Arborio Rice Flour Waffles

You can see it didn’t fill quite enough as one side didn’t get pressed as much. Something to look at next time.

Yo, Dear Reader, my stock of Glutinous Rice flour is dwindling and I can’t get any stock in, so I’m back to trying whatever else can work to help often out my simple waffles, I use these instead of bread, but my swallow gives me trouble at times and a lot of free from flours can cause recipes to be much drier, I’m not adjusting every recipe by adding too much, I like these because they’re simple and quick, but with the Arborio Rice, yes the one for risotto, I figured I might be able to get a little lighter and moister a result. I’ve been here so often, Dear Reader, when your restricted diet starts to get even more limited you just grab at whatever you can. It’s a far cry from the recipes using dozens of ingredients to emulate familiar foods and more survival in its simplest sense. Why this rice? Mostly it was all I could think that I could buy easily, if you’ve never had risotto, I have a recipe, it’s absurdly creamy and smooth, it’s something to do with the type of starch or how much there is, hence why I figured it may work as a flour. So, long preamble leading to a simple question, did it? Actually yes, it isn’t as chewy as the sweet rice flour can be, but it was lighter and less dry. I found it wasn’t very thick compared to white or brown, I’d need more flour than I usually use, I understand that all waffle irons can vary, you’ll have to adjust yourself, Dear Reader. I just ground it and sifted out the lumps and the result was a lighter, slightly moister waffle. I’ll likely try this cut with white rice flour, to eke this out, it’s a lot of hassle to keep grinding it all the time, and because it’d become a nuisance and I don’t need mores tress when eating. Brexit is catching me out a lot, thankfully I prepared, I don’t have a lot of choice, I eat well, very well, but I work with a really limited pantry. Still, I’ve learned enough I can’t be stuck for long, but I’d rather have a choice. If you decide to try this, Dear Reader, in any recipe just think of it as a slightly less thick rice flour, you might need less moisture, might cause dryness, or more flour might be better. It ground well, I’m just using an old coffee grinder, never ground coffee in all the years I’ve had it, I have a more expensive one for my espresso beans, but it worked well and a fine sieve will take out the lumps. I’ve bought brown rice flour that was lumpier than this, Dear Reader, which commends it a bit. I’ll be playing around with this and if any miracles occur I’ll let you know, Dear Reader. Until later, stay safe and take care.

Ingredients

120g Arborio Rice Ground into Flour
1 Large Egg (65g-75g in Shell)
75ml Milk/Water
15ml Olive Oil
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Makes 2 Large Waffles. Can be frozen.

Method

1. Turn on Waffle Iron. Beat Eggs and Olive Oil until combined and the beat in Milk.
2. Add in Flour and Baking Powder beat until a smooth, slightly thick batter has been formed.
3. Add enough Batter to warmed Waffle Iron to fill the plates, close and cook for 5-8 minutes until waffles are brown, dry and firm. Remove with a rubber spatula and let cool for a few minutes.

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Mincemeat Loaf Cake

If it sinks a little just fix it up. This actually rose at the edges only, it never sunk, just never rose. Might’ve been the almonds in the middle.

Yo, Dear Reader, before I start in on this I want to say that because I’m using a preblended flour your luck will vary, this isn’t the worse commercial flour blend, but it’s not the greatest, your list of allergens will vary wildly so I’m trying to be cautious with the tags. These are the ingredients in his blend, it might help you decide whether to try this out.

Maize Starch, Soya Flour, Rice Flour, Modified Maize Starch, Raising Agents: (Acid Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Egg Albumin (contains Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Foaming Agent: Triethyl Citrate), Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Anticaking Agent: (Tri-Calcium Phosphate), Stabiliser: (Methyl Hydroxypropyl Cellulose), Vitamins: (B1, B2, Niacin & C), Iron.

So, anyway this is a pretty basic recipe, it just takes a few specific ingredients, they’re naturally seasonal in that mincemeat isn’t easy to get year round, you could make it, but eh, the original recipe used brown sugar, but I had issues with burning, ironically these would’ve been very pale, the nature of this flour blend sadly, bar the sheer volume of sugars within the ingredients. Which is actually why I chose it. Compensating for the weakness of the flour is a given, I don’t eat these blends myself, but like any recipe I can vouch for the quality, these won’t be exactly the same as the wheat version, but if you’re used to this type of baking then you’re used to the compromise. As I said above mine just rose at he edges, I find this flour doesn’t get a great rise, but this is a very dense cake anyway so you don’t need much rise, as for the taste if you like sweet mince pies you love this. It’s pretty much just a lazy mince pie. A huge one. I filled the gap with warmed up mincemeat. So, Dear Reader, as promised the start of the blended flour free from recipes begins. I’ll be typing these up as I go, but I’ll try to stagger them to save confusion and overcrowding. Okay, I’ll be back again or I’m already gone, I forget these are all in odd order, I’ll be somewhere, Dear Reader, check the garden if all else, until later or sooner, stay safe and take care.

Ingredients

225g Gluten Free Self-Raising flour
225g Mincemeat
150g Margarine, Soft
150g Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs
100g Currants
100g Sultanas
Whole Almonds, Cherries and Extra Mincemeat To Decorate

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c (No Fan) and line a loaf tine, bottom and sides.
2. Add everything to a bowl and beat all the ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth.
3. Spoon mixture into tin, smoothing down with a wet spoon as needed, and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, turning and covering halfway, until brown. Cool in tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire-rack to cool completely.

Buckwheat and Glutinous Rice Flour Savoury Waffles

I’ve been making these a lot, but keep forgetting to take a photo and type up the recipe. Better late than never.

Yo, Dear Reader, this is one of those recipes I hesitated on posting, not because it isn’t good, it’s really great, I’m as surprised as anyone, Dear Reader, it just works so well for so little effort, but because it feels almost too simple for requiring such specific ingredients, but then I remember I’ve been there countless times: Having bought a bag of flour, or flours on the promise of so many wonderful recipes only to find the usual contenders and often hardly even that. I’ve often tried to make up the absence of recipes like these, so I thought put it up. I really like he texture of the glutinous rice flour, but too much makes it a little too gooey in the wrong way in some recipe, but balancing it with buckwheat, I went through a few trial runs, increasing ratios as I went, yo end up with he best of both, while each counter the others weaknesses. Buckwheat is dry and all buckwheat waffles do tend towards the crisp, but dense, the addition of the rice flour means you get a lighter waffle, with just a little chew and spring. These aren’t extraordinary, but on a limited diet like mine these are a wonder. You tend to see a lot of wild clams when it comes to any gluten free versions of any recipe, I never do that, Dear Reader, I respect my readers far too much to deceive them. These are a little fluffy, a tad crunchy and really quick to prepare, waffles have been a great replacement for frozen loaves as I like harder, crusts over soft breads, but the best part is they’re fresh. I still freeze so much, but being able to throw these together in minutes is really so very useful. Buckwheat and Glutinous Rice Flour  is turning out to be an amazing combination I hope to be able to ind more uses for this duo, for now this’ll do. Until later, Dear Reader, take care and stay safe.

Ingredients

60g Buckwheat Flour
40g Glutinous Rice Flour
80ml Low Fat Milk
30ml Water
1 Egg, 60g-65g in Shell
15ml Olive Oil
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Pinch Salt
Pinch Sugar

Method

1. Turn on Waffle Iron.

2. Mix together the Egg and Oil add in the Flours, Baking powder, Salt and Sugar and mix together, finally add in he Milk and Water and mix everything until a light, slightly lump, batter has been formed, add more Water if too thick.

3. Add enough Batter to warmed Waffle to fill the plates, close and cook for 7-10 minutes until waffles are golden brown and the bottom is crisp. Remove with a rubber spatula and let cool for a few minutes, Waffles will crisp up further as they cool. Repeat until batter is used up.

Buckwheat and Glutinous Rice Flour Crepes

Any batter with glutinous rice flour seems to be guaranteed a few lumps, hey don’t affect the crepes at all, but beat it well.

I made three times the recipe in a big pan and none tore, which is nice.

I really wasn’t planning on making so much, but here we are.

Yo, Dear Reader, I wasn’t really planning on typing up a recipe today, but as this worked so well, you can tell the time of year by when I make crepes it always whenever there’s salad ingredients to hand in the garden, I figured I should type it up properly. I’ve talked about crepes before, they’re pancakes that require patience, but do reward those who persevere. I’ve tried to put the steps as clearly as possible in the recipe, but if you, kind patient soul, are reading this in the hopes that there will be something to elaborate, well, I can’t let you down, Dear Reader, can I? So, one main point is that you’re heating the pan separately from the butter, which runs counter-intuitive to most frying techniques, but you heat crepes on a high heat fast and having butter hit the pan at high temperature will result in burnt butter and that taste will transfer to the crepes, it’ll also cause them to look more done than they are resulting in sadness and sodden flaps of batter. I left out he oil I usually add, by mistake, but these are just fine with just the butter, the glutinous rice flour tends towards the moist so you’ll be better off without them being too oily. The second part that you may stumble on is having the pan be too hot for he batter, yes I’m aware I said they cook on a high heat, think about pouring the batter, it cooks the second it hits the pan, you can swirl set batter, so you stop the butter from burning and when that melts the pan cools a hair and the batter swirls and everything goes onto the heat again. Over and over and in time you get into the rhythm. These flip just fine, they fall back if they fold and they’ll be cooked once you flip if they’re the right thickness. I usually go by about a third of the pan, I just eyeball it mind, you do you, Dear Reader, whatever works.

Will it rip is where these often fail and I end up covered in filling.

Will it hold I ask having made them impractically large.

It held and didn’t fall apart. I’m shocked, this was just a rough and ready recipe, but I have learned a lot about utilising individual strengths.

As I said above they held perfectly, they have a slightly more elastic feel, not quite rubbery, but nearly there, if you dislike this flour this won’t change your mind. They don’t have much taste, which I prefer, whether I’ll use them savoury, most likely, or sweet, probably once and that’ll be it, I want them to work without interfering with the other ingredients. These are really great to be honest, I’m as surprised as anyone else, they’re not some magical combination, the rice flour isn’t going to make elastic light dough, it’ll make dough, but it’ll be more along the chewy, gooey joy that is the trademark texture of this flour. For now, Dear Reader, I have “wraps” that’ll make it easier to grab some salad ingredients, shove those and meat into a bit of bread and not have to think too deeply about what I’ll eat on a given day, that’s a blessing currently. I’ll probably be back soon with another variation style recipe like this, waffles with this combination seem to work well, I’ll have to try it again and get back to you. Stay safe and take care, Dear Reader.

Ingredients

56g Buckwheat Flour
28 Glutinous Rice Flour
1 Large Egg
80ml Low Fat Milk
80ml Water
Pinch Salt
Butter for frying

Can be Frozen, wrap in clingfilm or layer between grease-proof paper.

Method

1. Place Flour and Salt in a bowl and Make a small well in the middle. In a jug whisk together Egg, Milk and Water and whisk it into the flour and Salt until a mostly smooth, there will be some slight lumps, thin Batter has formed.

2. Heat a non-stick pan on a medium high heat and remove from the heat add a small bit of Butter, swirl to coat, when coated add enough Batter to cover 1/3 of the pan, swirl it to coat the bottom of the pan and return to the heat. Cook crepe until lightly browned and slightly dry to the touch, about 1 minute, then flip, cook the same way and then transfer to a wire-rack. Remove pan from heat before adding Butter for second crepe as Butter may burn. Repeat until Batter is used up.

Mochi Pancakes

It’s a resistant batter, feels like rubber.

Funnily after I find this recipe I realise there isn’t anywhere near me stocking standard rice flour, I’m fine for a while, but being able to get glutinous rice flour, which too years, and not being able to get rice flour is, well, it’s peak free-from eating. I think, depending on what your restrictions are, that glutinous rice flour could be a bit of a bust, it’s a really special flour, geared more towards desserts, with a fragrant, slightly sweet taste, but you get on texture and no way to utilize the stickiness in any way other than dumplings and dumpling like textured foods. Still, for a change this is a really unique recipe, you get a texture similar to the boiled dumplings but also get a fluffy pancake that soaks up sauce without getting soggy. I often find many gluten free pancakes can be dry when you’re just using a single flour or two.

Gently press to make sure the centre is done.

Texturewise these are just the right kind of sticky and chewy, I know, if you’re adverse to gooey things like me, lot of bad breads early on, Dear Reader, the stomach remembers, but these have a chewy that’s more like a very soft toffee and a fragrant sweetness that spreads throughout your mouth. They’re also very spongy and absorbent without getting soggy as I’ve said, they’re not just an alternative to wheaten pancakes, hey’re their own creation. The original recipe is here, this hasn’t been changed, for a change, heh. I find with pancakes hat it depends on your pan and what you’re cooking over, my hob needs to be set high, if yours does try to be careful of burning the honey. Make sure the inside is cooked too, I usually flip an extra turn or two just to make sure the whole pancake is coked through. If you like glutinous rice flour treats you’l like these, if you’re unsure I’d say try them if you can get a small bag of the flour, also known as Sweet Rice Flour, if you can tolerate cornstarch you could also make Mochi and variou other Japanese and Asian sweets, the flour is use in so many ways in so many countries so you should find enough uses to use a bag up. Okay, that’s it from me, Dear Reader, until later, stay safe and take care.

Fluffy, chewy and really different.

Ingredients

120ml Low Fat Milk
80g Glutinous Rice Flour
80g Rice Flour
1 Large Egg, Separated
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

Makes 6 Small Pancakes. Can be frozen.

Method

1. Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl or jug and stir together.

2. Mix everything else except the Egg White and add to the Dry Mixture, this will be lumpy, beat the Egg White until frothy and fold that in as well. The Batter will be thick and elastic, but pourable.

3. Heat a non-stick fry pan over a medium high heat and add a little Olive Oil, pour in 1/4 Cup of Batter, around 60ml, and let cook until bubbles appear on the surface, flip and cook for another minute or two. Transfer to a wire-rack and repeat until all the batter has been used up.

Same Old, Same New: Baffles and Raps

I had quinoa flour, but wanted a change from the usual.

They’re nice and springy, but not that different from most of my savoury waffles.

Yo, Dear Reader I was looking through AIP recipes for the blog that I could eat, but apparently we’re very mismatched, but that’s the norm for me and pretty much every dietary plan out there. Still, I’ll keep an eye out, I hope that the kitchen aspect of the garden will start to pick up steam, once the weather warms I can start planting seeds in the greenhouse. As it stands right I have onions starting, garlic that looks healthy and strong and not much activity on the food side. It’s early days yet and the flowers are beautiful. I had a lot of eggs that need to be used up, but since my Bap recipes uses round tins that I can’t get the tins I decided rectangle baps were fine. too. So: Raps are born! Heh. All you need is about an inch of batter, the size of the tin is irrelevant, but you have to amount for the amount of batter available for each tin, my tall loaf tins worked just fine as you can see.

It’s rare I have quinoa flour so readily available to purchase.

I wasn’t going to photograph t cut, but, I don’t like when others hide what the bread looks like cut.

While I was making those I wondered if I’d still get the same springiness that makes these such great alternative to the usual loaves in a waffle. It worked well enough that the Baffle, Bap Waffle, was born! Seriously, it’s just a plain waffle, but convenient if you have a waffle iron and need something that isn’t as dry as they can be when using a single flour. The waffle is just half the batter with no other changes. It’s a surprisingly complex recipe despite its simplistic steps. The main part is in working each flours strength to counter the weakness of another. The quinoa’s natural lightness helps alleviate the buckwheat’s dryness which helps stabilises and firm the texture that would be mush with the flaxseed which in turn hold everything together and increase the springy texture. And so on. It tastes strongly of quinoa flour, no way around that, but look at the health benefits and stick something strong tasting in it. I’ll be back again sooner rather than later, Dear Reader, until then take care.

Brown Teff Flour and Puree Scones

This dough forms with a literal splash of water. Avoid the temptation to add more.

Hmm? You thought I was done with teff, Dear Reader? Not until he bag ends, I just did exactly what I said I would. I took away the oil, I rationed the water to the bare minimum and used our friend Flaxseed to help with the stability. These are a rework of another recipe, linked below in the photo caption, that had all the properties I needed to make a test of my theory. Not to be insufferable, but I was right. I put a lot of thought into what I say here so I’m often right by dint of hard work, research and smart silence.

This works best with dry hands unlike the original.

So, these don’t take all that much work to come together, when I started to stir in the apple and egg mixture I was tempted to add more water, but I knew that’d cause issues when working the dough, now perhaps you could get away with it, but I saw no real benefit, the greatest strength of teff is that it is inherently a moist feeling flour, it seems to need very little added moisture to feel moist, I was going to say mouth moist, but thankfully resisted, when baked. The slow bake helps here and they do bake fast, but make sure they are fully baked before removing them, they can be hard to gauge as they harden quickly.

Low heat preserves the flavour of the flour.

I left these to cool as they were harder than their buckwheat counterparts. They cut without much crumbling, they they seem brittle at first they held just fine as you can see. They have a very crispy, crunchy exterior and a slightly chew, springy interior, thank the apple for that, I really loved the contrast and the flavour of the teff survives and isn’t overpowered by the sugar as there isn’t much used here, it can be omitted completely too. You need something like butter or a non-dairy fatty spread to really highlight the teff’s sweet, indistinctly nutty flavour. Teff seems to be best suited to savoury pairing, it doesn’t really work by itself and it certainly isn’t that suitable for desserts. Not to say you couldn’t, but I’m not going to try further on that line.

Lack of oil helps too.

So, I’m getting near the end of the bag of teff flour. I’m not getting a second as I have a press full of buckwheat, some bags of brown rice flour and a little quinoa still. I never like to waste anything and the dates on these will run out if I keep playing around with other flours. I’m glad I took the chance while I had it, I always say that we should all take any opportunity to learn about different preparations and ingredients. Oh, I was poking around in my freezer and realised I have way too many pounds of raspberries and didn’t want jelly again so I instead juiced them, the compost gets the pulp, have no fear, Dear Reader, no waste here, added grated garlic, salt, butter and diced apple and cooked it all down into a thick sauce for dinner. Tart, pungent and just slightly sweet. I forgot to take a photo…twice actually. I have a lot to eat in my freezer from last year’s garden and I’m already starting to get some seeds in. That’s another post though, I’ll be back with a few more teff recipes as the bag finishes, until then take care, Dear Reader.

Ingredients

170g Brown Teff Flour
125g Green Apple, Peeled and Cut into Chunks
1 Medium Egg (55-65g in Shell)
30g Ground Brown Flaxseed
15g Sugar
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
Water As Needed

Can be frozen.

Method

1. Add Brown Teff Flour, Sugar and Baking Powder to a bowl and set aside.

2. Blend Apple and Egg in a food processor or blender it becomes pale and foamy.

4. Add the Apple mixture to the dry ingredients and mix using a fork. A soft, thick, slightly sticky Batter will form. If needed add a little Water, but don’t add any more than necessary to make the dough form. Rest for 5 minutes.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 200c (Fan) and line a baking tray with grease-proof paper. Scoop up a dessert spoon of the dough, it will be soft, slightly brittle and somewhat sticky, form into a ball, place onto the tray and press down gently. Repeat until dough is used up. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until Golden Brown, firm to the touch and hollow sounding when bottom is tapped. Transfer to a wire-rack and cool for 10 minutes.

Flaxseed and Brown Teff Flour Scones

These are really quick to prepare.

The dough, if you can call it that, has an extremely strange texture.

Now, Dear Reader, I’ve had one failure, I tried making tortillas like my buckwheat ones and found that though teff absorbs a little water and hold itself together somewhat it is extremely sticky, like amaranth or quinoa in that regard. If it were used in pastry you’d need to mix it and honestly I have enough recipes using single flours so I feel no need to go to something like teff and try and make it work. Buckwheat remains king of the free from flours in my book, but teff is hanging in there so far with quinoa, the second best, and amaranth, an okay flour, but nutritionally varied. I have a lot of recipes, Dear Reader, I’ve made ones that I marvel at myself, that’s not arrogance just the truth that we’re only scraping the surface as to what can be done with these flours. If I were a professional, if I were making money on these recipes I might be more inclined towards pushing the envelope with teff flour, but I’ve been there with buckwheat, with quinoa, with rice flour, I’ve dabbled successfully with banana flour, amaranth, sorghum and maybe I’m forgetting a few. I’ve used flaxseed, ground pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds as flours. I’ve done a lot, Dear Reader, with very little guidance, so when I say teff has uses I’m looking for the easiest to predict and the most useful. It’s not that I can’t, though I can’t work miracles, not without added gums or starches, but that I don’t need to. that isn’t to say you can’t try, Dear Reader. As for me, well, I’ll have a lot more teff recipes before I’m done, I didn’t say I was done yet after all.

You can see where the dough hadn’t quite joined itself.

Rough and ready baking at its finest.

Imagine a water-balloon filled with wobbly jelly, feel it in your hands, jiggly it in your mind, Dear Reader, that’s what teff dough feels like here. It’s so alien I had no idea what it’d bake like. It didn’t work without the egg and flaxseed and with them it still has a slight stickiness, I used golden flaxseed, so brown might make it firmer and less sticky, I’ve found gold doesn’t absorb as well as brown, but tastes better. Teff seems to have it’s own inherent moisture, this is where it varies wildly from most other free-from flours, where ones like quinoa and amaranth can absorb a lot of liquid, not necessarily for the better at times, teff only needed 25 milliliters to be almost too wet. Why it has a better texture is beyond me, how a flour can be moist is a strange thing to think about, but it does. These are quick to make and created for that sole purpose, there are times when the freezer supplies have dwindled and I want something crusty and substantial. Where the buckwheat scones tend to be hard and brittle to the extreme these were at first brittle, I had to try one out of the oven to compare, when rested for an hour it was possibly to gentle cut it into two neat pieces, it didn’t fall apart as I ate either which is surprising. It has that springy texture that seems to be a given when using teff. It makes me curious about cutting it with other flours.

Cutting hot isn’t recommended.

Even when cutting cold a gentle cut is needed.

Again, the taste is really something to enjoy. It has a slight nutty, bran like taste, still hard to describe. Strong, but not overpowering. If I am going to make a teff scone to freeze it’ll be a take on my puree scone recipe, I have many, many scone recipes, Dear Reader, but still curiosity impels me. So, so far we know teff has a great taste, a pleasant moist texture, doesn’t have much stability for delicate uses like pastry and on the whole feels like a cross between quinoa and buckwheat, is a little like sorghum, but better in my opinion. As for the future, well, microwave recipes are a given as they’re almost always successful, quick too. I’m curious about cutting it with rice flour to see if the texture can overcome the dryness of rice flour. Using it with buckwheat would be interesting. For now I use up this bag, then the remaining quinoa flour and check dates on my usual staples, I try to avoid wasting food, Dear Reader, even if it’d just end up in the compost. So, stay tuned for more teff recipes, I don’t foresee anything groundbreakingly new, but you never know. Until later, Dear Reader, take care.

Ingredients

65g Brown Teff Flour
35g Ground Flaxseed/Golden Flaxseed
1 Medium Egg (60g-65g), Beaten
15g Sugar
15ml Olive Oil
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Makes 2 Large Scones.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200c (Fan) and line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.

2. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and then stir, with a fork in the Olive Oil and Egg until the dough starts to come together, adding a splash of water as needed. Dough should be soft, wobbly and slightly sticky. Form into a ball and rest for 5 minutes.

3. After the 5 minutes are up, the dough should be slightly firmer. Split into two and roll each portion in a ball and press gently onto the prepared tray.

4. Bake for 20 minutes until scones are firm and a brown colour. Transfer to a wire-rack and let cool.

Brown Teff Flour Savoury Waffles

Ah, the delicious chocolate mousse…oh, no, sorry.

Ah, Dear Reader, we’re onto the second teff recipe, for the future Dear Readers the first was here, and it’s not the most exciting of recipes. I use waffles like these as a quick bread, they’re extremely basic, probably a far cry from your more conventional waffles, not that I’d now anything about them as I never ate them when I could, I’ve missed out on a lot, Dear Reader. Still, I have a lot yet to try, these are one of the handiest recipes I have, I usually fill them like a sandwich. Today I used chicken seasoned with my neglected Nightshade Free Taco Seasoning, I can’t remember if I’d gone off nightshades before I started on the blog, but, well, I was a fiend for chillies and anything spicy, it taught me a lot, the most important was of course that I couldn’t eat anything like that. Such is my journey, Dear Reader, but today let’s talk teff.

Now, I knew if the bread worked this would, the only times I’ve had waffles fail was with Amaranth Flour because it just creates sticky messes unless blended with another flour, the joys of free-from baking discoveries are endless, Dear Reader. The only question here was texture, sometimes you don’t get the texture you’d expect, with quinoa flour I’d hoped it’d achieve a crust like the bread, but sadly no, it cooks too fast for that. Teff here actually stands out in a special way, it still has that more moist texture, better than buckwheat and much better than rice flour in that regard, but what really shines is that nutty taste. Even with spiced meat and cheese it still stood out to my, well honestly damaged, taste-buds, have to be blunt at times, Dear Reader, there are times I can’t even taste. What exactly it reminds me of is still eluding me, it has a lightly roasted nut taste, really pleasant. I’m thinking if it’s still available when my rice flour runs out I may replace it with teff. So, you basically get a firm, spongy waffle, a subtle nutty taste and a deceptive colour and all in a matter of minutes. Teff has been intriguing so far, usually taste is the least promising and sometimes least pleasing aspect of free-from flours, amaranth and quinoa both can be bitter and earthy, buckwheat is strong tasting, though I’m used to it now and love it, but teff stands out for that. It also retains moisture well. That’s two checks in its favour, next I’ll have to use recipes that test its strength and stability. All things in time, Dear Reader, take care.

They really do resemble something made of chocolate.

Ingredients

100g Brown Teff Flour
125ml Water
1 Medium Egg, 60g-65g in Shell
15ml Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
Pinch Salt

Makes 4 Waffles.

Method

1. Turn on Waffle Iron. Beat the Egg, Olive Oil and Salt until combined, then beat in Flour and Baking Powder. Finally add water, gradually, until a stirrable, but still thick batter has formed.

3. Add enough Batter to warmed Waffle Iron to fill the plates, close and cook for 7-10 minutes until waffles are chocolate brown, dry and firm. Remove with a rubber spatula and let cool for a few minutes, Waffles will crisp up further as they cool.

Brown Teff Flour Bread

Online you can buy plant stands and free-from flours.

It has a distinct colour and smell. Sweetly something annoyingly familiar.

Half for the trial, a full loaf will be fine.

This has been on the cards for a long time, Dear Reader, I had to wait many, many years to get cheap safe gluten free teff flour, but I did and thanks to the many preparations and trials of other free-from flours I’m more than ready, but first let’s see what I’ve managed to gather about this…seed? Grain? It doesn’t seem to be clear so we’ll g with grain to avoid mis-marking the recipe grain free for now. So, I’m using brown teff, there is a white teff too, surprisingly it isn’t the unhulled version, just a darker seed, both have slightly different tastes from what I’ve read. I’ll try both in time if possible. It reminds me of raw nuts, maybe cashews because there’s a slight sweetness, chestnut maybe?, but also a hint of something more akin to buckwheat. In time I’ll nail down the taste, for now this is my first trial, ever actually, and I always have a list of what I’ll make to maximise the bag of flour, if it’s a waste then I’ve learned something at least, if it’s worthwhile then I no longer have to worry whenever I have to bake with it again. I don’t just look up recipes, I tried that and it went nowhere every other time. Instead I look at what I have and at this stage I have amble to modify, then I learn the limits and strengths and decide the best way to utilise this flour. I’ve learned vastly more than if I’d just blended it. I am the single flour baker after all, Dear Reader!

New bird: A Chaffinch.

It smells wonderful as it cooks.

It stuck slightly, though it could be the tin, but line regardless.

I’ve often talked about how free-from baking is still in its infancy, there are so many things we have yet to discover. One of the issues I know people will face that this is not the bread they’re used to, it can’t be, but it is worth eating and often people who don’t hold onto preconceptions tend to enjoy the end product a lot more than those who do. This isn’t gluten based baking, it’s its own diverse genre, the biggest difference is that these batter breads rely on baking for stabilisation rather than while mixing, or gums and starches, it means you have a different texture and little to no crust, but it also means the preparation time is cut down as is the difficulty, once someone like Jack here does the hard work. You know whatever I tell you hear I swear by absolutely, if it fails then I will find out why, I will not share an uncertain recipe, though this is the first trial I have made these kinds of breads so often I know what to look for, I won’t ever tell you to do something I won’t stand behind one hundred percent, Dear Reader, but know that different flours have completely different results, even when using raw and roasted, so if you have an issue tell me and I’ll see what I can deduce, but know that a recipe is only as good as it can be when followed exactly.

Cut out of the oven. It resembles a treacle bread in colouration.

Cut in half and then I cut the halves again later. No crumbs.

I know this post is dry, Dear Reader, but you have to take a serious methodical approach to get all the information down while it’s still fresh, in time I’ll retain what I need to keep using the flour, but the finer, early details will be lost. So, the batter first, it has a slightly glossy look and does thicken slightly, enough to be worth resting. It has a cloudy chocolate colour, more like something that was already cooked. There is a sweet aroma, but the taste is milder. I have a lot of plans so I’ll get to grips with the flavour profile in time. The batter got a nice rise as you can see and had only very slight cracking. What was interesting was the texture even in the tin, it was slightly…not rubbery, but you know what I mean, it’s as if there were a rind or skin around the inner loaf. Probably why it stuck slightly. The inner has a dense, springy, spongy feel to it that is in no way dry. It will need something to spread on it, but it lacks the choking dryness that buckwheat flour, I love it, but it is a dry flour, in this preparation has. I use flax to counter that, but it’s unnecessary here. Now it cut, without crumbs or crumbling, five minutes out of the oven. Which is great. The texture is really wonderful, similar to Quinoa Flour Bread, but with a taste more like buckwheat. Though I’d say quinoa bread has the texture that suits toasting or soaking. I don’t think this would absorb liquids all that well and if it’s like buckwheat toasting might actually be detrimental to the taste and texture. I’ve frozen part and see no reason it won’t be fine.

This, Dear Reader, at it’s heart is just a basic preparation, edible, but it would benefit from additions, what it does is it teaches the taste, texture, strength and value of the flour. You could make this over months and each time you’d learn something new, that’s what my many buckwheat breads have done for me, it’s why I can write all I write with such certainty. I don’t know if teff will ever be a staple in my kitchen, it may never need to be, but it pays to be prepared. As for future recipes, there are many, but they’ll skew the savoury, I’m unlikely to make anything very sweet with this for the time being. Not to say there won’t be some sweet recipes, but tarts and pastries would be a further bag consideration. Flatbreads or “tortillas” might be made as a test of stability for pastry though. We’ll see. All I’m making I eat so I have to keep it in balance, if I only ate teff for days it may have a negative effect on my mood, eating too much of the same can be stressful when you’re already restricted in your food choices, Dear Reader and I’m only one person, I can only do so much. It’s up to you, Dear Reader to look at what I’m doing and improve upon it. As I’ve said I’ll stick to my own recipes for the time being, that might change, but when I’m done there’ll be ample teff recipes. You can count on that or my name isn’t Jack, er, you know what I mean! Pretend Jack, signing off, take care, Dear Reader.

PS: In thinking on it I might mark this as Brown Teff Flour, when I try white it might be different so better to be sure.

Ingredients

200g Brown Teff Flour
120ml Water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Large Eggs
1/3 Tbsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt

Makes one small loaf.
Can be frozen.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175c (No Fan).

2. Fully line a 6×3 inch loaf pan.

3. In a large bowl mix together the Egg, Olive Oil and Salt. Add the Teff Flour and Baking Soda and stir until combined, then gradually add the Water and stir until a thick, but stirrable Batter has been formed. Add more Water if too thick. Rest for 5 minutes.

4. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway if needed, until dark brown and a skewer comes out clean.

5. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.