Sunday, November 18, 2012

Rustic Pan Continental


I love quick breads when it comes to gluten free baking. Partially because I've had so much success with them. Today I made the Sandwich Bread recipe which is wonderful and has the traditional yeasty bread flavor to it. Problem was, I didn't put parchment on the bottom of the pan. Despite my best efforts, I tore the bottom off of my loaf. So I wasn't happy with taking a picture of it and the broken piece was the demise of the loaf. It was like a couple of drops of blood in shark infested water. I nibbled at the crunchy goodness of the crust, and before I knew it, half of the loaf was gone. Then my husband came in to find out what I was eating and he took a couple of thick slices with butter and strawberry jam. Oh, bliss. But so much for having some bread for the week. And I was out of the rice flour so I started to dream up a new idea. What can I do with that teff I have hanging around?
Grains from Asia (buckwheat), Africa (teff) and South America (quinoa)
The flavor reminds me of pumpernickel.


Porridge:
1/2 cup whole grain teff
3/4 cup apple juice (unfiltered)
3/4 cup boiling hot water

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 Tablespoons tapioca flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 Tablespoons ground flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder (use a GF brand)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 cup light oil like olive oil
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice (unfiltered)

Extras:
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, slightly crushed (optional)
1/2 teaspoon powdered cumin seed (optional)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (with additional to sprinkle on the top)

First start with the porridge.  Using a heavy bottomed pot (iron pan in my case) brown the teff so that it is popping and you can smell a nice toasty aroma from it. While stirring pour the boiling hot water into the toasted teff being careful not to let it splash you.  Keep stirring to keep the lumps out. Now add the apple juice and continue to cook until it is a nice thick porridge. Set aside.

Sift together the dry ingredients. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. When the oven is preheated, mix half the porridge and wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the extra spices and sunflower seeds if you wish now. Now add the remaining wet ingredients and porridge. Mix until evenly combined. Do not worry if the mixture looks "too wet for bread" Pour into a heavy loaf pan that has been well greased and add parchment if you are concerned the loaf may not lift out of your baking dish easily. I prefer Pyrex or a ceramic loaf pan like Emile Henry. Smooth the top. Sprinkle on more sunflower seeds if you wish. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Turn out of the pan and allow to cool.


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