Posts Tagged "Breads"
The Gluten Free Bread That Made MarocBaba Smile Again
from Go, Eat, Give
This is a scene from a hanut or corner store in Morocco. Hanuts are everywhere, in fact it’s nearly impossible to go more than 2 blocks without coming across one. They sell all types of things but most importantly they sell bread. See the counter lined with breads? I can count at least seven different kinds. Of all the elements of Moroccan food bread is the most important. It’s cheap (1 -2 dirham a loaf or about 40 cents) and it’s used both as a means of filling up and as a utensil. Bread is eaten three times and a day and even more.
MarocBaba grew so attached to bread growing up that he physically can not eat a meal without bread. What I used to think was just a preference to have bread with a meal I’ve come to realize is much much more. He just told me a story from growing up about bread. Whenever he (or anyone else) would drop a piece of bread on the floor or if it went too stale to eat they would first kiss it before discarding it. Even then the bread goes into a special bag with the garbage because it’s fed to animals. That’s some serious starch love.
So when we found out a few months ago he had celiac disease the first thought that came into both of our heads was “but what about the bread?” I’ve spent months trying to make a good gluten free bread that is similar to Moroccan khobz and while some of them have been ok none of them have been great. I’ve gone through lots of different flours, learning how they all work, which ones absorb water quickly, which bind better, which taste like chalk (ew chickpea flour is not my favorite!) and which have a nicer taste. Then a few weeks ago I gave up. I started buying gluten free sliced bread from the store and while it was expensive I just had enough.
This weekend I was ready to give it one more chance so I turned to a resource I knew I could trust. Shauna at Gluten Free Girl. I knew she had to have a good bread recipe and sure enough she did!
The recipe is for a Gluten-Free Crusty Boule and actually comes from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day. Shauna and her husband helped the authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë Francois with the gluten-free recipes and share this one on the Gluten Free Girl website. The best part is that in comparison to other gluten-free breads I’ve made, this one is really easy. I followed the recipes exactly but omitted the add-ins. It was amazing. After tasting it my kids said,
“are you sure this is gluten-free bread? I don’t think it is. It tastes like real bread. “
It’s gluten-free bread and it’s good.
Shauna and Danny thank you for bringing this to life on your site and for giving my Moroccan husband a little bit of his homeland back. I know he’s forever thankful (and so am I!)
Bread Baking Day: Low Gluten Palestinian Ka’ak bil Simsim
I’m not really a baker but I have mastered turning out perfect loaves of fresh Moroccan round bread. When I saw this months theme for bread baking day on Ya Salam Cookings‘ website I knew I wanted to participate. My friend Amnah at Little Life of Mine was game too. She was ready to make Moroccan bread and I thought I’d give a Palestinian bread a try (our two “respective” countries).
I searched a bit and asked for her advice and settled on Palestinian Ka’ak bil Simsim (not sure what Ka’ak means but bil Simsim – is with sesame seeds!) I found an original recipe on 1001 Feasts and followed her directions for baking. But I changed the flours to make a low gluten version. I didn’t make it completely gluten free because I was low on flours and don’t like the taste of the totally gluten free flour I had on hand. MarocBaba tolerated this bread just fine though for someone who requires completely gluten free ingredients the flours would need to be changed.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tsp buttermilk powder
- 1 cup barley flour
- 1/2 cup rye flour
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour
- 1 egg, beaten with a few pinches of sugar
- 1/2 cup white sesame seeds
- NOTE – you may need to use more water – see how your flours come together first.
Sift all of the dry ingredients together
Directions
I followed the directions from 1001 Feasts almost exactly – here’s how I did it.
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 f.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, place the yeast, warm water and sugar. Mix gently. Let sit for 10 minutes or until yeast foams doubles in size.
3. Sift the flour. Add the salt to the flour.
4. Once the yeast is ready, add the vegetable oil to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed or hand knead.
5. Slowly, add the flour combining it all before adding more. Do not overwork the dough. This is especially important with low gluten flours. The dough will NOT have an elastic feel.
6. Cover the dough-filled bowl with a towel and let sit in a warm spot for 30-40 minutes.
7. The dough will increase in size though most likely not double as with a traditional flour dough. Turn out the dough on a surface dusted with gluten free flour and knead. You do not want to over work this but knead for 2-3 minutes. Do not add too much flour but just enough to keep it from sticking to your hands and the work surface.
8. Cut the dough into two pieces, poking a hole in the middle and working the bread out from the middle to form a large ring.
9. Place onto a baking sheet and brush with the egg/sugar wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
10. On the lowest rack of the oven place an oven-proof pot of boiling water. Place the sheet with the bread dough above this rack. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top of the bread is browned.
We really enjoyed this bread and liked the texture of it. I’m sure if this were made in it’s higher gluten version the taste would be completely different. This was an easy bread for me to make and I’m sure that I will be making it again!
Make sure you visit Amnah and see her version of Moroccan bread and more of her great posts!
Pin It Read More
Gluten Free Moroccan Cooking {Harcha}
I want to give you a little heads up. Right now I am studying to take the LSAT exam. I’ve finally decided to make my law school dream a reality and am preparing myself for this first step. The test is for the middle of February so I am cramming! I don’t want to take a long break from writing however I know I will not have the time to make new meals or put together long posts. I’ve asked some of my readers, friends and followers to help me out by sharing some of their stories to keep you interested while I’m chained to my desk.
Stephanie is the founder and co-editor of InCultureParent.com, a magazine for parents raising little global citizens. She has two Moroccan American daughters (ages 3 and 5), whom she is raising, together with her husband, bilingual in Arabic and English. After many moves worldwide, she currently lives in Berkeley, California. I was so happy that Stephanie agreed to share this post because it’s really important for me! Last week we received news from MarocBaba’s physician that he has celiac disease. We had been experimenting with gluten (or the absence of it) in his diet to see if it would help with issues he was having. We were correct. Stephanie’s post is a great example of how hard gluten-free life can be for lovers of Moroccan food (and Moroccans themselves!) But never fear – it can be done!
Gluten free and Moroccan cooking are not the best of friends. The idea of eating gluten free is pure craziness to most Moroccans. Many have told me point blank they would rather suffer the repercussions than be forced to give up gluten. My sister-in-law is case in point. While she has many of the symptoms associated with those who have an intolerance to gluten (frequent stomach pain, bloating, gas constipation, headaches), and each trip to Morocco I talk to her about what I believe is her gluten intolerance just like my daughter’s, she has been unwilling and incapable in her own mind, of forgoing bread for even just one day. You see every meal and snack in Morocco revolves around bread. Bread goes beyond being a simple staple—it is also the primary utensil you use to eat with, replacing forks and spoons.
The last time we went to Morocco, I was able to arm myself with an arsenal of gluten-free breads, pastas and cereals to take with us. It still didn’t do much good because when the whole family was enjoying just off the stove, flaky pieces of msemsen—a fried Moroccan bread that is sheer heaven— and you hand my daughter a dry, gluten free roll out of plastic, you can guess how that went down.
We weather Morocco with a lot of Miralax and do our best to limit bread as much as possible (usually this involves eating breakfast with Jasmin before everyone else to ensure she eats gluten free and is full by the time the real breakfast is served). But at home, it’s a different story. Our household is largely gluten free, except my husband who can’t survive without bread. Breakfast for him is a baguette with olive oil for dipping. He’s never really tempted by any of my weekend breakfasts—pancakes, waffles, Brazilian cheese bread, and instead always opts for white bread with olive oil and maybe jam if he’s getting crazy and really mixing things up (sarcasm).
For a time, even after we knew Jasmin should eat gluten free, it was hard to give up certain Moroccan food routines, like my husband’s Friday night couscous or Sunday morning harsha (also written harcha–a type of flat bread). Both are made of semolina flour. Often times, direct gluten-free substitutes don’t end up tasting as good. But more and more, I have been experimenting and improvising to turn traditional Moroccan meals into gluten-free ones. I started with something easy: harsha. Harsha, a pan-fried flat bread, is like a Moroccan pancake except much firmer. It’s sort of like a patty and you eat it always fresh out of the frying pan, then smeared in jelly or dipped in honey.
I make my gluten-free harsha with corn flour (masa harina) and it’s a distant cousin of the Colombian arepa, but using a Moroccan recipe all the way.
Gluten-free Harsha
- 3 cups corn flour*
- 1 T baking powder
- 4 T sugar
- 1 t salt
- 4 T butter (melted)
- 1/2-3/4 cup warm milk until the batter is wet enough to form patties in your hand
Directions
Mix the dry ingredients and add in the butter then milk. Add the milk slowly to make sure the dough is not too wet. Mix dough with your hands as it will be stiff. Form into hamburger-like patties and cook in butter over medium-low heat. They take a little bit to cook fully through on both sides (approximately 6-9 minutes per side).
Serve with honey or jam. Better yet, you can make a true Moroccan side by mixing together warm butter and honey, in equal proportions, for dipping sauce. Bet you can’t eat just one!
*If you want the real deal, then you would use semolina flour instead of corn flour to make authentic gluten-filled harsha.
Traditional Harcha with Semolina
Thank you so much Stephanie for sharing this story and post. I know that as we continue down the road of gluten-free living there will be so many issues like this that come up!! If you’d like to follow Stephanie you can find her at IncultureParent.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Read MoreAmerican Breakfast: Duffy’s Delight
9×13 baking pan
Directions: Cut off all the crusts of the bread. You won’t need it for this recipe, but save it and make it into breadcrumbs!
Spray or butter your 9×13 baking pan and place down a layer of bread, about 8 pieces. You may need to cut them to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Next begin layering. Add the meat into one layer. Then the cheese slices. Place another layer of bread on top. (I used cubes of French bread because I needed to get rid of some dry bread!). Finally pour the entire mixture of eggs and milk on top of the bread.
At this point you would want to cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This will allow the egg mixture to soak into all the bread. If you need to bake right away you can. Do allow it 30 – 60 minutes to rest before baking.
Before baking top the casserole the the cornflakes followed by the stick or melted butter drizzled over the cornflakes. Preheat the oven to 375 and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow it to rest 5-10 minutes to completely set. This is best served hot but can easily be heated up and makes great leftovers!
Have a favorite breakfast recipe? Share it with me! I love new breakfast ideas!
Food of the Sun: Kalinti – An ode to Tangier
I’m not a baker so this challenge was really a challenge for me. I might have cheated a little bit with this recipe but I was really intrigued and wanted to give it a shot. My Twitter friend @M_Benaj, a Tangier native, told me about this dish that is special to Tangier. Although I’ve been to Tangier I had never even seen this. I guess we weren’t close enough to the locals! Kalinti is a street food – sold for a few dirham and eaten hot.
That being said, I’m not really sure what this should taste like! I will say that although I gave it a shot I didn’t really like it – that might be because I made it wrong! I had a hard time even finding a basic idea of ingredients so I had to wing it based on his description and pictures of what was in it. I also don’t really like the taste of chickpeas so this was overwhelming.
I made it two different ways, first I baked it, making it about 1-2 cm thick in a pie plate.
I also tried making it as a crepe. (never mind the holes it got too big!)
I liked the crepe version the best and it was even better slathered with some Nutella. I say give this a shot, and if you do know what it SHOULD taste like – let me know how far off I am!
Ingredients
2 c chickpea flour
2 eggs
1 cup of water
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
Directions – Mix the dry ingredients together, add the olive oil and then slowly mix in water. You may need a little less or a little more. The final batter will look like the middle picture below. Then bake in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes
**I’ve gotten a tip on this, it should not have come out like mine but rather closer in texture to a flan. This can be achieved by placing a pizza stone on the top and bottom of the oven. Thanks to Paula Wolfert for the tip! **
This post is a part of an ongoing blog carnival: Food of the Sun. Please share your posts on Mediterranean breads!
I still am running my giveaway through the duration of Food of the Sun. If you link up your recipe you’ll be entered in the giveaway! Check out this post on other ways to enter.
Food of the Sun: Bread…next week!
This week was going to highlight breads of the Mediterranean but I think that we will hold off and postpone for next week. I have decided to leave two weeks to complete each challenge. It will give everyone a little breathing room and a chance to participate. Not to mention allow me to get back into things with French Friday’s as well!
To get you warmed up and thinking about bread I’m going to share the bread recipes that have been featured on my blog in the past.
 |
| Braided Herb Bread |
 |
| Traditional Khobz |
 |
| M’semmen |
 |
| Zaatar Flat Bread |
There are so many more great breads from around the Mediterranean and I promise next Friday to share a brand new one!
Don’t forget my giveaway!! and check out Henia’s round up from last week!
Zaatar Flat Bread
Doesn’t it just look so tasty with the thyme mixed in??
I’ve finally worked up enough courage to start playing around with my basic Moroccan bread recipe to come up with some variations. On my first attempt it’s safe to say it was a success! This is a much more rustic bread than the white bread version I make. However most bread in Morocco is made with a blend of another whole grain. This bread is a little sweet and a little savory. I think that if you have a little bit of bread leftover it would make a great bread crumb once dried up!
Ingredients
2 c white flour
 |
| These quantities will make about 3 8″ diameter loaves |
1 c wheat flour
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp chopped thyme leaves (stems removed)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp dry yeast
2 tbsp good olive oil
Directions: You can use the same instructions as the traditional khobz recipe. Just add in the additional ingredients before kneading. Check out the tutorial here.
Have your favorite Mediterranean Winter/Holiday Dessert ready for tomorrow? Food of the Sun Blog Carnival starts tomorrow – have your links ready!!
Mini -Monkey Bread
I usually spend every Saturday morning hanging out with the boys. Sometimes we head to the farmers market to pick up part of the groceries. Or we watch movies and eat popcorn for breakfast. As the weather is getting colder and the boys are more able to help out in the kitchen I’ve started to get them to cook with me more. Last weekend we made mini-monkey breads. It’s a quick dish for a family breakfast or to serve to guests. You can use refrigerator biscuits or a recipe. I used Paula Deens’ recipe because I didn’t have any pre-made biscuit dough on hand.
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup milk
- sugar for coating biscuits
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
of the dry ingredients.
Post Sponsors and Partners
Where You Can Connect With Me This Year
 |
 |
 |
What people are saying…