Retired With No Regrets

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Gluten-Free Sourdough Yeast Rolls (Baked In a Muffin Tin)

After making a sourdough starter, I decided to try making rolls. Yeast rolls were the best thing I can remember having growing up. There was that good smell during the mornings to wake everyone up!

These are made using part DIY mix. I had little bits of different flours and mixes, so I mixed them and added a bit of starch to smooth it out. Cookbook software helps a lot in pointing out how much starch or fiber is in a mix, so it is worth buying, if DIY flour mix is your preference.

This batch was baked in a deep muffin tin about the size of a medium-sized hamburger bun. I also baked a few mini buns. The entire recipe makes about 8 of the larger buns. They are the texture of baguettes. After leaving them on the counter for two days, they were drying out a bit, but never crumbly. That is why the description is given as the texture of baguettes or French bread.

Near the end, there is an approximation of the breakdown of the DIY mix. This mix works fine for cookies or scones. It is more of a whole-grain mix, which would benefit with the addition of 20% starch for tender biscuits.

Gluten-Free Sourdough Yeast Rolls (Baked In a Muffin Tin)

Baked in a smaller muffin tin

Baked in a larger muffin tin

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 cup DIY Gluten Free Flour Mix (¹see below mix used)

1/2 cup Namaste Perfect Flour Blend

1/2 cup Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend

1/4 cup Yeast Starter (Gluten Free)

1 tsp baking powder ( just in case your yeast fails)

1 tsp yeast

2 tbsp dried milk powder

1/4 tsp sour salt (citric acid)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cups water (plus a tablespoon more or less, depending on the stiffness of the batter)

4 tbsp grape seed oil

1 egg

2 tbsp whole milk ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp vinegar

Procedures

Prepare and place the Dry Ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Start mixer on low.

Mix together all of the Wet Ingredients. Gradually add the Wet Ingredients to the mixing bowl. While continuing to run, slightly push down any Dry Ingredients needed from the sides or the mixing bowl. Once all Dry Ingredients are mixed in, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

Grease your pan(s) with shortening.

Scoop the dough into the prepared pan(s). Smooth out a bit, using a spatula or your wet fingers.

Cover with greased plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise to double, about 45 to 60 Minutes. About 10 minutes nearing the end if rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the large buns 35 to 45 minutes, until golden brown. The smaller ones take about 20 minutes, but watch them carefully as the oven temperature may be off a bit.

Remove from pan and place on serving plate. Allow cooling slightly before cutting. Below is a picture of a roll being cut as soon as it came out of the oven.

Store in an airtight container up to three days on counter or wrap refrigerate or freeze.

This simply shows the thickness and that it can be used as a sandwich bun.

Makes: 8 hamburger-bun sized rolls

Nutrition (per roll): 212 calories, 8.5g total fat, 1.5g monounsaturated fat, 4.9g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, 1.2g saturated fat, 28.7mg cholesterol, 96.5mg sodium, 13.1mg calcium, 43.5mg potassium, 16.9mcg folate, 32.9mg phosphorus, 12.3mg phytosterols, 0mcg lycopene, 2.9mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, 2.2mg vitamin c, 2.2IU vitamin d, <1mg zinc, 30.8g carbohydrates, 1.8g fiber, 29.1g net carbohydrates, 2.5g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g lactose, <1g maltose, <1g sucrose, 3.7g protein, 0mg caffeine.

Tips

This recipe is suitable for minis buns or baguette style loaves

Gluten Free Flour Mix ¹- this is about one cup

1/4 cup Montina Flour - Amazing Grains

2 tbsp Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Mix

2 tbsp brown rice flour

1 tbsp sorghum flour

1 tbsp millet flour

1 tbsp oat flour

1 tbsp sweet rice flour

2 tbsp potato starch

1 tbsp tapioca flour

1 tbsp arrowroot starch

1/4 tsp ground fennel seed (or additional 1/4 tsp ginger powder)

1/8 tsp ginger powder

Procedure (required)

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, pulse until mixed. Store in a sealed jar in a cool place

It takes a long time to grind the Montina flour, so process at least 5 minutes, sift with a fine sieve, regrind remainder another 5 minutes, resift. If only about a tbsp is left, just throw it out.

Nutrition (per cup): 438 calories, 99.6g carbohydrates, 5.9g fiber, 93.7g net carbohydrates, 7.1g protein.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Tis The Season For Baking - Gluten Free Sour Dough Bread

Now that there is so much better gluten free bread on the market than when I went gluten free in 2006, I have gotten lazy about baking a loaf of bread.

I still miss that 12-grain whole wheat bread. I may miss it, but I will never eat it again. You see, I know that the gluten proteins makes me feel like my intestines are exploding and a wild animal is trying to exit from my body from both ends.

No, I will not eat a little to see if it still makes me sick. A few times over the past 5 years, I have accidently eaten something that apparently was processed with the wheat family and was cross contaminated. I suffered those times so bad that I will no longer buy anything that says processed with wheat. Some of those products have a gluten free label. For me, it’s about not being sick all of the time.

Now that I have spewed on about why I can no longer eat foods containing the protein gluten….on to how I decided to bake a loaf of sourdough bread.

For some reason a couple weeks ago, I walked in the kitchen, looked over at the bread machine and decided to make a loaf of bread. I quickly threw it together and for some reason, the bread machine seemed to not heat as hot as it had been doing, because the loaf rose, but there was no regular dome. It was flat as if I had leveled it off with a knife. It tasted good, it had a good sourdough taste, because I had added a bit of sour salt aka citric acid. That got me to thinking about making sourdough bread.

I have seen several of my blogger friends doing sourdough starters and baking bread, but had not seen any for gluten free sourdough starters.
Well, there is the big ole web and I ‘Googled’ and ‘Binged’ away and found one on Red Star Yeast . But as it turns out, I already had one similar in my cookbook software.

This is the loaf as it came out of the oven. I was in a hurry to eat a piece, that I didn’t let it cool and of course one end drooped!

It is light and fluffy when completely cooled.

I sliced a little slit before putting it in the oven, hoping it would not split !

Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups Gluten Free Pantry French Bread and Pizza Mix (or a similar mix)

2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp ascorbic acid

1 ½ tsp pectin

3/4 tsp citric acid (ok to omit if Ricotta cheese has citric acid)

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Liquids:

1 2/3 cups warm water

3/4 cup Sour Dough Starter *

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

3 1/2 Tbsp grape seed oil (may substitute 4 tbsp butter)

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

Procedure

Whisk together all Dry Ingredients

Whisk eggs to break them up, whisk in water and oil, and pour into stand mixer bowl. Add remaining wet ingredients. Start mixer on low and allow mixing a few seconds. Gradually add the combined dry ingredients into the running mixer. While still on low, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to get all of the flour mixed in.

Turn mixer to medium speed and beat for 3 minutes.

Generously grease a 9x5 loaf baking pan/dish with shortening

Once the batter has finished mixing, scrape it into the prepared baking pan/dish. Cover and let it rise to double about 1 hour or more.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 45-50 min in absolute middle of oven. Bread should be a nice brown color. Turn off oven and let it sit in oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven, using a spatula; slide it along the sides to loosen the areas that may be stuck. Gently shake the dish/pan to see if the bread has loosened from all sides and bottom. Turn out of the dish on the side, letting it cool on a wire rack. Allow cooling completely before slicing

Servings: 20

Yield: 1 large loaf

Nutrition (per serving): 155 calories, 3.6g total fat, 1.1g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, <1g linoleic acid, <1g alpha linolenic acid, 2g saturated fat, 39.9mg cholesterol, 245.2mg sodium, 31.4mg calcium, 40.4mg potassium, 22.5mcg folate, 44.5mg phosphorus, <1mg phytosterols, 0mcg lycopene, 4.6mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mg vitamin c, 2.6IU vitamin d, <1mg zinc, 26.6g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 26g net carbohydrates, 2g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g lactose, <1g maltose, <1g sucrose, 0mg stigmasterol, 2.5g protein.

Of course I didn’t wait until it cooled, had to have a piece!

My sourdough starter is the same as the one from *Red Star Yeast Sourdough Starter.

And now to keep it active and make bread!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Hearty Soups and Pasta Sauce from Roasted Vegetables

Roasting vegetables and fruits brings out the best flavors in them without requiring much seasoning because the natural flavors come out during the roasting.

Roasted or baked sweet potatoes are sweet and flavorful enough that they can be eaten as is. We had baked sweet potatoes growing up. There was a time that was what we had for lunch! And nobody starved or suffered from malnutrition.

We enjoyed those fresh garden vegetables, fruits and berries from the area. If anything arrived by truck back then, it was from a few miles out from nearby farms. I remember seeing people bartering with vegetables for meat or poultry or eggs.

The last trip I took along US 49 in Arkansas heading West to Brinkley, there was a little shed with fruits and vegetables for sale. Every trip I’ve taken down that highway, there was always that little shed! Oh, and we always stopped even though we were days away from home! Most of the time, we ate the fruit we bought within a day.

Most cities have large farmers markets, but those aren’t the same as those individual “stands”. Sometimes you actually knew the family or even if you didn’t, you remembered them from year to year and knew their life stories. Although the large farmers markets have some really good food, it’s the ‘knowing the providers/growers’ that make it more interesting.

If you have never roasted or baked vegetables or fruits, it’s time to try it. That roasted or baked food will make you go …. um yum good!

It’s about time to heat up some of the last batch of soup, just writing about it makes my mouth water!

From September

From August

September - soup with roasted vegetables

This one included roasted potatoes, carrots, winter squash, peppers, green beans and corn. It also has ‘fresh’ carrot juice instead of tomato juice. I do not recommend canned or non-refrigerated bottled carrot juice! Basically if it does not taste like fresh squeezed, it will not have a good effect on this soup.

The finished soup - it comes out like stew, with potatoes doing some major thickening! Delicious for sure!

soup with roasted potatoes and carrots served this one is very thick

Soup - roasted vegetables with black and kidney beans added

Pasta Sauce

Roasted Vegetables served

Preparing soup with a few roasted vegetables

I needed to add other ingredients here, because there was only about 2 cups of roasted vegetables left.
over-ripe tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, roasted carrots, roasted corn, roasted potatoes and roasted squash. Cooked sliced okra will be added last

Adding a small amount of quinoa, which will thicken the soup, prior to adding the fresh tomatoes

Finished it off with fresh carrot juice

Preparing the okra separate

Added the okra - would be ready to serve in about half an hour

The finished soup - Delicious for sure!

Leftovers

served with cranberry flax muffin

Prepping the Vegetables

I cover the pans with foil and rub oil over to prevent sticking. The oil is absorbed into the vegetables. Makes for an easy clean-up. These can also be roasted in a large covered grill.