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Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Gluten free apple bread with chestnut flour



Gluten-free apple bread with chestnut flour

This is my favourite apple bread which I've already made dozens of times before going gluten free.
It's moist, rich, sweet and extremely satisfying, and since I replaced the sugar by xylitol, it's really healthy.
If you don't get chestnut flour, just don't worry. You can use any gluten free flour mix which you have on hand. Just make sure that it contains psyllium husks or ground chia seeds or it will be a crumbly mess.
I've never used xanthan gum in it, but I suppose xanthan gum will work just as well.
For the non-gluten free folks: Just use 500 g of spelt, whole wheat or any all purpose flour. It will work.
You can also use 400 g ap flour and 100 g chestnut flour.
The hazelnuts may be replaced by pecans. Walnuts might be good, too, haven't tried it yet, but apples and walnuts always pair well.
Usually I make two small loafs, but you can also make a large one.



Ingredients:
  • 750 g apples
  • 100 g sweet chestnut flour
  • 250 g buckwheat flour
  • 100 g tapioca starch
  • 50 g potato (or corn) starch
  • 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 200 g sugar or xylitol
  • 2 tbsp. raw cane sugar (muscovado sugar)
  • 200 g raisins
  • 200 g hazelnuts
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 100 ml brown rum
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp. psyllium husks or 3 tbsp. ground chia seeds
  • 1 package baking powder (ca. 1 heaped tbsp.)

Preparation:
  • The evening before baking, peel, core and cube the apples and combine with all other ingredients except for the flour, psyllium husks or chia seeds and salt.
  • Let stand overnight.
  • The following morning, preheat oven to 338°F (170°C) fan assisted (if you don't have a convection oven, preheat to 350°F).
  • Grease two 4x8 or 9 inch loaf pans (or one larger one).
  • Combine the apple mixture with the flours, psyllium husks or chia seeds, baking powder and salt.
  • Fill into loaf pan(s) and let stand for some minutes to allow the psyllium husks or chia seeds to swell.
  • Bake at 338°F in a convection oven or 350°F in a static oven for 60 minutes.
  • After about 25 minutes, cover the pans to prevent the top from burning, and remove the foil 10 minutes before the baking time ends.
  • Let cool for several minutes, then remove loafs from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Enjoy with butter, cream cheese, ice cream or just plain!
  • Bon Appetit!

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Gluten Free Maltese Ftira



Gluten Free Maltese Ftira

This is a project which I started during a cooking world tour. Our first two destinations were Malta and Hawaii, and since my prefered flavours are Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, Malta is my favourite of the two.
It is influenced by the whole Mediterranean and Levante region and blends together the best elements from all those countries.
There is just one concern for those of us who are gluten free: The pizza issue which occurs in every one of those regions. Call it pizza, pita or whatever you like, those flat breads or pockets with filling are not accessible unless we make our own.
So I took the Challenge to make ftira, the Maltese version of pizza, my own gluten free way.
I call it a project because my first attempt at it was delicious, but the dough was not perfect. For a start, I followed the instructions of traditional ftira dough, to see what happens when made gluten free and to learn what should be made differently to get the desired result. That's what I post now - I'll update when I've tried another method.
Traditionally, the dough rests in a warm spot for about three hours, then rests in the fridge overnight.
I made it the other way round: First rest in the fridge overnight, then four hours in the warm kitchen.
After rolling and filling it, it did not rise anymore or bake up in the oven - I already expected that but wanted to try.
So I ended up with a thin and very crisp crust which I loved because I love pizza with thin crisp crusts.
Usually the best thing to do with gluten free yeast dough is to knead it and then let it rise in the final shape. Which means, knead it and then form the loaf or crust or whatever you want to get at the end, and then let it rise.
So, when I make this again, I won't let it rest overnight but will make it an hour before it goes into the oven, make the crust and let it rise in a warm place.
Still, even though it didn't puff up in the oven, it really was very yummy!
Also I have to experiment a bit with baking time and temperature. The recipe said 20-30 minutes at 200°C. I think 220° will do better, so that's what I'll do next time, too.
For the dough I used the flour blend which I usually use for pizza.
This recipe makes two of the ftira which you can see on the photos. I only made one and froze the second portion of the dough for later use. This was the perfect amount for DH and me for lunch / dinner.

Before baking

After baking - you can see that it didn't rise anymore

Ingredients:
Dough:
  • 3/4 cup sorghum flour
  • 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
  • 1/4 cup potato starch
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch
  • 1/4 cup fine yellow maize flour (corn flour, not cornstach!)
  • 2 tsp. xanthan gum
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. yeast
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar or honey
  • 1 cup warm water (a little less maybe)
Filling:
  • 1 medium potato
  • 1 large tomato or 2 medium tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 can sardines in olive oil
  • 15 black olives, sliced
  • some pieces of goat's cheese, as much as you like
  • some dollops of ricotta (I used goat's cream cheese)
  • salt, pepper, dried oregano to taste

Preparation:
  • Blend together the flours and xanthan gum.
  • Of this blend take 2 cups and place in a bowl, you will have 1/4 cup left which you can use for dusting the work surface.
  • To the two cups, add salt, yeast and sugar.
  • Add oil and water, 3/4 cup first, then as much more as is needed to get a soft but still kneadable dough.
  • This is best kneaded by hand to get a feeling of the consistency.
  • Sprinkle your working space with some of the remaining flour mix, the knead the dough for some minutes.
  • Form a round loaf, lightly oil a bowl, place the dough in the bowl, cover with cling film and let sit in the fridge overnight.
  • The next morning, get the dough out of the fridge and let it sit in a warm place for at least three hours, four are better.
  • When ready to bake, preheat oven to 200°C.
  • Divide the dough in half.
  • Place one portion on a baking tray layered with baking paper or a silicon mat like the one you see on my photo.
  • Roll it out (best between two sheets of baking paper) or just flatten and pull it with your hands as I did, until you have an oval or rectangle which is about 30x25 cm wide and about 1/2 to 3/4 cm thick.
  • Brush the dough with olive oil.
  • Thinly slice the potato and layer it on the dough, leaving a spare rim of about 3-4 cm.
  • Lightly sprinkle the potato slices with salt and pepper.
  • Thinly slice the tomato, cut the slices in half and layer over the potato slices.
  • Mince the garlic and scatter over the tomatoe slices.
  • Scatter the sardine pieces over the tomatoes, then the sliced olives.
  • Lastly add the cheese and sprinkle with dried oregano.
  • Bake at 200°C for about 10 minutes, then rise the temperature to 220°C and bake for another 10-15 or so minutes.
  • Pull out of the oven and let cool a bit or serve immediately.
  • Bon Appetit!




Thursday, April 12, 2018

Gluten free Double Chocolate Cookies



Double Chocolate Cookies (gluten free)

These cookies have been created for the Ready, Set, Cook Game. One of the main ingredients on the list was chocolate - does it get any better?!? I mean, chocolate and chocolate, that is, double chocolate. Cookies, of course. The moment I saw the ingredients, the recipe appeared in my mind, so - there you are.
For the flours I used white rice flour and potato flour (i.e. potato starch). You can just use regular wheat flour if you're not gluten free.
Normally, chocolate and butter have different melting points, so it would be correct to first melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and then add the butter. I made a shortcut, popped chocolate and butter in a small pot and melted it together on very low heat on the stove top. You just have to be careful that it doesn't burn.
To form the cookies, I used a small ice cream scoop / melon baller with ca. 1 inch in diameter. That made 85 small cookies. Feel free to use a larger scoop and make larger cookies. The cooking time might be a little longer for larger cookies.
The cookies turned out soft and a bit cakey, just the way I wanted them. For a crispier cookie, maybe try to bake them a little longer, but be careful not to burn them and consider that they might get a little dry when made gluten free.


Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 60 g dark chocolate (I used 70%)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 1/2 cup potato flour (=potato starch)
  • (or 1 1/2 cups regular flour for not gluten free)
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preparation:
  • Over very low heat, slowly melt together butter and chopped chocolate
  • Preheat oven to 350 °F / 180°C fan assisted
  • In a bowl, combine the two flours with baking powder and salt
  • With a mixer, cream together the melted butter and chocolate with the sugars
  • Add the eggs one after the other, completely incorporating the first one before adding the second one
  • With the mixer still working, slowly add the flour until completely incorporated
  • Continue mixing with a spoon and add first the oats, then the chocolate chips
  • Using a cookie scoop, place little or larger mounds on a paper lined cookie sheet
  • Bake at 350° F / 180° C in a fan assisted oven for exactly 10 minutes
  • Let cool cookies on the sheet until they have firmed up, then let cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Enjoy!

    I'm completely clueless about how to add a photo to a comment, so I just add Mikekey's photo of these lovelies to the post. He made them with regular instead of gluten free flour, and they look fabulous! Thanks so much for trying these!

     

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Spiced Green Tea Lime Cooler

 

Spiced Green Tea Lime Cooler

This beverage was created for the Ready Set Cook Game RCS 2018 of my favourite cooking community.
Main ingredient:
Green tea!
This recipe just popped into my mind when I read the ingredient list. Not a huge fan of cold tea beverages, but all of a sudden I knew I wanted this... And it turned out really delicious, even though the colour is a bit strange because of the evaporated cane juice!
Feel free to adjust the spices to your taste.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup of cold green tea (I used gunpowder)
  • Juice of 1 1/2 limes
  • 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
  • 1/8 (or less, to taste) teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar (evaporated cane juice, or jaggery)
  • 1 Slice of lime (garnish)

Preparation:
  • Brew green tea and let cool completely, if you want it really cold, let it stand in the fridge overnight or for a couple of hours.
  • Put 2 teaspoons of brown sugar into a tall glass.
  • Combine cold tea, lime juice and spices, stir well.
  • Pour over brown sugar.
  • Serve with a slice of lime.
    Enjoy!