More Rhubarb

I've been having more fun with rhubarb. I have it so I have to use it. As I just got a new gluten free baking book, I leafed through that to find a recipe for rhubarb bread. Not finding it. No matter, I am the adaptation queen. Find a recipe that looks like it could take rhubarb, add more sugar and ta da!! That is exactly what I did and I have to say the results were good. A moist bread with a tang to it from the rhubarb and slightly sweet. My sugar addict man has eaten half the loaf by adding sugar concoctions to his. One looked like maple syrup. Another looked like brown sugar. He did whipping cream, sugar and a bit of vanilla this evening. I'm good as is -- I may be just sweet enough.

The new book that I used was the Culinary Institute of America - Gluten Free baking. As I mentioned in a previous blog they have 5 different gluten free mixes. I don't feel as though I can post the exact ratios of the flours, but I will say what flours are used.

Rhubarb, by the way, is a good source of potassium and vitamin C. It does contain a high amount of Calcium, but the absorption is poor as rhubarb is high in tannins that bind the calcium. Rhubarb is very low in calories, but that is usually negated by the amount of sugar needed to make it less puckery.

So here goes my rhubarb bread recipe adapted from a strawberry bread recipe. It was very easy to make and did I mention yummy. Another plus is it does not scream "gluten free" weird stuff. The bread came up nice and high, not like a brick and the texture is good. Not as crumbly as a wheat flour bread, but not grainy like some gluten free products can be.

Rhubarb Bread

1 1/2 cups diced fresh rhubarb

1/2 cup flour blend #2 (rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch)

1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour blend #4 (white rice flour, tapioca starch and soy flour)

pinch of salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk - can use skim milk plus 1 tsp vinegar or dried buttermilk plus water - the buttermilk plus the baking soda make the batter more bubbly making the bread lighter and come up higher.

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 eggs (yes 6)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. combine flours, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar thoroughly.

3. In a separate bowl ,combine oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs thoroughly.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend completely until smooth. I will be like a cake batter.

5. Fold in rhubarb.

6. Pour into oiled loaf pan, bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

Rhubarb Crunch

My family also has a universal love for rhubarb. I am thinking that this is a New England thing, because when I mention rhubarb to people from other parts of the county they have no idea what I am talking about. When I was a kid we used to eat the stalks dipped in sugar, puckery but good.
Mu rhubarb plant gets bigger every year. This year the thing is huge. Some of the stalks are a good 2 inches in diameter and the leaves could hide a 3 month old baby.
I was able to harvest enough to make a rhubarb crunch and a rhubarb bread, with enough to freeze and more awaiting harvest. Last year I harvested enough to make a few batches of crisp during the winter. I was also able to make several batches of strawberry rhubarb freezer jam.
The following recipe is another one that I have made for years. I adapted the original by cutting down the sugar, using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and increasing the oats. this increased the fiber content and decreased the total sugar. The original was too sweet for my taste.
I adapted it again to make it gluten free. It's yummy warm with vanilla low fat icecream or whipped cream. Sometime I add chopped walnuts to the topping.

Rhubarb Crunch

3/4 cup brown rice flour or gluten free flour mix
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup tranfat free mararine, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups diced rhubarb (or just fill the pan)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a glass bowl, melt the margarine. Add flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon - toss with a fork until well mixed and crumbly. Lay 1/2 of bottom of 9 inch square dish or 11 x 7 inch pan.

Cover with diced rhubarb.

In a small sauce pan mix water, sugar and corn starch (I like to put the corn starch through a small mess collander to free it from lumps) Cook over medium high heat until thick and clear, it will start to bubble. Takes about 10 minutes.

Pour sugar mixture over the rhubarb. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 350 for 50-60 minutes, until bubbly and rhubarb is softened. Serve warm.

Pesto -- Universal Love

The people in my family have an almost universal love of pesto. Every year I plant numerous basil plants - know to us as, pesto precursors. I just got them in this weekend. Happily, the plants were rather leggy. I was able to cut them down enough to make one batch of pesto. The first batch of many more to come, if the season co-operates. Last year was a bad basil year, having little sun and too much wet.
I really did not expect to be making pesto so soon and was lucky to have all of the ingredients. I usually have them on hand, but you never know -- Parmesean cheese, olive oil, garlic and walnuts. I use walnuts instead of the traditional pine nuts, we just like it better. My kitchen was full of the wonder scent of the basi leaves, which intestified as I started adding more ingredients and mixing them in the food processor. My hands smelled simply delicious, down to the green under my fingernails.

This recipe is adapted form one of my first cook books, Jane Brodies, Good Food Book, 1985 edition. I am guessing it is out of print by now. Pesto freezes well. I use a small cookie dough scoop to make pesto balls, lay the balls on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. The balls then go into quart size freezer bags with as much air as possible sucked out. This way I can grab out the number of balls I need and put the rest back in the freezer.

Pesto

3 cloves garlic, chopped, about 1 tbsp
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups firmly packed basil leaves
1/4 cup walnuts (can use pine nuts )
1/2 cup grated parmesean- use good parmesan not the shelf stable stuff (can use veggie parmesan
if wanting vegan sauce)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until desired consistency. Scrape down sides of bowl occasionally to get the consistency even.

I like to serve this over pasta with chopped sundried tomatoes.

Gluten free mix times 5

Good morning and Happy day after Mother's Day. It's been a while, the cooking muse left me for a while. It was the night that I made pizza. I did some roasted veggies - summer squash, mushroom, red pepper, onion and eggplant- and several cheeses- mozzarella, parmesan and gorgonzola. Very delicious in my world. All I heard was complaints about putting summer squash on the pizza. My desire to take time cook for the undeserving plummeted. Should my blog also suffer?? It has.
To renew the enthusiasm I have purchased a gluten free baking book compiled by the Culinary Institute of America. I am thinking, these people know what they are doing, every recipe should work like magic. The approach is to fine tune the recipes by using 5 different gluten free mixes. Each mix has a different protein content, the protein being either in the flours used or by adding either dry egg powder or whey. Soy flour is higher in protein than rice flour. The recipes often use several different mixes. I made a pie crust yesterday that used 3 different flour mixes. Is this approach better? It remain to be seen.
To reach the goal of having 5 different gluten free mixes I needed to assemble the ingredients, and find enough containers for them. The ingredient list is: white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, guar gum, soy flour, egg albumen, whey. Some of this I had at already, some I could get at the grocery store and some I needed to get at the health food store. The whey I needed to get at the healthfood store as the grocery only had the flavored kind.
I started with a sweet bread that used only flour mix #5 ( soy flour, rice flour, tapioca and whey). This was a yeast bread and also needed guar gum. It came out with avery good taste, but very heavy. This was eaten well!!
Yesterday I did a pie crust. This used 3 of the flour blends. It came out with a good taste, but not flakey at all. My husband, who does not care for crust anyway, gave the crust part to the dog. I put in all the water called for, but am thinking that I should have held back on it as the dough was a bit wet. This may have caused the crust to be a denser texture. I may try again and compare it to a simpler dough. The rest of the pie was great - chocolate cream pie with real whipped cream!!
I wish that more recipes would indicated what the charactaristics of the dough or batter should be. Gluten free baking is so unlike regular baking that the textures are different. So with the pie crust I got to a consistency that was much like regular pie dough, but I had not added all the water - should I stop and go for it, risking a dry crust or should I put in more water risking a dense crust. It's a gamble. I lost this time, but I don't often given up.
I will keep trying.

Crazy over Sugar

This is what makes my blood boil. Everyone thinks they are nutrition experts The woman at the gym with no college education, the guy in yoga class, the model who wrote a book. Everyone. Then when I try to explain why what they are saying is not quite right, I get the look like I am crazy. Last week in my yoga class I noticed a book in the room. It was "Skinny Bitch" I have read this book, it is quite entertaining, some helpful ideas, but the science is as fuzzy as a grape that has been in the back of the refrigerator for a while. The owner of the studio was reading pieces of it to her classes. I tried to explain that they were not really qualified to write a nutrition/diet book as one woman is a model and the other one is her agent. The answer that I got was this, "They are right on about the Agave nectar, It has a really low glycemic index". True it does, but do you actually know what glycemic index is and how it works. That was a no. My blood was boiling by this time and I was suffering from after yoga head fuzz, so my answer was not as precise as it would be the total explaination being a rather compicated one.
American Heart Association recently put out new reccomendations about sugar. Heart, sugar really. Seems that high amounts of sugar can increase blood pressure, increase blood triglycerides (we knew that), increases viseral fat (the fat around your organs) and lead to weight gain. The aim is for no more than 25 grams of sugar per day for women and 38 grams of sugar per day for men. That's 6 1/2 teaspoons for women or 100 calories and 9 1/2 teaspoons for men or 150 calories. That average American consumes 350-475 calories from sugar. A 12 once coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.
So back to the agave nectar. This is the new sugar crazy. A natural sugar, a healthy sugar, low glycemic index.
Back to sugars. GI for agave nectar is 10-19. GI for table sugar is 60-65. GI for honey is 37-65.
GIs for sugars are lower depending on the amount of fructose. Agave nectar is 84% fructose, Table sugar is 50% fructose, honey is 50% fructose. By the way High fructose corn sugar is about 55% fructose. The reason the GIs are lower is that fructose goes right to the liver and enters the blood stream as triglycerides (fat). Glucose enters the blood stream and is used by cells for energy, any excess is converted to fat.
(the following paragraph should be before the previous one - not figuring out how to cut and paste.)
Glycemic index is a range of how quickly a food raises blood glucose levels. It is based on 100grams of a food. It it also based on eating that food alone, not as part of a meal with other foods, which is the setting that most of us eat in. GI (glycemic index) can vary depending on a number of factors. *how a food is cooked *where the food is grown and at what time of year *varies between people *varies by time of day. It can be an extra tool to help people with diabetes. Not all foods have been measured for GI. Foods that are high in fiber generally have a lower GI. A low GI, however, does not mean a food is healthy. Compare these GIs- *chocolate bar- 49 *kidney beans- 52 *Pear-58, *Icecream-60. The chocolate bar has the lowest GI of the group, it is the least healthy of the bunch. The fat content of the chocolate reduces the GI.

Bottom line, aim for the reccomendations for sugar, read lables for amounts of sugar, eat more real unprocessed foods, without added sugar. Because a sugar is natural, does not mean it is good for you. Choose the sugar that does the job you want it to do and because you like the flavor. Agave nectar is great for mixing into cold drinks, as it incorperated well and is less gritty that granulated sugar. Confectionary sugar is good for decorating desserts. If I am sweetening tea, I prefer honey. Put sugar in my coffee and I will spit it out. Try to decrease the amount of sugar used and enjoy the flavor of the food itself.
Moderation, moderation.... So back to the Skinny Bitches - the idea that agave nectar is the best sugar and the only one you should use is not logical. Maybe they have stock in the agave industry. This product is pricey. If you ferment it, it becomes tequilla.


Ranch Dressing (no added sugars- low in salt too and gluten free)

1 cup mayo
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1/2 tsp fresh chives (these are easy to grow)
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 or more fresh ground pepper.

Mix well in a bowl.
Tastes nice and fresh.

Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

Last night was vegetarian night. The girls were happy. Lots of veggies in a spicy curry. Easy cooking for me. The man, of course, remarked about the lack of meat. My answer is that he will thank me when he does not have the heart attack. His grandpa diet of a massive one at a young age and his dad has had a quadruple (or was it a quint) bypass. Right now our friend Dan is in the hospital with chest pain - he has survived one heart attack. Dan has nothing to do with my dinner last night, but I've been thinking about him on and off all day.

A vegetarian meal once or twice a week is a good plan. As long as the cheese and eggs are kept to a minimum. This is also an inexpensive meal that is easy to make in the crock pot.

Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 cup sliced carrots (can use whole baby carrots - a actual small ones)

1 tsp grated fresh ginger (the jarred ginger works well)

2 cloves minced garlic (again you can use the jarred)

1 tbsp curry powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or chopped serano chile- I don't like to mess with hot peppers when I am wearing contact lens) can add more for extra spice

2 14 ounce canned garbanzo beans (chick peas) rinse well under cold water

1 cup diced red peppers

1 1/2 cups cubed potato

1 cup fresh green beans in 2-3 inch pieces

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

14 ounces vegetable broth

1 cup light coconut milk

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and saute for about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, ginger, garlic and chile pepper and cook for 1 minute.

Place onion mixture into crock pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cover crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours.

Serve over bastmati or brown rice.

Go to chicken #3 and mushroom risotto

This Sunday, in keeping with my habit of making a decent meal to sit down and eat together, I made Chicken Piccatta, Mushroom Risotto and a vegetable mix of baby carrots, green beans and yellow beans (these were found conveniently in the freezer section) The two recipes are gluten free an d made with ingredients that I usually keep stocked. The chicken is a piece of cake to make, the risotto takes time and attention. It is not a good thing to make on a distracted day or if multiple interruptions are expected. Other wise it is pretty simple.

Every time I make risotto my hubby freaks out, because he thinks it is made of orzo (rice shaped pasta) and not rice. Every time, I explain to him that risotto is made from short grained aboritto rice, not pasta. It is gluten free. I think we have had this conversation 3 or 4 times, twice in restaurants. I first made risotto myself a few years ago, out of curiosity. I have also had it in restaurants and loved it. The curiosity part was about how difficult it was to make. If you ever watched "Hell's Kitchen" (Chef Gordon Ramsey screaming and swearing at aspiring chefs) they are always messing up the risotto - they burn it, make it too mushy, season it wrong ect... The basic trick is to be attentive to it or it will burn or turn mushy. As far a seasoning - let your imagination go. This recipe is adapted from Cooling Light magazine, I use it as a general guide when I am making risoto. The seasoning can be changed, other veggies can be added. I never make it the same twice.

Mushroom Risotto

2 cups hot water

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (any dried mushroom is good)

4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

2 tbsp transfat free margarine

1/2 v up finely chopped yellow onion (can use shallots or leeks)

2 cups chopped mushrooms (mixture of cremini, shittake, baby bella)

1 3/4 cups Arborio rice

3/4 tsp chopped fresh sage (1/2 tsp dried is ok)

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. (try romano or Gruyere)

1.Combine 2 cups hot water and dried mushrooms in a bowl. cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain mushrooms and reserve liquid. Coarsely chop other mushrooms.

2.Bring soaking liquid and broth to a simmer in a medium sauce pan, keep warm over low heat.

3. Melt 2 tbsp margarine in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes, until tender. Add rice, saute 1 minute. Stir in sage and pepper. Stir in 1 cup of broth, cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.

Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion is absorbed before adding the next - takes about 25 minutes total. Near the end start checking the texture of the rice - if the texture feels right you are done.

4. Remove from the heat and add cheese, correct seasoning. Yum!! I could eat just this.

Asparagus is nice added to this or as a side.

Chicken Picata

This recipe is so simple that it has been minimally altered from the original. If making it with the risotto, get everything ready ahead of time and cooking the chicken when the risotto is done. It only takes 10-15 minutes to cook -- this is real fast food.

1 pound chicken tenders (if using chicken breast - pound them to 1/4 inches)

1/4 cup rice flour

1 tbsp tranfat free margarine

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp capers (rinse well under cold water- removes 1/3 of the salt)

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Place chicken is plastic bag with rice flour- shake to coat evenly.

2. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Chicken should be cooked through completely. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.

3. Add white wine, 1/4 cup lemon juice, capers and garlic to pan, scrape pan to loosen brown bits. Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Sprinkle with pepper. Serve over chicken.

Can also be served with rice pasta or roasted potatoes.