Tag: whole foods

Light and fluffy Scones

2 Comments

These are the kind of light, fluffy, round scones that one imagines having with berry jam, clotted cream, and china cups of tea. They are made with flour and baked in the oven and rather different from the large, quartered, barley flour or oatmeal griddle scones from which they are descended.

My childhood has many pleasant memories of making scones in sunlit kitchens and they are wonderfully versatile as they can be served with everything from sweet honey to umami Marmite and cheese.

If you make kefir at home keep in mind that you can use it in baking! Although the probiotics will die in the heat, they will leave behind an enriched milk with little lactose and will add a lightness to your baking.

Ingredients

  • 75g butter
  • 3 cups plain flour
  • 6 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp wheat germ
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 to 1/2 cups milk (or 3/4 cup milk kefir + 3/4 cup milk)

Directions

  1. Start oven pre-heating to 220’C / 428’F. Grease a baking tray or line with baking paper.
  2. Measure and cut butter into a mixing bowl.
  3. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt. Add wheat germ and sugar.
  4. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles golden breadcrumbs.
  5. Add 3/4 cup of milk (or kefir). Mix to combine.
  6. Slowly add up to 3/4 cup of additional milk; stop to knead as you add the extra liquid. You want to draw all the dry ingredients into the mix without it getting too wet and sticky.
  7. Pull off the dough into approximately 12 pieces. Roll into rough balls in your hand and then flatten slightly. Place on prepared baking tray.
  8. Bake at 220’C / 428’F for 10 minutes. The scones should rise a great deal. Check if they are cooking evenly (and adjust their placement in the oven if not). Reduce the heat to approximately 180’C / 350’F and bake for another 5-6 minutes until golden.

Cheesy Oat Muffins

Leave a comment
Cheesy Oat Muffins

These delicious muffins have protein, calcium, fibre and are delicious served warm with butter or dipped into winter soup.

Ingredients

Allergies: soy free, egg free*, nut free.

Directions

  1. Start the oven pre-heating to 180’C / 350’F and grease the muffin pans.
  2. Whisk the eggs, milk, and oil.
  3. Add the salt, sugar, and oats.
    • Tip: If you prefer a fine texture to your baking, use an electric hand beater to combine. This will help to break the oats into a finer texture (without demolishing them into oat flour).
  4. Add the wheat bran, wheat germ and cheese. Sift in the flour and baking powder. Mix well to combine.
  5. Spoon the muffin mix into the greased muffin trays and pop into the pre-heated oven.
  6. Bake for 25-35 mins until the muffins are cooked through (test with a knife or skewer to see that it comes out clean).
  7. Allow muffins to cool on a wire rack.

These are brilliant served warm with butter and are still lovely for breakfast in the morning. Consider freezing leftovers to heat up as needed.

How do I make my bread light and fluffy?

Leave a comment

Musings on baking bread

Musings on baking bread

I’ve written previously about ‘Everything you wanted to know about baking bread‘ and it occurred to me today that it’s a little more process driven than ingredient focused. My journey making bread began with making all our bread by hand which I found restrictive and time consuming. I later moved, very happily so, to a Panasonic Bread Maker. That allowed me a little more time to experiment with ingredients and research.

I gave serious contemplation to buying a sourdough starter (sourdough is much easier to digest than commercial bread) but my daughter doesn’t like the tangy taste. I researched ways to make the bread I was feeding my daughter more nutritious. I also made myself more aware of the chemistry involved and how different ingredients impact hydration ratios and rising.

Supermarket bread is essentially refined white flour (so basic starch) with a token amount of other ingredients potentially added; Julian Lee wrote an excellent article in 2018 revealing commercial bread-making processes in New Zealand. At home, you can start with high grade (or strong) white flour but add extra nutrition into the mix.

Whole Wheat

If you can afford to buy stone-ground whole wheat flour then you can make some pretty fine bread. If you’re shopping at the supermarket then it’s sufficient to be aware that the wheat kernel is made up of bran (fiber), the germ (protein and nutrition), and the endosperm (a starchy tissue). You can probably guess which part white flour is made from!

At the supermarket you can buy strong white flour and also buy bags of wheat bran and wheat germ. Not only do these have different nutritional profiles but these also have different impacts on the properties of your bread. Wheat bran has a drying quality and may require additional hydration. Wheat germ will naturally make your bread moister and fluffier.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to make a loaf entirely of white flour. When baking, I usually have 70-80% of my ‘flour’ made up of white flour and then use a range of dry ingredients to make up the weight. This equates to 350-400g of white flour and 50-100g of other flours and seeds.

Wholemeal Spelt Flour

Wholemeal spelt flour has a high nutritional profile and is easier to digest. It also has less gluten so will produce a denser loaf and may require guar gum to help it bind.

Wholegrain Kamut Flour

Like spelt, kamut flour is lower in gluten and easier to digest. It’s a brand name for khorasan wheat and is an older variety of wheat. There have been small studies performed which suggest that kamut flour has health benefits (over standard flour) and may help to reduce certain inflammation markers. It’s important to remember that one of it’s other benefits is that it is an organic wholegrain flour (as opposed to highly refined bleached white flour).

Ground Linseed – Sunflower – Almond (LSA)

Whole seeds can make a loaf dense and the texture doesn’t appeal to everyone. It’s not necessary to pour heaps of whole seeds into your bread dough. You can add plenty of protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids just by adding 2 Tablespoons of ground seeds to your bread dough.

Popular powerhouses of nutrition include linseed (flaxseed), sunflower seeds, almonds, and chia seeds. Quinoa is another but I found even small amounts of quinoa flour to have a noticeable taste in the bread.

You might like to rotate different seeds in order to vary your nutritional profile. The cheapest and easiest option is to alternate between ground LSA and ground chia seeds.

Gluten Free Grains

One of my favourite ways of making multi-grain bread is to use Red Mill Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. If you’re picturing a cereal box with some puzzlement, it’s actually a mix of freshly milled whole grain brown rice, corn, buckwheat and sorghum. It’s a handy way of adding a broader nutritional profile to the loaf and is so finely milled that it doesn’t overwhelm the loaf. It’s weight-dense so you only need a small amount; it still produces a fluffy loaf and is incorporated into the texture without being obtrusive.

Homemade Mayonnaise!

4 Comments

Homemade Mayonnaise
Smooth and creamy mayonnaise

The great thing about homemade mayonnaise is that it’s quick to whip up and you can alter it to suit your tastes. You can make a mild and creamy hollandaise sauce type mayo to dip fries in, a mustard & tarragon mayo to go with chicken, or add dill / parsely to serve with fish.

It’s also a blessing if your family has food allergies because you have control of all the ingredients that go in. A soy allergy that doesn’t allow for vegetable oil, emulsifiers, or xanthan gum makes finding a safe store-bought mayo difficult! Miss 2 was still sensitive to the synthetic antioxidants, sulphites, and preservatives in the sauces that we could try. We’ve now moved to an RPAH Failsafe Diet exclusion of additives which means making sauces from scratch.

 

Ingredients

  • 2 medium eggs (room temperature)
  • 1 cup of neutral oil
    • i.e. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 1/2 cup rice bran oil, or 1/2 cup olive oil + 1/2 cup coconut oil, or 1 cup avocado oil.
  • 2 – 3 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice (or 1/4 tsp citric acid)
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • Optional: 1 tsp dried garlic granules, or 1/2 tsp mustard powder, or 1 tsp fresh herbs.  Add a little liquid honey or maple syrup if you prefer your mayo sweet.

Allergies: gluten free, soy free, dairy free, nut free.

For an egg free mayonnaise, check out this vegan mayonnaise recipe on Jane’s Healthy Kitchen. Her secret is coconut oil (but this will only work in cool weather and cool dishes). Another option is an aquafaba vegan mayonaise.

Tip: Eggs should be room temperature; you can put them in lukewarm water for a few minutes to warm. It will work if they are straight from the fridge but may take longer to whip up and thicken.

Tip: Lots of recipes use Dijonnaise mustard; these are packed with sulphites and preservatives so are not suitable for sensitive guts and or children. I recommend dry mustard powder.

Tip: If using olive oil choose one with a very light flavour or mix it with another oil – it risks overpowering the flavour otherwise.

Directions

  • If using a stick blender: Place all ingredients except the oil in a narrow jug or jar. Place a wand mixer in the jar, then add the oil. Whizz together, lifting the wand from the bottom of the jar to incorporate the oil. It will thicken to create a creamy mayonnaise.
  • If using a (smoothie) blender): Place all ingredients in the blender (oil last) and whizz until creamy. Note: If you have large eggs, you can try just using one and add the second if the mayo isn’t thickening.

Tip: Once the mayo is mixed up, taste and add further seasonings to taste. Remember, it’s easy to slowly add more but tricky to balance if there’s too much!

Pour mayonnaise into a sterilized glass jar; it will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Superhero Smoothie (allergy free)

3 Comments

Superhero smoothie

Superhero smoothie

Today’s smoothie recipe is free from the top 8 allergens and Miss 2 asked for more (even though it has vegetables in it – bwahaha!). It’s also a great way to get some healthy fats and foods into your system when you’re recovering from the flu and can’t cope with the idea of making soup from scratch!

Ingredients

  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 200ml water
  • 4-6 ice cubes
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 slices mango
  • 1/3 cup baby spinach
  • 1 tsp ground chia seeds
  • 1 tsp ground linseed (flaxseed)
  • Optional: drizzle of maple syrup

Optional: Since your smoothie is going to be green anyway, you may want to add 1 tsp of Healtheries Super Greens Smoothie Booster.

Tip: Have the coconut milk in the fridge (or add less water & more ice) so that this will be chilled once blended,

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Put everything in a blender and blend till smooth!
    • Tip: Most blenders will work more effectively if you put the liquids in first.
  2. Serve immediately while it’s chilled.