Gluten Free Maui

This month’s Gluten Free Ratio rally is being hosted by Gretchen of Kumquat. Biscuits are such a big part of my food heritage. I grew up in a pretty Southern style part of Florida. Breakfast at home or the nearby truckstop restaurant, or place in town often consisted of biscuits and gravy. Grits were also important. Yet, this is not about grits. It is about biscuits. A good crumbled breakfast sausage is also delicious in the gravy and it makes for a more substantial meal. Yet, plain gravy with biscuits is such a classic. It’s certainly and economical dish. Only three ingredients are needed. Butter, flour and milk.

 

This has been a struggle, but here they are. I haven’t been able to get the perfect biscuit as I’d hoped. I was wanting those biscuits like I had when growing up. Ones like you see in holiday commercials. High sides, golden brown top, pretty darn cylindrical. Yet, I just couldn’t get them to be that tall. Not even when I doubled up the dough like I thought would work. After much experimenting I had to settle with what I present to you today. If I’d had more time I would have kept trying and trying. Indeed I think I will keep trying.

 

I learned that the ratio simply didn’t work for my flour blend or the liquid I was using. I had to increase the liquid in the ratio in order to get enough loft in the dough. I also discovered that the humidity of the day can really change the way a dough plays out. The time before this last trial yielded very close results, but the day wasn’t as hot or humid. The dough didn’t stick to the board like it did today. Even after a good chill in the fridge I had to use cling wrap and more flour to prevent stockage.

 

Perhaps if I’d chilled the biscuits again after forming them they might not have spread so much this time. In previous batches I was getting 8 or 9 biscuits, but today I tried getting half to see if more dough would give me the height and shape I was looking for. Unfortunately it did not.

 

Even though these biscuits did not live up to the appearance I was looking for they do live up to the flavor. These also have a delicious crust on the outside. I’m quite delighted in this aspect of them. They are also splendid when served with some peppery white gravy.

 

 

 

Biscuits & Gravy

Ratio- 3:1:2.5 (flour, butter, kefir)

333g flour*
111g butter
277g whole milk kefir
4 tsp baking powder

Weight out your flour and whisk or sift it with the baking powder. Cut the butter into cubes and keep it nice and cold. Using your hands mix the butter into the flour until it is in small pea sizes throughout the flour. Pour in the kefir and stir it all together with a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for an hour. Remove the dough from the fridge and either pat it or roll it, on cling wrap or wax paper, to about half an inch thick. Using a glass cut the biscuits out of the dough. You could also choose to form the biscuits into disks by hand. If the biscuits become too warm, or become sticky put them back into the fridge before baking.

Bake the biscuits on a silpat lined, or lightly greased, baking sheet for 30-40 minutes until they reach a golden brown color.

*Mix together 75g millet flour, 75g quinoa flour, 100g brown rice flour, 100g cornstarch and 50g tapioca starch/flour…you’ll have extra flour leftover which is useful for dusting your work surface and can be saved for future baking projects including my amazing pie crust

While I haven’t a true recipe for the gravy for you, it is basically equal parts of fat and flour made into a roux (cooked together). Some milk (dairy or non-dairy) is added in small amounts until a thickness desired is reached. I found that about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour with about a cup of milk or so made enough to produce gravy for four servings or eight biscuits. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste. Some thyme, sage or rosemary is also quite nice, however not necessary if you have a well flavored sausage to add in.

I adore this sweet, goofy, absolutely wonderful in every way man. I love you Devin.

 

 

I just learned about the Photo a Day Challenge created by fat mum slim. This is a great way to get me posting a bit more here, and to let you all into a little more of my life. I missed yesterday’s post up, so I’ll do it here. I’m glad I’m only a day late (but not a dollar short).

Yesterday’s challenge was a photo of myself. Here I am posing with the upright bass that lives in our house sometimes. It belongs to Devin’s brother, but we have more storage capacity for it. Plus, we’d had it out from when the boys played together at our Christmas party. This picture was right after we got back from a delicious, last minute breakfast at Market Fresh Bistro. There were exactly 30 minutes to get to the restaurant, so I rushed into this fabulous little outfit and we made it with 20 minutes to spare. (Oh, and I really love those tights. They’re made of bamboo and cotton).

 

Today’s challenge was a photo of breakfast. This morning’s breakfast was a biscuit and a half of what I’ve been working on for the Gluten Free Ratio Rally. I spread it with local Persimmon Butter. Mmm the butter was so good. There was a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg in it. I also had a big glass of water. It’s not a very interesting breakfast, but it was scrumptious. The biscuit was buttery and flaky, and the Persimmon Butter was an excellent compliment.

 

 

I chose not to try to post even a short message on this blog yesterday because I wanted to spend every moment with my Maui family. We had a wonderful day. I woke up at 8am because I thought that was the east coast equivalent of the time my sister was going to be at our parents’ house. Unfortunately I woke up an hour too early. I also had spent a rough night of stomach pains and very little sleep.

My stomach pains were caused by an accidental gluten encounter at a party on Friday. What was even worse was that the party was at my home. I asked for potluck items, so I had the possibility of something like that happening, but I’d never had the risk actually turn out that way before. It was one of the worst gluten feelings I’d had in a very long time. I actually had to leave our party three-quarters of the way through. The pain was excruciating and I had to be very near the bathroom. Thank goodness for a master bedroom with bathroom. I’m glad the party continued on in the next room. I could hear the music, and I had a fun and snark filled chat with Marc of Baketard on Twitter. The stomach pains went away most of the day on Saturday, and I made sure to rest. However, they came back in the early morning hours on Sunday. I spent much of Christmas day exhausted, but the excitement of the day kept me going.

Since I was up early I went ahead and started on breakfast. I had made a Crème Brûlée oatmeal with dried fruit and heavy cream in previous years. I used to also top it with sugar and crisped it under the broiler. This year I took some fresh coconut and dried poha berries and cooked them in the oatmeal. I also added some raw, local honey and ground flaxseed. In another pot I warmed coconut milk with whole cinnamon, nutmeg and whole cloves. I put it into my silver coffee pot and served it on the side. It was a hit! It wasn’t overly sweet (which had been a little problem in previous years) and it wasn’t too heavy. The poha berries also added a different texture and flavor with their tart taste.

 

That afternoon we were invited to a Christmas party at a friend’s house. We sipped sparkling cider from beautiful glasses out on a porch overlooking one of the best views of Maui I’ve seen from someone’s home. I checked out the food they were serving, and I asked a zillion questions. I stuck to the salad we went and picked from their garden, the Brussel sprouts, and the turkey breast (I even checked the packaging on that!). I avoided the chocolate fondue for dessert and had a couple pieces of apple. While at the party I entertained the four year old little boy by putting together puzzles and watching him climb the mulberry tree. Devin said he thinks the little boy had a crush on me, even though he wouldn’t understand those feelings at four years old.

 

 

 

 

After that party we went on to another. This next party was at my hanai mom’s house. She was at our party on Friday and so she was aware that my body wasn’t happy. They left out the cheese from the rice stuffing, and they made sure the meal contained absolutely no gluten. When a gluten cake arrived she segregated it in her fridge. Dinner was stuffed cornish hens, rice dressing on the side, cornstarch thickened pan gravy (whipped up by me), roasted root vegetables and green beans. There was also homemade Turkish Delight in multiple flavors. We even had Christmas Crackers brought by a lovely woman. The British theme was inspired by the airing of the Doctor Who Christmas special. We all played with the toys that came in our crackers. Devin helped me figure out the puzzle that came in mine. I’m not very good at those kinds of things. Oh, and we all wore our crowns throughout the party.

 

 

 

 

 

Devin started to feel the cold I had last week, so we left a little before everyone else. Today he has been laid up in bed trying to heal so he can enjoy the rest of his vacation time (although laying in bed all day and relaxing is not a bad thing for a vacation). I cooked up a quick miso soup with veggies, ginger and chili pepper flakes for his lunch. He also got to have two rum toddies, and plenty of herbal tea today. I’m hoping all of the rest will mean he can get out and have fun tomorrow.

I worked on some household projects today, and I also tried to make biscuits again for next month’s rally. Last week I was so tired when I tried that they came out like hard tack (I forgot to put in the baking powder). This time I followed all of the directions and added one teaspoon of baking powder per four ounces of flour, yet my lift was still pretty minimal. I can’t quite figure out why. I wonder if the kefir and the baking powder just don’t get along, or if it was something else entirely. Do you have any thoughts?

 

 

Last week I was able to participate in an interview with Living Maui Social. I met with Jill, Aimee and Erik at Market Fresh Bistro in Makawao. We had a delicious breakfast and a wonderful time talking story. That’s what the Living Maui Social podcasts are all about. We talked about gluten free living, technology and more. I still haven’t had time to listen myself, but you’re welcome to check it out before me. I hope my message got across. You’ll know if it didn’t.

 

 

Below are some more pictures of what has been going on here. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the gifts I am so grateful to have received. I can only hope the gifts I gave are as loved.

 

 

I finished my last week of classes for this semester. It was actually a really easy week for me as I didn’t have any finals. The only thing due was the final draft of my term paper for psychology class. For my last day my body decided to let all of the stress I’d built up exit my body in the form of a cold. It’s not the way I’d choose to let all of that out, but my body is saying that it’s time for me to slow down and care for myself. So, I’m listening. I picked up a little bottle of elderberry syrup as well as some herbal teas when I went out today. I also made sure I served up a nutrition packed dinner. I tried to take a photograph, but I think mercury retrograde leftovers attacked and so I have no picture.

I can tell you that it was my first time eating large, fresh sardines and I found that I liked them a lot. I served them simply broiled with a sprinkle of salt and thyme as well as a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Alongside the small fish were brown rice and lacinato kale I picked at the community garden only two days ago. I also browned some onions and garlic with the kale. This was a super dinner for me tonight. Everything was easy to make, but nothing was junk food. My body rejoiced in it. I’ll be buying sardines again. They’re very sustainable, low in mercury and super inexpensive. I paid sixty-seven cents for a half pound of gutted and cleaned sardines. Talk about a great way to get fish into our diets every week without breaking the bank.

Now, you might think that just because we live on an island that fish would be abundant and available every day for a great price. Sorry, that’s just not true. Much of the fish is bought up before it even hits the stores for the average consumer. Much of the fish we buy at the grocery store comes from out of the islands, is often farmed, and is quite expensive. If this seems wrong to you, I also believe it is wrong. The Hawaiians were very healthy people, yet today diet based diseases are running rampant among this indigenous group. This is because many Hawaiians are unable to afford, or access, their traditional foods. The standard American diet (SAD) has been implemented quickly and painfully, leaving disease and death in its wake. This is true for many indigenous groups around the world. Sometimes I’m not sure which is worse for indigenous groups: the SAD or the Mielie-meal that is given as food aid.

On a different note, here are some pictures of what has been going on around here lately. The photos from my birthday dinner will be in a separate post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was also going to post a picture of my cookie flop from the ratio rally, but I am going to do that in another post because I think the topic is super important. You can read more about that from Jenn as well over at Jenn Cuisine. You really should read it, even if you just go read it for the lasagna roll up recipe.