Give Us This Day. Gluten Free Bread.

My obsession knows new bounds.  For the last couple of days I've been obsessing about bread making. Gluten free bread making.  The more I read, I think the less I knew! In the end, the only way to see what works was to get in the kitchen, and well, see what works.

So for Vegan MoFo 2013, Day 20.  I'm giving us this day our daily bread. Sans gluten.

Gluten Free Bread

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup wholemeal teff flour
1/4 cup sorghum
3/4 cup cassava (tapioca) flour
1 tbs psyllium powder
2 tbs ground chia
1 1/2 cups warm vegan milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp pink salt
1 tsp white sugar



Bake at 180 degrees for 55 minutes, then five minutes extra with aluminium foil over the top.  I took it out of the oven at 50 mins and tapped the bottom but it did not sound hollow enough so I popped it back in again.   When it is cooked, remove it from the loaf tin.  Leave it to completely cool before slicing.  I had to go for a once around the lake at the end of my street, to cut into it was too great.

I read on one website that it was better to introduce the quick acting yeast to warm liquid before adding to the flour. I have no idea what difference this made but I went along with it.

Use a tsp of olive oil to make smoothing down the top easier and also improve the crust.  If you don't want to use oil then wet hands will help to smooth.

I let it rise in an lightly oiled mixing bowl for 1.5 hours. The house was warm, this is important.  Yeast is a bit like me, performs better when warm.  The risen dough then sat in the loaf tin for a further ten minutes whilst I waited for the oven to heat up. 

I've read so much about gluten free bread in the last three days.  Some recipes have had such a long list of ingredients, all the ones that looked like they were triumphs used a high ratio of starch.  Some said 2:1 ratio of gf flours to starch, others said 60% starch 40% flours. Some said flours with high protein content best, some said rice flour best.  Some used vinegar to create a little chemical friction in the baking, thus resulting in a more tender loaf, others didn't.  Some used baking soda…some, not.  

Am I happy with my first home baked loaf of bread?  It was denser than I'd hoped for.  I liked the flavour and the crust had a nice chew.  It was lovely toasted.  Overall, my first attempt was more like a German Brot.  Denser than sandwich bread.  The wholemeal teff defined it a brown instead of a white loaf.

I'm making another loaf in the next few days, I will be tweaking the recipe here and there to see what the effect is.

It's not perfect.  No, let me rephrase that.  It is a perfect, dense and flavoursome, bread.  Perfect and lovely in it's own way.  What it isn't, is the hoped for, spongey, chewy crusted, flavoursome copy of the freshly baked sandwich loaf I used to slather with whatever took my fancy, atop an artery clogging layer of butter (pre-vegan days), type bread.  That will come in time.  For now, I'm loving what I have.  It's kind of exciting.  The idea of a bread making journey, with failures and successes. I will learn as I go, make little adjustments, discover new ideas.  I sometimes can be rather uncomfortable with learning something new.  At times, want to skip to the finish line without all the stuff in the middle.  But, can a craft be truly learned without study and time to proof?

If you have any gluten free bread making tips or stories please do tell.


These sites were some of my inspiration and places of learning.
Gluten Free 4 Goofs
Book Of Yum
Gluten Free Girl



Today is Day 20 of Vegan MoFo.  I missed a day of posting so this is the 19th post.  I've a minimum of one more post to go.  It is going to be a good one.

See you tomorrow! x

Bruschetta with Raw Garlic Bread - VEGAN Recipe

I threw a potluck at my place yesterday.  One of my efforts was a pungent, fresh and tasty bruschetta. 

Back in my 'gluten' days I used to make this simple dish A LOT.  The flavours are so vivid when the tomatoes are fresh from the vine.  Room temperature, to bring out their sweet, acid fruitiness.  When freshly minced garlic, peppery extra virgin olive oil and basil combine with the tomatoes, and a good pinch of rock salt is rubbed between thumb and fingers to freckle over the top..something magical happens. Inhale deeply whilst gently tumbling the ingredients in a bowl with a spoon or fork. It is a sensual, aromatic feast as the acid 'cooks' the garlic and the essential oils from the basil are released into the juices from the tomatoes. The ingredients act like a great boy band…individual, unique but together they ROCK!

I decided to try a recipe for Raw Garlic Bread - Russell James.  The recipe is complete genius with surprising ingredients like psyllium husk and almond pulp. The bread is raw, living ('cooked' via a dehydrator to keep its enzymes intact..an oven on it's lowest setting could possibly work) spongy and light. It even has a chewy crust, much like a french baguette. I made two changes to the recipe.  Omitting the dates and using one clove of garlic, as the cloves I had were ginormous and the tomatoes were laden with garlic too.  It turned out quite perfect!  Gluten free, low carb.  All praise to Russell for a fabulous recipes.  It is one I will used again and again.

The topping is simple.  Ripe, succulent tomatoes roughly chopped.  Fresh, minced garlic and torn organic basil leaves.  Salt to taste.  The bread acts like a sponge to the salad and it transforms it.  It's chewy, garlicky, fresh, aromatic and perfectly pert.

The raw bread takes 14 hours to dehydrate but it made 4 small loaves and it freezes.  The tomato bruschetta takes mere moments.

Nutritional info according to Science Daily

 'researchers found that tomatoes are the biggest source of dietary lycopene; a powerful antioxidant. Tomatoes also contain other protective mechanisms, such as antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory functions. Research has additionally found a relationship between eating tomatoes and a lower risk of certain cancers as well as other conditions, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, ultraviolet light-induced skin damage, and cognitive dysfunction'.

Enjoy

x