Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

If you've seen my other posts, you may have noticed that I tend toward lighter, white-flour recipes. When it comes to gluten free baking, substantial, brown things are often a dime a dozen. But I do like to venture into healthy cooking sometimes; I know many people prefer whole grain, and this serves as a gum-free sandwich bread that's not lacking in structure and volume. It's perfect for piled-up sandwiches and toast with peanut butter.

**I highly recommend measuring ingredients with a baking scale. This recipe is really tough to get right measuring by volume. It's also very high fiber. If your normal diet isn't mostly whole grains, I'd recommend starting with half a slice, or making white bread instead.**

Ingredients

• 240 g (1 Cup) Boiling Water
• 60 g (3 Tbsp) Honey, or 60 g (1/4 cup) Sugar
• 360 g (1 1/2 Cups) Tap Water
• 85 g (1/3 Cup + 1 Tbsp) Oil
• 8 g (2 1/4 Tsp) Dry Active Yeast
• 160 g (1 1/3 Cups) Ground Oats or Oat Flour
• 40 g (1/3 Cup) Flax Meal
• 25 g (2 Tbsp + 2 Tsp) Ground Psyllium
• 500 g (3 Cups) Brown Rice Flour
• 20 g (1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Salt
• Small Handful of Whole Oats and/or Sunflower Seeds (optional)

Special Equipment
  9x4x4 Pullman Pan
  Another loaf pan big enough to act as a domed lid (you can use the normal lid, it just won't rise as high)

Time
  About 75 minutes + cooling time

Yield
  1 9-inch loaf

Instructions

Start your kettle. While it's heating, measure the 60 g honey into a bowl. Pour 240 g boiling water on top of the honey, and stir to dissolve. Add the 360 g tap water and the 85 g oil, and stir again. Sprinkle the yeast on top, stir the mixture, set a timer for 15 minutes, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: 160 g oat flour, 40 g flax meal, 25 g ground psyllium, 500 g brown rice flour, and 20 g salt, and toss with your hands to mix. If you're using whole oats, whole psyllium husk, or whole flax seeds, these should be ground in a coffee grinder before being added. Get out a whisk and flexible spatula (or whatever you're going to mix the dough with). Grease your loaf pan and have it nearby.

When the timer goes off, stir the dry ingredients into the wet, and quickly pat into the loaf pan. Sit it in a warm place, and cover with the other pan, turned upside down. Set a timer for 30 minutes.

When 30 minutes have elapsed, check to see how much the dough has risen. When it's risen just past the top of the pan, preheat the oven to 450 (preheating will take about 15-20 min, allowing the dough to rise just a bit more, which will make sure the final product, after a little bit of shrinking during/after baking, is the right height). Bake covered (leave the inverted loaf pan on top) for 30 minutes, and uncovered for another 30, or until browned.

Amazon Links for Ingredients:
Dry Active Yeast
Brown Rice Flour
Oat Flour  

Flax Meal  

Ground Psyllium

Pullman Pan  

Baking Scale

Crunchy Chicken Breast

 

I didn't have fried chicken for almost a year after going gluten free. In fact, it took me months and months to venture into anything resembling a wheat substitute. I'm grateful for that- it kept my standards intact while I read and learned- but, often, I find that a technique is so intuitive, versatile, and delicious that I wonder why it took me so long. This fried chicken breast has been showing up on my plate over and over, and I think it's high time I share it with you.

Ingredients:

• Salt
• A small handful of Seasoned Panko, Rice Chex or similar, or Crackers per person
• Chicken, about half a pound per person
• Lard or other animal fat, high-smokepoint oil, or ghee 

Special Equipment 

Hammer (optional)

Time

No more than 30 minutes

Instructions

If you haven't bought thin-cut chicken breasts, run your knife through your chicken, longways, to reduce the thickness by half. Put the pieces in a plastic bag, squeeze out the air, seal it, and bang out the chicken to about 1/4" thick, using a heavy hammer or a can. Dry the chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken with salt (remember that it's very thin, so use a lighter touch than usual). If you're using cereal or crackers, grind them up in a food processor or smash them with your hammer, and add spices if desired. Spread the panko, cereal, or crackers over the chicken, and press in with your fingers. 

In a pot or pan just big enough for the chicken, heat a handful of lard over medium-high heat until the oil feels warm when you hold your hand a couple inches above it. If you aren't sure, drop a couple panko crumbs into the oil, or cut off a small piece of chicken and test it out. Fry the chicken for a few minutes on each side. Serve immediately, or place into an oven that's been preheated to the lowest setting. 

(If you're curious, the chicken pictured is drizzled with cream that's been simmered with sauteed spring onions and mushrooms, and served over steamed basmati rice)

Better White Sandwich Bread

I don't know about you, but my tastebuds didn't fall off when I stopped eating gluten. Most of the bread recipes I find just make me sad. You know what I mean- mix xanthan with the following nine flours and some eggs- make sure the mung bean powder is organic, get your magnifying glass ready when it comes to the rising step. . . and you're left with a sad, squat little brown loaf that tastes like bread, if you close your eyes, hold your nose, and shoot half a bottle of whiskey before you try to eat it.

What these recipes do wrong is put the onus on the flour mixtures. In fact, flour mixtures matter much less than you'd think, and many specialty flours do nothing but drain your wallet and add strange aftertastes. The magic of gluten free baking happens in the binding agents! And xanthan, though it's really good at sticking things together, isn't the best choice when rise is paramount. Though I couldn't find much precedence for using alternatives, I kept trying because a little voice in my head was very insistent: There must be a better way. This can't possibly be as good as it gets.

Happily, that turned out to be true. The result of my months of experimentation is a loaf that uses a combination of three binders. The first is cooked rice flour- you may have heard this called a water roux or tangzhong. The second is golden flax, which is wildly underappreciated, in my opinion. And finally, a small amount of guar. The combination produces a white sandwich loaf that is so clearly real bread that you may find yourself doubting that there's no wheat flour in it even after making it yourself. If you're nervous about making your own bread, check out the YouTube video at the end of the post that shows all the steps. Enjoy :-)

**I highly recommend measuring ingredients with a baking scale. This recipe is really tough to get right measuring by volume.**

Ingredients

• 65 g (1/3 Cup) Sugar
• 165 g (2/3 Cup) Boiling Water
• 25 g White Rice Flour (1/4 Cup White Rice Flour or 3 Tbsp Superfine)
• 370 g (1 1/2 Cups) Tap Water
• 80 g (1/3 Cup + 1 Tbsp) Canola or other Oil, plus extra for greasing pan and painting loaf
• 10 g (1 Tbsp + 2 Tsp) Golden Flax Meal
• 1 Tsp Guar
• 9 g (2 1/4 Tsp) Dry Active Yeast
• 430 g White Rice Flour (4 2/3 Cups White Rice Flour or 3 1/4 Cups Superfine)
• 180 g (1 2/3 Cups) Tapioca Starch/Flour
• 20 g (1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Salt

Special Equipment
  12-Cup Food Processor
  9 x 4 x 4 Pullman Pan
  Spray Bottle
  Pastry Brush

Time
 About 2 hours + cooling time

Yield
1 9-inch loaf

Instructions 

Set some water to boil, and add the 65 g (1/3 cup) sugar into the food processor. When the water is boiling, add 165 g (2/3 cup) to the processor and mix until no grains of sugar are visible. Add the 25 g (1/4 Cup) white rice flour and blend again. (This must be done in the processor- the flour will clump otherwise). Pour the water, sugar, and rice flour mixture into a small pan, and cook, stirring, over medium heat, until large bubbles appear in the middle and the mixture has thickened. This should take just a couple of minutes on a gas stove, maybe a little longer on electric. Return the cooked mixture to the food processor. Add 370 g (1 1/2 cups) tap water and 80 g (1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp) oil and blend briefly to equalize temperature. Add 10 g (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) of ground-up golden flax seeds, 1 tsp guar, and 9 g (2 1/4 tsp) yeast, and blend thoroughly. Take the lid off the food processor, and allow the contents to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. This will allow the guar to gel, as well as giving the yeast time to eat the sugar and multiply.

When 15 minutes have passed, Add the 430 g (4 2/3 cups) white rice flour, 180 g (1 2/3 cup) tapioca starch and 20 g (1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) salt to the food processor and blend again. Oil your loaf pan well, and scrape the dough into the pan, flattening it out as well as you can. Holding the spray bottle about 12 inches from the pan, mist the top of the dough lightly with water. Dry off the lip of the pan, and cover tightly with plastic wrap, adding a rubber band to hold it on if needed. Sit the loaf somewhere gently warm; on top of your fridge or near the pilot light on your stove should work well. Let it rise for about 40 minutes, or until the dough is almost touching the plastic wrap.

Set an oven rack on the second-to-lowest position and preheat the oven to 350. When the oven is preheated, remove the plastic, mist again, and cover the pan with its lid. Bake 10 minutes, remove lid, paint the top of the loaf with oil, and return to the oven for about 45 more minutes. Rotate partway through baking if it seems to be browning unevenly.

The bread can be removed from the loaf pan after 10 minutes to help it cool faster, but should not be cut for at least an hour, unless you'll eat it all right away. When the bread has cooled completely, put it in an airtight container or bag and store at room temperature. Once it's too stale to eat without toasting, slice the rest, and put the slices in the fridge or freezer.

Amazon Links for Ingredients:
White Rice Flour
Golden Flax
Guar 
Yeast
Tapioca Starch

Food Processor
Loaf Pan
Spray Bottle

Fresh Rice Pasta

I was tempted to title this post "Gluten Free Pasta #9," because that's about how many tries it took me to get it right. Too little xanthan, and the dough won't stick together. Too much, it's dry and crumbles at the edges. Just the right amount gives a good final product, but requires a lot of finesse; the dough tears the first few times you put it through the machine. Tapioca starch is an alternative binder. It makes a lovely, soft dough, and rolls through the first setting on the machine like buuutah, but the dough collapses along weak points as the pasta sheets get longer, and isn't sturdy enough for filled pastas. The trick is to combine the two, for a dough soft enough to slide through the machine with nary a curse word, and strong enough to roll out thin. Glutinous rice flour works best, but if you need flour from a certified gluten free facility and can't find glutinous rice flour that fits the bill, sweet rice flour works too. If you're not too confident about making pasta, be sure to check out the silent video at the end.

Ingredients

• 35 g (2 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Water
• 7 g (1 1/2 Tsp) Tapioca Starch/Flour
• 1 Large Egg or 3 Yolks 
• 3/4 Tsp Xanthan
• 90-100 g (3/4 Cup- 1 Cup + 2 Tbsp) Glutinous Rice Flour or 90-100 g (2/3 Cup-2/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp) Sweet Rice Flour

Special Equipment

•   Food Processor (you can make the pasta by hand, but it takes some serious elbow grease)
•   Pasta Machine

Time

30 minutes to get it on the table. Allow extra time if you've never made pasta.

Serves

One person as an entree, two as a side

Instructions

Measure the 35 g (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) water into a small pot or frying pan, preferably nonstick. Sprinkle the 7 g  (1 1/2 tsp) tapioca on top, and mix well with a fork or whisk. Put over high heat, and stir until clear. This took around 30-60 seconds on my gas stove. 
  
In your food processor, blend the eggs or yolks with the 3/4 tsp xanthan. If you have different or odd sized eggs, you're looking for 50 g (1/4 cup) of egg or yolks after removing the shells. If it appears that any xanthan has climbed the walls of the food processor, scrape it down and blend again. When you have a thickened yellow paste, check that the tapioca glue has cooled to lukewarm, and add it to the egg mixture. Don’t worry if it has dried out around the edges; the blade will take care of it. Blend, add 90 g glutinous rice flour, and blend again.  If you're not weighing the ingredients, I recommend you start with 3/4 cup glutinous rice flour and go from there, due to differences in measurement. Mix until the dough is homogeneous. It should hold together and feel slightly tacky but not stick to your hands. It may form a ball, but it's fine if instead you see wet crumbs that can be pressed together. Add extra flour a little at a time if the dough feels sticky. If you've added the flour slowly, it's unlikely, but if you end up with crumbs that can't be pressed together, add a tiny drizzle of water and blend again. 

Knead and squish the dough a few times and divide it in half. Dust both halves with flour, and wrap one of them in plastic wrap if you’re not confident that you can work quickly. Smash the other as flat as you can, using more flour if needed.

Roll the dough through the largest setting of the pasta maker. Fold the sheet in thirds and put through the other way, so that you have a nice, even piece. Move the setting on the pasta machine to the next smallest opening, dust the sheet with flour if it feels sticky, and roll it through again. Proceed through the rest of the settings as desired, flouring whenever needed.

Put the finished pasta sheet on a hard surface and roll the other half of the dough through the machine in the same way. When you’re done with that, flip over the first sheet so that it doesn’t stick to the counter as it dries slightly. 

Get some salted water boiling, then use the pasta maker attachment to cut the pasta sheet into noodles, or, if you’re feeling rebellious, just chop the sheet roughly with a knife into wide, uneven noodles. Et voilà. Boil the pasta for about 1-3 minutes, and serve as desired.

Amazon Links for Ingredients:
Tapioca Flour
Xanthan
Glutinous Rice Flour
Sweet Rice Flour (Certified GF)

$20 Baking Scale
Pasta Machine
Ravioli Wheel

Modifications and extra notes

If making the pasta ahead of time, dry the pasta sheets on the counter until leathery, flipping over frequently, cut as desired, and refrigerate in a Ziplock bag or airtight container. Dry pasta will need an extra minute or two for cooking. If the dough rips or tears when you try to roll it through the first setting, fold in thirds or squish it back together, re-flour, and try again. Once you can get the dough through the largest setting in one piece, you shouldn't have any more problems, but you may want to stop at the fourth setting to be safe. If this happens, the dough is either too wet or too dry. If it sticks to your hands, it’s too wet. If it can’t form a ball without cracks, it’s too dry. If you’re not weighing ingredients, measure by scooping the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon and leveling it off with a butter knife.