visits us twice a year or so, and for the past few years, she's been getting more and more gluten-intolerant. She used to eat clean at home and then splurge a little when she came here - she is a Dane by birth, and loves her some rugbrød, but as she quickly discovered, that sent her health for a whirl so...clean it is, home or not.

She usually schleps a small larder of gluten-free müsli, crackers, and whatnot, but when I tried this recipe myself at some friends', I knew that gluten-free baking was totally doable, so I get to add a little variety to my mom's fare when she's here - yay!

This recipe does require a few different ingredients, but when you have them in your pantry, they should last a few rounds. These rolls, I guess you could call them, are really delicious and filling, crispy on the outside, soft and slightly chewy on the inside. They are quite the health bomb (ok, there's a bit of oil here too, but no refined anything to make up for it!), and they really dress up a breakfast or lunch table. Just look at these beauts!






Gluten Free Bread Rolls

50 g fresh yeast
8 dl lukewarm water
1 tsp raw cane sugar
1 tsp salt
8 tsp psyllium husks
1 dl sunflower oil
2 dl sunflower seeds
2 dl flax seeds
2 dl sesame seeds
2 dl oatmeal or millet
circa 2 dl corn/buckwheat/millet flour (pick one, it doesn't have to be a mix)
circa 3 dl rice flour (I use fullgrain)

-Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water, and add the oil, sugar, and salt, as you stir.
-Add the other ingredients one by one, stirring all the while. It looks a lot like porridge. The psyllium husks do absorb a lot of the water, so only add enough of the rice flour to keep it porridgy, not too solid. 
-Let the mixture (calling it dough proper would be a bit much) raise for about 30 minutes, preferably in a warm spot.-"Spoon" the mixture onto a baking sheet, and bake for about 25 minutes at 200 Celsius. 
Enjoy warm, with buttah!

Notes: 
You can easily replace one of the seed types if you don't have any on hand - I used pumpkin seeds once, in lieu of the sesame, and I added chia seeds instead of flaxseed. This recipe is really versatile that way. I even used chickpea flour when I was a little low on corn flour - tasted just as great. An added bonus was using these rolls for some gluten-free French toast for my mom, so she didn't have to miss out. Just slice these up thinly, and dip in egg as per usual. Really good, and filling!


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Gluten Free Pizza

Hi! Now, let's completely ignore the fact that I haven't updated since November, shall we? Thank you. Ahem.

So, my mom's here for a visit. For the past few years, she's been on a gluten free diet, owing to some health issues. I'm not sure she suffers from coeliac disease proper, but under this new diet regime, with a bunch of intense exercises, she's feeling much healthier in general. She comes around for a few weeks every six months or so, and while I don't go overboard to accommodate her diet (she doesn't mind splurging on traditional Danish fare while she's here, gluten or not), I do prepare a few dishes I know fall into a yummy, healthy, gluten free category, with no extra wear or tear on the chef of the day. This one's a particular favorite that I fell over, and tried out the last time around. Mom loved it, and has since given the recipe on to several friends.

So - how exactly does one make a gluten free pizza? And at that, one that doesn't require going out to acquire a special gluten free flour?

C a u l i f l o w e r

I know, right?

It's really too easy. All you'll need for the "crust" is -
1 cauliflower
2 eggs
1 handful shredded mozzarella

And toppings for your pizza of course, which may or may not include -
tomato sauce, mozzarella, olives, zucchini, chorizo, etc. etc.

You'll need to "rice" the cauliflower first, which basically means breaking the florets off, throwing them in your blender/food preocessor, and giving them a whirl until they're minced, not too big, not too small. Throw in the eggs and cheese and whirl around some more until well integrated. Now all you have to do is press it firmly on a sheet of baking paper until it has the shape you want, and isn't too thick or thin. Juuuust right. Right. Like this!



Now pre-bake. Kind of important, since if you just throw everything on, the "crust" will still be raw while the toppings will be toast. Depending on the heat, 10-15 minutes. Looks like this.



Now the toppings - and admittedly, I made a mistake here as well. I should've put the sauce on the "crust" during the pre-bake. But, it slipped and everything got put on together for the final bake.



As you can see, it turned out fine, albeit a little runny. If you just remember to slather the sauce on for the pre-bake it'll be perfect.



The "crust" isn't crusty, and this pizza needs a knife and fork to eat, but it's really delicious, nobody will ever guess it's cauliflower of all things, and that much healthier! Win.