Bread: Yeast

I don't promote yeast bread consumption too much because I've seen it cause issues too many times.

However, after some healing has taken place, some people who really miss yeast bread like to re-include it in their diets.

We made both mistakes of including yeast bread too early, and suffered some minor, yet aggravating setbacks and then later added it back in successfully but too often.

Now, we have yeast bread only on special occasions and try to stick to flatbread the rest of the time.

The last experiment will be to add yeast bread back in once a week (as a weekend treat) and see how that goes.

One quick note about selenium supplements. I was reacting negatively (getting very *itchy) when I began supplementing selenium, so I stopped taking it but kept the bottle. I was completely convinced that though the bottle said 'gf', it must have still had trace amounts.

About a year later I was looking at the bottle, in puzzlement, once again... when I finally saw the very small words, "derived from yeast".

So, I went out and bought a bottle of 'yeast free' selenium. I took it 3 days per week for 3 weeks (same as the last bottle) and did not notice any negative symptoms.

So, when I make bread, I will eat one piece and not more... and I only eat it about twice a year. Yeast is just not good for me. Perhaps this is why I seem to naturally prefer flatbread (both taste-wise and texture-wise).

Nevertheless, because we still do enjoy the odd meal with 'regular' bread and I am a lazy cook, I lean toward the easiest, least time-consumptive, most forgiving recipes.

As usual, I have switched up ingredients many times and this yeast bread still comes out beautifully. It is like a very thick muffin batter which bread-makers of old (like me) find unsettling because we like to need to knead our dough. However, I must implore everyone to give in to the promotion of laziness that this recipe entails... A lot of elbow grease really is not required for a nice, whole-grain-like, loaf of bread (Actually, the texture reminds me a lot of the pumpernickel bread I used to make pre-gf).

As a matter of fact, every gf bread recipe that can be molded into the shape of bread, generally turns out to have a hard shell and crumbly interior (in my experience) whereas this 'batter bread' comes out every bit as good as a heavier multi-grain or gluten free yeast bread that is bought at the grocery store... but costs half the price!

As usual, with any muffin-type mix, you need one large bowl and one small. Mix the dry in the large, mix the wet in the small, dump the wet into the dry and pour into your baking container (in this case, a bread form - clear glass or gf stone is preferable).

If using a glass dish, do not grease it. Do give it a good stir. Unlike muffin mixes, I find that it's nicer if all the lumps are removed and it's nice and smooth. Other than that though, remember, carelessness and laziness are key to this recipe. :D

This mix takes 5 to 10 minutes to get together. The rest of the two hours is all 'wait time'. So, let it rise while you eat dinner. Cook it while you clean up and get ready for bed. Put it in the fridge to cool overnight. Cut it into slices, throw in a bag and throw into the freezer in the morning.

Green/Eco/Time Saving Hint: Bake four loaves at once. If you're going to turn that big oven on at all... make the very most of your energy consumption!

1 cup rice flour
1 cup quinoa flour (or buckwheat, or bean, or millet)
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup flax seed meal
3 teaspoons active dry yeast (store the jar in your fridge)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon guar gum

3 eggs (I have used gelled flax seed meal in place of egg during our egg-trial days.)
1 cup water (sometimes I'll exchange a bit with coconut milk but not necessarily as I'm often too cheap for that or just don't have the coconut milk on hand)
2 tablespoons honey (to feed the yeast)
2 tablespoons oil or fat
2 teaspoons vinegar

Place in warm oven to rise. Depending on your yeast, this can take from one hour to several hours. If you need bread in two hours, make sure you've got good, new yeast.

I have had some really old yeast in my fridge that I needed/wanted to use up, so I would make my batter before bed, place it in the warmed (but turned off oven) with the light on and leave it overnight.

Then in the morning, I just had to turn the oven to 350F for one hour and we'd have fresh bread for breakfast! There you go, I bet you've never had anyone promote old, stubborn yeast before! :D

I'll never throw anything out!
There's a use on this planet for everything!
I'll never be old and useless. I'll be old, slow and valuable in a different way!
:D

Now I'll need to get those fruit sauces posted... there's nothing like hot fruit sauce on fresh toast. It beats putting cold, sugar-full store-bought jams and jellies on your hot toast.... hands down!!

Custard (DF; NG; SF; SCD; V)

This recipe makes a fair amount. I bought small canning jars so that I could make this once a week, divide it up into the small jars and have enough for two breakfasts for the whole family all ready to go.

Mix all together in pot (not on a stove).

8 medium eggs
2 cups milk (or 1 cup coconut milk; 1 cup water or 2 cups water)
1/2 cup honey
4 tablespoons arrowroot (omit for SCD and remove 2 egg whites)
1 tablespoon vanilla (not necessary)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Mix this all very well so that there are no lumps.

Place on a medium burner and stir constantly. It should take about ten minutes. Be patient! Or you will end up with scrambled eggs.

If you do end up with a light scramble, you can re-smooth your custard with a decent stick blender (immersion blender) fairly easily.

(Can you tell I'm not the most patient cook on the planet?:D )

Once it begins to bubble, remove from heat and continue to stir for a couple of minutes until the bottom of the pot cools a little.

Divide into bowl/jars. Eat or put lids in place and refrigerate immediately.

Awesome variations are:

Eating it like yoghurt with nuts or granola on top. (Homemade gf granola of course!) Hemp seeds are a *fabulous* choice for this and my very favourite thing to do.

Place it over top of stewed apples, other fruit or angelfood cake.

Make it different flavours by stewing fruit, pureed with a stick blender and mixing into your custard. This can be done before placing lids on jars and refrigerating.

Lemon is awesome but you need to avoid all metal or you will end up with an awful metal after-taste as the acid will leach metal molecules into your custard.

I bought a glass double boiler at a second-hand store for $8 (when the Can. $ really was worth nothing) and use it a lot more than I ever thought I would! I use a wisk to mix everything but the lemon (before putting my pot on the heat), and then add the lemon juice with a wooden spoon and throughout the rest of the recipe.

Bananas going bad? Throw them in the freezer and they will mash easily for throwing into your custard and making a heavenly banana pudding that can also be poured and set into a pie crust for a fabulous Banana Cream Fool's Pie.

As always, if it's still too lumpy, get out your trusty stick blender to blend out those lumps!

Cocoa, of course, gives a chocolate flavour.

It can also be frozen in a paper cup with a popsicle stick. It's quite nice and rich if all the water is replace with coconut milk or other fatty replacement. (Fats are not bad... I'll get to that rant eventually.) Another thing is replacing all the egg whites with egg yolks. (You can always make macaroon cookies with the whites and freeze them for when someone drops by for a visit - or the kids need a couple of cookies with their bagged lunch.)

I especially like the fudgsicles that they make when I add some cocoa powder because it tastes like the 'real fudgesicles' I used to buy from the ice cream guy on the 'bicycle' that roamed my neighbourhood in the summer when I was a kid.

In winter, one of my favourite breakfasts is stewed apples topped with warm custard. It makes my tummy really happy! :)

Squashbread Tea Cake

This one will surprise you!

This is an excellent recipe that fills the tummy. It warms you up on cool days and cools you down on warm days. An especially good breakfast for those just starting a special diet and used to eating grain at breakfast time.

It also takes substitutions very well and is very forgiving that way.

The trick to making it easy to make, is to bake a whole tray of squash for an hour first, then scoop out flesh, put it in canning jars and then store it in the fridge or freezer. That way, whenever you need a cup or two for anything (bread, gravy thickener, smoothie thickener, custard/pudding flavouring), it's ready to go!

2 cups cooked squash (any orange or yellow squash will end up tasting pumpkin...ish)
1 cup nut butter (unsalted)
1/3 to 1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (if nut butter is salted you may not need this)

Puree for a smoother texture. Mash and mix with a fork for a chunkier texture.

Put into an ungreased glass baking dish (glass prevents the bottom from getting too dark). Don't spread it all the way to the sides so that it will remain easy to cut out of the pan later.

Bake for 1 hour at 300F.

Cheese Spread Replacement

I wanted to come up with a smart name for this 'spread' but decided it would serve others better to know how I use it.

We enjoy this on crackers and celery sticks. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try it this weekend on pizza as I've recently given up all dairy for the sake of my youngest child who is still nursing and appears to spit up and get rashy on days that I consume dairy.

Honestly, I seem to be feeling a little more energetic myself but am missing cheese more than milk.

1 cup water
1 cup cashew nuts (I used salted because it was all I could find)
4 tablespoons arrowroot OR 8 tblspns baked, heavy/dry squash SCD
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon green onion (the white part)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 clove garlic (finely chopped - if desired)
1 pinch dill weed (I used dried)

Put everything into the food processor and let really get all chopped up and mixed well.

Put into a pot and turn on low. Allow to cook for approximately 10 minutes, (until desired spreading consistency is achieved) stirring occassionally.

Place in a canning jar and keep in the fridge.

Deep Fry Batter

I have been experimenting for three years with this recipe and come up with some really good ones but this one tops them all. The reason? It's extremely light, yet crunchy.

My original goal was to try and get something as close to restaurant style chicken ball batter as I could because we were really missing Chinese Food. I met that challenge but find that my family, after several years of not consuming much 'bread' product, no longer has a taste for big bread.

And so, this recipe is far better. Lighter. Crispier. Tender.

The secret is to use cooked brown rice rather than flour.

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons arrowroot
1 teaspoon sea salt

That's the unflavoured version but for some real kick that doesn't require any dipping sauce add:
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder

Combine all in food processor until smooth. Coat your food with it and deep fry it. Mmmmm!
This will cover about 35 pieces of 1" cubes of chicken (approx. 3-4 chicken breasts).

Deep fry chicken breast cubes for approx. 8-10 minutes (190C; 374F), veggies less. This is going to be awesome for mushrooms!

Coconut Pumpkin Custard

This is lovely on its own or drizzled over top of something (like Squashbread Tea Cake). It is also one that can warm you up or cool you down.

2 cups coconut milk (approx. 1 medium can)
1 cup water
1 cup pureed squash (any kind - it will all end up tasting like pumpkin)
7 eggs (medium)
1/3 to 1/2 c honey
4 tablespoons arrowroot (optional for a thicker pudding - do not use for SCD)
1 tablespoon vanilla (optional - do not use for SCD)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk all up in a large pot. Place on medium/high heat and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately and continue stirring until the bottom of the pot cools a bit (so that the bottom doesn't turn into scrambled eggs) and then transfer to bowls, canning jars, pie crusts, etc.

Eat warm or cold.

Coconut Custard

This is lovely on its own or drizzled over top of something (like Squashbread Tea Cake). It is also one that can warm you up or cool you down.

2 cups coconut milk (approx. 1 medium can)
1 cup water
7 eggs (medium)
1/3 to 1/2 c honey
1 tablespoon vanilla (optional)
4 tablespoons arrowroot (or tapioca, cornstarch, potato starch, etc.)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Whisk all up in a large pot. Place on medium/high heat and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately and continue stirring until the bottom of the pot cools a bit (so that the bottom doesn't turn into scrambled eggs) and then transfer to bowls, canning jars, pie crusts, etc.

Eat warm or cold.