A repository for various experimentations that have resulted in sought after recipes
Gluten Free Sourdough
Patience required! Inspired by Vanilla and Bean
Getting started:
Making the Starter
1. Mix 1/4 cup of Namaste Perfect Flour Blend with 5 tablespoons of water in a glass jar or fermentation crock, cover. A coffee filter and rubber band works great for wide mouth jars, or just set the lid on without tightening it down.
Let sit 24 hours in on the counter out of sunlight.
2. Next day remove half of contents and put in a separate jar and refrigerate. Add 1/4 cup of fresh GF flour and 4-5 tablespoons of water. Mix well and cover again. Let sit 24 hours.
3. Next 3-5 days repeat, putting “extras” the separate jar in the fridge. Once you see bubbles in the starter dough and it is roughly double the original amount, it is ready to use generally in half cup increments for one recipe.
The jar in the refrigerator can be used in pancakes or biscuits, as well as fed as a backup ferment for frequent bakers. The back up jar can also become the main starter if the first one gets moldy because you forgot it for a couple days… Minus mold, the starter is surprisingly forgiving.
Any unused starter should be either fed or refrigerated in a sealed jar to prevent opportunistic growth of unwanted things like mold and bad bacteria. Freeze the starter if you do not plan to use it for a while. Revive the starter by bringing it to room temp, feeding it, and letting it sit 24 hours.
Pancakes: (approx. 4 servings)
-About 1 cup of the “extras” jar in the fridge or 1/2 of starter
-1/2 cup of milk, milk alternative, or water
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-4 Tbs maple syrup
-2/3 cup Namaste flour blend
-2/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo flour blend
-2 Tbs of melted butter or coconut oil
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
If preparing for breakfast or brunch, the night before mix starter, milk/water, vanilla, maple syrup, and flours. Cover and set on counter top to ferment overnight.
In morning, add eggs and butter. It’ll seem dry initially, but then will get super fluffy.
Drop desired sized pancakes on a buttered pan over med/low heat. Careful with cooking GF…does better with lower longer heat than gluten pancake batter, can burn easy. Flip when sides are set and pan side is a nice toasted color.
They can be made morning of and are just as fluffy, but develop the pleasant sourdough flavor overnight.
Serve as desired. Refrigerated leftovers…if they last!
Sourdough Bread
-1/2 cup of starter
-2 1/2 cup of warm water (80-90 degree F)
-3 Tbs maple syrup
-2 cup of Namaste flour (plus about ½ cup or more to get a more kneadable dough)
-1 and 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo blend
– 1/2 cup of GF Organic Bob’s Red Mill rolled oats
-1/2 cup ground golden flax meal
-scant Tbs of salt
Mix water, syrup, salt, starter, and flax first. Add in flour a cup at a time. Lightly knead into a round or oblong loaf. Place loaf on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or on a silicone baking mat. Allow to rise in a warm place covered with another baking dish (near woodstove, in the oven with light on, or where it is consistently warm 70-80 degrees. On a heating pad at the medium setting works the best for me). Timing is an experiment here…8-12 hours will give you a lighter flavor, 24 hours more flavor. Your choice, but you can bake it after a single 8 hour rise. Warm oven to 450-500 degrees F, place dough in oven, and reduce temp to 400-425 for 55-60 min. Cover last 10-15 min to prevent the loaf from getting too toasted on top.
Now the really hard part, allow to cool completely before cutting and eating!!
The loaf may lose its nice puffiness…the sad nature of the ingredients with changing humidity. This continues to be a work in progress to get that perfect gluten free loaf. There is a perfect ratio in there somewhere with the paleo and Namaste blends. The addition of oats reduced the stickiness of the dough, though in the absence of oats, I’ve added more flax with good results. For rolls I do a half and half which works even better, but I have not tried that with the bread yet since the paleo blend is much pricier.
Sweet and Savory Fairy Shortbreads
Spring flowers and the fresh bright greens bring so much joy! It is hard not to what to play with your food this time of year. If morels happen to pop up locally, then it is cause for a foraged brunch celebration with friends. This recipe was inspired by Gather Victoria years ago and a…
Foraged
After a bit of a writing hiatus in which I keep telling myself I need to utilize my blog, I am back writing about one of my favorite subjects. Foraging! I have been a forager since childhood. In case you do not know the story, my older sister when we were toddlers, used to pick…
An Amazing Year of Mushrooms
This past year and last year were spectacular years for mushrooms, both the visually stunning and the harvesting of safe edibles. I’ve included a few pictures from years past too for a visual feast. Many of the photographs were taken with the ever-portable cell phone camera, others either with an aging point and shoot pink…
Fern Glen Living 