Friday, January 30, 2009

Just Stuff

I'm freely admitting being lazy when it comes to doing writeups for this blog lately. Actually, when doing anything lately. I cannot get motivated, and it is seriously cramping my style.

Oh, but I have kept baking. And shopping... what do you want to hear about first?

Shopping? Good, 'cause that's what you're getting!

Always on the lookout for good protein sources, I spotted a couple shake mixes the last time I was at the health food store and picked them up. I figured, heck - the mornings of 8:30 AM classes must mean that I could use something a bit more substantial than tea and dry cereal. I picked up two kinds to try:



Unfortunately, I can't really say anything good about either of these shakes. Drinking either of them was like sucking wet sand, and the taste... well, I guess it is called "green food" for a reason. I know there are people out there who do like these, but you know what... I'll stick to the green tea and dry (GF, of course) cereal for now, or green tea and GF toasty bread.

Toasty bread, you say? Gluten-free, you say??? Why, yes indeedy! I have been dabbling again in the realm of GF baking. The last thing I made completely GF was (if you recall) this cracker recipe... almost a year ago! That was, at the time, nothing but a passing flirt with a new type of cooking. Now, with gluten not so much of a possibility in my diet, I still wanted to be able to exist as a baker for myself! Of course, I can't make it easy... haha... that would be simple! My bread couldn't have gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts or oil in it. Which kind of knocked most of the packaged mixes out of the running. I did find one pre-fabbed bread... Ener-G's "Soft Corn" loaf... that looks promising, but since it's an online-order shindig for me I was pretty much contemplating rice paper rolls as a sandwich medium!

Then I found a most brilliant recipe at Gluten Free Day. The page also has some wicked-looking 'shroomage, which I am looking forward to attempting eventually! But oh, this bread... it intrigued me. No xanthan whatever, no guar or other gummy-like elements, only optional oil and vegan!! Happy days, my friends. I did modify the recipe, I won't lie, since I already had a ton of random, GF flours on hand in varying amounts that I wanted to try out first. Using the basic formula, I not only made this bread (which is fabulous, especially toasted under the broiler and topped with jam, and gets the stamp of approval from both mum and Andrew!) but I have plans for another, sweeter breakfast-style loaf in the works.

Now, if you aren't familiar with the elements of GF breads, you'll notice something about this loaf... it's kind of cratery looking. I knew it would do that going into the baking process, and was also prepared to pull out an inedible brick. Thankfully this was far from inedible - and though it's denser than say, Wonder bread, it's on par with your basic rye or steakhouse bread. I'm keeping this one around! Thanks, Emilia! I'm sending this bread off to YeastSpotting over at WildYeast this week too!

Gluten-Free Vegan Sandwich Loaf
Makes 14 slices
2/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup corn flour (not cornstarch or corn meal)
½ cup chickpea flour
½ cup de-fatted soy flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp FiberRiffic (chicory fibre) powder [or try Hi-Maize... you can get it at King Arthur's website]
1 ¼ cups warm water
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp dry active yeast

  1. Combine all the flours, salt and FiberRiffic in a large bowl, set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water and sugar.
  3. Sprinkle the yeast overtop and let stand 10 minutes, until foamy.
  4. With the mixer running, begin adding dry mixture, beating until incorporated.
  5. Cover and allow to rest ½ hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a loaf pan.
  7. Pour batter into the pan. Cover and allow to rest 45 minutes.
  8. Bake 50 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 61.3
Total Fat: 0.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 3.1 mg
Total Carbs: 10.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.3 g
Protein: 3.5 g

6 comments :

  1. I've had some major gluten free bread disasters in the past (but not so far in the past that I don't remember their texture, taste and smell). I must say, that yours looks absolutely wonderful!

    And don't worry, we all go through the blogging blah's from time to time and don't feel motivated to post.

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  2. I actually quite like the Spiru-tein (although I recommend avoiding their cappuccino flavor...). Yes, it definitely tastes healthy as opposed to tasting like a true milkshake, but it's not bad and has good protein while being low in (or, really, free from) fat.

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  3. Try the raspberry royale Spiru-tein it's not too bad. I think the little chunks of dried raspberries in it distracts you from the texture. I have yet to find a hemp protein that I can stomach though.

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  4. Thanks, it's great to have a gluten-free bread for YeastSpotting!

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  5. Glad you found the recipe useful :)

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  6. I'm actually looking for somewhere that i can buy Spiru-tein, it was recommended to me... I'm in Markham; anyone know somewhere close by?

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Thanks for the feedback!