The difference in soaking your grains and beans....

Well, a lot is being written in other blogs about this topic, and I'm still retraining myself to think ahead and be sure to soak my grains and nuts before using or cooking with them. And I have noticed a huge, very huge difference in how they cook and taste.

Two of the first blogs (that I follow) that started me onto this path, were Nourished Kitchen and Cheeseslave. They both write about why we should get back to this practice from a nutritional and studied viewpoint.

I have always used dried legumes. And when I make them, I always have soaked them at least 12+ hours, changing the water at least twice, before cooking. Most times I soak them for 24 hours. All I knew for years was that was how you prepped them to cook them properly. I had no idea what soaking actually did for them nutritionally.

I recently learned, that grains and plant seeds, like legumes, contain anti-nutrients, Phytic acids. But you can bet that after reading up on all this, the science makes sense. These phytates are the protection that the plant gives it's seeds to ensure survival of the plant and allow re-population of the plant. This allows the seed to survive consumption from animals so that when the seeds are spread around after consumption, they can repopulate. Soaking lets the seeds, grains and nuts release these phytates. Releasing these anti-nutrients allows our bodies to actually use and absorb the full nutrients from them into our bodies. Not soaking or allowing the seeds, grains, nuts to release the phytic acids actually will rob your body of nutrients or block absorption of vital nutrients from other foods.

So as I said, I'm learning about all this, and I am absolutely LOVING the results! One of the first things I've noticed from doing this is that I don't have any more bloating or being bound up. The other is the taste! Just even rice soaked overnight or more than 6 hrs then cooked tastes so amazing and cooks perfect every time! It tastes cleaner, no bitterness, and that perfect texture of creaminess (have no other idea how to describe the texture, creamy was the closest I could come to!) is so yummy.

This morning I made my oatmeal for breakfasts for the week. I personally prefer gluten free steel cut oats. In the past, I used to toast them in coconut oil (previous post on this with the oatmeal muffins) and then cook them in coconut milk and water. However, I decided last night to put them to soak before bed. I soaked them in water and a bit of whey, (I used about 1/4 cup) I have from yogurt making, for 8 hours. Then I drained them this morning, rinsed a little, and put them in the pot with a tablespoon of coconut oil, 1/8 cup flax meal, 2 smashed apple bananas, 2 cups of coconut milk and 2 cups of water. Cooked them for 15 minutes instead of the 20 minutes prior to soaking. I will be the first to admit, they are so much creamier and tastier than they ever were! Using a bit of whey, yogurt, or buttermilk, or other acidic solution with water, makes a difference. Now I have more uses for my whey from making yogurt! Yay!

If you haven't started already, I highly recommend you soak your grains, seeds, legumes, and nuts before cooking them.  Here's a pretty good useful chart to use as a guideline. And if you don't have whey, use a little yogurt, buttermilk, even lemon juice is ok.

And here is another chart for reference, and includes nuts from Veggiewave.

Try soaking, let me know the differences you notice! :) Bon apetit!

Little tips and gems for gluten free foods....

So since I've heard they're going to open one of my favorite world cuisine markets here in my small city, I've been anxiously awaiting their opening.

Well... This morning they announced they'll be opening this Saturday! Oh that makes me so joyous!

You see, I discovered by shopping at the one in Albuquerque, 60miles away, that there are many, many wonderful foods and goodies that are naturally produced gluten free from other countries.

Our market is called Talin Market World Food Fare. Their website doesn't do them justice with all the fabulous foods they carry. But within you can find foods from Cuban cuisine, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Sweden, Germany, India, Pakistan, and many more.

Thai Coconut Roll Cookies!

I have found a HUGE variety of Asian rice noodles to try, all GF, some seaweed noodles, Buckwheat noodles, products from the sea, and fresh produce for goodies like Dragon fruits, Jackfruits, Lychees. Then there are my favorites, Thai Coconut Roll cookies and Mochi Balls from Japan. OH YUMMY!

Wide Flat Vietnamese Rice Noodles

Mochi Balls packaging

You see if you explore other cuisines and foods from those countries, you would be very surprised at all the fun things to try. And I can tell you that you can get amazing coconut milks, coconut creams all without additives to the product. Like Savoy Coconut Cream, which is amazing plain in coffee. Quite often you can also find GF flours like sorghum and rice and tapioca there in bulk and cheaper sometimes per pound than some places.

You can find a huge amount of curry sauces to try, broths, fish sauces, traditional soy sauces (the real thing some without the wheat!), and the produce from all over the world to include at least 5 different types of bananas even! Oh and fresh Manioc/Yuca/Tapioca root to prepare fresh, mashed, etc. Love Yuca prepared Cuban style.

Wondering what Mochi balls are? They're made with very sticky rice and usually a plain red bean paste which is sweet. They're addictive.

And in my humble opinion, I like the Asian rice and glass noodles for soups and stir frying. They hold up so well, freeze well and reheat without falling apart.

So if you have either a world cuisine/food market like Talin or some Asian markets in your area, yeah, I urge you to go explore. You might be surprised what you can find. It can open up new ideas about foods and help you on your path to celebrate the world of amazing flavors and foods! Go explore your area, see what inspires you, explore new tastes and have a blast doing it! 

Flaky, Delicious Pie Crust!

Ok, I don't have pictures, so you'll have to build your own mental picture of the ultimate melt in your mouth flaky pie crust.

I made this crust off the cuff for Christmas dessert for my sister, she wanted a Cherry Pie, but really didn't give me enough fruit to fill one from scratch, so it became Cherry and Blueberry pie.

Personally, in my humble opinion, this crust is the absolute best I've made or had since going gluten-free so long ago. This crust is very flaky, and melts in your mouth. And really it's easy to make, just need a little time for it.

I doubled the recipe to make a double crust for fruit pie. And I must say there weren't many left overs, yeah, the family LOVED it!

Here goes, double the recipe if you need to make two pies or a top crust.

1 1/4 cup of my cake flour blend (175g)
1/4 cup Almond meal (flour) (35g)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cane sugar
4 Tbl cold butter or 3 Tbl cold coconut oil
3 to 5 Tbl Ice water
1-2 Tbl cane sugar (optional, to sprinkle on top)
1 egg yolk lightly beaten, or 1 tbl buttermilk, your choice.

Mix flour blend, almond flour, gum, salt and 2 tsp sugar together. Cube the butter or oil in small cubes and cut into the flour until it's pebbly, and it's ok if you have some large pebbles, do not overwork the flour. Slowly add in the ice water 1 Tablespoon at a time until the flour mixture comes together and you can form a cohesive ball in your hand.
At this point stop working the flour and turn out onto a piece of parchment paper. Work it just enough to form a disk (if doubling, halve the dough and form 2 disks). Wrap the disks in parchment paper and put in the refrigerator.

Now, you can let it chill at minimum for 1 hour, I put mine in overnight, the longer it can chill the better. . Remove one disk and roll out between parchment paper, fold over twice, and roll out  to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick in a circle, enough for a 9 inch pie plate, and gently form into the ungreased pie plate. Place the plate and bottom crust in the fridge if you are doing a 2 crust recipe and have to roll out the top. And it's OK if you still have little pebbles of butter/coconut oil dotting the flour! This makes the flakes and melt in your mouth goodness!

If you are doing a fruit pie, make sure your filling is cool (if you made from scratch) and pour your filling into the chilled pie shell. Cover with the top crust, and pinch the edges or flute them to close them. Cut slits into the top, if you have left over crust from the edges, you can make fancy little toppers.
Brush the top crust with the egg yolk or buttermilk (you can sub coconut cream for the buttermilk) and be sure to get the edges. Sprinkle the top with some sugar and bake your pie as directed.

If you are doing a single crust pie, brush the bottom with a little yolk or buttermilk, use a fork to poke a few holes in the bottom and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes in the center rack of the oven. You want it to just starting to turn golden. Remove and cool fully before filling with your pumpkin or other filling. Then bake as you normally would for the pie recipe.

The yolk gives a nice golden color and really helps the crust get that ultra flaky top, the kind when you put your fork into it, flakes into those pieces you want to consume immediately! 

You can also use it for a savory pie like quiche, omit the sugars. 

Try it and let me know what you think! I would love to hear how it worked for you!

My Cake flour mix is as follows:
1 cup (140g) white rice flour or blend of white and brown rice flour
1 cup (140g) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (70g) Arrowroot or potato starch

You can mix this up and store it in a jar in the fridge. Makes for very moist cakes and cupcakes too!