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!

The Vegetarian Reuben

This one's been a long time coming guys.

The Reuben is my all-time favorite sandwich. Oh yes. I have a weakness for sauerkraut. Just typing the word here is getting my glands going. It's a dee-licious ingredient that is only better in a hot sandwich with melted cheese all over it, and you know it.

But. The pastrami. Yeah, right? The pastrami just isn't the star of this sandwich, so why keep propagating doomed animals just to be the supporting role here? I found an excellent substitute, found easily at the local health food store and remedied in a few minutes with a few drops of tamari to give this sandwich just the tasty protein punch it deserves. You're welcome.

You'll need:
Rye sourdough slices (I used Danish rye bondebrød)
Sauerkraut, warmed through
Emmenthaler slices
Smoked tofu, sliced, and gently warmed on a pan with a few drops of tamari on each slice
"Russian dressing" - basically mayo and ketchup mixed well with a dollop of mustard too, if that's your thing

To just explain the smoked tofu, I found that it was still too bland, to I tried the method described above, and it did really turn out perfectly. As I said before, the sauerkraut is what makes this sandwich for me personally, but obviously, if you're a meat fan, I won't hold that against you, and this probably won't do it for you. We can still be friends regardless. But see? It looks pretty good!



Now, slather those slices with the sauce, layer your sandwich as you like, but may I suggest tofu on the bottom, sauerkraut, and then the cheese on top? The melting of the cheese works well this way I find, seeping more downward than outward.

Butter up your griddle and give that sandwich some heat on both sides, until the cheese is melted and the bread is perfectly browned.





Really nice.
I invited my friend Jakob over to test it, he'd never had this particular sandwich before - he had thirds.
Go!

Mummi Hukka's Karelian Pasties or Karjalan Piirakat

As some of you know, I have a Finnish connection. For over half my life, I've had a rather odd obsession with the country, its quirky inhabitants and even quirkier language. I lived there for half a year, going to the university in Helsinki. This quintessential Finnish dish is a comfort food for Finns and foreign exchange students like me alike. I'd often duck into Stockmann's bakery on the way to school and pick up one or two of these as a quick lunch.

Mummi Hukka is a good Finnish friend's grandmother, and the origin of this recipe. It's been made time and time again for years, so it's absolutely perfect!

These pasties are truly delicious any which way you eat them. Fresh, warm, or cold, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, with munavoi (chopped hardboiled eggs in melted butter), butter, or a slice of cheese.

They can also be made with mashed potato filling, but I happened to have leftover rice after dinner today (I added milk, and boiled, simmered, added more milk, until I got a porridge out of it) .

Crust:
2 dl cold water
1 tsp salt
2 dl wheat flour
3 dl rye flour

Mix well, and roll out, thinly and evenly, atop a floured surface

Filling:
3 dl water
2 dl rice
8 dl milk
half a tsp salt

Bring to a boil, then simmer until you've got a good rice porridge

Check out the pictures for the next steps.

Heat the oven to 300 degrees Celsius.
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Moisten them with milk just after you take them out of the oven.
Enjoy!

Easy Hot Lunch - Udon Noodle Soup

Yeah so, culinary adventures are just not my thing these days. I'm into sandwiches, easy homemade pizzas and pasta dishes lately. The more time I spend thinking bigger, better thoughts about my master plan (which encompasses everything), the less time I have to thinking about dinner.

I wanted a hot lunch the other day, despite my lack of creativity, and I luckily spied a package of forgotten udon noodles in the back of the fridge, hooray! So easy.

Hot water. Add udon.



Boil as the package instructs. Add miso (mine's vegan). Then I add a small handful of chopped spring onions and canned corn.



At the very end I add cubes of silky tofu. Don't heat them too much, or they'll disentegrate.



Less than five minutes. Hot lunch. So good.

Nostalgia, It's What's for Lunch

Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. A classic. Admittedly, the soup was ready made, and just has to be heated and served, but it did the job. The sandwich - so simple. Spread Hellman's Mayonnaise on whatever bread you've got, add a slice of good cheddar, slap 'em together and heat on a buttered pan until they're golden and crispy. It's a winning combo, to be eaten with one hand only, dipping the sandwich into the soup, while reading the paper with other.

Ah, my Reuben, I've missed you!

Sorry no pic, it's al Blogger's fault! :)

Hi there! So, we've been eating a lot of celeriac schnitzels lately, and I didn't really feel the need to keep you updated on that!

If you've read my "real" blog then you're up to speed with what I've been reading, and I am starting to look at meat consumption, in a whole new manner of ways. This recipe includes pastrami, which I just happened to have in the freezer. I will not throw perfectly good food away, so that's why I used it. A better way of paying hommage to the animal who got offed that just throwing the meat away. I once tried a version of this recipe with tempe instead of meat, in Boulder, CO, and it was delish, and I'll keep you updated if I find tempe here worth using.

So, the Reuben. The world's most perfect sandwich. Do I sound biased? Well, it's been my absolute favorite for as long as I can remember! The lowdown:

- Sour dough ryebread (NOT Danish rugbrød)
- Swiss cheese (known as Emmenthaler in these parts)
- Sauerkraut
- Pastrami (alternatively tempe)
- Russian sauce

All lovingly fried/grilled in butter. Oh, the joy it gives me. The kids even loved it, and remarked as much. I would suggest placing the ingredients in the order written here. It's important that the meat is thoroughly warmed through, and also that the cheese melts into the sauerkraut. The Russian sauce is a mystery to me, there are so many versions on the net. I use a nice big dollop (or two) of Hellman's mayo, add a splotch of ketchup, and a bit of strong mustard to boot and mix it all up. I enjoy a little extra mustard on my plate for dipping too.

The reason I've missed it? Well, I've not had much luck finding sauerkraut in this town! How did I finally get my hands on some? Our friend Cornelia, who lives on the island of Bornholm of all places, apparently has a steady supply. Go figure. So, if you ever fall over a jar, think of me, and either buy it for me, or go home and make this for yourself!

Smørrebrød Revisited

People often think of open faced sandwiches when they think of Denmark. The typical variations are pickled herring, liver pâté, slices of smoked sausage or other cold cuts, with a number of various garnishes to top them off. They're usually stacked so high that eating them with knife and fork is required. I'll do that in good company of course, otherwise I have a contest with myself to see what I can shove in my mouth (tsk tsk). This is what I'd call a "Californian" smørrebrød. Very simple, healthy, yummy and elegant. Until you eat it that is.

From bottom to top:
Rye bread
A smear of butter
Sliced tomato
Sliced hard boiled egg
(A thin layer of Hellman's doesn't hurt)
(A sprinkling of curry powder ain't bad either, though I don't know what's Californian about that!)
Sliced avocado
Sprinkling of Maldon sea salt

Eat with knife and fork or alone.

*BLOGGER ATE MY PHOTOS DAMMIT!*