Sunday 28 April 2013

Seedy bread - sharing the flours with others and the wonders of Solanic potato protein


I responded to a query about bread on http://glutenfreeguerrillas.healthunlocked.com.  I normally don't contribute recipes for bread on this site as I now always use the potato protein I got from a LinkedIn contact, and this is not available in the shops.  If you buy it from the company the minimum order is 15kg - and given you need a few grams/couple of spoonfuls for a loaf of bread this is an enormous amount.  However, I offered to send some samples out to people if they wanted, and a batch of the flour I use, as I want to get feedback on my usual loaf.  

I have been wondering whether to take the step of trying to bring this flour mix to market, which would be a lot of work, so feedback would be useful.  I have also been talking to the company about the possibility of the potato protein being made available in consumer sized portions.  This potato stuff doesn't upset my guts at all - I can't use zanthum/xanthum or other gums, and even have to stay away from flax/chia seed.  It helps gf loaves to keep their shape so they don't slump if you want a full size/high loaf, and give improved texture even to pizzas and other flat breads.


I sent out six batches of the flourmix- enough for a loaf made in a one pound loaf tin, and 30g of the potato protein. I do hope these packages survive the post- I went to bed fretting that I hadn't double bagged everything.  I sealed them in cellophane and built small posting boxes by chopping up a large box and wrapping with lots of parcel tape, so hope the transit is fine.  I thought I should include a photo and instructions, so took the usual plain loaf ingredients and added a little cocoa and pumpkin and sunflower seeds to give a warm seedy loaf.

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This mix is made from urid lentils, tapioca, rice and potato.  The potato protein that I have have included in the small bag should be used at about 2%of the flour for yeast breads.  Makes great pizza and other flatbreads as well as the loaf.   I am thinking about trying to package it or a variation on it so would be glad of your feedback.  I have a gf house and am very sensitive so these samples should be completely gluten free.

The bag has approx 300g of flours, enough for a small one pound loaf tin.  Mix it the yeast- either a teaspoon or two for a quick rise or half a teaspoon if you want to let it rise more slowly to develop a sourdough flavour.  Put salt and sugar in if you like.  Add 250ml cold water. You can also put a little cocoa and some pumpkin and sunflower seeds for a seedy loaf, or other flavours to suit your taste.

Mix the batter thoroughly with a wooden spoon or food mixer.  It will look like a thick  cake batter.  Pour the mixture into a greased non-stick loaf tin.  It should come about half way up the sides.  For a quick loaf put this in the oven with a tray of hot water in the bottom and leave it to rise.  You want to let it rise about one third - not quite to the top of the tin.  When it gets to that point turn the oven on to 175C (fan) and set timer for 45 minutes.  It will rise further in the heat but shouldn’t come over the top of the tin as the batter hasn’t the strength to go up on its own. It needs a slower bake than wheat bread.

If you want more flavour and a slightly more artisan-style texture leave the loaf to rise somewhere cool - if you want to retard it to fit in with your schedule just put it in the fridge.  Then bake as before.

Tip out the cooked loaf and cool on a baking rack. I cool them on their sides to encourage them not to sink.  Don’t try to slice before they are cold or the bread will stick to the knife.

This should be ok for several days, or slice and put in the freezer.

Rinse your dirty dishes in cold water promptly - the batter sets quite hard.

The photo is the loaf I made this morning when I bagged up the flour (at the moment I still grind my own lentils before mixing the flour, so quite an effort).  This has half a teaspoon cocoa and a small handful of seeds mixed into the dough, and a few more seeds sprinkled on the top.  A loaf I left out to see what happened a couple of weeks ago was still ok to slice after a whole week, but I normally slice the bread and put it in the freezer. 


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I'm hoping to get some feedback shortly.  One person suggested that we buy a big bag of the potato protein and share it out between us.  That is a great idea.  If anyone reading this would like to join in and try so of this stuff let me know.



2 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I have a question regarding your flour mix...the proportions are 40% urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal. How do you measure it? by weight or by cups? Also, in you bread recipes you use yeast, could you please let me know what type of yeast do you use? dried active yeast? Baker's yeast? I don't have a breadmaker so I'm not sure which one to use.

    So many interesting recipes I find on your blog. Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anna, I have switched to rice flour rather than cornmeal as I can't get certified gluten free fine cornmeal (not cornstarch) in the UK. I was getting a bit of gutache so even though the rice can produce a grainy feel (particulary in damper cakes when they have been in the freezer) I now just use rice.
      I measure by weight as it is so much more reliable. Really if you add about a third of the urid to other flours it gives a better result to anything I tried. I suspect the flours weigh about the same so cups would be fine - 2,2,1.
      I use the kind of yeast you have to mix with water first as it comes in a neat tub and lasts longer stored in the fridge. I also get the reassurance that it is still working when the water begins to bubble. I am not good with throwing away half a sachet! Just use anything that you feel comfortable with and is easy to get. Watch the dough to know when it has risen enough and after a while you will know how much yeast/how warm a rise fits in with your tastes and schedules.
      I only used a breadmaker because I thought others would want to know if it worked. I am far too lazy now to get it out of the cupboard, and just stir the batter, put it in the tin and put it in the oven, tuning the oven on when the dough has done some rising. I have made this bread reliably even in my campervan and used the dough for pizza on a barbecue, so you can see that it is pretty resiliant stuff and hard to really ruin (if you do that, turn it into breadcrumbs for a crunchy coating).
      Let me know how you get on, or if you have any other questions.
      Lois

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