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#PBCRRBNBB

Monday, June 17th, 2013

Behold the #PBCRRBNBB... peanut butter caramel rocky road beer nut brownie!!!!

Peanut butter caramel rocky road beer nut and bacon brownies… the brownie so unbelievably hip, it’s a hashtag! And a monumental taste treat. Now everybody say it… Peanut butter caramel rocky road beer nut and bacon brownies. Not very catchy. Thus the initials.

Some places are really good at naming their treats. They have such good names right?  I always end up with these endless description names. So… this time that would just be too much. Thus we call it #PBCRRBNBB.

The #PBCRRBNBB starts with peanut butter brownies (with beer nuts and vegan marshmallows baked in). We top the brownies with chocolate frosting, followed by more beer nuts and marshmallows, chopped chocolate, vegan bacon and peanut butter caramel!!!!! They are the ultimate rocky road extravaganza; combining sweet, salt and goo!

I have many reasons, that I love this product so much! For starters… they make people so happy. Last weekend we debuted these bad boys at the Vegan Shop Up and people were going crazy for them. And they sold out super fast.

This recipe came to be out of a new subscription plan we are now offering. This plan is tree nut free. As a vegan, I am particularly sensitive to being served a well thought out dish or dessert, minus an offending ingredient. In my world, that just means you’re serving me an incomplete item, that you didn’t bother to re-conceptualize properly for my needs. Can’t have that!!!!!

In March the regular subscribers received the long time Gone Pie favorite rocky road brownies… loaded with nuts. How to re-work these for the tree nut free plan… hmmm…. Since I could use peanuts and coconut, the obvious answer was beer nuts and bacon. And since the bacon is made of coconut, why not work the coconut in more fully. Say with toasted coconut marshmallows?

And why the coconut bacon to begin with? Because it is super deliscious and blends in really well. And because it is made by my friend Kyle and I want to support him. But that isn’t really what you were asking is it?

Why on earth would vegans want to eat something that tasted even a little bit like bacon? The simplest answer I can give you is this. The vegans I know, gave up the foods they eschew for reasons other than enjoyment. There are plenty of cheese obsessed vegans out there. Believe me! Cruelty free versions of standard fair are heartily enjoyed by vegans. Many of us did not stop eating animal products because we didn’t like the way they tasted. We stopped because we didn’t want to take part in animal exploitation.

For many of us, the desire for such foods goes away. For many others, it does not. I’ll probably not eat these brownies now that they are perfected. They don’t really appeal to me.  Thankfully I was able to taste them along with people that thought they sounded (and tasted) amazing. And that’s another reason I love these brownies. There are some things that come easier than others. This one is so far outside my comfort zone! And yet, apparently, I nailed it. Yay me!

Bacon brownies anyone?

Order #PBCRRBNBB!

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Posted in gluten-free baking, special products, vegan baking, veganism | No Comments »

Evolution of the glutenfree baker…

Monday, October 15th, 2012
This cake was a HUGE challenge. It involved a whole bunch of special modifications, the most fun of which was making a cashew based cream cheese for the frosting.

Vegan, glutenfree, soyfree chocolate birthday cake with agave sweetened cream cheese frosting

As I stumbled home from an early morning trip to the local farmers market with arms full of bread (no kidding, three types of bread is all I got), I could not help but wonder, what am I doing. I’ve always said I eat like a baker. Bread, muffins, cookies. You get the picture. I eat a load of gluten. Said the glutenfree baker….

Honestly, I have no problem with gluten. Except baking with it. After years working glutenfree, I find baking with wheat unpleasant. It has the weirdest properties! I have managed to unlearn everything I once knew and accepted as the norm.

I made this for a friend. My friends inspire me!

Vegan chocolate/peanut butter/chocolate cake. I can't remember all the elements, but it came together really well... it was inspired by the Rescue Chocolate Peanut Butter Pit Bull Bar. So picture that in cake form.

What the heck am I doing. Am I the biggest hypocrite in the entire world? I’m still making peace with this. But I don’t think I am. I care so much about what I do.

This morning, I remembered that wonderful man who came and boarded up the windows in my shop on East 7th Street. We had been broken into for the millionth time, and I decided to build a fortress so we could safely do our work. While he worked, he asked if I could make his daughter a birthday cake. She had NEVER had one due to extreme allergies. Let me get this right, you give me peace of mind in my work space and I make a vegan/wheatfree cake. No problem. That was really where it all began.

Can you imagine how happy my new little friend was with her first birthday cake ever at the age of six. As I remember, I made a spelt banana cake, filled with apple butter and sliced bananas. I think it had tofu frosting too. Horrifies me now to think of this. But at the time (late 1980′s, as I recall) it was pretty rad.

That feeling really fired me up. Making that one cake felt more amazing than anything I had ever done. I started baking more and more wheatfree and vegan items and eventually became vegan.

Now everything I make is vegan and so am I. Nearly everything I make is glutenfree, although I don’t think I will ever be. I look at the challenges people with allergies and sensitivities have eating, and feel lucky that I have no problems with allergies.

I think my veganism gives me a unique insight into dietary challenges. It shouldn’t be that hard to find something good to eat. My evolution has certainly been fueled by the kinship I feel with other label readers. (Vegans are notorious label readers. You just never know what is hidden in your food.)

More than this, I find such satisfaction in making something that is divinely decadent for someone who thought they would never find anything like that again.

I can recount tales of friends with allergies and how I wrote recipes for them. My dearest friend has recently discovered a list of allergies that horrifies me to think of living with. Yet she does. And I bake for her!

So the simple truth is, I just feel good doing what I do. I never eat gluten in the bakery. I rarely bake with gluten containing flours and when i do, I do it on a separate day, with separate equipment, and do a massive clean up. As you can imagine, that makes it barely worth doing.

So my evolution continues. I will eventually ween all my wholesale accounts off the long time items they have been getting that are not glutenfree. And I will probably continue to eat gluten. Weird? Maybe. Me? Definitely.

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Posted in gluten-free baking, vegan baking | 2 Comments »

Best cobbler topping recipe ever! No. Really. It is.

Sunday, August 12th, 2012
(plum + blueberry) cobbler = best color ever!!!

Plum and blueberry cobbler served with fresh blackberries. SO GOOD!!!!

This topping was so delicious and simple. You have GOT to try it. Amazing texture and sweetness. Mix up your favorite fruit filling and top it with this divine mixture. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes (until the filling boils and the smell drives you mad).

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1 T tapioca

1/4 t salt

dash cinnamon

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup brazil nuts

Process in cuisinart until coarse crumb forms.

Add 1/4 cup coconut oil (you can use a less flavorful oil if you don’t like the taste of coconut or a mix of coconut and, say, unrefined sesame)

Process until uniformly incorporated.

Add 1/2 cup oats and 1/4 cup toasted almonds

Process briefly.

Spread evenly over the top of your unbaked fruit and bake that bad boy!

EAT! EAT! EAT!!!!

——————————————————
UPDATE:

Day 2 – This topping absorbs all the delicious liquid so well. I like it even more the second day. There will be no third day…. the cobbler in now GONE!!!!

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Posted in Recipes, gluten-free baking, vegan baking | 1 Comment »

Updated Gluten-free Flour Recipe(s).

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012
amaranth

amaranth... naturally gluten-free, essential to our flour blends

I don’t believe there has been one moment in the last several years, that our gluten-free flour blend recipe has not been in a transition. Trying to create a blend of flours to be an all-purpose substitute for the one thing you aren’t using… gluten. It get’s tricky. But, if only….

My conclusion is that one flour blend is not enough! Little by little, we abandoned the idea of one working blend to achieve a wide variety of results and textures. We currently use three  distinct formulas for different final results.

We are also conscious of that almost omnipresent gritty texture, commonly found in gluten-free baked goods, which we believe we successfully avoid or exploit in some cases. For example, brown rice flour is uniquely well suited to making gluten-free shortbread!

I encourage people to be very skeptical when they encounter recipes that suggest you substitute a gluten-free flour blend 1 for 1 to make a gluten-free version”.  For one thing, the amount of liquid absorbed by various gluten-free flours is going to effect recipes differently. Perhaps your results will be edible, but will they be exceptional? If your going to take the time to gather ingredients and bake, shouldn’t you feel like what you make is good, not just good enough. Or, worser, good for gluten-free!!!

BROWNIE BLEND

This a dense blend we use in our brownie recipes. The blend itself has flours that absorb moisture and make a nice fudgy brownie. The brownies also use buckwheat flour to reinforce that fudgy  texture. This blend is perfect for brownies, but little else.

  • 7.5 ounces garfava flour
  • 6 ounces brown rice flour
  • 6 ounces potato flour
  • 4.5 ounces tapioca flour
  • 4 ounces amaranth flour

LIGHT BLEND

This is an ultra light whole grain flour blend we use for more cakey muffins, layer cakes, cookies and tarts. This blend is super light and fluffy. It has the most neutral character of all our flour blends. In changing to this flour, I find I need to use a little more xanthan gum and a little extra flour. I am using maybe an extra 1/2 ounce per 8 ounces of flour. The results bake light and maintain their rise.

  • 6 ounces amaranth flour
  • 10 ounces garfava flour
  • 5 ounces brown rice flour
  • 12 ounces  tapioca flour
  • 12 ounces sorghum flour

HIGH PROTEIN FLOUR BLEND

I stumbled upon this recipe a few years back when I was researching our Irish Soda Bread recipe. The recipe referred to this blend as high protein, so we call it that.  We love this in cornbread and quick breads and breadier muffins. It bakes a little bit denser than the light blend and is really nice used in a 50/50 combination with the light blend.

  • 10 ounces garfava flour
  • 10 ounces arrowroot flour
  • 10 ounces tapioca flour
  • 10 ounce millet flour
  • 5 ounces amaranth flour

In addition to selecting the appropriate blend for each recipe, in most recipes, we add different flours, depending on the character of the final item. Some of the flours we use this way are quinoa, almond, coconut, oat flour…

So you see… this idea that you can take a cup of gluten-free flour and use it for a cup of “regular” flour in a “regular” recipe, is kind of an irresponsible statement. Experiment carefully. And beware of recipes that tell you to just use a cup of any gluten-free flour blend.

The key to successful gluten-free baking, in my experience, is finding a way to hide the characteristics of the flours you use in a way that produces a treat that tastes like what you remember. A challenge for sure!!

I hope my experiences help you! I love the challenge of getting to know and use all the different gluten-free flours that are available to us these days. Feel free to share your favorite flour stories.

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Posted in gluten-free, gluten-free baking, gluten-free flours | 3 Comments »

Harvest Pie – Vegan, Organic, Soyfree, Glutenfree

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Harvest pie in a frozen crust (not the crust in this recipe post)

This is our latest pie creation; and, of course, our current favorite. This pie is rich and creamy with a lovely well rounded sweetness from the combination of pumpkin, sweet potato and squash. It is mildly spiced, so the other flavors come through. If you like a spicier pie, increase the spices, though we recommend you try it just the way it is!

The slice in the photo above is the filling baked in a frozen vegan crust. We had some extra filling left from making small pies and  no more crusts, nor the inclination to make one just for us….. The whole pie photo below, is the exact pie you will make if you follow this recipe.

The thing that makes this recipe so appealing, besides that it tastes awesome, is that the cashews are not soaked. This means we can make a pie in no time at all if we get an order.  This is probably something that would appeal to those of you wanting to make it at home as well.

HARVEST PIE

Makes one 9 inch pie. Serves 8 or more.

Crust:

Dry:

  • ½ cup gluten-free oats
  • ¼ cup whole, raw brazil nuts
  • ¼ cup gluten-free flour mix #2
  • 1 teaspoon sorghum flour
  • 1 tablespoon coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon arrowroot
  • Pinch cinnamon
  • Dash xanthan gum

Wet:

  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Preparation:

Lightly oil 9 inch tart pan.

Put the nuts and all dry ingredients in food processor and process until perfectly smooth. Dough should be oily from the nuts. Be sure to scrape sides of food processor to ensure nuts are completely blended.

Add liquids through the spout of the food processor, and process until just together. Careful not to over process.

With well-floured hands, press dough into 9 inch pie pan. This pie crust does not need to be pre-baked.

Filling:

  • 4.5 ounces raw organic cashews
  • 10 ounces organic pumpkin (fresh or canned)
  • 4 ounces steamed sweet potato
  • 6 ounces steamed butternut squash
  • 1/2 cup organic maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup organic agave syrup
  • 1/2 cup So Delicious coconut milk
  • 2 1/8 teaspoon arrowroot
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/16 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/16 teaspoon mace
  • 1 sliver fresh organic ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until perfectly smooth. This should take several minutes, and you will need to pause and scrape the sides of the food processor. There should be no lumps visible in the mixture. The key to the texture of this pie is to process it well at this stage.

Bake for 45 minutes or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight before serving. The pie will get firmer as it chills.

Pour into unbaked pie crust.

The real deal -- Gone Pie Stylee!

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Posted in Recipes, gluten-free baking, pie, vegan baking | 1 Comment »

Gluten-free Pumpkin cheesecake recipe (updated)

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Pumpkin cheesecake in the pan

This is a recipe we have been making for about 20 years! It pre-dates the new trend of using faux cream cheese in vegan cheesecakes. The recipe itself has not changed much over time. The only major change is that we now use a small amount of cashews as well as tofu to make a slightly firmer, more traditionally cheesecake like dessert.

In my opinion, this recipe is still the best pumpkin pie we make. The spice blend, fresh ginger and lemon, give the pie a wonderful flavor, and the tofu gives it a creamy smooth texture. The pecans on top are optional. We like the creamy pie with just a little crunch on top!

Hope you like it too!

Gluten-free Pumpkin Custard Pie – 9 inch

Serves 8 or more

Ingredients:

Crust:

Dry:
½ cup gluten-free oats
¼ cup whole, raw brazil nuts
¼ cup gluten-free flour mix #2
1 teaspoon sorghum flour
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot
Pinch cinnamon
Dash xanthan gum

Wet:
2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil pie pan.

Put the nuts and all dry ingredients in food processor and process until perfectly smooth. Dough should be oily from the nuts. Be sure to scrape sides of food processor to ensure nuts are completely blended.

Add liquids through the spout of the food processor, and process until just together. Careful not to over process.

With well-floured hands, press dough into 9 inch pie pan. This pie crust does not need to be pre-baked.

Filling:

½ pound extra firm tofu
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
½ cup steamed sweet potato
1 ounce (by weight) raw cashews
1 thin sliver fresh ginger (more if you like ginger :-) )
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon arrowroot
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Dash allspice
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup brown rice syrup
1 liquid ounce tahini
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup pecan pieces

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until perfectly smooth. This should take several minutes, and you will need to pause and scrape the sides of the food processor. There should be no lumps visible in the mixture.

Pour into unbaked pie crust. Sprinkle pecans on top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight before serving

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Sweet Potato Cornbread (vegan and glutenfree)

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

... fluffy, with a nice light crumb and a little bit of cornmeal texture ... add in the sweet potato sweetness ...

Today over at One Green Planet I have published an article on veganizing baked goods. As an exercise, I took a butter milk Cornbread recipe from Allrecipes.com and made it vegan.

I thought I would share my allergen-free version of that recipe here. It took me three trials to get the numbers right. I used a lot less gluten-free flour than wheat flour and added a good amount of liquid. That is a function of all the starches used to replace the gluten in the wheat.

I find there are far fewer rules and guidelines to follow in getting the gluten out of a recipe than there are for veganizing one. I pretty much have developed an instinct that I go with. Even then, I almost always have to re-work recipes multiple times to get results I am truly happy with.

In this recipe I used the Gone Pie flour mix, the Hi Protein flour mix (mentioned in the Irish Soda bread recipe), corn flour and millet flour. This was my first time using corn flour and am not exactly sure what it did. More experimentation to come with it! The Hi Protein mix was the final touch I added to get a nice light crumb.  I have posted the recipe for it at the end of this recipe again.

All the yellow grains and the orange of the sweet potatoes give this cornbread a truly amazing color! It’s so tasty too!

SWEET POTATO CORNBREAD

  • 3 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend
  • 3 tablespoons millet flour
  • 2 tablespoons corn flour
  • 1/4 cup Hi Protein Mix*
  • 5/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Sift the dry ingredients together and set them aside.

  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup organic vegan sugar

Combine cornmeal and sugar in mixing bowl and set aside.

  • 3/4 cup vegan sour cream or So Delicious PLAIN coconut yogurt
  • 1/2 cup So Delicious coconut milk (unsweetened)
  • 3/4 cup sweet potato

Puree in food processor until smooth and creamy.
Pour into same bowl as cornmeal and combine well.
This makes the cornbread nice and light.

  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup

Fold into cornmeal mixture until evenly mixed.
Now add dry ingredients and mix until blended.
Do not over mix.

Dough will be very light and fluffy. Pour it into an 8 x 8 inch square pan. I prepare my pan with oil and a dusting of cornmeal. Smooth the dough with wet hands.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 45 minutes. When it is done, it will be firm to the touch in the center.

*Hi Protein Flour Blend:

1 cup garfava flour
1 cup arrowroot starch
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour

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Posted in Recipes, gluten-free, gluten-free baking, gluten-free flours, vegan baking | 6 Comments »

Irish Soda Bread Muffins (vegan and gluten-free)

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

With a little cross and everything. Sorghum flour on top.

I recently saw this recipe for Irish Soda Bread and I immediately remembered little Irish Soda Breads I made a loooong time ago. The flavor and texture and the smell of them baking! I must have caraway seeds and cardamom perfectly blended in a doughy slightly sweet bread. With plump little currants.

I did it! I did it! I love it! I love it!

The original recipe I found and made (with the addition of cardamom) is here.  They use a flour blend which resulted in a whole meal kind of bread. The bread really didn’t hold together well enough for my purposes.

Irish Soda Bread, as I recall it, is unabashedly white bread. I re-did the recipe a few times adding some of my flour blend and making a few other changes. The final result is super simple to make, once you gather all your ingredients.

I am playing with my version of their flour blend in other recipes. It makes a very different crumb when baked. The blend recipe is at the end of the post.

GLUTENFREE IRISH SODA BREAD

  • ½ cup currants, soaked/drained or well rinsed

  • 1 cup gluten-free  Hi Protein Flour Blend*
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 6 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sorghum flour
  • 3  tablespoons vegan sugar
  • 1 tablespoon  baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt

  • 6  tablespoons coconut oil

  • 2  tablespoons apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup So Delicious PLAIN coconut yogurt or vegan sour cream
  • 1 cup So Delicious organic coconut milk (unsweetened)
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice

  • 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 1/8  teaspoon cardamom

Combine the wet ingredients and set them aside.

Put all the dry ingredients in your mixer bowl.
Turn it off and on a couple of times to blend them.
Add coconut oil by the tablespoon to the flour mixture.
Let the coconut oil break up in the flour mix until you have
a fairly uniform almost cornmeal like mixture.

Add the cardamom and caraway seeds.

Add the liquid ingredients in two stages. Mix minimally.
When almost evenly mixed, add the drained currants.
Mix just until the dough is blended.

The dough gets firmer as it sits.

I made 12 muffins. I’m sure it would make a nice little loaf too.

This is a lovely, slightly starchy, dense dough. I flattened the muffins with wet hands. Then I sprinkled on some sorghum flour and cut crosses in them. The dough was extremely easy to work with.

Bake muffins at 375 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.

If you made muffins like I did, you could be eating hot Soda Bread now!

I made a loaf too! It was possibly even more delicious. I did the loaf with coconut yogurt so it was soy free.

Hi Protein Flour Blend:

(This is my version of the original blend. You can see the original blend in the original article.Original….)

1 cup garfava flour
1 cup arrowroot starch
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour

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Posted in Holiday specials, Recipes, gluten-free, gluten-free baking, gluten-free flours, vegan cooking | 7 Comments »

“I died and went to heaven”

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

I recently got the most wonderful email from a client that I wanted to share with you all. When you do wholesale and on-line sales, moments like this are rare. It really made my day!

And yes the email subject really was “I died and went to heaven”.

Dear Barbara,

The pecan pie and the fruitcake are by far the best vegan gluten-free bakery delectables I have EVER experienced. They are simply sumptuous!!!

You have created an amazing balance of clean, nuanced flavors that’s completely satisfying without being “too much”; i.e., they are not too sweet, oily, or salty, nor do they inflict that empty-calorie feeling of refined flours.

Their textures are awesome. I love the stickiness of the pecan filling and that stalwart crust. (I’m eating the frosting separately; it’s amazing—complex, exotic; again, not overly sweet.) I love the texture of the fruitcake, too—it’s just as it should be; I love a tiny reminiscence of Christmas pudding! The balance of the various fruits and nuts is perfect. You’ve gone light on the oil (thank you!), and the brandy is a necessary and elegant final touch. Brava!!!!

I am ecstatic I found you. (And you’re the only baker I trust enough to eat your wares right from the package. I nuke almost everything that comes from anywhere, b/c my celiac disease makes any food-borne upset a real ordeal.)

Do you by any chance have a monthly program in which you send a surprise item of your choice? Averaging maybe ~ $20-30/mo? If not, would you consider doing that and signing me on for 2011? :) ))

So many thanks for your wonderful creations—and your equally wonderful values—and Happy New Year!!!

All best,
Janine

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Posted in gluten-free baking, gluten-free flours, vegan baking | Comments Off

Teff love!

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Teff flour and grain

I love to work with different grains/flours! Such a wide variety are becoming readily available for gluten-free baking. This is my idea of fun!

I have been working with teff for a while.  At first, it was a little hard to find, so I wasn’t using it too freely.  Now I have a steady supplier and I am starting to use it more.

There are different varieties of the grain that vary in color.  I have seen both an ivory colored grain and a darker one (pictured above), although the darker one is much easier to find and is what I use most often.

Since the flour has such a dark color, I limit my use to darker baked goods, like those made with chocolate or molasses.   It has a really wonderful almost nutty flavor.  I am liking it in combination with buckwheat flour and coconut flour and the regular Gone Pie gluten-free flour blend.  Teff flour was an essential element of our holiday fruitcakes and this month’s special ginger spice cookie.

Having used it for a while, I decided to read up about teff and learn more about what I was already loving.  Guess what?  This stuff is factually awesome.

It’s a tiny little grain, that is nutrient dense. This is due to the fact that the germ and bran, where the nutrients are concentrated, account for a very large portion of the tiny seed which is processed whole.

I think this milling also accounts for its properties in baking. If you have ever worked with rice flour, you know how gritty it can be.  Teff is not like that, but it does give some texture to what you make.  I actually find the texture pleasant as opposed to gritty.  I also find it does not absorb as much liquid as a flour that is more finely ground.

Not convinced yet? Since the whole grain is processed into flour, it has a high fiber content.  It is also rich in iron, thiamine, calcium and copper.  Here are some nutritional facts about teff thanks to our friends at Bob’s Red Mill

Nutritional Information
Nutrient Facts
Serving Size: 1/4 cup (30g)
Servings Per Container: 22.00
Amount Per Serving % Daily
Value
Calories
113
Calories from Fat
5
Total Fat
1.00 g
2 %
Saturated Fat
0.00 g
0 %
Trans Fat
0.00 g
0 %
Cholesterol
0.00 mg
0 %
Sodium
5.00 mg
0 %
Total Carbohydrate
22.00 g
7 %
Dietary Fiber
4.00 g
16 %
Sugars
0.00 g
0 %
Protein
4.00 g
8 %
Vitamin A
0.00 %
Vitamin C
0.00 %
Calcium
5.00 %
Iron
13.00 %
* Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

If all this isn’t enough to give you teff love, may I remind you that teff is the grain used in the Ethiopian bread injera! Mmmm…. Ehtiopian food!

I have used the whole grain in soups and stews and am planning on making a slightly modified version of this Teff Polenta once I get some of the ivory teff, which seems more appropriate for this dish.

Teff Polenta

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped onions
  • 2/3 cup teff grain
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped plum tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

1. Boil water in a tea kettle.

2. Place the oil in a 10-inch skillet, and warm over medium heat. Add garlic and onions, and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Add peppers, and sauté for 2 minutes or, until bright green. Stir in the teff.

3. Turn off the heat to prevent splattering, and add boiling water and salt. Resume heat and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and basil.

4. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the water’s absorbed. There may be some extra liquid from the tomatoes, but as long as the teff is not crunchy, the polenta is done.

5. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if desired.

6. Transfer it to an un-oiled 9-inch pie plate. Let it cool for at least an hour. Slice and serve. Serves 4-6

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Posted in Recipes, gluten-free, gluten-free baking, gluten-free flours | 1 Comment »

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