The Sinister Scribe

First the baking (fun) part of this post…

Made my first attempt at wheat-free bread last week. This is the loaf. It fell during baking but is quite edible. Maybe add a little more flour next time? The recipe (found here) calls for a lot of ingredients that I’m not used to putting into bread. LOL! Like gelatin. I think I’ll try it again with just a little more flour (or less liquid, next time)

This morning, I made Raspberry Buckwheat Waffles (recipe found here). They were yummy and crispy… if a bit hard to pry off the waffle iron. I didn’t have buckwheat flour so I used sorghum (I think, my collection of “flours” is getting hard to remember).

Today I baked a loaf of Multi-Grain Artisan-Style Bread (found here). It is yummy. Lots of flavor but rather dense. Very filling! I don’t have a picture of it though.

I *thought* I had this allergy thing under wraps. (I hear you laughing. Stop it.) Weeeeeelllll, today after dinner, I broke out in a rash all around my mouth. GrrrrrrRRRrrrr!

There was also nothing with wheat in it. The only difference between this week and last is that I cooked dinner today. It wasn’t from a box labeled “wheat free.” Egads! Do I have to replace all my cookware? The waffle iron is probably a biggie. I almost went out and bought a new one today (will do tomorrow). But what about the glass casserole dish the bread and then the chicken was cooked in?!

Last week I did bake those cookies and muffins… muffin tins, cookie sheet and spatula are all old ones and I didn’t have a reaction. I did grind the sweet rice for the bread, but the coffee/herb/grain mill has never been used for wheat. Oats yes, but not wheat.

No, I haven’t tested oats yet.

On a lighter note… I ran nearly 5 miles on Sunday. Go me! 4.75 to be exact. Took me 52 minutes exactly. Not great but not bad. Paid for it for the rest of the day. I was really tired!

*sigh* Back to year end test preparation…

Well, I’ve taken my first foray into wheat-free baking. It has been surprisingly good! Even the kids have liked the two recipes I’ve tried so far… Honey Tapioca Cookies and Brown Rice Muffins.

The first picture is the muffins. They weren’t as crumbly as I expected and are really good with butter and jelly. A little on the dry side but I read that is to be expected with rice flour. Though I did substitute one cup of rice flour with sorghum. Oh, the batter is really wet compared to wheat based recipes. I think it was too wet in my case because I had to add a little more flour (tablespoon of each) to get them to cook all the way through. I used mini muffin pans too.

Here’s the recipe, I got it at healthyandwheatfree (a great resource):

BROWN RICE MUFFINS
2 cups brown rice flour (used 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup sorghum)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup Sucanat, maple syrup, or other natural sweetener (used honey)
1 or 2 eggs (or egg replacer for one egg)
1 cup milk (or rice/soya milk)
1/4 cup melted butter or canola oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate, small bowl,
combine the eggs, milk, melted butter, and liquid sweetener if used.
Mix well and pour the batter into oiled or buttered muffin tins.
Bake at 400 F for about 15 minutes. Makes 12.

You can add raisons/dates/currants/walnuts or almonds to make it
even more fun. If you do not want to have oil in this mix you could
use 1/4 cup of applesauce or prune puree.

The cookies were like delicate tea cakes. You can feel a difference in the texture with the rice flour. Just slightly grainy but still yummy. I tried topping some with cinnamon/sugar and it seemed to make them a little flatter. Didn’t really add that much flavor wise either so I don’t think I’ll do it again. I also used almond extract instead of vanilla (couldn’t find mine). I think they’d be great with some finely chopped almonds in them. Mmmmm!

I may try a little xanthan gum next time to see if they’re a little less so. Jessie would have eaten the whole batch if I let her.

Here’s the cookie recipe (from a friend):

Tapioca Honey Cookie
1/2 cup margarine (I used butter)
1/2 cup honey
2 T brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/4 cup white rice flours.
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip margarine, honey and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add egg and mix until creamy and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and mix for about 1.5 minutes. Place on baking tray about the size of 1 T, 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes

I don’t think I can really explain how much better I feel now that I’ve made these. I think I was feeling a little helpless (and therefor depressed). Now, I’m a little excited about experimenting with new ingredients.

I think I’ve finally realized the key ingredient for great bread… patience. Lots of. freaking. patience.

Take these beauties for example. If you count developing the “poolish,” it takes 17 hours of fermenting/proofing! But oh baby! is it ever worth it. Yeah, I know… I shouldn’t be eating bread. At least this recipe doesn’t make me itch as bad and my mouth doesn’t hurt at all… unless I eat the whole loaf… which is REALLY easy to do. *sigh* And it makes a great pizza crust!

One other thing… if you have a really crappy oven (like mine), cooking the loaves in a heavy lidded pot (like cast iron) while in the oven makes them turn out like a hearth bread. Oh so cracklingly crunchy on the outside. Soft and sproingy on the inside. As if I didn’t love my cast iron cook pot enough already.

Here’s how I’ve been doing it…

Day 1: Make poolish

• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups water

Mix well. Cover and let sit for 4 hours. Then pop in the fridge overnight. OR… take out one cup to make bread with today and store the rest in the fridge to make more bread tomorrow. (and the next day)

Day 2: Make bread

Take  a cup of poolish from fridge an hour before you want to use it.  Into the mixer it goes with 1 1/4 cups warm water, 3/4 tsp yeast and your flour. How much? Depends upon what flour, I’m finding. Usually around 3 or so cups. 1/4 cup of that is wheat, the rest is unbleached white. I add a little oil (tablespoon or so) at the end of the kneading (I use a kitchenaid mixer).

Cover and let rise for 2 hours. I just cover the kitchenaid bowl with a plate.

Punch down. Knead for a minute. And repeat the above line.

Carefully turn out the dough. Don’t really want to deflate it this time. I cut it into 2 pieces and form each into a round loaf by tucking the edges under unill the top is tight. Put them on a well floured cotton towel and cover.

Let rest for an hour. 30 minutes into that time. Preheat the oven WITH your heavy lidded pot in it.

Then, carefully turn the rounds over into the pot(s). Add slashes to their tops if you are so inclined. I bake mine at 425 for 15 minutes with the lid on. Then I take the lid off and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

Amazingly they pop right out of the pans. No oiling needed!

Day 3: repeat day 2

Day 4: do it all again ‘coz you still don’t have any bread in the pantry.

I could make batch after batch of this and never have bread sitting around. I swear it vaporizes. ;)  My son, bless his heart, goes on and on to anyone who will listen about how good this bread is.

Or is it catsup?

I’ve been threatening Sam with making his own ketchup for a long time. Finally, we ran out (we had a bit of a stockpile) and I had him do just that with this recipe. I was skeptical that he’d actually like it. The recipe calls for things like cloves, powdered mustard and nutmeg. Things at which he usually wrinkles his nose.

But he good-naturedly tried it and… LOVED IT! We all do. Huzzah!! Not only that, but every time he makes it he experiments with different spices and amounts. I’m gonna make a cook outta him yet. *VEG*

We’ve incorporated some new (to us) recipes into our meals lately and I keep meaning to share them.

This one, from Grethen’s Cookbook, is quite yummy. Great with fruit in some form or other. These shown were frozen (rolled up) and then thawed in the microwave. They tasted great still! So two thumbs up for freeze-ability.

Meet Herman!

One day in December, Bob brought home Herman. Yes, I named my sourdough starter. I figure if I’m gonna feed it and clean its “cage,” I need to name it. I am considering knitting him a frankenstein-looking cover. LOL!

Step 1: In mixer bowl combine; then mix well on the “2″ setting.

• 1C sourdough starter
• 1 1/2C warm water (distilled)
• 1T honey
• 1C bread flour
• 2t SAF yeast

Step 2: let “sponge” for 15 - 20 minutes

Step 3: Add to mixer bowl; incorporate flour a little at a time until dough is only a bit tacky

• 1T dough enhancer
• 1T olive oil
• 2t salt
• 4 - 5 1/2C bread flour (no more!)

Step 4: Kneed on speed 2 for 6 - 8 minutes using a little more oil as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Shape into loaves or what ever you’d like and let rise for one hour or until double.

Step 5: Bake on 425 until it passes the “thump” test.

Notes:

• Bread flour makes a huuuuuge difference!
• Dough enhancer really does help.
• This is not a strong sourdough taste.
• It does not have that crunchy sourdough crust.
• It is like a regular loaf of bread with a little bit of sourdough flavor.
• It does not bother my skin as much as 100% commercial yeast bread.
• It makes AWESOME pizza dough

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup flaxseed
• 1/4 cup lavender buds

Process the oats in a blender until powdery (2 minutes in my VitaMix). Add flaxseed and process for another minute. Add lavender buds and process for another thirty seconds.

To use: moisten a palm-full with warm water until you have a paste. Gently rub over face and rinse with tepid water. Follow with cold water, aloe gel and lotion.
Notes: This has been great for my eczema. I’ve been using it for several months. The flaxseed keeps it from becoming a gooey mess when warm water is added. It also adds just enough scrubby-ness but not so much that it aggravates any eczema patches. The lavender makes it smell really nice too.

Butternut and Ham Bisque

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Butter unsalted
• 1 large Onion chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary
• 2 cloves Garlic minced
• 5 cup Butternut squash peeled, diced
• 1 cup Potato peeled, diced
• 5 cup Chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Milk add extra powder
• 1 1/2 cup Ham cooked, cubed

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a medium soup pot or a large saucepan. Stir in the onion and rosemary. Partially cover the pan and cook the onion over moderate heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute.

2. Add the squash, potatoes, chicken stock, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover the pot. Cook the soup at a low boil for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the soup solids and a ladleful of broth to a food processor (do this in batches if your processor is small). Puree the vegetables, then stir them back into the broth. Stir in the pepper, the milk, and the ham, heating for several minutes before serving.

Notes: OMG! This is soooo good. Makes me wish I had smoked garlic to use in it. Mmmmmmmmm! I would imagine that replacing the chicken broth with veg broth and leaving out the ham would make for an equally delectable vegetarian soup.

My favorite thing about cold weather is being able to enjoy a nice hot bowl of hearty soup! Thought I’d share my favorite one. The inspiration for this recipe came from the Hillbilly Housewife website. I’ve changed it quite a bit so I feel comfortable posting it. It is a rich hearty soup that even my picky son will eat!

I’ve taken to calling it Sausage Soup because that is what the smell of the spices remind me of but there is no “sausage” in it.
Sausage Soup

Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 pound Pork ground, cooked
8 cup Broth
1 1/2 cup Beans dry, white
1 medium Onion chopped
1 medium Celery stalk, chopped
1 medium Carrot chopped
1/8 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Oil; vegetable
3 medium Bacon slices, chopped fine
1/2 cup Water
4 tablespoon Whole-wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon Carroway seeds
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seed
1 tablespoon Garlic chopped
1 teaspoon Salt or to taste

Instructions
Soak beans overnight or quick soak on the stove. Cook meat with onion and bacon in a skillet until almost done. Toss this mixture into a soup pot with the beans and broth. Add the catsup and stir until it dissolves. Chop your celery, carrots and add them to the pot. Measure in the spices and salt.

Place a lid on the soup, and simmer it for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are all tender. Now, in a small jar with a good lid, measure the cold water and flour. Screw on the lid tightly. Shake the water and flour together until they are smooth. When the flour is dissolved into the water, pour the mixture into the boiling soup and stir well. The soup will thicken up nicely. Simmer the soup for another 10 minutes.

Used this blend in the pourable lotion yesterday. DH gave the scent a two thumbs up too! It has a clean/fresh scent with a lingering hint of patchouli and I think, lavender. I’ve made another batch of the blend and will let it mature in the bottle to see if/how the scent changes.
As the title suggests, I chose the individual oils for their exzema soothing properties.

• 35 drops Lavender EO
• 15 drops Bergamot EO
• 10 drops Juniperberry EO
• 10 drops Patchouli