Grain Free Paleo Baguette - Gluten free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Nut free option

Well, it appears my baguette recipe has become popular enough that I have been receiving comments about it's absence. 
I Have been soo busy and on vacation, and I am finally here. 
I have good news, I tracked down my recipe and I am going to re post it here. I Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer. 

So here is my original post and photos. 

It's been over a 1.5 years now since we have been Grain free and Primal (Primal being, legume, grain, corn, gluten and sugar free). Most of the time we have been used to not eating anything as delicious and comforting as bread, so it’s a real treat! We eat bread (always grain free) on special occasion, camping, and just when I can`t possibly go another day without it.

I have been trying to make a French bread style loaf that I could take with me to a gathering, all warm, hot form the oven and wrapped in parchment paper. This is exactly what I needed. It’s light on the inside, firm on the outside. How the heck do you make a grain free bread that is light and not like a brick?

Of course it’s not the idea of making bread that is the trouble it’s the idea of making grain free bread that is firm enough in batter form to hold its shape as a loaf without falling as it bakes, but soft moist and delicate in the middle . If you have worked with Grain free or Gluten free batters you know what I mean.  

I have made this recipe twice two different ways. First time I used raw cashews and ground them myself. This worked well, but the bread was more crumbly compared to when I used the cashew butter. You can use either or. I will provide recipe adjustments for whatever one you use as some people have a hard time finding cashew butter.
You can substitute any nut or seed butter really (except coconut butter) but my favorite is cashew. It’s light, buttery, no distinct flavor and it looks like real bread. Look for an organic Cashew butter with only 2 ingredients, no salt or sugar added.  

I chose to use my favorite ingredient Whey Powder, versus beating my egg whites for a bubbly center. It worked excellent; it rose nearly double in the oven and came out soft and bubbly on the inside. If you choose to substitute coconut flour instead, you may want to beat your egg whites to help with a rise in the oven. When I used coconut flour, I found the bread to be denser and cake like. I prefer my bread to be light so I prefer using the Whey powder. Not only does it make it lighter, it cuts out a step of beating and folding in egg whites.
Always use an unflavored, sugar free, no artificial colors or flavors Whey Powder. Read the ingredients to be sure.

I used a food processor to make my life easier with the batter as I just hate whisking nut butter by hand. It’s so sticky I never feel like I have done a good enough job. You can use a hand or a stand mixer instead of a food processor. Especially if your processor doesn’t have a very big bowl you will find your processor to tire out trying to mix the batter together. 

Grain Free “French” Bread – Gluten Free, Dairy Free*, Primal

 

The batter will double in size in the oven and flatten a bit if the batter is not pressed small enough before baking. You could split the dough into 2 instead of one large.

If a small round baguette is important to you then try freezing your dough on the baking tray once shaped for 10-15 minutes until the outside of the batter is firm. 

I baked my bread in my pizza oven as I wanted a crisp outer shell. You may have to experiment with yours if you are not able to use a pizza oven.

This recipe makes one large French bread or 2 small baguettes by dividing the batter in 2. 

**For a nut free version substitute sun flour for the almond flour and Sunbutter,  or pumpkin seed butter for the cashew butter. 

In a mixing bowl whisk together:

1/3 C Unflavored Whey Powder (sugar free, natural flavors only)
¼ C Almond Flour (not ground almonds)
2 tbs Ground Flax meal
1 tsp aluminum free Baking Soda
1 tsp Natural Sea Salt

**Substitute in Tapioca or Arrowroot starch for the Whey powder increase Milk to ½ C. If you remove the whey powder, you may also prefer to beat your egg whites and add them in separately just before baking to help with the rise** 

In a standing Mixer or Food Processor Bowl:

Wet ingredients:

1 ½ C Organic Cashew Butter (no salt or sugar added)
3 Organic Large Eggs
1 tbs Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
¼ C plus 2 tbs Dairy or Coconut milk
1 tbs Raw Agave Nectar, Honey, or Pure Maple Syrup

**Substitute in Raw Cashes for the nut butter 2C raw cashews plus ¼ C melted butter, or coconut oil. Puree, scrape down sides and puree until smooth and thick**

Mix the wet ingredients until a smooth batter is formed. Slowly add in the dry ingredients parts at a time until the batter becomes very thick and well combined. 

Your batter should be very sticky and thick (hard to stir) this is the goal otherwise when placing the batter on the pan you will end up with a pancake instead of a loaf.

Prepare your pan. I used a flat baking pan with no edges to make a long loaf. If you don’t have a flat pan simply make the loaf as large as your pan will allow. You may choose to divide the batter into 2 and make 2 small French Bread similar to a baguette.

Oil the pan lightly, and place unbleached parchment paper on top. This will help stop the paper from moving while you are forming your loaf. Scoop the batter out with a spatula in a long line to the size of loaf you are wanting.

Place a long strip of plastic wrap or another piece of parchment paper on top of the batter and use your hands to smooth it out and form a loaf. Try to keep the loaf uniform as you want it to cook evenly. Smooth out the top and move the edges in. The thinner and higher you get the batter now will help your batter from spreading out too much as it cooks.

Now the fun part!! Shape the dough under the plastic wrap with your hand. smooth it out as mush as possible. Bubbles will turn into cracks while baking.

The dough will double if not triple in size as it bakes so keep it as compact as you can.

Remove the plastic carefully.

Sprinkle your dough with toppings like oats, or sesame.

Now your dough is ready for the oven. Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Rotate the dough 90 degrees halfway through cooking to help it brown evenly. 

You should end up with a delicious hot baguette, soft in the center with a brown crust on the outside.

Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before cutting so it doesn't cave in or crumble.

I have brought this to many parties with a fabulous spinach dip. It's delicious with butter or toasted. yum.

Scones - Grain free, Dairy free, Gluten free, Paleo

So, I was feeling like a scone. I don't mean that I myself was feeling doughy like a scone, but I wanted a scone. Sometimes at the end of the work day, late at night, I go and think about what I want to eat tomorrow. 
Tomorrow (being Friday) is a day for me and a girlfriend working together and we tend to get hungry. It's always so much easier for me to bring the food when I travel because, well, let's face it I am picky. Also, how the heck does a person who east whole grains and flour going to know what almond flour is?
Luckily, I was in the mood for scones. I had a fabulous recipe book from one of my favorite authors. However the scone recipe was only for sweet and fruit based scones. Nothing savory. Now don't get me wrong. I made a few of those sweet and delicous scones. Hazelnut chocolate chip, orange cranberry, strawberry vanilla almond, and cinnamon raisin. I wanted a savory scone though. One I could throw in with my delicious lunch time salad that I will be packing. 

Ham and cheese scones.. mmm.
Then a sudden sadness hit me as I realized my dear husband is not eating dairy. 
All of a sudden I remembered a fresh square of Goat Cheddar in the fridge waiting for me. 
These scones are dairy free, but we use goat milk as a substitute to dairy without any ill effects. If you can't use goat milk or cheese, feel free to sub in any kind of cheese, cashew cheese, soy cheese, lactose free cheese etc. The cheese is not needed to make these delicious scones into scones. So by all means, go nuts. 
Some people make the mistake that scones are like a bun. No. Scones are a firm crusty Scottish bread that is used at tea time or at coffee break. These are like twice as firm as a baking powder biscuit, but a third as sweet as a muffin traditionally. The outside is hard and crisp. The middle is soft and buttery. 
I have made many grain free scones before. They either needed cheese to hold them together, or they were strictly almond flour and they were soft and crumbly like a biscuit. 
These were by far my favorite. Out of all the different kinds of scones that I made today Only subtle changes were made to the recipe base to accommodate many different flavors. Making them really quite economical.

Ham and Cheese Scones - Grain free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

In a stand mixer bowl:

2 Cups blanched almond flour
1/4C plus 2 T arrowroot/tapioca flour
1/2 t sea salt
1 t dry mustard
2 t gluten free baking powder
1 C diced cooked natural ham
1 C organic Goat Cheddar **

In a small glass bowl:

1 large organic egg
1/4 C organic whole goat milk/coconut milk/almond milk/cashew milk/ dairy milk
2 T cold pressed olive oil or clarified butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a stand mixer. As mixer is turning pour in wet ingredients. Mix on low until just combined. Dough will be very sticky. 

Spread dough out onto parchment paper. Place a sheet of parchment on top and press with your hands into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 6-8 triangles.

Carefully lift each triangle onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Separate each triangle so they are not touching. bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes until the crust sets.

**Please see my notes above for dairy free cheese options. I use goat cheese to substitute for dairy without any ill effects.

Let me know if you want the fruity version of these. :)

Grain Free "Shake and Bake" Chicken

There are always some things that you just cannot resist. Back when I had a crazy work schedule and had to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner all before Noon. I had a few weekly go to meals that I would always throw together.
None of them though were Grain free. This was several years ago when I worked 6 days a week and we ate whatever we wanted. 
Today as I strolled through the super market picking up a few things, I glanced over to my right and saw the delicious tray of Organic Chicken Drumsticks. That fond memory of whipping up Shake and Bake for dinner once a week popped up. 
I used to love that crispy chicken coating. How easy was it?? Throw the chicken in a bag, shake it up, throw it in the oven and Wa la 45 minutes later, dinner.
Gotta love those convenience foods.
I am much more appreciative now of the free time that I have to make everything from scratch, and use nothing in a bag, or a box.
Those Chicken drumsticks got into my mind today. Somehow in the spice aisle was the Coconut milk that I needed to pick up for my home made yogurt. To get the coconut milk I had to walk by the Shake and Bake wall. 
So I picked up a box and checked out the ingredients. Except for all the crap, wheat sugar, and Maltodextrin, there was a few notable ingredients.
Onion flakes, Garlic, Spices, Parmesan and Parsley.

Next thing you know, BAM. The Chicken was in my cart. 
So, I thought about it on the way home. 
I have tried a few different chicken coatings before. None of them turned out this good.
I wanted to refrain from using Gluten free crackers, corn flakes, bread crumbs or processed grain ingredients. 

Coconut flour can be used, but it really dries it out. Like the next day, rubber dry. 
Not exactly what i was wanting.
I have used Garbanzo flour before, and successfully. It just never crisped up as much as I wanted and really didn't add a lot of taste. This one as much as tasted the part, looked the part and smelled the part. An amazing aroma in the kitchen, and subtle crunch, and juicy chicken. 
This one was the winner. 
I was also very glad that I didn't have to add any oil or spray the chicken with hydrogenated oil to get it to crisp up. NO deep frying, and no brushing with butter.
I used Parmesan cheese in this recipe. Organic and lactose free. If you cannot use Parmesan cheese, use more almond flour.
You will not get the same results if you skip out on the egg and substitute in coconut milk or butter milk. Your coating will be soggy.
One hint I can offer, Have your oven pre-heated and ready to go the minute you are done the chicken. The faster you get the coating on and in the oven, the crispier it will be.
I also recommend using a broiler pan with a grill for the chicken. The less surface area on the bottom of the chicken, the better the result. Otherwise you may end up with a naked bottom with no coating as there is no wheat flour or maltodextrin in this coating to hold it together. 

Grain Free "Shake and Bake" Chicken - Gluten free

Yield 8-10 chicken pieces

Coating Mix

In a flat dish toss together:

1/2 C Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 C (lactose free) Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Granulated Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Herbamere Zesty Salt (substitute Seasoning salt)
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Herb de Provence or 1/2 tsp dried Oregano, 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp Ground Mustard

In a seperate glass bowl:

1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water

Rinse and Dry the chicken. Roll the chicken around generously in the egg. The more egg the better the coating will stick. 
Dredge the chicken in the Coating mix immediately after the egg. Generously spoon the coating over the entire piece of chicken.
Place the chicken spaced apart, onto a broiler pan grill. Cover the Broiler pan with tin foil or parchment for easy cleaning and put the grill on top. No need for oil or grease.
Cook the chicken at 400 degrees for 45-55 minutes depending on chicken size. (drumsticks 45 min, legs and back attached 55-60 min)

Broil the chicken for 2 minutes under a high broiler just until the coating really crisps up. It will burn easy if you are not watching. 
Let stand for 5 minutes before eating.


Yum :)