Gluten Free Buckwheat Bread
Gluten free is not a health craze, it is a necessity for those intolerant of gluten. If you are not intolerant of gluten, then gluten-free food will most likely not offer you any benefit. Yet, having a gluten free bread recipe up your sleeve for when those annoying ceoliacs (no they are not a race from Star Trek) come for dinner, should be very useful!
This recipe is the culmination of much experimentation to please my wife (all innuendo comments about this line will be deleted!).
Because a person recovering from the effects of a damaged gut needs to be getting the best nutrient dense food, I believe that the process of soaking the pre-mix is important. This will disarm phytic acid in the buckwheat and psyllium husks, which would otherwise block mineral absorption. Disarming phytic acid is best achieved with some acidity (hence lemon juice) and low calcium levels (hence do not add milk powder until later).
Egg and milk powder increase the protein levels, which help the yeast to do its job. If you need to avoid egg and or dairy, then you may need to compensate with other high protein sources. Legume flours (ie besan flour, soy flour) may help, but these would be added at the beginning to be pre-soaked for reasons already described.
So what I have is a mostly whole grain based gluten-free bread that really binds well - so well it could be used for sandwiches.
Dough
200gms Buckwheat flour
50gms tapioca flour
50gms rice flour
3tbs psyllium husks
1.5 tbs Xanthum gum powder
1.25 cups water
1tbs lemon juice
Mix to a wet sticky dough and leave to soak overnight.
* Vinegar can be used instead of lemon juice, but don't use yoghurt
Leaven
1 sachet of bakers yeast (7gm)
3tbsp whole-milk powder
2tbsp potato flour
0.5 tsp salt
1 egg
2tbs molasses
1tbs macadamia oil*
* can use olive oil instead of macadamia oil
Mix yeast, milk powder, salt and potato flour in small bowl dry. Add beaten egg and molasses and mix into a paste.
Put some hot water in a pan that can hold the bowl containing the dough (to create a bain-marie). Mix the leavening yeast paste into the dough in the "bain-marie".
Mix together till well mixed and dough is warm.
Line bread-baking tin with baking paper and press dough into baking tin (or glass baking 'tin' in my case). The dough will be sticky and tricky to press in, so sprinkle some macadamia oil over the top of the dough then use the back of a spoon to press down.
Pre-heat oven for 5 minutes, then turn it off. (latent heat in the oven helps enormously)
Boil a kettle of water and place it in the now empty bowl which was used to hold the dough. place a dinner plate over the top of the bowl of hot water and put this into the oven. Place the baking tin of to-be-leavened-dough on a tray in the oven above the bowl of hot water and leave in the oven to rise for about 1-2 hours. Refresh hot-water as required, however I find one kettle of hot water will normally rise the bread.
Once risen to satisfaction, take out bowl of water and bake the bread in a moderate oven for about 40-60 mins. Check with skewer until cooked. (dough clinging to skewer indicates not cooked)
This recipe is the culmination of much experimentation to please my wife (all innuendo comments about this line will be deleted!).
Because a person recovering from the effects of a damaged gut needs to be getting the best nutrient dense food, I believe that the process of soaking the pre-mix is important. This will disarm phytic acid in the buckwheat and psyllium husks, which would otherwise block mineral absorption. Disarming phytic acid is best achieved with some acidity (hence lemon juice) and low calcium levels (hence do not add milk powder until later).
Egg and milk powder increase the protein levels, which help the yeast to do its job. If you need to avoid egg and or dairy, then you may need to compensate with other high protein sources. Legume flours (ie besan flour, soy flour) may help, but these would be added at the beginning to be pre-soaked for reasons already described.
So what I have is a mostly whole grain based gluten-free bread that really binds well - so well it could be used for sandwiches.
Buckwheat Bread
Dough
200gms Buckwheat flour
50gms tapioca flour
50gms rice flour
3tbs psyllium husks
1.5 tbs Xanthum gum powder
1.25 cups water
1tbs lemon juice
Mix to a wet sticky dough and leave to soak overnight.
* Vinegar can be used instead of lemon juice, but don't use yoghurt
Leaven
1 sachet of bakers yeast (7gm)
3tbsp whole-milk powder
2tbsp potato flour
0.5 tsp salt
1 egg
2tbs molasses
1tbs macadamia oil*
* can use olive oil instead of macadamia oil
Mix yeast, milk powder, salt and potato flour in small bowl dry. Add beaten egg and molasses and mix into a paste.
Put some hot water in a pan that can hold the bowl containing the dough (to create a bain-marie). Mix the leavening yeast paste into the dough in the "bain-marie".
Mix together till well mixed and dough is warm.
Line bread-baking tin with baking paper and press dough into baking tin (or glass baking 'tin' in my case). The dough will be sticky and tricky to press in, so sprinkle some macadamia oil over the top of the dough then use the back of a spoon to press down.
Pre-heat oven for 5 minutes, then turn it off. (latent heat in the oven helps enormously)
Boil a kettle of water and place it in the now empty bowl which was used to hold the dough. place a dinner plate over the top of the bowl of hot water and put this into the oven. Place the baking tin of to-be-leavened-dough on a tray in the oven above the bowl of hot water and leave in the oven to rise for about 1-2 hours. Refresh hot-water as required, however I find one kettle of hot water will normally rise the bread.
Once risen to satisfaction, take out bowl of water and bake the bread in a moderate oven for about 40-60 mins. Check with skewer until cooked. (dough clinging to skewer indicates not cooked)
