Bread: Whole Grain Goodness

NOTE: The photo avove is a classic boule. The one I made is a smaller, wholegrain version. A smaller loaf is quicker to make and more importantly (in my book at least) it has more crust per volume of bread :-) I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS TASTY MULTIGRAIN LOAF!

EPISODE #24

I didn’t used to be a bread baker, and honestly I’m still pretty new to it, but there are few things as rewarding as a fresh whole grain loaf. In this episode, I’ll talk about a light whole grain Hot Cross Buns recipe flavored with orange zest, figs, and toasted almond and what to look for to get great results. Then I’ll share a classic boule loaf with you—the kind that has a chewy, robust crust. And you’ll learn how to get that crust without a commercial oven. 

Hot Cross Buns 2:50

Boule 8:50

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. Hot Cross Buns - If you like the flavor of buckwheat, you’ll love this recipe. It’s flavored with orange zest, figs, and toasted almonds

2. 1-Bowl Whole Grain Boule Loaf (Vegan) - This bread is currently one of my favorite bread recipes! It’s wholesome and a great place to start if you are new to whole grain baking. It’s made with teff flour which is much milder than buckwheat and an excellent addition to savory and sweet baked goods.

   Videos: To see the videos just click the recipes above. Enjoy!

Is internal temperature the best way to monitor when bread is done baking? Cook’s Illustrated says this is not the best way to tell when bread is done baking. However, for many recipes, it works. So, while it doesn’t always hold true, it’s a good first bet. However, I do have a few recipes that are exceptions. For example, my biscuit recipe requires baking for a quite a while past 200F/93C. Otherwise they taste “doughy”. The bottomline is that internal temperature will not always indicate doneness, because it depends on the recipe.

I you’d like more bread baking tips, you can check out this previous post.

You can find more information about the roll salt plays in bread baking here.

Also, if you’re interested check out my Bread Baking Basics episode. I talk about a wonderful pita bread recipe from Authentic Foods that I use all the time — including for mini pizzas!

Winter & Holiday Baking: Two Festive Treats

EPISODE #23

I talk about two treats that are bound to make your holidays festive: that glorious German loaf called Stollen and the mysterious Mincemeat Pie. They are both delightful treats that are easier to make than they appear, making them a delightful addition to your holiday or winter dinners.

Outline:

Mincemeat Streusel Pie
Stollen Loaf 9:10

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts.

SHOW NOTES:

You can find Steve’s GF bread flour here.
You can find more about the history of Mincemeat here.

Recipes:

1. Mincemeat Streusel Pie with Hazelnuts - flavored with orange zest and cocoa

2. Stollen Loaf - A festive German bread packed with dried fruit

3. 3-Ingredient Homemade Marzipan - a wonderful addition to Stollen and many other baked goods.
   

How to Make the Perfect Tart: Decadent Chocolate Tart and Cranberry Grapefruit Tart

EPISODE #21

This show is all about tarts. I discuss how to make the perfect, classic tart shell and how to keep it crisp. It’s a foolproof recipe with a vegan option and I walk you through what to look for to get great results. Next I discuss two fillings: a classic chocolate one and a fruity one with unique flavors. I’ll talk about how to play with flavor as well as why each step in the recipe is critical. Enjoy!

Outline:

-Tart Crust

-Chocolate Filling 9:10

-Cranberry Tart 13:20

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts.

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. Your Classic, Chocolate Tart recipe with a festive Cranberry Swirl (optional) - a rich and silky smooth filling

2. Cranberry Grapefruit Tart recipe

3. Classic Foolproof Tart Shell recipe — Great for savory dishes too (vegan option)

4. No Fail Pie or Tart Crust - Oat and Almond (vegan option). This is my favorites because it is quick to prepare and does’t require chilling.
   

Aran Goyoaga: Author of Cannelle et Vanille Cookbook

EPISODE #20

Aran Goyoaga is the James Beard-recognized creator of Cannelle et Vanille and her new gluten free cookbook is of the same name. Her recipes are influenced by her Basque upbringing, where food is a central part of the culture. Aran is also an outstanding food stylist and photographer. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Vogue, among others.

Click here for a link to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

SHOW NOTES:

If you’d like to see more of Aran’s work, you can visit her website Cannelle et Vanille.

Bread Baking Basics: Brioche, Baguettes, and Pita Bread

EPISODE #19

How do you know when your bread is done proofing? How do you know when your bread is done baking? Why is salt important when you’re baking bread?We’ll explore the basics of bread making through three classic recipes: baguettes, brioche (8:35), and pita bread (15.36). Enjoy!

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bread-baking-basics-brioche-baguettes-and-pita-bread/id1441338206?i=1000453811446

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. Brioche - My personal favorite!

2. French Bread

3. Pita Bread - Also here is a link to an interview with award-winning author Reem Kassis. She has excellent sides and mains that go with pita bread.
   

The bread blend we use to bake beautiful brioche, baguettes, and pita bread is called Steve’s GF Bread Flour and it can be found at Authentic Foods.

Is internal temperature the best way to monitor when bread is done baking? Cook’s Illustrated says this is not the best way to tell when bread is done baking. However, for many recipes, it works. So, while it doesn’t always hold true, it’s a good first bet. However, I do have a few recipes that are exceptions. For example, my biscuit recipe requires baking for a quite a while past 200F/93C. Otherwise they taste “doughy”. The bottomline is that internal temperature will not always indicate doneness, because it depends on the recipe.

I you’d like more bread baking tips, you can check out this previous post.

You can find more information about the roll salt plays in bread baking here.

Quelcy Kogel: Author of The Gluten Free Grains Cookbook

EPISODE #18

Our guest today is Quelcy Kogel. She is a food and prop stylist, photographer, and cookbook author. Her recipes have been featured in Bon Appetit, BuzzFeed, and HuffPost Taste among others. She talks with us about her Gluten Free Grains Cookbook, which features numerous baked goods and desserts. Her professional website, Quelcy.com, like her cookbook radiates passion, skill and a dedication to the art and craft of food that few possess.


Click here for a link to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

SHOW NOTES:

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Quelcy for being a guest on the show! You can learn more about her on her blog, With the Grains, where she shares her recipes and writing.

Recipes:

1. Quelcy’s Fried Pancake Horns recipe (photo below, it’s the one that looks like empanadas)

2. A classic fudgy Brownies Recipe I posted a while ago (features teff flour)
   
   
   

How to Reduce Food Waste

• Here’s a tip on how to reduce food waste. I compost during the warmer months but something I’ve started doing is saving old vegetables, ends, and peels and then steaming them for my dogs (dogs are omnivores so they need vegetables too). It helps make them healthier and reduces food waste. Although there are a few items that are poisonous to dogs so watch out for those (like grapes, walnuts, or onions to name a few).

• Another option is to compost during the warmer months (or compost indoors year round using vermiculture or an electric composter if you have renewable energy)
  
  
  

Irradiation

There are two criticisms of irradiation. One is that along with destroying harmful microorganisms it also destroys ones that are good for us. The second, and perhaps more important criticism, is that irradiation does not fix the core problem. Food often becomes contaminated because the growing methods or processing plants aren’t up to par. Some people fear that food processing plants use irradiation as a crutch rather than ensuring that facilities (or growing methods for that matter) have processes in place to ensure minimal risk of food borne illness.

As of 2018, here is a list of the foods that the FDA allows to be irradiated:

Beef and Pork
Crustaceans (e.g., lobster, shrimp, and crab)
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Lettuce and Spinach
Poultry
Seeds for Sprouting (e.g., for alfalfa sprouts)
Shell Eggs
Shellfish - Molluscan (e.g., oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops)
Spices and Seasonings

Vote With Your Dollar

Also, if you want to vote with your dollar as we inevitably do, and if you’re new to eating organic, here is a list of foods that are especially important to eat organic because of their high pesticide use:

The Dirty Dozen

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes
11. Celery
12. Potatoes

Doughnuts, Cheesecake, & A Peanut Butter “Milkshake"

EPISODE #17

Today we talk briefly about American doughnut history. Then we dive into some recipes: how to make a classic doughnut, lime-infused cheesecake, and a vegan “milkshake” or nog.

Your Classic, Caky Doughnut

Lime-Infused Cheesecake + A No-Bake Cheesecake 9:45

Peanutbutter “Milkshake” 15:28

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doughnuts-cheesecake-a-peanut-butter-milkshake/id1441338206?i=1000446221959

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. Your Classic, Caky Doughnut Holes

2. Coconut-Lime Cheesecake

3. 6-Ingredient No-Bake Honey Lemon Cheese Cake (vegan option)

4. Peanut Butter Nog or “Milkshake” (vegan)
   

-Smithsonian doughnut history
-Jewish cheesecake history

Coconut-Lime Cheesecake

Peanut Butter Milkshake

Reem Kassis: The Palestinian Table

EPISODE #16

Reem Kassis is best known for her cookbook, The Palestinian Table. In the book she tells stories about her childhood—growing up in Palestine and she shares some fabulous recipes. She never expected to end up cooking professionally. She left Palestine to pursue a degree in business and worked in the industry for years before she decided to take cooking to the next level, which she definitely did. Her cookbook was the Winner of the Guild of Food Writers First Book Award and a James Beard nominee for Best International Cookbook. I should note here that Reem’s cookbook is not gluten free but many recipes are naturally gluten free or can be adapted to be gluten free. I often use quinoa or millet in place of wheat grains.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reem-kassis-the-palestinian-table/id1441338206?i=1000444556789

Herbs & Spices: 6:33

Taboon flatbread 10:44

Elements of good cooking 13:37

Desserts 16:59

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. 3-Ingredient Za-atar Spice Mix: a blend of sesame seeds, lemony sumac, and oregano (or substitute thyme). It makes a great topping on salads, meat, grains, eggs, etc.

2. Here is an excellent flatbread recipe for Pita Bread from Authentic Foods. It calls for their bread flour mix but that same mix also makes excellent brioche and French bread.
   
   Here are two additional Dairy Free and Gluten Free Flatbread recipes I would like to try. Honestly, most gluten free bread/flatbread recipes don’t measured up. If your’e interested, volunteer to test these! Or share your favorite flatbread recipe 🙂

   https://www.glutenfreeandmore.com/recipe/gluten-free-dairy-free-pita-bread/

   https://www.feastingonfruit.com/vegan-gluten-free-flatbread/

Bread Making Tips (from Happy Campers Bread Company)

I did an Interview with Jan and Lacy, the founders of the Happy Campers Bread Company, and asked them for some bread making tips. (By the way, their bread is amazing and can be ordered online. It’s also free of a handful of major allergens, including rice.) Their advice confirmed some of my thoughts about baking bread — many recipes call for too much yeast. If your loaf is dense try addressing the issue indirectly.

This is what they had to say:

• Use a mixture of flours for balanced flavor. Using too much of any one flour will result in off taste. Rice, millet, sorghum and teff are good bulk flours, because they're neutral in flavor and are fairly light (won't produce dense bread). Add a little bit of buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth for nuttier, more whole grain flavor.

• Nut flours like almond or coconut are tough to make bread with, because they're so heavy and will produce very dense bread.

• Using starches (tapioca, corn, potato) will produce lighter bread. On the other hand, starch isn't nutritious, so regarding nutrition, the less the better. I recommend about 20% of flour to be starch.

• A mixture of psyllium husk powder and xanthan gum works best to replace gluten, I recommend approximately a teaspoon of each per loaf. Mix them up in your flour before adding water.

• Mix all ingredients very thoroughly (on high speed in your Kitchen Aid, at least 10 minutes).

• Dough consistency should be of thick batter. This will depend on flour used, but roughly weight ratio 1:1 in flour:water should produce the right consistency.

• 1 tsp of yeast should be plenty. When bread turns out dense, most people will think it's yeast, but that's rarely the case. More likely you need more mixing time or lighter flours (like millet, rice or some starch).

• For nice yeasty, sourdough flavor, create a "sponge:" mix all your flour (including xanthan and psyllium) with water, add a pinch of yeast and let sit in fridge overnight. Add the remaining ingredients (like salt, yeast, molasses, seeds etc.) the next day, proof and bake as usual.

Socca Flatbread, Alegria & A Spectacular Muffin

EPISODE #15

In this episode we talk about an unusual but well-loved flatbread that is common in parts of France and Italy. Then I will share an awesome quickbread/muffin recipe that has almost no sugar and we will finish off with a paleo and vegan Mexican candy.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/socca-flatbread-alegria-a-spectacular-muffin/id1441338206?i=1000441539028

Recipes:

-Socca Flatbread or Chickpea Crepes (vegan) - coming soon

-Chocolate Coconut Walnut Bread

-Two Hikers on Horseback - Chocolate Amaranth Bars (vegan & paleo)

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. Socca Flatbread or Chickpea Crepes (vegan) - coming soon

2. Chocolate Coconut Walnut Bread

3. Two Hikers on Horseback - Chocolate Amaranth Alegría Bars (vegan & paleo)
   

I also mentioned a powder called Maca powder that I’d like to experiment with more. Many people claim that it has numerous health benefits.

Coconut Chocolate Walnut Bread (below).

Alegría - A Mexican Popped Amaranth Candy (picture below)

Alegria bars are a mexican dessert made with popped amaranth (paleo)

Amaranth “Polenta” Cakes, an Easy-To-Prepare Boozy Dessert, and More

EPISODE #14

Join us this week for adventures with crepes, protein-rich “polenta” cakes (vegan and paleo), and a dessert that (when made correctly) is absolutely amazing.

Recipes:

-Crepes - some new takes on an old recipe

-Amaranth “Polenta” Cakes 6:32

-Bread Pudding with Caramel Cognac Sauce 11:40

SHOW NOTES:

Recipes:

1. The Best Crepe Recipe (made with Cashew flour) or Teff Crepes

2. Amaranth “Polenta" Cakes

3. Bread Pudding with Caramel Cognac Sauce

A Popped Amaranth Alegría Bar recipe is coming soon!

Amaranth:

Health benefits according to Dr. Axe.

Here are some photos of amaranth flowers (below). The genius, Amaranthus, includes at least 70 species of amaranth and immense diversity. Only certain varieties are used for their “grains" (seeds, actually) and leafy greens. In fact, many varieties are considered weeds. However, many species offer colorful foliage and beautiful unique flowers, so if you live in a climate where the plant is not invasive it might be a great, robust one to add to the garden.

Alegría - A Mexican Popped Amaranth Candy. It’s actually a bar and here is a recipe if you are interested. I look forward to trying this recipe as well!

Alegria bars are a mexican dessert made with popped amaranth (paleo)

Buttery Crackers, Super-Seeded Crackers, and More

EPISODE #11

This episode is all about crackers. Learn how to make simple, healthy snacks at home. We’ll cover everything from rich buttery crackers, to crackers packed with seeds, to crackers made with cooked whole grains! All of the recipes are dairy free and there are two vegan and paleo recipes.

SHOW NOTES:

Below are the recipes from the episode:

• Buttery Crackers (Rich & Delicately Crispy - admittedly my favorite)

• Norwegian Crisp Bread. Yes, it’s also traditional in Sweden and there are variations around Europe, including German Knackebrot. They are super hearty and packed with nutrients. You can adapt it to be paleo or try this paleo alternative, Super Seedy Crackers (I couldn’t help myself with the title..)

• Quinoa & Corn Crackers (An Oh-so-satisfying crunch!)