Tortilla wraps - gluten free

These wraps are like savoury pancakes…but thick and robust enough to take a filling and they are gluten free to boot!

Fill them with whatever you fancy, here I have gone for a simple vegan yoghurt and bean salad, but how about this ‘untuna’ filling or my favourite lentil and peanut dip.  You could also fill them with a veggie chilli as long as it is not too liquidy (I am the master of making  mess with finger food...just warning ya!)

The chia seed is the star of the show in terms of binding the ingredients together and ensuring that these wraps do not fall apart. You could probably use ground flax as a substitution but my personal experience with chia and flax is that ground chia has a better ‘gumming’ action and I usually opt for it given the choice.

I left these wraps pretty plain but they would be the great base for some Italian, Mexican or Indian spices depending on your filling flavours.

Recipe: Gluten free tortilla wraps

Serves 2 (approx 6 wraps)

Ingredients

½ cup chickpea flour

½ cup buckwheat flour

3tbs starch (I used arrowroot)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

Other seasonings as desired to taste (I kept my tortillas ‘plain’)

3tbs ground chia seed mixed with ¼ cup warm water

1 tbs coconut oil

1 cup warm water

Method

Mix dry ingredients together and then add wet ingredients and mix well to form a batter of ‘yoghurt’ consistency.

Lightly oil a frying pan and once hot add a dollop of batter spread thinly (quickly!) and fry the tortillas as you would a pancake. Cook them for 2-3 mins on one side then flip and finish with a minute on reverse.

Serve immediately, or if making in advance simply warm through in the oven or microwave before serving. These are best eaten within 24 hours. I have not tried freezing them but I imagine that would work, making sure they are separated with parchment.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Dutch crunch rolls (aka tigerbread)

It’s that time of the month again…the Daring Bakers Challenge.  This month it was tiger bread, or Dutch Crunch as it’s also known…though I has never come across that name before (I like learning random new things!)

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

In the UK we say  ’tiger bread’…well most of us do, other than this one little girl who had other ideas! 

(source)

(I would have to agree that giraffe bread is indeed much more appropriate!)

 

I decided I would try a couple of options for my bread rolls, My favourite spelt flour rolls made in my Thermomix plus a gluten free version.  Considering I’ve never attempting gluten free bread before…was a DB challenge really the right time to start? Well the result was definitely edible but very dense and not very ‘bread like’. I will have some further attempts and post a winning recipe at a later date. So for now, below you have the spelt option, but of course you could use any soft topped roll/loaf recipe you like and simply add the tiger bread paste prior to baking. 

The tiger bread topping it certainly something I’ll be experimenting further with, I was even wondering whether these flatbreads would accommodate a topping even though they are grilled and not baked…curious now! I also wondering whether the topping could be sweetened and used in a semi-sweet tea bread form.

The second half of the challenge was to make a sandwich from the bread. My filing consists of spinach leaves and a ‘dip’ which I often also use for my sandwiches  (though these days it’s rare that I have an actual sandwich so this was quite a novelty).  I love a creamy spread but don’t want to resort to fakes vegan cheezes or butters if I can help it..  This is a lentil and peanut dip, the recipe for this specific dip is not yet up on the blog, but for a similar filling option check out this dip. I love how versatile dips can be…sandwich fillings, pasta sauces…er ok, well that are probably tons more ways to use them too!

Back to the tiger bread topping. I loved the fact that this was such a simple recipe and easy method, and it is naturally gluten free made with ingredients I typically have in my baking boxes anyway.  I did a little research and read a few comments from others in the forum and decided to opt for a sesame paste with a little molasses and marmite for extra colour and kick. It made the bread super tasty!

My lentil and root vegetable dip (or sandwich filling). 

Recipe: Easy rolls (made in the Thermomix, kneading times etc may need adaptation without)

280g cold water.

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp dried yeast

1 tps salt

520g wholemeal or white spelt flour

Method:

Add the water, sugar and yeast to the TM and heat sp2 for 90 seconds. Add the salt and spelt flour and knead for 4 minutes on the dough setting.

Leave in the TM bowl for the dough the rise for approx. 1 hour. (Allow the dough to roughly double in size).

Remove from the bowl and shape into rolls. Place on a parchment lined baking tray and leave to rise for another hour. Before baking at 200C for 10-15 minutes until golden (keep a close eye to check for colour).

Recipe: Dutch Crunch topping

(note- begin preparing the bread topping 20 mins before the end of the final bread rising period)

6 tbs rice flour (white or brown non-glutinous)

65ml warm water

1 ½ tsp sesame oil

½ tsp molasses

½ tsp marmite

1 ½ tsp dried yeast

Method:

Add all the ingredient s to a small bowl and mix well together to form a smooth paste. Allow to stand for 15 minutes,

Paste onto the top of the bread rolls/loaf…thickly spread for large cracks and thinly spread for small subtle cracks.

Bake the rolls immediately.

(note- some suggest leaving the bread with the topping to sit for 10 mintues prior to baking but others say there is no need for this. I didn’t wait)

 These are the gluten free attempts. the topping didn't crackle as well and the rolls 

themselves are very dense.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Mega meatball sub

A couple of weekends ago on a ‘lazy’ Saturday morning (I do try but I just can’t do ‘lazy’ as I just end up being fidgety if I sit still for too long!) the boy set me a challenge ‘can you make me a meatball sub’ ….(wait there’s more)…. ‘but not just any meatball sub, I want vegan meatballs with marinara sauce, jalapeno peppers, caramelised onions and sweetcorn, all wrapped up in a nice big homemade sub roll’

Ok- the challenge was set! First I needed to do my research and figure out a healthy, tasty fool-proof ‘meat’ ball recipe.  The one I settled on was based on a recipe by 'My Vegan Cookbook'  with a few minor tweaks of my own.

It took me most of the morning but we got there in time for lunch. Oh yeah it was good!!  I had made a double batch of everything (except the veg) so I had leftovers to freeze for ‘round two’ another time.  The meatballs are great to freeze so I’d encourage you to make the full batch as below (or even double) and freeze the remainder for a quick and easy spaghetti dish at another time. There is also a fair bit of work involved in pre-cooking the rice and lentils, another good reason to make a big batch! 

Recipe: vegan ‘meatballs’

Serves 4

Makes approx. 12 balls

Ingredients

½ cup cooked lentils

1 cup cooked brown rice

¼ cup oats

1/3 cup wheatgerm

1 tbs ground flax

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs oilve oil

2 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup wholemeal spelt flour (or standard wholemeal flour)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

a pinch of nutmeg

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp parika/cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp molasses (increase this to 2 tsp if you like a stronger taste but personally I find it overpowering)

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp smoky chipotle pepper sauce (gives the balls a spicy smoky kick but don’t worry if you can’t get hold of it)

Method

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Mixture should be sticky but manageable. From apricot sized balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 180C for 25- 30 minutes turning over half way through.

For frozen meatballs, place on a baking sheet and cook at 180C for approx. 20 minutes straight from the freezer.