I had a craving for turkey and tomato sandwiches. They're one of the things I miss most about the gluten-free diet. I haven't started learning to make bread out of other flours yet, so I took the easy way out and used tortillas. I cut a brown rice flour tortilla in half, layered it with turkey, tomato, and cheese. I even sneaked a little leftover bacon from my son's plate and crumbled it on the top. I ate it with a fork, but I have to say, it satisfied my need for a BLT. I could just as easily have made a wrap out of it. Since I was in a hurry, and since this tasted so good, I decided it was a victory.
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Betsy's Breadless Bread -- A good friend, colleague, and mentor gave me this recipe. She, too, has gluten allergies and must leave wheat flour out of her diet. This is a bread recipe she created without flour of any kind. She suggests baking some up in several, small batches, freezing them so you can use them as required. I tried these at lunch and found them surprisingly tasty. One suggestion is to butter them and season them to your taste, then broil them briefly and eat them warm. My good friend's comments are in italics.
This doesn’t taste like bread exactly, but the consistency is similar, and it will hold together sandwich fillings and hamburgers, assuming these are not too juicy. I have developed a taste for this stuff. Somehow it “hits the spot,” and helps me to feel less deprived. Betsy’s “Breadless” Bread 4 eggs separated or 3 eggs separated plus commercial egg white to equal 1 egg (2 tbsps) ¼ tsp cream of tartar 3 tbsp ricotta cheese tiny dash salt 1 packet or ¼ tsp Splenda (optional, but I like it) vegetable oil spray Preheat oven to 325. In a large mixing bowl, add cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until they are stiff but not dry. In a small mixing bowl beat the ricotta cheese, three egg yolks, and salt (and Splenda) until smooth and lemon-colored. (Store the remaining yolk to stir into breakfast eggs or to make Béarnaise sauce). With a spatula, gently fold the yolk mixture into the beaten whites, trying not to reduce the volume of the whites. Take no more than a minute to combine. Using a large kitchen spoon, create six stacks/mounds on lightly sprayed parchment on a baking sheet. Use it all. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven. The finished product should be lightly browned in high places and yellow in the lower ones and completely cooked. Remove from oven and cool. The puffy mounds will collapse somewhat as they cool. You’ll want to keep these in a plastic zipper bag with paper toweling in between. Store them in the refrigerator. Note: If you like them and wish to make plenty to keep on hand, I recommend that you make up this recipe several times in a baking session. I’ve tried to double it with disappointing results. For reasons that are probably clear to science teachers but not to me, the yolk/white mix breaks down rather quickly and will become too liquid to bake if allowed to stand while baking the first batch. 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1/2 cup brown rice flour 1 1/4 cup oats 1 stick butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup melted creamed honey and cinnamon 2 cups applesauce 1 tsp baking powder pinch of allspice or star anise When I was twelve, the School Scheduler in my middle school put me in a home economics class, which turned out to be a total disaster. I had only one victory: I made applesauce-raisin bars myself. I suppose I have that teacher to thank for challenging me, because the t-shirt I was supposed to make that semester was a catastrophe. But I digress. The 2013 attempt at an applesauce-based dessert was a real victory. A good friend took our son home to spend the night with her son, and Jesse and I were left home alone. Rather than go out, we decided to stay home and eat. I made an easy dinner of hot wings for Jesse and started looking for a gluten-free, decadent recipe with my favorite ingredients and a chance to use honey and cinnamon, the bacteria-killers. Oatmeal lends a nice crunch to this dessert bar. You can add raisins or nuts if you like. Directions: Combine flours thoroughly. Melt butter and creamed honey separately. Add to mixture. Add oats. Stir until dry ingredients are incorporated. Mixture should be moist but not thin like cake batter. Working dough with hands helps. Spread half mixture in brownie pan followed by the applesauce, followed by the rest of the batter. Pat down evenly. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream. |
Author
Mother, writer, reformed culinary disaster, Andrea Mosier shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Award for Fire Eater and was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for prose in 2014. "The Illuminated Man" will appear in the first edition of Serendipity. Her legendary potato salad recipe appears here on the June 5 entry. Archives
February 2019
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