Art of Gluten-free Sourdough Baking

A Letter from a Reader

2011-12-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hello dear Sharon,

I am writing to report on my most recent gluten-free sourdough baking experiences. First, I want to thank you, Sharon, again for being so amazing and inventing GFSD baking, and all these amazing recipes. I love my new book too! It's already well covered with grease spots - looks well used and loved!:)

I have been trying all the new rice-free recipes, just thinking that I want to get rid of all the random flours I had in the pantry...well, it turned out I just loooooooove the new breads! It all started with the Corn Multigrain Mini Loaves, which I wanted to make for Thanksgiving. I ended up making mini muffins instead, which turned out great, but since I had made more then 3 cups of the starter I continued feeding the leftover starter.

When I had about 6 cups buckwheat/sorghum starter I made both Tapioca Bread #4 and Multi Carob#4. YUM! We had delicious sandwiches for days. The kids and hubby were super happy. At the beginning of the year I had fallen in the rice mini-muffins rut for months, then I took the summer off from baking. Now everybody in the house feels spoiled with all these new delicious breads.

Today I made my first Teff bread. This one is definitely everyone's fave so far...and it came with a bonus! When I was mixing the bread this morning I ended up with more dough then would fit in my bread pan, but not enough for two breads. So I took the extra dough and mixed in about 1 more cup of teff flour, 2 T. molasses, some coconut sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and a bunch of butter (at least 2-3T). I left it out to rise.

When I got home from work (about 7hrs later), the bread was ready to bake. The cookie dough had only risen slightly, but I thought enough to give it a shot. Well, let me tell you, the cookies turned out amazing!!!!! I'm so happy! Gluten-free sourdough cookies. And sugar free, kind of, since there was barely any coconut sugar in the mix. I think those would also taste delicious with some choc chips. Next time, I'm going to try the cookies with more starter and less added though at the end. I also would like to try lemon butter cookies. Perhaps with a rice-quinoa starter?

Another experiment, though not as exciting as the cookies, but pretty delicious was the bread pudding. We can eat eggs, so I mixed a few eggs, some coconut milk and cinnamon with some crumbled leftover corn bread, stuck it in the oven for about 45min and voila!... yum!

That's it for now! I'm gonna try to take pictures one of these days - may be over Christmas break when I have more time.

Again, thank you and God bless you!
Love,
KG

Domestic Divas share about Wise Traditions Conference!

2011-11-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

Sherry and Adrienne, the Domestic Divas, made a humorous and informative video about what they purchased at the Wise Traditions Conference. It's about 10 minutes long and well worth it. My book, The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking, gets a mention!
Here's the link:
Domestic Divas on Youtube

Teff Sourdough Starter for Samples for Wise Traditions Conference

2011-11-05T10:34:00.001-07:00

I'm in the middle of baking countless samples for the Wise Traditions conference where I will be presenting my bread technique.

I'm baking one of my favorite slightly sweet breads, Teff Carob Coconut.

Here are some photos of the very impressive looking starter.

I like the craggy surface of the top and the spongy holes seen through the sides of the glass.

Saturday Night, November 5, 7:00 pm EST! Live Internet Radio Interview with Vickilynn Haycraft!

2011-11-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! Another interview! This time it will be a live internet radio show by Vickilynn Haycraft, who is an excellent interviewer. This will be a relaxed one-hour talk where we will delve into gluten-free sourdough baking as well as discuss some aspects of my own personal healing journey.

Click here for a direct link to the show page.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2011/11/05/get-real-get-prepared-with-vickilynn-haycraft-1

The show will be live Saturday Evening, Nov. 5, from 7-8PM EST, so you can tune in live via that link.

This link will be available after the show to access the interview On Demand, or to download as an Mp3.

If you would like to hear the show live via phone and not on the computer, the number is 1 (347) 326-9604

We will also be open to taking live calls on the air at the above number!

Make a cup of tea, toast a piece of gluten-free sourdough bread and join me for an easy going evening!

I was interviewed!

2011-10-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
I was interviewed about my bread technique by Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt, a traditional foods cook and chocolate maker. Her husband, the techie behind the interview, makes amazing home made meade, which is a fermented drink that was a staple in Europe for many years. I have tasted their foods and meade and can heartily recommend them. Lisa Marie was a great interviewer, asking me unusual questions in an impromptu and conversational style.

Have a listen, the interview is under 30 minutes.
Interview with Sharon Kane

Be Well,
sharon

Here are links to the chocolate and meade site:
Rite Chocolate
Bardic Brews

Pancakes! New Video!

2011-10-13T03:11:00.001-07:00

Here is a pancake video demonstrating how to make pancakes that are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and yeast. Being sourdough they do have a slightly mild-to-medium sour taste so in my opinion they are perfect as a savory grain accompaniment to a meal instead of bread.

Click here for Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes Video

Contest Giveaway!

2011-10-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

I'm will be giving away a copy of my newly printed book, Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking on October 7! Read about and enter the contest here on my Facebook page: Enter Contest Book Giveaway

Good Luck!
sharon

Lazy/Busy Person’s Water Kefir and Ginger-Ale

2011-09-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Today's guest post is by Peggy Matthews, who is a good friend who has helped me in many ways to get my word out. Most of us are always looking for short cuts and she shares the one she now uses for making water kefir. She makes a fabulous Ginger-Ale with this method. Read on!

When I told Sharon about my different approach to making water kefir she asked me to share how I do it by writing a short piece as a guest contributor to her blog. So, here it is.

My approach differs from Sharon’s in that it cuts out some of the steps so that I can quickly assemble the water kefir and then promptly forget about it. I call it the “lazy/busy” person’s approach because I am usually one or the other, depending on the day. Let me state right away, though, that Sharon’s method is the tried-and-true one that most people use with consistent success.
Here is my method, and afterwards I’ll explain what’s different about it.

Lazy-busy person’s Water Kefir (1 Quart)
1. Sugar-Water: Dissolve ½ cup of light or dark brown sugar in 3 cups of filtered water.
2. Pour off and save (for baking or drinking) almost all of your previous batch of water kefir, leaving behind the kefir granules which should be barely covered by the remaining brew.
3. Pour the new sugar-water into the jar containing the kefir granules.
4. Plop in a handful of raisins and small pieces of lemon.
5. Cover, label with date (I use freezer tape and a marker) and store in refrigerator.

Differences between Sharon’s method and mine:
SUGAR: I use more sugar (1/2 cup vs. 2 tablespoons) in order to keep the kefir granules well-fed for a longer period of time. My water kefir will not need to be made again for an entire month.

FERMENTATION TIME: I place my water kefir directly in the fridge and leave it there. Sharon let’s hers ferment at room temperature for 24-48 hours after which she removes the fruit and then refrigerates it. (I don’t want to have to remember to check it after I’ve assembled it as I’m liable to forget!)

FRUIT REMOVAL: I don’t remove the fruit. I leave the raisins and lemon in the water kefir until I’m ready to make a new batch.

JARS: I use the same jar every time. Sharon begins each new batch of water kefir in a new, clean jar by first making the sugar-water solution, then adding the fruit, then adding the water kefir grains. I prefer to throw everything into the old jar.

If there is any way to cut corners and simplify things that need to be repeated I will usually find a way to do it! The water kefir that I make works very well as a booster for gluten-free sourdough starters, and is delicious as a tonic. The one down-side to my method is that you do have to wait a couple of weeks before the sugar-water is fermented enough to be of any use. It will still taste sweet after 2 weeks in the fridge, but it can be used for bread baking at this time. After 1 month it is perfect for drinking, very fizzy and with only a touch of sweetness left.

GINGER-ALE
I make Ginger-Ale by mixing pressed ginger juice with water kefir. I press my own ginger using a Samson Gear Juicer and I then freeze the juice in small ice-cube wells (about 1 tablespoon per well) so that it will last me a long, long time. I peel fresh ginger root, cut it into small pieces and feed them through the gear juicer. I like to use 1 tablespoon of ginger juice in 24 oz water kefir.

Recommendations for Same Recipe-4 different Results

2011-09-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

My last post talked about my experiment using the same recipe with 4 different grinds of brown rice flour. If you remember, I made 4 starters using a different grind of brown rice flour for each:

1. Once-ground on a KitchenAid Grain Mill attachment on finest setting
2. Twice-ground same mill, first on medium, #4, and again on fine #1.
3. Bob's Red Mill with added rice bran
4. Bob's Red Mill

I made my Sourdough Bread #3 recipe which is a rice and chia gel based recipe. They all came out relatively well except for the third trial using added rice bran.

I thought that adding rice bran might add some needed coarseness to the Bob's Red Mill flour but it didn't work at all as I had hoped. The bran absorbed huge amounts of moisture and resulted in a bonafide brick. Couldn't even make it into bread crumbs. Went straight into the compost.

Moving on to the successes:
-The once-ground was acceptable albeit a bit heavy.
-The twice-ground was very good, rose well, tasted good, felt good.
-The loaf with Bob's Red Mill was extremely good. You can see that it rose higher than the others in the photo, it's the loaf on the right.

I have also made this recipe using Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour and it worked very well. (I didn't try this for this particular test, though)

I was very glad to know that this recipe will work well with commercially ground flour as well as with twice-ground on a KitchenAid.

Same Recipe-4 different results

2011-08-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

A few people have written to me about how their gluten-free sourdough breads don't seem to rise properly. Come to find out that using different grinds of flour foster very different results.

I use home milled flour brown rice flour. When I first started home milling I ground it once on the finest setting on my Kitchen Aid Grain Mill attachment. It came out fairly coarse and gritty. Then I learned about grinding twice, once on medium and again on that same finest setting. The flour was finer but still on the coarse side. My initial recipes were based on this coarse and less coarse flour and produced excellent bread.

I learned that the people having trouble were using store bought flour which is much finer than my home milled. Some of them were able to switch to home milled and got much better results. But certainly there are many, many people who will never mill their own flour for all sorts of reasons. I figured I better do some trials with home milled flour to see if I could learn how to compensate for the much finer flour.

I made 4 starters using a different grind of brown rice flour for each:
1. Once ground
2. Twice ground
3. Bob's Red Mill with added rice bran
4. Bob's Red Mill

Here's a photo of the breads after baking. Look at the differences in height.

I'm analyzing the taste, texture, and crumb of these breads. Hopefully, I'll be able to make some recommendations in the not too far future. So much to learn...

Summer Starter Tips for Gluten-Free Sourdough Starters

2011-07-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Just a tip to all of you baking in the hot summer weather:
Feed your gluten-free sourdough starter every 5-6 hours rather than every 7-8 hours to prevent overfermentation, which results in unpleasantly sour tastes and loaves that don't rise much. This is a good time to grow your starter partially or even completely in the refrigerator. I'm growing mine on the counter during the days and refrigerating them at night.

Also, if you have fruit flies, make sure you keep your starter covered.
Enjoy the summer,
sharon

Honey Cake was a success!

2011-06-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

My dad's birthday celebration went well and the gluten-filled honey cake was pronounced perfect by the family. Glad I still have the touch...even though I couldn't touch it. :-)

Moving forward into finishing up testing a whole bunch of recipes. That's my equivalent of summer reading.

Coconut Biscuits

Grandma's Honey Cake - Photos

2011-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished Honey Cake for Dad's 85th birthday. I think it came out right although of course, I will not taste it on account of the ingredients I cannot have (gluten, eggs, sugar, honey, coffee). I used a dust mask on my face so I wouldn't breathe in the wheat flour and washed my hands about a million times. I baked it in my basement kitchen (a make shift kitchen consisting of saved old appliances and cheap cabinets) so my regular kitchen would stay gluten-free. I washed everything in the dishwasher as soon as possible. The cake smells right, looks right and we're ready for the celebration.

I love the rich dark color of this cake.

Grandma's Honey Cake - NOT Gluten-Free

2011-06-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

My beloved father will be turning 85 and asked me if I would make my Grandma Marion's Honey Cake for him. This is my Grandma's secret recipe from the 1940's. When she would share it with the women and girls in the family, she would make us swear we would never give the recipe to anyone outside the family. I have faithfully upheld my promise.

When my father asked me to make it for him I felt sure I did not want to handle gluten flour, eggs, piles of sugar and honey, baking soda and baking powder, crisco...At first I told him no, then thought about it for a week and realized that the man who is so generous and never asks for anything for himself was asking me for something he really wanted. And that I needed to get over whatever I was feeling and make it already.

I got out the recipe, remembering the fabulous taste and texture of this cake. I remember separating the egg whites and yolks, creaming, mixing, folding, gosh the smell of the batter was amazing. I remember seeing large slabs of it in the freezer in shimmering aluminum foil.

So I will make it next week and take it to our family celebration the following weekend. I'm really looking forward to once again taking part in this family ritual of baking Grandma Marion's Honey Cake. I may wear a dust mask when I work with the flour. I know I'll be wondering if I can convert it to gluten, egg and sugar free but I'd prefer to focus on enjoying making it again after a couple of decades of not. And seeing Dad's face when he eats it.

To Cloche or Not to Cloche - That is the question!

2011-06-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

A while ago a reader asked me a question about why the tops of her gluten-free sourdough breads had lots of cracking during baking. I really didn't have an answer as my breads also became cracked during baking. I thought it was just part of the package of making my rather unusual bread.

Another reader wrote to me saying she got nice smooth bread tops by using a "Pullman Pan" which is a metal pan with a slide-on lid. I ordered one of these interesting pans and had trouble just sliding the lid on and off. I returned it knowing I would avoid any pan I needed to struggle with to make work.

Then I started experimenting with rice-coconut breads in the hopes of achieving an angel food cake. When they ended up cracked on top I tried another batch and covered it while baking. I used an inverted cake pan. It worked extremely well!

Then I went back to some of my older loaf bread recipes that regularly cracked and baked them with an inverted loaf pan on top. That also worked really well to smooth those tops!

This is not a new idea. Historically, some bakers have used covered clay pots for baking breads. I've read of people making cloches out of tin foil, clay pots, roasting pans and anything else that will safely cover a pan to keep the steam in and the drying air out.

There are loaf breads in the loaf pans and rice-coconut biscuits in the round pan.

______________________________________________

Here is a photo of a bread with a very cracked top.
Below that is a photo of my Sourdough Bread #1, that was cloched with an inverted pyrex pan during baking.

Guest Post in Cultures For Health

2011-05-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Read my guest post in the Cultures For Health newsletter. Cultures For Health is a wonderful company that sells all things associated with fermentation: cultures, tools, crocks, books. They are a joy to be connected with. Click here to see the guest post

Dough Mixer Tool - What a Great Tool!!

2011-05-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

I accidentally found this great tool poking around on Amazon. I always really appreciate a well made, ergonomic, efficient tool and this one really fits the bill.
When I first began developing my breads I used a whisk to mix the batters so I could "feel" the changes in texture. If the batter got too dense for the whisk I would switch to a wooden spoon. This tool is way more efficient than either the whisk or the spoon making it easier on the arm. Easy to clean and at an easily affordable price. I can't say enough good things about it!

This week's experiments: Teff Carob Dessert Breads

2011-03-31T05:13:00.000-07:00

This week's experiments included my favorite, Teff Carob Coconut Bread made in a muffin tin and mini loaf. The starter was a bit soupy so the breads were a bit heavy but the taste was still excellent. On the plus side the muffins didn't need the usual requisite toasting so I could grab them for the ride to work without having to toast.

Teff Carob Coconut Mini Loaf and Standard loaf slice

Teff Carob Coconut Muffins

The possibility of making a gluten-free sourdough cake, while staying within the parameters of my pure food standards, has been floating around my mind for a few months. Tapioca has some good potential cake properties so I added a hefty amount of it to a 2 cups of Teff starter.

I used an angel food pan and was pleasantly surprised. Besides being a bit rubbery, the finished product had a lovely flavor, a nice texture, and good crumb. This recipe has great potential. To reduce the rubbery-ness I will lessen the amount of teff flour and add some more oil.

The top was crusty and the bottom was nice like cake. I may need to cover the pan as it bakes.

If I achieve the texture I'm hoping for I hope I can double or triple the recipe and get a standard size cake in the angel food pan that is light enough to lift itself for proper rise. Will report back after my next trial.

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake - Nice crumb!

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake rising in an angel food pan

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a crusty top

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a nice cakey bottom

Gluten-Free Sourdough Crackers

2011-03-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

I have been working on cracker experiments for the better part of a year. I was able to get a nice looking product that even tasted fairly well only to have the crispiness turn into tough cardboard a few hours later. The birds feasted in the compost after each experiment.

I feel very sure my commitment to using a sourdough technique as well as only whole grain flours (no starch flours) has made this project more challenging. If I used chemical leaveners like baking soda/powder or thickeners like xanthan/guar gum I probably would have developed an excellent cracker recipe shortly after I started experimenting. But I don't give up easily...and I like a good puzzle.

I needed to use up a bunch of leftover home ground flours left from last baking session and thought I'd try the crackers one more time. I made my starter from leftover potato cooking water and the mish-mash of leftover flours. I had also wanted to work some more with coconut flour in my gluten-free sourdough baking. I got out my coconut flour cookbook and reread about its properties and found its high protein content absorbs more moisture than a low protein flour. I wondered if this would help improve the cardboard-y results.

It worked really well! The coconut allowed the dough to be rolled out very easily and the crackers cooked through! They were crispy right out of the oven and stayed crispy for a few hours. They still got a bit soft over the course of that day, however.

I talked to my friend, and videographer, Peggy, who is experienced in using a dehydrator for various raw foods. She explained the concepts of dehydration to me, warm air blown around by a fan. She suggested I bake the crackers for a period of time at a regular temperature to get most of the moisture out and then use the dehydration concept for a second period of baking. I have a convection setting on my oven and decided to use it at a low setting to take out the rest of the excess moisture to produce really crispy crackers.

Before my next batch I hunted around the internet looking for gluten-free cracker recipes and found a great blogger, Fresh4Five, using ground seeds and nuts in her cracker recipes.

I tried another batch with the addition of a small amount of ground sunflower seeds along with the coconut flour and together these improved the crackers to the next success point! They were a bit more dense, rolled out easily, cooked through, and were really crispy out of the oven. I tested them every few hours and they continued to be crispy! (Because I was the only taste-tester I ate more crackers over the last 2 days than I have in the last 5 years.)

I tried storing them in three different ways, 1. in the open air, 2. in a plastic bag, and 3. in a cloth in a barely covered plastic container, the way I store all my gluten-free sourdough breads. I just taste-tested them and found they are all still crispy but the one in the plastic bag is the best because it is slightly more crispy than the others.

So now I have my work cut out for me: further develop these cracker recipes, using a variety of flours in the gluten-free sourdough starters, figure out the best cooking and convection/dehydration times and temperatures, and...oh, yes...the flavors...so many possibilities of flavors...(recipe to follow when perfected)

Sourdough Bread #1 + Starter recipe

2011-03-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sourdough Bread #1

This was my first successful gluten free bread. It has wonderful taste and texture, freezes well and has a long shelf life. It is a rather dense bread and although I happily ate if for 2 years I now prefer Sourdough Bread #2 and Sourdough Bread #3, from my book because they have a lighter, spongier texture. I have gotten mixed feedback from people about this recipe. Some have easy success with it and others find it less than dependable. The last time I made it, it was perfect!

Yield: 1 loaf Prep time: 20 minutes Rise Time: 7-24 hours
Baking Time: 350 for 60-75 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup Boosted Brown rice starter
1 ½ cups room temperature filtered water
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup chick pea flour
½ cup potato flour (not potato starch)
½ cup tapioca flour

Directions
Measure flours into a bowl and whisk together
Measure starter into mixer bowl
Add water and salt and stir to dissolve salt
Add dry flour mix to starter mixture and using an electric mixer, mix on low speed for 15-20 seconds until spongy. You can also mix by hand and do some simple finger kneading at the end to make it all come together
Do not overmix!
With a spatula gently push dough into oiled loaf pan
Use a hard spatula or potato masher to gently press into pan being careful to preserve sponginess of dough
Smooth top with hard spatula
Let rise 12-24 hours in cool oven or other warm place without drafts
The longer the rise, the better the texture
Bake at 325-350 for 60-75 minutes
Test for doneness using a skewer. The skewer should go into the bread evenly and come out mostly clean
Cool the bread in the pan on a rack
Remove from pan after at least 30 minutes
When completely cool, store either on the counter wrapped in a cloth and set in an uncovered plastic container or in the refrigerator in a cloth and covered
Freezes very well. Great toasted after freezing

Boosted Brown Rice Starter
Gluten free, Casein free

Prep time: 5 minutes
Fermentation time: 3-4 days

Start with one cup of brown rice flour and put it in a ceramic or glass bowl
Pour in slightly less than one cup of water and whisk smooth
Add 1-2 tablespoons of water kefir (water kefir recipe below)and whisk again
Cover with a cloth or paper towel and secure with a rubber band
Leave it on the counter away from drafts or extreme temperatures

Feed the starter, with 1/3-1/2 cup of flour and little less water, roughly every 8 hours, 3 times a day, for a total of four days, whisking smooth and covering. If you know you won't be able to feed it after 8 hours, put it in the refrigerator after feeding. You won't have to feed it for another 12 hours if it's in the fridge.

After two days put the starter in a clean bowl and continue feeding. (change the bowl so that the dried out starter that clings to the sides of the bowl stays out of the living starter)

After about 48 hours the starter should show signs of viability.
If you don’t see any bubbles or hilling you can add another tablespoon of water kefir

By the third day you should see small bubbles especially during stirring

By the fourth day you may see bubbles of different sizes and there may be a hissing, bubbling sound when they come up from the bottom of the bowl

It should take about 4 days for a brand new starter to be ready for cooking. It may take less time in warm weather and more time in cold weather. With a little practice you will get to know when your starter is ready.

You can store a small amount of starter, ¼ - ½ cup, in the refrigerator for next time. Feed it every 2 weeks by taking it out of the refrigerator, letting it come to room temperature, feed it with a small amount of flour and water, whisk and refrigerate again.

If you plan to make sourdough products a few times a week you may want to use an ongoing starter kept at room temperature on the counter. When you’re ready to cook/bake, remove a small amount ¼ - ½ cup of starter and put it in a clean bowl. Feed 2-3 times a day with roughly equal amounts of flour and water and whisk smooth. Cover and set it aside to continue fermenting. This will be your starter for your next batch. Proceed with your recipe with the remaining starter.

Starter recipe from The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking recpe package, available at www.food-medicine.com

Water Kefir for Boosted Brown Rice Starter
(water kefir is the booster for Brown Rice Starter)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Fermentation time: 2-4 days

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons Water Kefir grains
2 tablespoons sugar (I find organic dark sugar works the best, but any sugar works)
20 raisins (or a comparable amount of figs or prunes)
1 quart of filtered or spring water
1 slice of lemon

Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve, 20 raisins and a slice of lemon or lime.
Add the water kefir grains to the jar or if this is your first batch add the contents of your bottle of water kefir grains into the quart jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, after around 24 hours, use a nonmetal tool and scoop the raisins and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6-12 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store, covered, in fridge and use as needed.
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar and pour the water kefir grains plus the liquid their in right into the new jar, cover and ferment.
Lasts about 1 month

To replenish:
Use up the water kefir to about an inch of water kefir and water kefir grains left in the jar.
When you are ready to make a new batch just a fill a clean jar with 1 quart of water, add sugar and dissolve, add the last inch of water kefir and water kefir grains, trying to get all the grains into the new batch. Add fruit, cover and let ferment.

Other uses for Water Kefir:
tonic, a small amount through the day
supplies lactobacillus and serves as an inoculant for lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, chutneys 2 Tablespoons per quart -2 cups for 2 gallon crock
soaking grains before cooking (2 Tablespoons) predigests and increases availability of enzymes and B vitamins
soaking beans before cooking (2 Tablespoons) predigests and increases availability of enzymes and B vitamins

Sluggish gluten-free sourdough starter?

2011-02-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a tip: Sluggish gluten-free sourdough starter? set it near the stove while you cook. Today I began a new starter, boosted it with thawed frozen starter and set it near an enormous pot of simmering chicken soup. Besides looking really cozy it's starting to bubble. That's a record: less than 12 hours to bubbling!

Starters, Batters, Breads

2011-01-27T03:16:00.000-08:00

Better late than never!

2011-01-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's Gotta Be Gluten-Free: Kefir Starter for Gluten-Free Sourdough

Above is the link to a blogpost I accidentally stumbled upon about...Me!!!...
Take a minute and read it.
Cheers,
sharon

Cookies: Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Egg-Free Sugar-Free Sourdough

2010-12-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

More experiments: Gluten-Free Sourdough Cookies

This is my first attempt at making cookies with my gluten-free sourdough technique. I minimized the sour taste by feeding the starter very often, every 4-6 hours. I used my rice starter, some buckwheat flour, a bit of quinoa flour, coconut oil, a little lemon juice, stevia, vanilla powder and crushed fennel seed. I used a melon baller to scoop the dough onto parchment paper. They spread nicely while holding their shape well.

They reminded me of Vanilla Wafers, remember those? They came out great although the recipe needs a bit more work.

I think if I can get this recipe just right it could be the basis for limitless variations.

Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread Experiments

2010-12-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

Last week's experiments
Clockwise from left:
Holiday Fruit Bread, Banana Corn Bread, Chili Pepper Corn Bread, Olive Quinoa, Quinoa

The Holiday Fruit Bread needs some more work as does the Banana Corn but the others really turned out well!

Look at the color of the Holiday Fruit Bread! Purple Bread!

Gluten-Free Sourdough Quinoa Breads: Plain and Olive

2010-12-19T04:45:00.000-08:00

I'm experimenting again and am working with 100% quinoa breads. The quinoa's natural sponge-ability lends a nice texture to the breads.

Cranberry Walnut Sourdough Muffins

2010-12-16T12:56:00.000-08:00

Toasted with coconut oil.

What in the world is Water Kefir?

2010-11-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

Water Kefir is a cultured/fermented product that can easily be made in one's kitchen. I use it to kickstart the bacterial/yeast activity in my gluten-free sourdough starters. The natural acidity in the water kefir also protects the starter from spoilage. (I had a lot of spoiled starters when I began experimenting with gluten-free sourdough starters, water kefir prevents spoilage)

Water Kefir is loaded with natural probiotics and is used by many people as a tasty tonic to strengthen the digestive system. Examples of other cultured/fermented products are yogurt, milk kefir, cheese, beer, wine and sourdough bread.

Photo, top: Water Kefir Cultures
Photo, middle: Ingredients to make water kefir liquid. (water not shown)
Photo, bottom: Finished water kefir liquid. Notice the raisins are floating due to the natural carbonation!

I use water kefir in my gluten-free breads because I am sensitive to all dairy products and water kefir is free of dairy.

You can order water kefir culture from: Cultures for Health.
They carry an excellent product at an excellent price.

Here is my water kefir recipe:

Water Kefir for Boosted Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
(water kefir is the booster for Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Fermentation time: 2-3 days

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons Water Kefir grains
2 tablespoons sugar (I find organic dark sugar works the best, but any sugar works)
20 raisins (or a comparable amount of figs or prunes)
1 quart of filtered or spring water
1 slice of lemon

Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve, 20 raisins and a slice of lemon or lime.
Add the water kefir grains to the jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, after around 24-48 hours, use a nonmetal tool and scoop the raisins and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6-12 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store, covered, in fridge and use as needed.

To replenish:
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar, with water, sugar, raisins and lemon. Then pour the water kefir grains plus the remaining small amount of liquid right into the new jar, cover with paper towel or cloth and ferment.
Stays potent in the fridge 2-4 weeks.

Resources: Water Kefir Grains from www.culturesforhealth.com

Restaurant Review: Nevaeh Cuisine

2010-11-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

Recently I had the pleasure of having dinner at an amazing little café/bistro in Pleasantville, N.Y. called Nevaeh, (that’s Heaven backwards) I found this excellent place through the Triumph Dining Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide. I was on my way to vendor at a conference and we were ready for dinner after the first leg of our trip.

I’ve had so many problems dining out that I mostly avoid it. Dining at Nevaeh was a completely different experience. Most of the dishes were gluten-free as well as dairy free. Everything was already cooked and stored in refrigerated cases and we got to look and taste before we ordered. These two fabulous chefs, knew their ingredients hands down and when I mentioned multiple food allergies they were able to instantly give me a run down of what I could eat.

The food was very high caliber, in my humble opinion, fine-dining quality! The seasonings were well-balanced without the high amount of salt that is often found in restaurant food. We also bought some food “to go” to supplement us through the weekend, which worked really well.

How fortunate for us that we were able to be served fine-dining quality food at a relaxed, everyday establishment. If you’re traveling through Westchester County it would be well worth your while to check out this wonderful gluten-free oasis.

Nevaeh Cuisine
146 Bedford Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570
www.Nevaehcuisine.com

Gluten-Free Sourdough and Perfect Loaves, Yeah Right!

2010-10-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

HI All,
Lately I've been asked many questions about various technical aspects of making my bread. It seems the universe decided to remind me of some of the challenges so I could answer your questions from the best experience possible.

I'm preparing to vendor at a conference in a few short weeks.

Let's set aside that I decided to revise my book so the books I sell will be the most current and needed to have that done in time to self-print many books.

Let's set aside that my editor had to let go of my project about 10 pages into the book.
(My wonderful daughter took over the editing while she was preparing to move out of my house. The first night in her new apartment she stared at her computer for many hours, faithfully editing my book. I owe her big time)

Let's set aside that the ink I bought, at a good price online, has been delayed. When it finally arrived, I wasn't home and the delivery people needed a human to sign for it so it is still in their truck. (got ink from different site, not the best price, no shipping, next day delivered. I'm printing books as we speak, or as I write)

Let's set aside the logistics of packing my car for the conference: books, bread samples, humans, our own food, (we're all on special diets) rice cooker, toaster, hot pot, special pillows.

Now we come to what I wanted to really write about: I'm making samples, Mock Rye Bread. I froze some starter last week, took it out on Friday and planned to bake on Monday. The starter was sluggish, minimal bubbles, not much ferment smell at all.
Gave it an extra dose of water kefir but it didn't really help. (someone just wrote to me about just that).
Then I had to be out for a whole day so fed the starter and refrigerated it. (someone asked about that recently).
Still sluggish, no smell. I kept feeding it worrying it wouldn't be ready or perhaps it was never going to ferment properly. (Now that it's Fall the ambient temp in the house is cooler, probably part of the problem) (3 cold aspects, frozen starter, refrigerated starter, cool house)

Monday morning comes, I hoped to have Peggy videotape a Mock Rye Bread demo for the online course but the starter is just sitting there. We switch gears and do a Feeding Technique #1 and #2 video.

Early Monday evening I feed it once more rather than dump the whole thing in the compost.
Late Monday night the starter starts rumbling and quaking and is in danger of overflowing its 16 cup bowl. (someone just asked about batters overflowing their pans)

I divide it into quart measuring cups, feed, cover and plan to bake on Tuesday morning. I'm left with 5 batches, a lot to do at once but hey, a baker's work is never done.

As I assemble the ingredients for the first loaf I see the starter is a bit too thick, so I add a little water to the next 4. They seem to be alright but instead of a slow pour into the pan, they plop in to the pan. Nowhere in my book do I mention "plop" as a batter texture.

Of course, my schedule for Tuesday does not allow for a proper rise. I will get home one and a half hours later than a 7 hour rise but I really can't get around it. As I'm driving home I visualize that the breads should stay nice and risen, hold their texture, be tall but when I come home they've fallen quite a bit. (someone just wrote about too short and too long rise times).

I bake them, they seem okay. I cut them open using a hacksaw (like someone just wrote about) Although they rose they're not fully cooked through on the top in the center of the loaf. (some wrote about that, too) I would have cooked them longer but they started to get a scorched smell.

A lot of it was usable, though, I cut off the uncooked pieces, hacksawed the rest into slices and froze them for the conference. I feel 99% sure they will be fine after thawing and toasting.
Luckily I also have some perfect loaves I made a few weeks ago.

I saved the uncooked parts and will see if they respond to double toasting. (more info for future questions)

So, All, if you thought I made perfect loaves all the time, you now know the truth. I'm still working with this fluid animal called Sourdough.
And Loving It.

Gluten-Free Mock Rye Bread for the Weston A. Price Conference

2010-10-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to vendor at the upcoming Weston A. Price conference, the weekend of Nov 12, in Pennsylvania. I'm baking samples of my bread. The pics below are for 5 loaves of Mock Rye Bread. More photos later when the breads are baked.

5 bowls of starter

5 parchment-papered pans

5 loaves ready to rise

My Student's Success!

2010-09-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

I received this photo from one of my very industrious students. This photo was taken after a particularly complex cooking/baking session.

Back row from left:
Water Kefir, Kombucha Tea, Red Cabbage Sauerkraut with her new airlock jars, fermented tomato pepper salsa (I have to get that recipe from her.)

Front row from left:
Gluten-free sourdough pancakes, Mock rye gluten-free miniloaves and Buckwheat Buns.

This photo makes me just smile!

Happy Accident-25 Lbs. of Teff Flour-Part 3

2010-09-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

I just scraped the bottom of the 25 lb. sack of teff flour. I like grinding my own teff grain into teff flour but since I accidentally bought 25 lbs. of teff flour instead of teff grain and then another 10 lbs. of teff flour instead of teff grain, I haven't had to grind any in months.

I was concerned the ground flour had less nutrients in it than fresh ground but the breads came out just the same and I certainly didn't notice any differences in my health or energy.

I really liked scooping through the sack of teff flour whenever I needed it. There was so much of the never ending teff flour and it filled me with a deep feeling of abundance. Scraping the bottom of the barrel left me a bit sad. I liked that rich abundance of pounds and pounds of flour to use up. Since there was so much I was a bit more aggressive in my experimentation and came with some fabulous breads: Teff Carob, Teff Coconut, Teff pancakes, Teff Zucchini Sourdough pancakes where I actually fermented the zucchini in the starter. I'm still perfecting that one and will post it soon.

I have a couple of single pounds of teff flour left in the freezer and soon will put in an order for Teff Grain, not Teff Flour, and begin the grinding process all over again.

Gluten-Free Sourdough Starters: Starters of a Different Color

2010-08-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

When I began working with gluten-free sourdough I began with brown rice flour. After 3 years of experimenting I was able to make more than 20 variations of bread, muffins and sweet breads using the rice starter.

I began to get requests for rice-free starters and began experimenting with different flours. I had great luck with a Teff starter, which makes fabulous pancakes, and a 2-flour starter, Buckwheat and Sorghum. The buckwheat gives it sponginess and the sorghum gives it some elasticity. This starter also makes great pancakes.

The photos shows 3 starters, the light colored one being brown rice, the medium colored one being buckwheat/sorghum and the dark one being teff.
I have already made some exceptional breads from the buckwheat/sorghum and the teff. In some ways they are even better than my rice starter recipes. A bit spongier, a bit lighter and somewhat more flavorful.

The photo on the left was taken after a few feedings when the fermentation activity became newly active. The photo on the right was taken after a few more feedings when the fermentation activity was very strong.

I love how puffy the starter gets at the height of its activity.

Feel free to tell us about your favorite starter.

Post Dental Surgery Food

2010-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

I recently had dental surgery and needed to eat soft food for a few days. Being allergic to many foods I needed to think through what and how I was going to prepare for myself in advance of the surgery. My main midday snack was a slice of my Teff Coconut Sourdough Bread (more of a dessert bread), toasted and dunked in almond milk until it was mush. It really worked well!

The Lineage of my Gluten-free Sourdough Starter

2010-06-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

When people think of sourdough starter lineages they often think of the famous San Francisco or Alaska starters originally brought over from Europe. I imagine the people who brought starters along with them were courageous people looking for a better life. I imagine they dehydrated their starters in the old country and carried small amounts of it in pouches or tiny clay pots carefully tucked into whatever belongings they could carry with them in the boats. When they got to the land of opportunity it is said their bread starters took on a new flavor, the flavor of their new locale. Hence the fame of the San Francisco or Alaska sourdough flavors.

I first learned to make sourdough using an old-fashioned 7-day rye bread recipe. It was a goopy, no-knead recipe that produced a rich, malty, dense loaf. The starter was built over seven days, yielding a giant bowl of sponge-like starter. When it was time to assemble the breads rye flour, water and salt were incorporated into the starter. This “goop” was then spooned into the loaf pans as this bread did not stand up by itself, it needed “walls” to hold it up. It was so sticky that the less handling involved, the better the finished product.

When I began to work with gluten-free starter possibilities I used this spongy, goopy technique as a guide and after a year of many failures, had great success while incorporating a few important changes through trial and error:

• extra daily feedings to prevent spoilage
• boosting and preserving it with a bit of an old fashioned fermented drink, water kefir.

I found the starters to be rather delicate and did not regularly store well. I found that I could easily begin a new starter so using it up was never a problem. In fact, I found the fresh starters resulted in breads having a consistently fresh taste while the stored refrigerated starters often carried some “off tastes” I associated with over-fermentation. The over-fermentation also seemed to result in less than satisfactory leavening.

This sponge-goop technique is very different than wheat sourdough techniques that benefit from extensive kneading and shaping. Unlike their rye counterparts traditional wheat breads also stand up, rise and bake without the support of the walls of a loaf pan.

Some seasoned wheat sourdough bakers have had poor success with my technique when they apply their years of experience with wheat sourdough to my rice starter. They expect to take a small amount of starter and knead large amounts of flour into it, shape it, let it rise and bake it. My technique, however, is the opposite. I grow a large amount of high-moisture starter by feeding it at least twice a day. I then stir in a small amount of flour and pour or spoon it into a loaf pan or muffin tin. From there I let it rise and then bake it.

I think the main reason the wheat technique doesn’t work for my recipes is that my technique was originally derived from the 7-day sourdough rye sponge-goop technique which is really quite different than the wheat technique.

One definition of lineage is “the descendants of one individual”. The descendants of the San Francisco and Alaska sourdough starters are available for sale and supposedly retain some of that “genetic” material referring to the local bacteria and yeasts that grow in the starter. When one purchases those starters they know the lineage of their starter.

I don’t sell starters, I sell a technique. I think about my technique as a “technical” lineage, much like a technique or practice handed down from teacher to student, or master to apprentice. My “technical lineage” is a descendent of the 7-Day Sourdough Rye Technique.

I am deeply grateful for the people willing to try my technique because in addition to feeding ourselves we are also keeping alive a technique that could easily be forgotten in these modern times. We keep it alive by learning it, practicing it, feeding our families with it and teaching it to others.

We successfully unite the past with the future when we reclaim an old-fashioned technique like 7-day rye sourdough and successfully, and palatably, use it to address the modern dietary challenges of gluten intolerance.

Rice-Free Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

2010-06-06T03:54:00.000-07:00

After a handful of requests for gluten-free, rice-free sourdough bread I began experimenting and a new book has been born: The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking: Rice-Free Edition. While my original book, The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking, is based on rice sourdough starters, this book, so far, is based on two very strong starters. The techniques are the same but the ingredients are different.

One of the starters is a buckwheat/sorghum mix and the other is plain teff. The breads coming from these starters continue to impress me. From the buckwheat/sorghum starter I have created a Multigrain bread that uses teff and amaranth flours. The flavor is complex from the many grains used. Another bread from that starter, Tapioca Bread, is substantial yet light enough that one mother is able to use it for sandwiches for her young son.

The teff starter, which emerged after accidentally buying 35 lbs of teff flour, has fostered 2 rather amazing breads: Teff Buckwheat and Teff Coconut. My intention was to create a sweeter bread without any added sweeteners beyond 1 teaspoon of stevia powder. I added a small amount of carob plus a small amount of maca to both of these breads and the result was astounding! Mildly sweet and very comforting. I noticed the sweetness increases as the days go by. (sourdough is known for the taste to build over time). The texture is simultaneously thick and spongy. They toast beautifully giving a nice crunchy crust while retaining sponginess within the crust.

I had heard about baking with Maca from a woman at a raw food potluck. It has a naturally malty aroma which blends with the natural sweetness of the carob. Together they blend into a very heady aroma that reminds me of some foreign spice market.

Both of my books are “living books” as I am still adding recipes and techniques to them as they are perfected. These updates will be emailed and are included in the cost of the book. These new rice-free starters and recipes will also become part of my original book.

More info about this book or purchase:
The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking: Rice-Free Edition

Happy Accident-25 lbs of Teff Flour-Part 2

2010-05-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

After last week’s fabulous teff pancakes I continued building the starter even though I sorely needed a break from bread baking. I was busy and thought it would be a good opportunity to practice growing starter in the fridge as this would cut the feedings from 3 times a day to twice.

The starter grew beautifully with a mild aroma. I would take it out for about an hour in the morning, feed it, let it sit another hour or so and put it back in the fridge for 12 hours. I’d repeat the sequence at night before bed. I noticed some thickening and some small bubbles but nothing dramatic.

I had been thinking about creating bread that was mildly sweet without any sweetener beyond 1 teaspoon of stevia powder. I used small amounts of carob and maca (a malty flavored root) and used buckwheat flour for one loaf and shredded coconut for the other. I also used coconut oil for the fat. The batters were rich looking, like cake batter. The aroma in the kitchen was heavenly and the resulting breads were fabulous. Sweet without any added sugars, so no blood sugar spikes. The bread is satisfying and the taste is complex. I found the taste getting sweeter each day.

My daughter, who named Sourdough Bread #1 “Mommybread” said this Teff Carob bread was the best ever and I should make it exclusively. Forever.

www.sanctuary-healing.com/food-photos3.html

Happy Accident-25 Lbs. of Teff Flour-Part 1

2010-05-21T04:05:00.000-07:00

I thought I was ordering Teff Whole Grain but I obviously made a mistake somewhere along the line because when my order arrived I opened a 25 lb. bag of Teff Flour! I went back to my original order slip and saw that, indeed, I had ordered 25 lbs. of flour. I just looked at this massive amount of flour and wondered how long will it take to use this up. Ugh.

I usually buy whole grain teff and grind it up as I need it. Teff is a potent high protein seed grain and has been a blessing after learning I had to go off gluten. I also use whole grain teff for a power breakfast. I soak the teff grain the night before, 1 cup teff to 3 cups water, add a little water kefir to boost the enzyme activity, cover and let it sit overnight. The next morning I simmer it for about 15 minutes to cook. Mixed with chia gel, flax seed oil and soaked nuts, I'm off and running. I'll often pour the leftovers into a loaf pan where it becomes like polenta. I'll slice it and toast or saute it. Using spices and herbs it could be made sweet or savory.

Since I was missing my teff breakfasts I ordered some more whole grain, this time only 10 lbs. To my horror, I opened a box of 10 lbs. of teff flour, again! I really must slow down, I'm making way too many mistakes.

Anyway, what to do with my 35 lbs. of teff flour?
My book, The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking, is based on brown rice flour starters. I'd begun to experiment with buckwheat sorghum starters and have had some great results. I figured I better move on to Teff starters so I wouldn't have pounds and pounds of teff flour either stuffed into the freezer or sprouting critters with legs.

I began a new starter using only teff flour and water in a ratio of 1 to 1. I chose this because teff absorbs a lot of water. I usually use teff to thicken and give structure to some bread recipes. I was surprised that this starter was actually very soupy but I continued along with my 1 to 1 experiment, feeding it every 8 hours or so for a couple of days.

I used the bubbly starter to make Teff pancakes and was pleasantly surprised that they were as good as or even better than the rice pancakes! They were naturally slightly sweet with a great cake-like texture. The leftovers were great toasted the next day. Since I can't eat sweet stuff I used them as an accompaniment to a bean stew. I'm sure they would be great with maple syrup or fruit.

Starter Recipe:
Make a starter by mixing equal amounts of teff flour and water. Add a tablespoon of water kefir or other fermented liquid.
Feed every 8 hours or so with equal amounts of teff flour and water.
After 2 days it should be ready to use.

Pancake Recipe:
One cup of starter makes about 4 pancakes.
Add a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoons of any oil or fat and 1 tablespoons ground flax seeds.
Mix let it sit about 10 minutes and cook.
The pancakes will not show bubbles so flip it when it starts to dry out around the outer third.
Sometimes I cover it while it's cooking. It cooks faster and more thoroughly.

My next experiment will be making breads using this teff starter. I'll keep you posted.

Grain Mills for Gluten Free Seeds and Grains

2010-05-17T04:48:00.001-07:00

I’ve been wanting to try a new grain mill for 2 years and just recently bought one and wanted to share about my grain mill experiences.

I started off with a Kitchen Aid grain mill attachment because when I started baking I already had a Kitchen Aid mixer. This attachment is excellent for large grains like rice and buckwheat but cannot grind small gluten free grains like amaranth, quinoa and teff. These tiny grains just fall under the grinding worm and sit there.

The rice flour wasn’t nearly as fine as store bought but my breads were still good thanks to the long sourdough fermenting periods. Then I learned, from someone on this forum, to grind once at medium and then again on fine. Much, much better!
I like the Kitchen Aid but I can only do 3 cups of rice, twice, before the machine gets very hot and needs to cool off. I don’t mind that, just have to plan my time accordingly.

I used a Krups coffee grinder for my small grains, which did an excellent job. The downside is that only ¼ cup can be ground at a time, which was fine initially but now I bake in 4 loaf batches and need large quantities.

Then I tried a Barista coffee mill for the small grains which was bigger, fancier and with a larger capacity. I was happy with that for a good while but lately noticed the grind isn’t as fine as when I started. I think the blades must be getting dull.

After a year of reading blogposts about grain mills I finally purchased the Blendtec Grain Mill. It grinds the small grains really well, excellently in fact but I had to dig out my chain saw ear protectors because of the high decibel level. As it finishes grinding it sounds like a plane taking off.

It also makes a bit of a mess as it sends flour out through small vents and slots, much messier than my other mills which hardly sent any flour out at all. Now when I use it I cover it with a cloth to contain the flying flour. Beyond that it seems to be an excellent machine. I can grind many cups of grain, and the holding basin holds about 20 cups of flour before needing to be emptied.

I continue to use my Kitchen Aid for rice and buckwheat but will use the Blendtec for the others.

Growing Sourdough Starter in the Refrigerator for a Milder Sour

2010-05-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Growing starter in the refrigerator is said to minimize the sour taste of sourdough. It also enables us to reduce the feedings from 3 times a day to twice. I find my starters ferment very quickly these days making me wonder if I have enormous invisible colonies of yeast and bacteria in my kitchen. I also ferment water kefir, milk kefir, and kombucha so I assume there is quite a bit of activity going on.

A friend of mine, Peggy, likes to tinker in the kitchen. She experiments with many recipes and techniques and documents them in great detail. She tried growing a starter in the refrigerator, something I haven’t had time to see all the way through.

Here are her notes:

“I decided to go with a simple loaf of bread using quinoa and sorghum flours.
I had a small amount of rice-sorghum-teff starter left over from making multigrain bread and fed it for four days with alternating and equal amounts of quinoa flour and sorghum flour. I chose to use these because they were what I had on hand. I also was going for a lighter colored bread.

I gave it a little boost with 1 tablespoon of water kefir to perk it up on the second day.

After 24 hours of feedings I put it in the fridge because it was very bubbly and soupy! I didn’t want a strong sourdough flavor this time as I just baked two batches that were strongly fermented.

I continued to feed it 3 times a day continuing to keep it in the fridge.

36 hours later, I removed it from the fridge because it looked flat and dead But four hours later, when I next looked at it, it was furiously bubbling away!!! I had been deceived by the chilled mixture. I fed it and returned it to the fridge.
8 hours later when I took it out to feed it, it was actively bubbling even though it was so cold. I think it liked the fact that I had taken it out that first time for a few hours.”

She said that the finished bread had just enough sour taste to let you know you were eating sourdough. Not overpowering at all!

Water Kefir in the gluten free starter

2010-04-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

I recently received this question:

“ In your Gluten-free sourdough starter you use Water Kefir to boost the starter.
Is it possible to start the Water Kefir culture from scratch at home?
Or can I leave out the Water Kefir entirely and still get a successful sour dough starter?”

My answer:
I use water kefir because I had a lot of spoilage in my rice starters before I used it. It acts as a preservative while quickly boosting the bacterial/yeast activity.
After the initial purchase the water kefir culture can live indefinitely with at least monthly feeding and refrigerated storage. You buy it once and use it for all your starters that you begin fresh.

Water Kefir is known in the fermenting community as a living potent drink that gently introduces probiotics, enzymes and vitamins into the digestive tract. This is good news for many people who have taken antibiotics as well as people with unresolving intestinal issues. Making the drink costs pennies and sipping a couple of ounces daily will begin a gentle process of detoxification and repair.

I chose Water Kefir as my booster because it is dairy free, (I’m allergic to all milk products) but one could use Milk kefir, Milk kefir whey or home made active Yogurt.

Order Water Kefir culture at:
Cultures For Health

Free Recipe Download!

2010-04-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

After looking at all the different stuff on my blog, (pages, lists, labels, posts) I wanted a simpler look. My first step is to remove the labels and add a sign up form for a free download of my gluten free starter, water kefir and pancake recipe. I've made it as concise as possible, no extra words, to the point, end of story.

Feel free to sign up if you have not yet tried the starter. Or even if you have.

Eat Well,
sharon

Cooking Gluten Free on the Road

2010-03-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

After many years of minimal traveling due to health problems and stringent food needs, my daughter and I took a road trip together. In the last few years I had traveled by car to Maine for weeklong vacations by the ocean. With practice I mastered the art of packing the car: Kombucha tea into its special box, loaves of home made bread, frozen Highly Digestible Beans, vegetables from the garden, water kefir, milk kefir, grains, nuts, dried fruit and olive oil. I had the packing pattern down pat.

This trip was going to be different, however, as we were traveling by plane. Some people, when faced with a flight across the country followed by an 8 day road trip ending with a family wedding, pack lots of clothes and shoes. I, on the other hand, pack lots of food and equipment. I packed an Elite Rice Cooker with steamer attachment, a small toaster and a few plastic containers for soaking and storage. In the suitcase I used clothes for cushioning around the equipment.

The day before we left I baked 3 loaves of gluten free sourdough chia bread and sliced it into 30 slices. My chia bread recipe is extremely long lived so I knew it would last the week. I packed it in a plastic container lined with wax paper. (My daughter is also allergic to gluten so I packed enough for her) I also packed dry rice and lentils, rice cakes, nuts and a homemade amaranth/teff mix for breakfast which is simply a 50/50 mix of whole grain amaranth and teff. I brought 2 Ziploc screw-on containers to soak the grains and lentils.

I also packed provisions for the full day of traveling:
I cooked extra bluefish the day before mixing the leftovers with olive oil, salt, lime juice and a Cajun pepper mix. I added some lightly steamed broccoli and layered it over bed of rice. I also packed a bag of fresh cut celery and carrots. For snacks I toasted 6 thick slices of bread right before leaving the house to have with Applegate Farm sliced chicken.

A few days before the trip I cooked a pot of Highly Digestible Beans putting some portions of it immediately into the freezer. One portion had rice so it was almost a complete meal. I also froze 2 portions of cooked amaranth/teff hot cereal. My plan was to have 24-36 hours of prepared food so I wouldn’t have to think about cooking until I had a good rest. The only thing I would have to do was soak nuts before bed.

When it was time to go I packed the frozen beans and amaranth/teff in the bottom of the lunch bag. These would defrost slowly keeping the fish, chicken and veggies cold.

The food worked better than I had hoped. The toasted bread was great for snacks and was even great without anything on it! My fish lunch was perfect. Satisfying and unusual. When we had a midday stopover in Detroit we bought nori rolls at a Sushi Restaurant in the airport for dinner later on the connecting flight. This worked perfectly with the cut veggies. We arrived a little weary but well fed.

In the hotel room I began unpacking and realized that I had a minor luggage malfunction. There was brown rice scattered all over everything. No big deal. It could wait till morning. The frozen food had defrosted but was still very cold. They went right into the mini refrigerator. I made up 2 portions of nuts to soak for the morning.

As we were wired from our trip and unable to sleep my daughter and I went out for a walk in the cool San Francisco evening around Fisherman’s Wharf and unexpectedly found some colorful plastic plates from the Rain Forest Café that we could use for our meals.

In the morning I dug out the rice cooker from the suitcase, pouring off the scattered rice. I heated water in it and reheated the cold amaranth/teff mixture. I mixed it with the soaked, drained nuts and had a normal breakfast minus flax oil and cinnamon but I was very happy with it.

We would spend one full day in San Francisco and move on. I soaked some lentils for the next day of traveling. I gathered some more of the scattered rice and soaked some of that, as well. I would cook later in the day, probably when I needed a rest from jet lag.

My regular diet includes beans nearly every day. They are an excellent source of protein and add variety to my meals. My Highly Digestible Beans cause me no intestinal distress whatsoever whereas if I eat beans without my usual preparation I have a lot of discomfort. I didn’t want to give up beans but I knew that the cooking time would be difficult in a hotel room so I decided on lentils because they soak and cook more quickly than other beans. Usually I add a fermented liquid to the soaking water and cook my beans with seaweed but I was able to cut those steps out without any intestinal distress.

Using the steamer I planned to steam veggies during the last part of the cook time. We could make a few meals and store them in the lunch bag with ice in a Ziplock screw top

With my lentils and rice happily soaking I began a bit of sightseeing. My daughter had already begun catching up with friends so I was on my own. I was concerned about having bouts of sudden jetlag fatigue. The last time I traveled to California, pre-gluten and food sensitivity diagnoses, it took seven days to recover from the jet lag. Huge blood sugar swings, huge fatigue, huge hunger. After I finally recovered I only had 3 days of vacation time left only to begin the jetlag process soon after arriving home. It is a testament to the power of a body to heal because on this trip I only had one hour of jetlag in both directions!

I began walking along Fisherman’s Wharf and saw an enormous seal lounging on a dock. Then I took a trolley to the Ferry Building which now houses unusually beautiful shops and artisanal food markets including an organic farm store where I bought some veggies for the big hotel room cooking experiment. There was also a push cart selling gluten free breads and treats by Mariposa. So beautiful!

After a few hours I felt the fatigue set in and headed back to the hotel. After a short rest I began my cooking adventure. The cooker has two settings, “cook” and “warm” which translate as really high and really low. I brought the lentils to a boil on cook and turned it down to warm. This probably works well for slow cooked rice but resulted in barely simmering lentils so I turned it up to cook again and kept my eye on it for about an hour, stirring often with a small wooden spoon. This worked well. Using my pocket knife I cut up the veggies from the organic farm store, swiss chard and turnip, and steamed them during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. I realized I couldn’t cook the rice in time to eat dinner because the rice cooker was full of very hot lentils so I toasted a piece of multigrain bread and had that with the lentils. Dinner was really excellent. When they were cool I stored the leftovers in lunch containers and stored them right next to the little freezer in the mini fridge.

The next morning I cooked the rice and had it for breakfast. It was nice break from amaranth/teff and helped me continue rotating my food.

As we began our road trip down the coast we happily ate our leftovers for lunch. We had some meals out, carefully questioning our servers but by day five I wasn’t eating my own food any more and began to feel sluggish and spacey. I repeated the soaking and cooking routine again and got myself back on track, feeling much better.

After driving past many mountains and elephant seals we arrived at our family event, the wedding. I had already sent my food requests to the hostess who forwarded them to the caterers. Turns out the groom was gluten intolerant as were a handful of others! Our little gluten free club included some vegetarians, some sugar-frees and some dairy frees. The caterer did a fantastic job of accommodating us with beautiful food of great culinary height. There were gluten free challah rolls, (egg bread) that I hesitated to eat, being sensitive to eggs, but decided to take a chance after being off of eggs for 3 years. They were very nice and doughy. The “wedding cake” was a tower of gluten free cupcakes! I scraped off the sugary frosting after having a little taste of it. The cake part, which had walnuts in it, was a beautiful texture with very delicate spicing. It also probably had eggs in it so I got to test myself a little further. I did have a moderate reaction the next day and now feel sure that eggs should stay out of my regular diet.

It was a blessing to go to an event and receive such good care around our food needs. I also have tremendous gratitude for the many advances in alternative medicine and gluten free awareness which has made it possible for me to regain my health and travel again.

Soaking Gluten Free Grains and Flours for Optimum Digestibility

2010-02-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

I first learned about soaking grains for optimum nutrition and easy digestibility from Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions. I tried her suggestion to soak brown rice for 7 hours before cooking. I noticed that the finished rice was softer and smoother but I did not notice any difference in the way I felt. After a few weeks of diligent soaking I had a busy day and skipped the soaking step. I was clearly aware of the rice “being worked” in my stomach. There was a roughness to the digestive process. I realized that the soaked grains digested smoothly and effortlessly where the unsoaked grains took work and energy for digestion.

Soaking is a process that mimics the natural germination cycle in nature. A fully mature grain plant has plump grain seeds after a long and bounteous season. The grain seeds are essentially little packages of nutrients protected in a hard shell called a seed coat. The seed’s mission in life is to reproduce and needs certain conditions to germinate. A grain seed left on the stalk of a spent plant, or on the ground, withstands extremes of temperature and moisture. Each seed needs a specific temperature and amount of moisture to allow the seed coat to soften, absorb water and then move towards germination. This process fosters nutrients to become available to get ready to feed the newly germinated sprout until it has its first pair of true leaves and can make food through photosynthesis.

When we soak grains before cooking or eating we mimic this process, allowing the grain to move towards the germination process enabling those nutrients to become available for us to eat. We can allow the grains to soak all the way through to germination and eat them as “sprouts” or we can eat them shortly before germination as cooked whole grain. We can also apply the principles of soaking to ground up grain, or flour, with similar results. When we “soak” flour in water for 7-8 hours, the bacteria and yeasts in the air and on the flour predigest the flour, thus fermenting it. This is known as the sourdough process. One of the byproducts of the fermentation process is carbon dioxide, which leavens the bread.

As I began to understand the process of soaking I realized that most currently available recipes and retail breads are not made this way. The bread ingredients are assembled as quickly as possible and depend on the added yeast or baking powder for a quick rise. Some gluten free recipes also utilize the carbon dioxide in sparkling water to enhance the rise. These methods foster a successful rise but allow little or no soaking time meaning that the finished breads will not nearly be as digestible as they could be. They might even be harmful to people with highly sensitive digestive and immune systems.

The sourdough recipes in my book, The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking, are structured to allow proper soaking time in the starter phase and again in the rising phase fostering premium digestibility, good taste, good texture and long shelf life.

Ingredients used in The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking

2010-02-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the ingredients used in the recipes from The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking:

For the Water Kefir:
Water kefir culture (available at www.anahatabalance.com, type in “new_customer_10” for 10% discount on your first order)
Raisins
Sugar
Lemon
Water

The ingredients in the starter are:
water kefir
brown rice flour
water

I am currently working on starters that do not use rice as a base as some people are allergic to it.

Flours:
Amaranth
Arrowroot (it really is a root starch)
Brown Rice,
Buckwheat
Chick Pea
Oat (gluten free)
Potato flour (not starch)
Quinoa
Sorghum
Sweet Brown Rice
Tapioca flour
Teff

Seeds:
Flax seed, whole
Chia seed, whole

Salt:
Kosher, sea or Celtic

Oil:
Your choice of oil, butter or fat

Sweetener:
Most of the recipes have no sweetener at all.
Stevia powder is used occasionally
Sugar, used in Holiday Chocolate Bread

Miscellaneous ingredients:
Spices and herbs
Dried Fruit
Nuts
Bananas
Coconut, shredded
Vanilla extract
Vanilla powder
Poppy seeds

Holiday Chocolate Bread from Sourdough Starter

2010-01-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to stop being so pure and create a bread with all the ingredients I avoid all year long: sugar, chocolate, etc. I wanted it to still be highly digestible so I used my basic gluten free boosted sourdough starter. I was concerned that the "sourness" might conflict with the sweet but it worked out really well.

I had an interesting time developing the recipe. I wanted to use cocoa powder, chocolate chips and dried cherries. At this point I have enough experience to have some "instinct" about what basic ingredients to use without following a recipe. By now, I have made enough breads that resulted in excellent texture that I know what I'm looking for in the batter texture: like thick oatmeal. I hand mixed it with a wooden spoon so I could feel the texture change with each addition. At certain times I could feel it needed a bit more arrowroot or flax or water. It was satisfying to choose based on my perceived need and watch and feel it shift to its next stage. I had a rather special experience from it all. I felt connected to centuries of many other bakers who never used written recipes perhaps because they didn't have access to paper and pen or were too busy to write anything down.

The first try was too bitter and not sweet enough. The second was just right! Someone in my family asked why I called it a bread and not a cake. I told him that this bread was not as sweet or light as a cake might be but was more like a sweet bread that wouldn't crash one's blood sugar or turn one into a couch potato. The bread is also made from whole grains and properly fermented so it is highly digestible.

The splurge happens in the chocolate chips and the cherries but the bread itself is not overly sweet. The resulting loaves were very good and were consumed by my family in record time. I made the breads the day before the family came, sliced them, toasted them and served them with a bowl of sweetened whipped cream. They were consumed in record time.

Holiday Chocolate Bread
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups boosted brown rice starter
(boosted with water kefir)
(I wanted a lighter starter so I began it with brown rice flour and used sorghum flour for the other feedings)
½ cup chia gel
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup brown rice or sweet rice flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil or other oil or butter

¾ cup sugar (I used organic light)
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

¼ cup tapioca flour
1-2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
3 tablespoons flax seed, ground
½ dried cherries
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used vegan chocolate chips)
½ cup chopped walnuts

Directions
A few hours before making bread soak ½ cup dried cherries in water, then drain (this hydrates the cherries making them less likely to burn)

Measure out starter into a mixing bowl
Add chia gel, salt, rice flour and mix.
Add cocoa powder, ¼ cup water, oil and mix.
Add sugar, coconut flour, ¼ cup water, vanilla, cinnamon and mix.

Add tapioca flour and 1 tablespoon arrowroot and mix. If the batter seems very thin, add another tablespoon of arrowroot keeping in mind you will next add the flax seed next which will thicken it considerably.

Add ground flax seed. The batter should now be medium thick. If it needs another tablespoon of arrowroot add it now.

Fold in the cherries, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Carefully spoon into 2 loaf pans only half full. (I used parchment paper with the paper higher than the sides of the loaf pan so I could easily lift the loaf out when it came out of the oven)

Let rise 7 hours and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes.
Remove and let cool 5-10 minutes and lift the bread out of the loaf pan for the rest of the cooling.

This bread rose well during the rise but lost a lot of height during the baking so it became a dense almost brownie-like bread/cake.
It was very good right out of the oven.
It’s best warm so after it’s fully cooled it can be reheated by toasting in a toaster or oven.

I also tried slicing half a loaf when it was only out of the oven about 10 minutes. Then I put the slices back in the oven for about 15 minutes. They got a nice outer crust, on the road to Biscotti but not so hard. These were good later on without toasting or reheating.

Breads from The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking

2009-12-19T07:50:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos of breads from my Ebook, The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking. These breads are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, yeast and sweeteners. They taste great, have a nice sponginess and a beautiful crumb. The sourdough technique helps them to rise to a nice height.

Sourdough Millet Bread, Chia Teff Muffins, Italian Bean Pecan Pizza, Onion Buns and a tall loaf of Chia Teff Bread

Boosted Brown Rice Starter Gluten free, Casein free

2009-12-19T07:44:00.000-08:00

Prep time: 5 minutes
Fermentation time: 3-4 days

Start with one cup of brown rice flour and put it in a ceramic or glass bowl
Pour in slightly less than one cup of water and whisk smooth
Add 1-2 tablespoons of water kefir and whisk again
Cover with a cloth or paper towel and secure with a rubber band
Leave it on the counter away from drafts or extreme temperatures

Feed the starter, with 1/3-1/2 cup of flour and little less water, roughly every 8 hours, 3 times a day, for a total of four days, whisking smooth and covering. If you know you won't be able to feed it after 8 hours, put it in the refrigerator after feeding. You won't have to feed it for another 12 hours if it's in the fridge.

After two days put the starter in a clean bowl and continue feeding. (change the bowl so that the dried out starter that clings to the sides of the bowl stays out of the living starter)

After about 48 hours the starter should show signs of viability.
If you don’t see any bubbles or hilling you can add another tablespoon of water kefir

By the third day you should see small bubbles especially during stirring

By the fourth day you may see bubbles of different sizes and there may be a hissing, bubbling sound when they come up from the bottom of the bowl

It should take about 4 days for a brand new starter to be ready for cooking. It may take less time in warm weather and more time in cold weather. With a little practice you will get to know when your starter is ready.

You can store a small amount of starter, ¼ - ½ cup, in the refrigerator for next time. Feed it every 2 weeks by taking it out of the refrigerator, letting it come to room temperature, feed it with a small amount of flour and water, whisk and refrigerate again.

If you plan to make sourdough products a few times a week you may want to use an ongoing starter kept at room temperature on the counter. When you’re ready to cook/bake, remove a small amount ¼ - ½ cup of starter and put it in a clean bowl. Feed 2-3 times a day with roughly equal amounts of flour and water and whisk smooth. Cover and set it aside to continue fermenting. This will be your starter for your next batch. Proceed with your recipe with the remaining starter.

Starter recipe from The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking recipe package, available at www.food-medicine.com

Slow Food Catering

2009-12-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

I was asked to cater an event showcasing the traditional and unusual cooking techniques I teach in my classes. I had never catered before and was feeling somewhat apprehensive.
My menu was simple enough:

-Gluten free sourdough bread toasts topped with kefir cheese and home cured salmon, also know as Gravlox*(recipe below)
-Four types of highly digestible beans for dips:
Baked Beans,
Italian White Beans,
Frijoles Negroes (Spanish Black Beans)
Indian Lentils
-Veggie Plate of raw vegetables not commonly eaten raw
-Lacto-Fermented Vegetables
Small bowls of seasonal lacto-fermented vegetables which at this time of year, was swiss chard and summer squash & onions.
-Amaranth Bread Pudding

Since I learned about these foods I have gained a better sense of using seasonal and fermented foods and what that really entails. For produce it means using and eating what is in season. For fermented foods it means having patience as the food can take hours or days or even weeks to reach perfect palatability. For sourdough bread it means planning a starter well in advance of when I want the finished bread. For beans it’s about carefully planning some simple steps.

Cooking this way is a very different process than going to the market and buying cans of beans, tubs of cream cheese, loaves of bread, already smoked salmon and vacuum packed jars of pickles. This food is very different as everything is carefully hand made from scratch, rendering it highly nutritious, easy to digest and exploding with flavor. When I serve some of these foods to Europeans they get very excited because it reminds them of the foods their grandmothers made. These old fashioned techniques, practiced around the globe for centuries, seem to preserve the inherent integrity of the food. Since most of us have not grown up with these foods they may initially taste unfamiliar or even strange. Perhaps it is an acquired taste and many of us notice that the body begins to crave these foods after having them a few times.

These foods can take from a few hours to almost a month to be finished. With careful planning it doesn’t take much more time, just a different usage of time. It only takes a few minutes to create bread starter. It takes just a few seconds a day to feed the starter. It takes half a minute to put kefir grains in a jar, fill it with milk and cover it. Timing is everything for lacto-fermented pickling. I boil and salt the water the night before so it will be room temperature when the vegetables are ready to be harvested or brought back from the farmer’s market.

So when I agreed to cater I got out my calendar, marked the day of the event and started counting backwards:

- 3-6 weeks before the event start lacto-fermenting seasonal veggies.
- One week to start the kefir milk in small batches
- Four days for the bread starter plus one day for rising.
- 2 days to cure the salmon.
- 24 hours to soak the beans and slow cook.
- 7 hours for soaking the amaranth with water kefir before cooking.

Additionally, I like to use my fresh or fresh ground herbs and spices whenever possible:

- Make garam masala for the lentil dish.
- Harvest dill, thyme and parsley from the garden. Rinse and let dry for easy chopping at the right time so it can be used well before it loses its vitality.

I like to attend to every aspect of the menu; every ingredient should be a quality ingredient. I once ate a layered cake that became part of the model for my cooking. There were 4 separate layers to this cake: the cake itself, the outermost hard-shell frosting, an inner frosting layer and an inner jam layer. I decided to taste each layer separately and found each layer was a completely satisfying taste in itself. Then I took a bite that included all the layers. I experienced all 4 layers of tastes and textures in a beautifully artful balance. Together they became a perfectly balanced contrapuntal experience. This became an important model for my cooking. Every aspect of a meal or menu would be of high quality and properly prepared without hurry.

So with this intention I began my tasks: counting days, doubling and tripling recipes, making shopping lists, making a daily task schedule, and soon enough it was time to start preparing food. Throughout the tasks I was aware that people I did not know would be eating this food. I felt honored to create this beautiful food for them. The question “would they like it” popped up many times but I just continued forward with my tasks.

The day of the event arrived. My helpers and I carefully packed the food, transported the food, unpacked the food and set up the food. I was nervous.
At most events most of the socializing centers around the food. Soon there was a small crowd around the table. People began eating. Some people just happily ate the food. Some people with food restrictions were happy to know they could safely eat the food. Some people realized the intricacies of the food and slowly tasted everything with eyes closed.

One man made comments on each layer of the salmon cheese toasts, the sourness of the bread, the sweet and sour nature of the kefir cheese and the delicate texture and salty-sweet taste of the home cured salmon. Another woman pondered the strong, though not overpowering, blend of Indian spices (homemade garam masala) in the lentil dish. People kept nibbling at the lacto-fermented veggies trying to identify all the tastes. I heard questions like:
“What makes this sweet?
What makes this sour?
Why doesn’t it taste like it has vinegar in it?
How did you get it be so delicate?”

When I told them the only ingredients were vegetables, dill, salt and water they had trouble believing it but continued nibbling.

I was very happy that almost all the food was eaten and appreciated. The one dish that wasn’t quite right was The Amaranth Bread Pudding. I had used sourdough bread and the characteristic sourness of the bread clashed with the sweetness of the honey-sweetened amaranth. Since then I have learned some tricks for minimizing the amount of sour taste in sourdough bread.
I continue to deeply enjoy creating all types of slow food. Seems there is always more to learn, share and enjoy.

Home Cured Salmon/Gravlox Recipe

1 lb fresh salmon, a uniformly thick piece from the middle of the fish
1 ½ tablespoons salt
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1/2 bunch of dill or cilantro
A flat dish
Clear plastic wrap
Small bowl

Line the flat dish with a piece of clear plastic wrap large enough to wrap up the salmon so it’s tightly closed
Lay the salmon skin side down on the plastic wrap
Mix the salt and sugar together in a bowl
Take the dill and rinse it, leave it to dry, then chop the leaves off the large stems discarding the large stems (use for soup)
Mix the chopped dill leaves with the salt and sugar mixture and lay it on the salmon flesh so it completely covers the flesh.
Wrap the fish and dill mixture firmly in the clear plastic wrap.
Cure in refrigerator for 1 ½ -2 days.
After 1 ½-2 days unwrap the fish and scrape off the dill mix. Wash off the fish and blot dry with a paper towel.
Slice fish thinly on an angle.
Fish will keep for a few days.

Some people make 2 pieces at a time laying them on top of each other flesh side touching with dill mix in between and on top.

Some people also make an entire side at a time. Just double or triple the ingredients.

Water Kefir for boosting Gluten-Free Starter

2009-12-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Water Kefir for Boosted Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
(water kefir is the booster for Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Fermentation time: 2-3 days

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons Water Kefir grains
2 tablespoons sugar (I find organic dark sugar works the best, but any sugar works)
20 raisins (or a comparable amount of figs or prunes)
1 quart of filtered or spring water
1 slice of lemon

Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve, 20 raisins and a slice of lemon or lime.
Add the water kefir grains to the jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, after around 24-48 hours, use a nonmetal tool and scoop the raisins and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6-12 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store, covered, in fridge and use as needed.

To replenish:
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar, with water, sugar, raisins and lemon. Then pour the water kefir grains plus the remaining small amount of liquid right into the new jar, cover with paper towel or cloth and ferment.
Stays potent in the fridge 2-4 weeks.

Resources: Water Kefir Grains from www.culturesforhealth.com

Gluten Free Sourdough Bread as an Intuitive Art

2009-09-19T05:02:00.001-07:00

After nearly 4 years of gluten free sourdough experimentation and observation I can now intuitively work with the never ending variations that emerge during the sourdough process. Much like people, every gluten free sourdough starter is unique. They respond to temperature, humidity, air flow, and miniscule differences in measurements.

Lately, I’ve become so adept at this kind of baking that I can “correct’ the starter or bread dough as I move through the tasks rather than dutifully following the recipe and ending up with a brick.

I can tell by the smell of the starter if it’s fermenting too quickly and needs to be fed more often. I can tell by the density if more flour blending is necessary. In a heat wave I can correct before over-fermentation sets in. The way the pizza dough comes together tells me if I need more arrowroot flour to attain that stretchy doughy quality. The quality of sponginess of the nearly finished bread batter tells me if it needs more ground flax seed.

My hope is that people who bake my bread will get a feel for working with a gluten free starter and the resulting dough so that they can correct as they go. My other hope is that they will be brave enough to try variations so that they can turn my bread recipes into their favorite breads. I love when people tell me they experimented with dried cherries instead of raisins and sage rather than coriander or used mini loaf pans instead of muffin tins.

My new motto is “Go forth and bravely bake!”.

Gluten Free Sourdough and Weston A. Price Principles

2009-07-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

After a number of years of building Weston A. Price principles into my daily life I learned I had multiple food sensitivities and had to let go of some beloved foods, namely butter and homemade sourdough rye bread. Unable to find suitable store bought gluten free and allergen free breads I began a journey of culinary discovery that taught me more about gluten free sourdough baking than I ever could have imagined . I coupled Weston A Price principles with modern gluten free baking principles and came up with some lovely breads, muffins and pancakes that have become nutrient dense, highly digestible comfort food for me and my family.

It took me one year to perfect a 7-day Sourdough Rye bread. It required an easy starter: equal amounts of rye flour and water whisked smooth. The starter had to be fed additional amounts of flour and water every day for the next six days. I watched in awe as the starter bubbled and took on the appearance of a sponge. The recipe said the dough should be like goop, and it was! Kneading was not necessary or even possible. I wasn’t sure this heavy goop would rise but it nearly doubled in size in 12 hours. As it baked it filled the house with a beautiful malty aroma. The first warm slices out of the oven were flavorful and dense without being heavy. I began to regularly bake this lovely bread. At first I bought bagged rye flour but soon I purchased the grain mill attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and bought 25 pounds of organic whole rye berries. I believed that my bread had its nutrients still alive in the freshly ground flour.

My family enjoyed the bread toasted with butter, jam, and nut butter. While some people couldn’t appreciate the bread because of its density, others really loved it. Some people commented that the bread reminded them of bread their grandparents used to make. My daughter brought home a Serbian friend on college break. I watched them cut thick slabs of the bread, toast it, slather humus on it and top it off with my home made sauerkraut. These two kids were in heaven, especially after all that dorm food. The friend proclaimed with wonderment that this bread was just like the “Serbian bread” his grandmother made and could they please take some back to college along with some “Serbian sauerkraut?”

I happily packed them off with a few loaves. I hesitated on the sauerkraut, though. I had visions of it blowing up in their backpacks.

I was flattered and deeply satisfied to feed people this wonderfully healthy food. I was also very pleased to have my food fondly remind people of their traditional ethnic foods.

I started making this bread to improve my health. I had been on a long journey of recovery from various illnesses and a friend gave me “Nourishing Traditions” as a gift. Each new food or technique I tried seemed to boost my health to another level. Some symptoms, however, persisted. I went to a Holistic MD who tested me for food allergies. It turned out I had an extreme gluten sensitivity as well as sensitivities to cow and goat’s milk, eggs, and soy. I was deeply distressed that in order to feel better I had to give up my sourdough rye bread. I was already off of all milk products except butter so that meant just letting go of the butter. I wasn’t happy about giving up eggs but was willing. I had already stopped eating soy months before after reading about it in “Nourishing Traditions”. Back then, I had muscle tested myself for it and having registered an extreme loss of strength, dropped it out of my diet and lost 1 pound a week for 8 weeks without dieting!

But my beloved bread! I discussed it all with a friend over tea and unexpectedly put my head on the table and started sobbing. When I finished crying I resolved that I would figure out a way to make a Gluten Free Sourdough bread.

I had my last slice of rye bread that night, perfectly toasted, sweetly aromatic, soaked with warm organic butter. I expressed my gratitude for this wonderful nourishing bread and butter, both of which had fed me well. I said my goodbyes and moved forward. Within 48 hours all the persisting symptoms I had up until that point disappeared! I began to understand the significance of the gluten allergy and how gluten was damaging my intestines and consequently my overall health.

I took a break from bread baking while I adjusted to my new diet. I looked at different store bought gluten free breads. Some of them used white rice flour and I wanted whole grain flour in my bread. Most of them contained milk or eggs for leavening. Just what I needed to avoid. The ones that didn’t use milk and eggs used commercial yeast for leavening, which, from previous experience, I did better without. In addition, many of the breads contained added sweetener, something I was trying to stay away from. I became frustrated looking at all these gluten free breads and still not being able to eat them.

There was also the issue of digestibility. I was not convinced these breads were highly digestible given that they were essentially “quick breads”. Dry flour mixed with wet ingredients, mixed with commercial yeast and risen for a few hours at most. According to Weston A. Price principles, soaking grains and flours neutralizes the antinutrients, generates lactobacillus and enzymes, gives a full bodied taste that increases with age and has a long shelf life. These were the qualities of my beloved rye bread and I was ready to have that again. I wanted a bread free from the foods I was sensitive to, free of commercial yeast and sweetener in any form, complete with great taste and high digestibility.

I began to experiment with Gluten Free sourdough, using the same sourdough guidelines substituting brown rice flour for the rye. My first attempt seemed to be spoiled. The starter harbored a greenish tinge towards the end of the 7 days. The finished bread smelled awful and I spit out the little bit that I tasted. Besides seeming spoiled, the bread was dense, compact because it had hardly risen!

I continued to experiment by trying different combinations of flours and different ways of working with the starter. During this time I had been trying water kefir as a morning tonic. It was nicely potent but really too alcoholic for me to drink. I continued making it to boost the soaking water for beans and grains. One morning as I was taking my daily walk, an activity that generates problem solving as well as new ideas, I wondered if the water kefir, being too alcoholic for me to drink, might be strong enough to leaven bread? I emailed an experienced fermenter from Australia, who said that he and his family often used water kefir to leaven their sourdough products. He gave me some tips for the starter as well as the bread and I started to have success. I continued to experiment with different combinations of store bought gluten free flours until I came up with a really tasty and dependable one. This whole process from the first spoiled bread to the successful, dependable bread took one whole year!

I began to bake four loaves at a time and freeze some. The bread was excellent even after 4 months in the freezer! I could toast a piece in the morning, pack it in a lunch container and eat it right out of the box six hours later. It still had a freshness about it even after all those hours. I used the bread for toast with nut butters. I used it in soup, stew and bean bowls where it nicely soaked up the juices. At the winter holidays I even used the starter for a chocolate cake. I didn’t let it rise long enough so it became a gluten free brownie! My crew ate the entire tray in five minutes…

I shared the bread with people on gluten free diets and watched their reactions. Their eyes closed, inhaling the aroma right out of the oven or toaster. I think I even saw someone swoon. Some people wanted to buy it! They said “this is what I’ve been looking for. Gluten Free, good taste, beautiful texture, long shelf life, and even freezes well”. I wasn’t ready to begin baking full time but I began to teach bread baking classes.

I was ready to branch out. I researched gluten free muffin recipes and cobbled together a recipe using the same rice starter for leavening. The results were exciting. The muffins were great and were a nice change from the bread. There was a little starter left over so I tried some sourdough pancakes. I was careful to make sure the batter fermented for at least 7 hours before cooking so any fresh flour I added was properly soaked. They were quite good. I still had a little starter leftover so I dropped spoonfuls of it into soup and got rather amorphous looking but great tasting dumplings!

After two years of euphoric bread eating I started to show symptoms of sensitivity again. One of the principles of healthy eating is to eat a variety of foods. This ensures a mix of nutrients, micronutrients and enzymes. One of the challenges of having multiple food sensitivities is that it becomes difficult to eat a wide variety of foods because we must avoid so many foods and food products. Undiagnosed gluten sensitivity impairs the intestinal system thus making us that much more sensitive to foods we consume often.

I muscle tested for all the ingredients in my beloved bread and found I was sensitive to three of the five flour ingredients! The two I was most sensitive to were highly processed flours, chick pea flour and tapioca flour. I was less sensitive to the third ingredient, sorghum, something I had never eaten before using in my bread. I tested fine for the fourth ingredient, potato flour although it is also highly processed. Thankfully, I tested well for the organic brown rice flour which I ground in small batches in my grain mill and refrigerate for short periods of time to preserve the nutrients.

I started to think again about the Weston A. Price principles around using organic ingredients with as little processing as possible. I felt sure I had to begin experimenting again using only organic grains I could grind in my grain mill. I was happy to grind as much of the bread ingredients as I could ensuring a “nutrient alive” bread. As much as I loved my bread I had never been completely comfortable using flours that were not organically grown.
I was also concerned about the length of time the flour may have sat on the market shelf. My ingredient options were not exactly what I preferred but I worked with what was available and the knowledge I had at the time.

Again I took a break from bread baking to ponder. During that time I attended a Gluten Free Culinary conference taught by professional chefs, pastry chefs and cookbook writers. Through the information they shared I got a clearer understanding of general baking principles as well as gluten free baking principles. I started to understand that each gluten free flour had a specific property to give to the finished product. The chick pea flour gave the bread a nice buoyancy. The tapioca flour gave it lightness. The sorghum flour gave it a spongy texture. The potato flour binds it.

Now the challenge would be to substitute new flours for the flours that the Gluten Free Baking movement has grown to depend on. My question became “Which fresh ground flours would give me the properties needed to make an excellent product?” I decided to experiment with small batches of pancakes rather than bread in the hopes that in the event of failure the losses would be minimized.

I made a new starter with brown rice flour and made a few batches of pancakes using teff, amaranth and buckwheat flour. The teff and amaranth grains were too small to be ground in my mill so I used a coffee grinder which worked very well. With each new batch I saved some rice starter for the next batch. Each batch had very different qualities. The teff pancakes had a very dense texture. The amaranth pancakes were light and delicate. The buckwheat pancakes were thick and cakelike. I even tried some ground up gluten free steel cut oats which nicely fluffed them. I went one week feeding the starter twice daily, making pancakes every 2-3 days with no sign of diminished freshness in the starter. Previously, I would begin each batch of bread baking with a new starter as the old starters seemed to die in the refrigerator between batches. I assumed this was a characteristic of gluten free starters.

Looking to experiment a bit more, I decided to try adding different flours directly to the starter. With the addition of each new flour I watched the starter change texture and density. I learned not to use the same flour more than twice in a row because the pancakes would be too cakey or too dense or even too light! After a few more batches the pancakes themselves seemed to take on a melding of characteristics from this mix of grainy genetic material. They became more full bodied and, perhaps, more satisfying. By this time my starter had been alive for 3 weeks.

I was scheduled to teach an upcoming bread making class and began new rice starters. Since I hadn’t baked for 3 months I decided to make extra starter to experiment with after class. I would teach my tried and true original recipe even though I would no longer eat it.

Bread class was a success and everyone took home a loaf to rise overnight and bake the next day. I gave everyone ¼ cup of rice starter with instructions to sit it on the counter and feed it twice a day with equal amounts of flour and water, changing the bowl every 2-3 days. I hoped that with this starter they could begin baking soon while class was fresh in their minds.

The day after class I was ready to experiment. I ground more buckwheat, amaranth and sweet brown rice flour. I had some leftover potato flour but only enough for 3 loaves. I put those loaves together and was happy to see the dough had a spongy texture similar to the original recipe. I decided to try a fourth loaf without potato flour. The dough was as thin as cake batter so I added more sweet brown rice flour. It thickened but it was still thinner than I had ever worked with. I didn’t think it would rise properly but to my surprise it rose beautifully, baked well and was the best loaf of the four!!!

Later that week my students let me know that their breads rose beautifully, and baked well. They said the good taste seemed to get better with age. In addition, they were dutifully feeding their starters twice a day.

I continue along with my experiments. I tried mini muffin tins because they are a better size for a snack than standard size tins. Using the rice starter I will try another chocolate cake for the holidays. It will be gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sweetener free, yeast, baking soda and baking powder free using stevia rather than sugar. Next, I’d like to try rolls and scones, maybe a holiday fruit and nut bread and after that, maybe an onion bread.

Two and a half years after giving up gluten I have achieved what I had hoped. I have successfully created my own nutrient-dense, allergy-free bread products using a combination of ancient sourdough technique and an ancient fermented drink. It is encouraging and comforting to me that as we move into the future and have to deal with some of the very difficult challenges of our day, we can fall back on the wisdom of the ancients to strengthen and nourish us.

The Bread That Would Not Die (Secret Ingredient: Chia Seed)

2009-07-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

I tried one of my newest gluten free recipes and came up with a very tasty bread. It had a nice crumb, a nice rise and a nice crust. When I travel I always bring my own bread. I was getting ready to travel to a family event. I sliced up one loaf and packed it in my suitcase. To be sure I would have enough bread I also took the loaf I had previously sliced and frozen the week before. When I got to my hotel room I unpacked the still slightly frozen bread, leaving it to thaw in the open air. Meanwhile, I happily ate the fresh slices as I moved through the weekend’s events. I had forgotten about the thawing slices in the open air until I began packing and saw them. Being unsure they were still good but unwilling to dump them, I repacked them and brought them home. When I got home I toasted up a piece and Wow! it was still fantastic! There were a few pieces left so I wrapped them in a cloth and set them on the counter to see how many more days they would still taste good. They were still excellent even 2-3 days later. So this was a previously frozen bread that had thawed in the stuffy air of a hotel room, inadvertently left in that same stuffy air for 3 days, repacked and traveled a total of 700 miles. The bread just would not get stale, old, or gross!

For a gluten free bread to be treated this way and still taste so good is very, very unusual. Most people who must eat gluten free bread, whether they bake their own or buy it fresh, eat it fresh for one day and put the rest in the freezer because it dries out so quickly. My gluten free sourdough bread stays fresh on the counter for 5 days wrapped in a cloth, sitting in an open plastic container. It keeps 10 days in the fridge if it hasn’t been eaten up by then. It also freezes, thaws and toasts up beautifully. I have always been proud of the long shelf life of this palatable bread.

The packed, frozen, thawed, repacked, retoasted loaf that was inadvertently ignored in the hotel room was an experimental loaf. I used one of my standard recipes and added 2 tablespoons of chia seed gel to it. Recently I baked another loaf using this same recipe, with chia added, and tested the limits of its shelf life. It lasted 10 days! stored on the counter, in a cloth, in an open plastic container. By day 8 it lost a little of its bounce but gained a great crispiness in the toaster.

Chia seed is a wonderful addition to baked products. Adding 2 tablespoons of chia seed gel to baking products will extend the freshness and shelf life. The chia seeds attract moisture which is retained in the baking product.

To make chia seed gel, take 2 tablespoons of chia seed and mix it into 8 ounces of water.

Stir with a whisk or fork every 5-10 minutes for a half hour.

It is suggested to let the chia seed gel sit for 12 hours before using.

It keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge.

It's also good in gluten free hot cereal, like amaranth and teff.

Gluten free, Dairy free, Egg free, Sourdough Pancakes

2009-06-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Most people associate pancakes with maple syrup, butter and fruit. Since I have had to stay away from sweets I have begun to use pancakes in a different way. I use them as a savory grain side dish to accompany soup, beans, and stew, sometimes even tearing them up, putting them right in the soup or stew. I use them as part of a snack with unusual toppings and spreads like peanut butter, tahini, chopped liver, salsa or gravlax (home cured salmon).
The high proportion of nutritious ingredients makes these pancakes a substantial part of a snack or meal.

We normally flip a wheat pancake when bubbles form around the edges. With gluten free pancakes we need to wait another few minutes after bubbles form because the extra moisture and density of the batter takes more time to cook properly.

Allow at least 7 hours of fermentation time after feeding the starter before using the starter in cooking. This will ensure your flours are properly soaked before cooking and eating.
So that means if you feed the starter in the morning the batter will be ready for pancakes for dinner. If you want pancakes in the morning feed the starter the night before.

Sourdough Pancakes – Basic recipe

For pancakes: prior to cooking, have the last feeding of the starter be ½ cup of buckwheat or gluten free oat flour and slightly less than ½ cup of water. Let ferment 7 hours. A pure rice flour starter tends to be on the thin, soupy side and buckwheat or oat flour will give the pancakes some needed density.

For 4 pancakes:
1 cup mature brown rice flour sourdough starter (including the last feeding of buckwheat and water)
1 tablespoon oil, melted butter or fat
A large pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons freshly ground flax seed (grind in a dedicated coffee grinder)

Mix oil, salt and ground flax seed into starter
Let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the flax to thicken the batter. The batter should be like a thick cake batter.
If the batter is too thick whisk in a little water, a tablespoon at a time, until you get the desired consistency
(The batter can also sit for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The finished pancakes will be thinner and lighter)
Oil pan or griddle and heat to fairly hot
Spoon or ladle out the batter onto the pan
These take longer to cook than wheat pancakes so flip a few minutes after bubbles show up or the edges start to dry out.
Cook another 1-2 minutes and serve.

You can also cool them on a rack and refrigerate in a container for a 3-5 days. Just reheat them in the toaster.

Yeast free, Gluten free, Dairy free Sourdough Starter

2009-06-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

I see a lot of sourdough starter recipes that call for commercial or dried yeast. For those of us who chose not to use yeast it is possible to create a starter without it. Before the invention of commercial yeast all sourdough starters and breads relied on the natural yeast in the air for leavening. I’ve made many successful wheat and rye starters with just flour and water. They fermented easily and made wonderful breads. After I learned I was gluten (and dairy) intolerant I tried to make gluten free starters using the same technique I had grown accustomed to for the wheat and rye breads: a 7 day sourdough starter. With gluten free flours 7 days did not work well. The starter turned a moldy shade of bluish green. I experimented, searched the webs and learned that gluten free sourdough needs to be fed 2-3 times a day unlike wheat/rye starter which can be fed as little as once a day.

I was able to create a brown rice starter in about 4-5 days using only brown rice flour and water but it smelled almost spoiled and the bread was unpleasantly sour. (one wonders why I would go forward and bake something that smelled almost spoiled, but I was determined to follow through so I could learn all the ins and outs of this) Someone suggested that I try a small amount of Water Kefir, a non-dairy fermented drink, to give the starter a boost. This made all the difference for me because it cut the fermenting time down to 3-4 days and never moldered. I have come to greatly depend on this success-every-time starter.

Fermented drinks are an important part of my diet. They have helped me repopulate my digestive system with probiotics and enzymes enabling me to fully recover from health challenges. Water Kefir culture is a colony of bacteria and yeast that, when fed sugar, creates lactobacillus into the liquid which then becomes available to us in the form of a drink. It can also be used to soak grains and beans before cooking. It then boosts the predigestion process that happens when grains and beans are soaked. It does the same for the flour in the starter making the finished bread more digestible. It also speeds the fermentation process.

Kombucha Tea is another fermented drink I make at home, that can be used to boost a starter, although I find the fermentation time to be slower than with the water kefir. For people able to eat dairy products, Milk Kefir or active Yoghurt could be used to boost a gluten free starter. Just add 2 tablespoons of any of these fermented products to your starter when first mixing it up. I save a bit of this starter to start the next batch and store it in the refrigerator. If I haven’t used it after 2 weeks I take it out, let it come to room temperature, feed it with rice flour and water, let it sit (and ferment) for 4 hours and store it back in the fridge. Creating a new starter with this bit of previously fermented starter cuts the fermentation time from 4 days to about 2 days!

I make a quart of water kefir at a time and use it to soak grains and beans before cooking. I also drink it in small amounts as a digestive aid before meals. It becomes effervescent and is very refreshing. I bought my first batch of water kefir culture for under $30 including shipping. With care these can last indefinitely and as they add probiotics into my diet I save money as I no longer need to buy bottles of probiotics.

Here are very succinct directions for making Water Kefir:
Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve, 20 raisins and a slice of lemon or lime.
Add the contents of your bottle of water kefir grains into the quart jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, around 24 hours later, use a nonmetal tool to scoop them and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store in fridge and use as needed.
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar and pour the water kefir grains plus the liquid their in right into the new jar, cover and ferment.

You can order water kefir culture from www.culturesforhealth.com

Why Gluten Free Sourdough?

2009-03-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

I created these breads and bread recipes to cope with my own multiple food allergies and sensitivities. After mastering and enjoying old fashioned sourdough rye bread I learned I was gluten intolerant and could no longer eat rye. I learned I was also allergic to eggs and dairy products.

Wanting to continue eating bread, I looked at the ingredients in retail gluten free breads and found there was at least one ingredient I needed to avoid in each one. If I was going to be able to eat bread I needed to be able to control the ingredients.
I began experimenting with the sourdough techniques I had mastered for the rye bread.

Sourdough baking is a time tested bread baking technique that was used exclusively until the discovery of modern commercial yeast. It utilizes the natural yeasts and bacteria present on the grain and in the air to leaven bread. Sourdough bread becomes highly digestible because the flours are “soaked” in the starter and in the long rise period. Some people may remember their grandparents soaking oatmeal the night before cooking it for breakfast. Soaking neutralizes natural enzyme inhibitors in the grain, begins breaking down the tough cellulose fibers, fosters the formation of probiotics and enzymes and releases vitamins. All this makes for a more nutritious finished product that is easy on the digestion with many nutrients available for assimilation. Sourdough breads have a robust taste, long shelf life and freeze well.

For those of us who are gluten intolerant and have other food allergies these sourdough bread recipes can be a welcome addition to our diets.
The recipes in my gluten free recipe package are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, yeast, sugar, baking powder/soda, and xanthan and guar gums.
It can be purchased at: www.food-medicine.com

Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Recipe

2009-03-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Gluten Free Dairy Free Sourdough Quickbreads

2009-03-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

Gluten free dairy free and other allergen free sourdough quick breads.
Cranberry pecan muffins, coconut muffins, buckwheat buns and sourdough bread

These wonderfully light and delicious sourdough quick bread recipes use low process ingredients. They are free of gluten, dairy, egg, commercial yeast, corn, soy, gums, baking soda/powder, and sugar. Compared to other sourdough breads they assemble quickly, have a short rise and are highly digestible. They are available in The Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking at:
www.food-medicine.com

2009-03-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Starter bubbling activity

2009-03-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

Gluten free dairy free pizza. The toppings are Italian white beans, chopped pecans and raw onions. Email me if you'd like the recipe for the Italian white beans.