Gluten-free + bread = better than you think!

No, we are not Celiacs, nor do we have any wheat allergies.  My husband just likes to try to keep his gluten consumption to a minimum.  He feels better, he says.  Me, well, meh!  I am indifferent, but am wise enough to know that if I make regular bread, I'll have to eat it all by myself.  So gluten-free bread it is--something I can make and I won't be forced to eat the whole loaf just so it doesn't go to waste...you know?

Finding a gluten-free bread recipe wasn't the hard part; rather, finding one that didn't contain all kinds of weird ingredients or an ingredient list a mile long was the problem. Xanthan gum?  Sorghum flour?  What the..?  That's when I stumbled across Elana's Pantry.  Her approach to gluten-free baking is out of necessity (she is Celiac) so this gal has done her baking research, and successfully, I might add.  Her focus is on baking with almond flour, known to most of us as ground almonds. Now, I know what you're thinking, bread with almond flour?  Wouldn't it be heavy and well, nutty?  And I'd say, it's certainly heavier and nuttier than Wonder Bread, but I wasn't looking to replace good ol' bread, because the truth of the matter is that I can go and buy a loaf and eat it without issue, if I so crave it.  I was just looking for something to fill the void left from my forced decision to not make my homemade multi-grain bread weekly anymore. 

So, I picked up some almond flour (holy expensive Batman!) and already had some arrowroot flour on hand from making my son's animal cookies and gave her recipe a go.  It was good--John claimed it was better than real bread, but I'd say that was a bit of a stretch! To be honest, I felt it was lacking something, so I decided to reassess the recipe and see how I could make it better.  I looked around at some other bread recipes and figured out what I thought was missing (key ingredient - butter!, plus a few other small tweaks).  I was very happy with the results.  It really is a yummy bread--more like a quick bread or loaf--but more importantly, it truly fills my bread void :)

Here is my modified version, adapted from Elana's Gluten-Free Bread 2.0:

Almond Arrowroot Bread (aka Gluten-Free Bread)

2 cups almond flour
1 cup arrowroot flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350o.  In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In a larger bowl, beat eggs for 3 minutes or until nice and frothy.  Beat in honey.  Very slowly beat in the butter.  Stir in dry ingredients and pour into a small greased loaf pan.  (NOTE: I used a pastry brush to grease my pan using the melted butter from my recipe.)  Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the bread is nice and golden.  Let cool in the pan before removing and slicing into the bread.  I keep mine in the fridge after a day or so, as per Elana's instructions, but I don't enjoy it cold. Luckily it toasts beautifully!  Yum. 

Sunday Spring Brunch!

Spring has finally arrived here in Ottawa.  It's been a long time coming.  Usually by the first of April we've seen a few nice days here and there, but this year that hasn't been the case.  So, this weekend when we finally reached double digit weather, I naturally felt the need to celebrate with spring-like food.  A friend of ours, who also happens to be our accountant, was coming over on Sunday to bring our tax returns and help John out with his business accounting, so I thought this to be the perfect time for a spring meal.  Our friend is someone who appreciates good food too, so I knew my efforts would be appreciated.

Once the time was agreed upon--late morning--I knew immediately what brunch meal I wanted to prepare as it had to be not too fussy and easy to make ahead of time, so that I could get to the gym Sunday morning before brunch, of course :)  For my main dish I opted to make a smoked salmon frittata with dill and green onions from One Perfect Bite.  I had made this dish before, only having doubled the recipe the first time and used hot smoked salmon instead of the called-for more standard cold-smoked stuff.  This time I did not alter the recipe at all and it turned out beautifully.  My only comment is that I needed to cook it for a few minutes longer, plus a quick broil, compared with what the recipe calls for. 

Now, what to serve with the frittata didn't come to me as easily.  I just knew it had to be equally as "Spring-y".  Then I remembered a couple of blackberry scone recipes in a foodie magazine, Where Women Cook, that I had received at Christmas.  At the time, I wondered why on earth the editors opted to include TWO blackberry scone recipes in their magazine.  Having looked closely at both, I now now that they are quite different recipes, but still think it a bit redundant--I mean, couldn't one have at least been blueberry, or peach, or...? Anyway, it is what it is and thanks to this redundancy, I was able to come up with the perfect accompaniment for my frittata by combing the best aspects of the two recipes.  The result was a delicious scone with an undeniably spring-like appeal, thanks to the berries and naturally pink-coloured glaze!

Blackberry scones (adapted from Where Women Cook Dec/Jan/Feb 2011)

Scones:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, cut into 1cm cubes
1 egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup blackberries, any big ones cut in half

Glaze:
1 Tbsp butter
2 blackberries
1/2 Tbsp whole milk
icing sugar (approx 3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.   Using your fingers, rub butter into flour mixture until a nice crumbly texture.  Beat egg with milk and stir into dough.  If your dough is too dry, add more milk.  Scrape dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until dough comes together nicely.  Divide into two equal size pieces and shape into two disks, each approximately 1.5 cm thick.  Spread blackberries in the centre of one of the disks, leaving a 2cm border around the edges.  Place remaining disk on top and pinch the edges closed.  Flatten the whole disk gently with your hands.  Transfer to a baking sheet and cut into 8 wedges.  Do not separate the wedges--leave them together so it looks like a pie.  Bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until tops are lightly golden and bottom is evenly browned.  Remove from oven and while cooling, prepare glaze.

Glaze: Heat blackberries and butter in microwave until butter is melted, approximately 10-15 seconds.  Mash berries with a fork.  Stir in milk and vanilla and gradually stir in icing sugar by the heaping spoonful until desired consistency is reached.  Drizzle over scones.  Pull apart the wedges to serve.