Manna from Heaven

Conor's Bread Revisited!

This makes a really Light and Fluffy Well Risen GF/CF/SF and Yeast free bread!!!

Yes, finally after 5 months of experimentation, failure, doughy bread and chewy toast I have finally managed to create a respectable, nay comparable white bread.

What's the secret?

Well, firstly - check your loaf tin. For months I have been laboring under the misapprehension that my 1.5lb loaf tin was a 1lb loaf tin. It was only by accident that this weekend I picked up a real 1lb loaf tin.

Secondly, rising agents. Without yeast there are a few things that can make bread rise. Variously in different recipes I've seen baking powder, vitamin c tablets and sparkling water all used.

Ingredients - I've been a bit more anal than usual here and listed exactly what I used. this is because I cannot actually believe that the bread I've made is GF/CF/SF and yeast free too! I have made it twice, the second time tonight just to confirm the results. I will generalise the ingredients eventually. I would particularly like to change the rice milk for hemp milk and I'll probably try it with my own flour blend too, but for recreatable results, here's exactly what I used. Update 09/09/2009: Now verified with Rice:Potato:Tapioca mix in ratio 3:1:1. Update: 13/09/2009: For a nutty taste mix 100g of Gram flour with 350g of the white flours.

• 450g flour - Doves Gluten Free plain white flour blend (what I used originally) or your own GF/CF flour blend. I tried this with a mix or Rice:Tapioca:Potato in ratio 3:1:1 last night and the bread turned out just as nice. This has the added advantage of making the bread Soya free too!
  
• 1 Haliborange halibonbon tablet
• 1 tsp sea salt - rock sea salt
• 4 tsp xanthan gum - Life free from brand
• 2 tsp baking powder - Royal Baking powder
• 2 large organic free range eggs (M&S)
• Rice Milk (Rice Dream (+Calcium)) combine with eggs to make total liquid volume 200ml
• 200ml Sparkling water - Deep riverrock.

Preparation:

• Preheat fan over to 200 degrees Centigrade (I have a Neff fan oven)
• Dust a 1lb loaf tin with flour
• Get out a mixing bowl, measuring jug, wooden spoon, spatula, whisk

Method:

• Crush Halibonbon tablet in a pill crusher or with the back of a spoon until it it pure powder.
• Mix dry ingredients and whisk together
• Whisk eggs and add milk to total liquid content of 200ml
• Add egg/milk mix to dry ingredients and combine together
• Add sparkling water last and quickly mix to a lumpy batter
• Quickly press into loaf tin and smooth top with spatula
• Bake fo 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Shep

Play Dough Cookies

Almond and Vanilla Cookies.

I call these play dough cookies because when they are prepared and before they are cooked the kids can play with them and shape them like play dough.

These make tasty sweet cookies. We add sesame seeds on top for a bit of variety.

Ingredients

• 2 cups GF/CF flour mix (Rice:Potato:Tapioca mix ratio 4:1:1)
• 1.5 tsps xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tspbicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 cup xylitol
• 6 oz cf soft margarine
• 1/2 tsp ground almond
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees centigrade
• Mix all the dry ingredients together
• Add in the margarine and mix until the texture is like play dough!
• Add in vanilla extract
• From into small balls and flatten with the back of a glass.
• Shape as desired
• Top with sesame seeds (optional)
• Bake for 12 minutes

Conor's Bread!

New Gluten Free, Dairy and Soya Free, yeast Free Bread!

Update * Update * Update * Update * Update * Update * Update

There is a newer version of this bread: http://sheps-gf-cf-sf-adventure.blogspot.com/2009/09/manna-from-heaven.html

Read on for the old recipe:

Ok, so we've had to rule out yeast based breads (unfortunately). The soda bread slices up too small to make decent toast.

I decided to take the accumulated knowledge of all our baking experience into making a decent, edible, toastable, white loaf.

This bread has a firm texture once cooked, but may seem a little moist. Don't worry, this will "cook" out during toasting.

The ingredients are simple, and it's a cinch to make and even though it's supposed to be toasted, Conor even eats the slices untoasted.

Ingredients

• 450g GF/CF flour mix (Rice:Potato:Tapioca in ration 4:1:1)
• 400 ml non-dairy milk (I use hemp milk)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 tsps xanthan gum

Method

• Preheat oven to 220 degrees Centigrade
• Mix all the dry ingredients
• Add milk and eggs
• Mix until the mixture forms a batter
• Pour into a 1 pound loaf tin
• Smooth off the top and place a shallow + in the top
• Cook for 35-40 minutes until browned (slightly) on top.

Oh yes, remember to toast the bread well!

Irish Soda Bread

Yeast Free Soda Bread

Ok, so now that we have found a decent recipe for bread for Conor we now need to cut out the yeast.

So...options? There are not many, but luckily Irish Soda Bread is naturally yeast free. The question was could I make a soda bread that was gf/cf/sf and which still tasted good?


I took an old fashioned traditional recipe and substituted my standard gf/cf/sf substitutes.

Ingredients

• 16oz gf/cf flour mix (see below)
  
• 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate or soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons bextartar or cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons Xylitol
• 12 fluid ozs non dairy, non soy milk (I use hemp milk)
• 1 Free Range Egg beaten
  

Method

• Preheat oven to 230 degrees (hot!)
  
• Sift all the dry ingredients together
• Sift again a few times to capture air in the mix
• Mix milk and egg together
• Make a well in centre of flour and most of the wet mix.
• Using your hands, quickly and lightly form the mix into a ball. Add a bit more of the liquid mix if needs be.
  
• When the ingredients are mixed roll the dough lightly on a floured surface.
• Form into a Round 2" high
• Cut a deep X across the top
• Place on a floured baking tray
• Bake for 5 minutes
• Reduce temp to 180 degrees
• Bake for a further 30-35 minutes

Flour Mix

• 2 1/2 cups of rice flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch flour

The verdict?

Very very good.

Especially toasted with jam on top.



Enjoy.

Milking it.

Making My Own Milk.

OK, so my milk making machine arrived yesterday. It came from www.soymilkquick.com and I couldn't recommend them more highly as an organisation, they have been really helpful.

Anyhoo...first attempts at making rice milk have failed. I tried with 2 measures of rice then 1 measure, then a 1/2 measure.

The first 2 were too thick and the 1/2 measure was too watery.

Guess I'll try 3/4 measure tonight!

I contacted soymilkquick and they helpfully told me:

Hi Stephen,

Not to worry, you're no bother! I'd be happy to give you some tips with making rice milk.

From my experience, rice milk is the hardest milk to perfect. There are so many types and variations in results from type to type and even crop to crop. For instance, when I use American grown brown jasmine rice vs Thai grown brown jasmine rice, I get different results. Even organic vs non-organic rices can yeild differently. I've not really experienced this with other types of milks I've made, such as nuts, hemp, flax, quinoa, etc.

The best tip I can give if you're interested in working with rice milks, is to visit a local shop that sells bulk food items, and purchase small quantities of different varieties of rice. This way you can experiment with them and find one that works well for you.

Another tip I can give is to use brown rice exclusively. I find brown over white rice will yeild a much nicer product. Rinsing will help, but be careful not to soak it too long. What some people will do is actually roast their rice in the oven slightly, and they claim this helps alot. I can't speak to this myself, as I haven't tried this trick.

I also prefer to use slightly less than one cup of rice, as I like a thinner consistency too. Just out of curiousity, what measuring cup did you use? Make sure you're using the little clear plastic cup that came with your machine rather than a standard kitchen measuring cup. They are actually quite different in volume, so that would alter your results greatly. Your other alternative is to dilute, or thin out your milk as soon as the milk is complete.

One of my team members swears that when she adds some salt to the rice milk, it prevents it from thickening up too much. She adds it to her transfer jug prior to diluting her milk slightly. Again, I have yet to try this tip for myself, but she says it works great.

The other thing I'd suggest, is to try a mixture of brown rice and other ingredients, such as quinoa, flax and hulled hempseeds.

I have a pdf file with a recipe and tips for rice milk which I will attach. You might find it helpful as well.

Best of luck in trying out these suggestions Stephen. I know how important it is for you to make a milk that your son can enjoy.

Starting The Adventure

Starting off the GF/CF/SF journey.

So...we got back to Ireland from the DAN! conference in Atlanta last Monday. Fired up to start our son (who turned nine this weekend (happy birthday!)) on the Gluten (wheat), Caesin (Dairy) and Soy Free diet. Oh, yes and we want to cut the sugars out too.

Challenges:

• Replace his current diet with a healthier one. his diet mostly of:
  
  1. Toast & crusty bread rolls
  2. Scones and cheesy scones
     
  3. Cheesy crackers
  4. Cheese
  5. Crackers
  6. Apple juice
  7. Sweets

• Find an alternative to butter that has neither dairy nor soy in it.
• Find an alternative to milk in baking
  
• Find out how to bake 1-5 above.
• Celebrate his birthday with a cake.
  

Ingredients

Flour
The first challenge was to find alternatives to wheat in baking. There are lots of good natural alternatives out there. Unfortunately there's no magic bullet 1 for 1 replacement. Odlums have a product (Trytamil) which is excellent, but sadly contains soy flour (Odlumns, if you read this please try and reformulate without the soy).

So...we have found in various places various flours you can buy. Tesco in Naas have a small gluten free section and Superquinn have a bigger one. Sadly these don't have many products that are also caesin free and soy free too. Health food shops (which I'm now enjoying for the first time in a long and unhealthy life) have better selections. We have bought many types this week and the key (from what I've read) is to mix certain ones to get a good base. So far we have bought Buckwheat, Corn (maize), Rice and Trytamil along with a flour mix (Dove Farms) and a brown bread mix.

The flour verdict (so far)....we'll I haven't been able to recreate all the things I need to cook using the ingredients yet, but the white flour mix seems pretty good so far as does the rice flour. The brown bread (also from Dove Farms) smelled great while cooking, but tasted so-so (noone here would eat it!)....I did find a great use for it though (see recipes below)

Butter
Butter has been more of a challenge. In baking I'm trying to substitute with veg oil, nut butter or coconut oil...but with varying degrees of success.

I'm still no closer to a butter as a spread on toast solution...ghee (clarified butter from Indian stores) has been suggested in the books as the clarification process removes the caesin, but I haven't tried that yet. Another choice is to make my own GF/CF/SF mayo...which may work out fine for me I can't see Conor going for that.

Verdict: For cooking plain old veg oil often works, for spreading on bread...watch this space...

Milk
This has been slightly easier. We got Rice Dream from Tesco. There is some debate about whether Rice Dream is actually totally gluten free. (Apparently) There is no gluten in the ingredients, but there is some in the production process which can contaminate the milk (1 part per 20 million). I'm willing to accept those odds for now, but there are people who have noticed a difference when they replaced Rice Dream with another totally gluten free brand.

I also got some Almond Milk from the health food store.

Both are pretty good.

Anyway, the shop bought milks are just a stepping stone as I've ordered my milk making machine (www.soymilkquick.com) and it should arrive this week.


Cooking

Recipe 1: Scones
This is a definite success.

1. 150 g White Flour Mix (I used Dove Farms one)
2. 150 g Rice flour
3. 1 tsp salt
   
4. 230 ml Milk (I used both almond and rice milk in different batches with equal success)
5. 6 tsp Baking Powder
6. 1 tbsp oil (I used omega 3 oil)
7. 2 tbsp protien (see below)
   

To cook

1. Preheat oven to 180 Centigrade
2. Sift the flours, salt baking powder together and add in the protien from step 3 if desired
   
3. This is an excellent recipe for disguisiung other foods you want to be included in the diet. So far I have made this with chicken, sausage (GF of course!) and bacon. Simply get a few tablespoons of the meat (not the sausage!) and grind it down to a smooth consistency. I've been using a coffee grinder for this as it's quicker and easier to clean then the full mixer.
   
4. Add oil and milk all at once and mix to a firm consistency (slightly sticky is fine too)
5. Turn out onto a floured board and roll (I just use my hands) to about 1/2 inch thick
6. Cut out scones and place on a floured baking tray
7. Cook for 10-12 minutes ... the tops may not brown as much as you'd expect so check them!

Recipe 2: GF/CF Stuffing

Strange, but true...you can make such a thing and it can taste great! The following recipe was created by my wife and I. It's a byproduct of the brown bread I made that noone wanted to eat.
Simple to make and an excellent accompanient to any meal.

1. 4-5 slices of gf/cf bread made into breadcrumbs
   
2. 2 onions diced
3. 4 tbsp sage
   
4. 1 egg
5. flax seeds
6. Gogi berries

To cook

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade
   
2. Fry the onions in some veg oil. I added some almond butter, but this was probably not necessary. Make sure you use plenty of oil ad the breadcrumbs tend to be on the dry side.
3. Add onions and sage to the breadcrumbs and mix.
4. Whisk an egg and add as a binder.
5. Optionally add flax seeds and gogi berries to taste.
6. Judge yourself how moist the mix is ... if it looks dry add another egg, or some oil or some almond butter.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 60 minutes.
   

Recipe 3: Croutons

Another bread that noone wanted recipe.

Still not perfected...but close I think.

1. Oil
2. Tomato puree
3. Bread
4. Herbs (to taste)

To cook

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade (seems to be my favourite temperature!)
   
2. Marinate the oil and tomato for some time
   
3. Seive the oil from the paste...you should now have a tomato oil!
4. Cut the bread into crouton sized pieces (leave the crusts on ... these help keep the croutons together)
5. Heat a small amout of the oil in a non stick pan
6. Roll individual pieces of bread in the oil and then add to pan
7. Flash fry on on sides
8. Remove from pan and transfer to an oven proof dish and bake for about 10 minutes.

Viola! Croutons.

Now sprinkle with basil or whatever you like.

Enjoy.


Recipe 4: Chocolate Birthday Cake.

I have to admit I cheated and bought a shop mix. It was excellent...from a company called Orgran (please send me free stuff for the name drop!). I'm going to buy more this week!

---

Ok, well that's all from me for tonight....it's very late and I'm tired.

My objectives would be to find recipes for the following:

1. Scones (done!)
2. Cookies/biscuits
3. Breadsticks
4. Bread

I guess I've a ways to go...but I'll get there.

Shep.