Oh, I have been playing around with masa harina. This stuff is awesome! Because I'm so used to gluten free dough, I find masa super easy to work with.
41 - 60 of 61 Posts
You both say such good ideas! But you do not share the recipe and I really want to see a photo of what you got.
Sorry, I got busy that day, and forgot to take a pic once cooked. Here is the flatbread prior to cooking.You both say such good ideas! But you do not share the recipe and I really want to see a photo of what you got.
As for a recipe, I didn't write anything down, I just threw it together. All the components are listed above
I will be doing another masa special soon. I have not decided on whether or not it should be a breakfast or lunch special. I have some of my crab dip that was left over from a special event in the freezer, as well as some more lump crab and cotija to use up. I was debating on doing either a crab pupusa with cotija for a lunch special, or another play on eggs bene with a masa cake, crab dip, oe egg, cotija, and either a raspberry jalapeno jam or a poblano hollandaise. any thoughts?You both say such good ideas! But you do not share the recipe and I really want to see a photo of what you got.
I did this one a little over a year ago. It was a poblano and asadero stuffed cornbread with the same crab stuffing and a cilantro lime hollandaise. That was one of the reasons I was leaning away from the masa bene. I thought it might be a little too similar. Each chef special I have done over the last 5 years here has been different and unique. I have yet to repeat one. Maybe a pupusa with curtido, and make the curtido with a raspberry jalapeno agrodolce.
The Quiche Trials
Messing around with gluten free flours.
Messing around with gluten free flours.
And baking temperatures.
And pastry techniques.
And parbaking.
And a little custard ratios
Wow, that's a lot of quiche.
That's... a quiche a week for eight weeks? Yes, it is.
I probably should have been spamming this thread the whole time, but I've moved, and now I'm not only drowning in chemistry but also stuff I haven't put away yet. So here's what I have so far.
*GFAP = a really terrible abbreviation for Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour. But I'm not typing that whole name every time. This is the flour I'm experimenting with due to its low cost. It's available in bulk from food service supply, so for you chefs, it might be useful information.
Quiche #1: All GFAP, traditional pasty technique, no par bake, 325F.
Oddly bready. The custard seeped into the dough, and the layers, while well defined and puffed, were soft and bread-like. Flavor was pleasantly savory, but the texture was bad.
Quiche #2: All GFAP, traditional pasty technique, par baked, 325F.
Indistinguishable from #1.
Quiche #3: 90% GFAP, 10% cornstarch, traditional pasty technique, par baked, 325F.
The worst by far, it was inedible. I suspect I got the moisture ratio wrong, or maybe the custard soaked into the crust, or maybe the cornstarch did something awful.
Quiche #4: 50% GFAP, 50% sweet rice flour, traditional pasty technique, no par bake, 325F.
Pleasantly mild, buttery, traditional pastry flavor. Exposed crust nice and crisp, soggy bottom.
Quiche #5: 50% GFAP, 50% sweet rice flour, traditional pasty technique, par baked, 325F.
Nearly identical to #4, with a golden brown, but still soggy, bottom.
Quiche #6: 50% GFAP, 50% sweet rice flour, hot milk technique, par baked, 350F.
Same at #4 and #5, just over cooked.
Quiche #7: 50% GFAP, 50% sweet rice flour, hot milk technique, no par bake, 350F.
Indistinguishable from #7. 350F is not a good temperature for quiche.
Quiche #8: 50% GFAP, 50% sweet rice flour, hot milk technique, no par bake, 325F.
Same at #4 and #5, with a slightly better flake. Could be due to practice though.
At the end of this experiment, I got a lot of practice working gluten free pastry dough. I can even do the rolling pin into the pan trick. I also ate very well, and not too expensively, considering a six-slice quiche comes to just over $1 a serving. But, I didn't manage to hack Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour into a decent pastry flour.
I have cracked gluten free quiche before though, using Bob's 1 to 1 flour. It's also available in food service stores.
A quick review of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour and Pizza.
In case I forgot to mention, last fall I bought a 25-pound bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour. I bought it for the price and availability hoping to make it work. It's been around for years and is marketed at businesses; it can't be bad!
I've got probably 10 pounds left, and I have struggled with almost every application to make a recipe edible. That's right, not great, just edible. Sometimes it's just weird, like Quiche #1 and #2. Sometimes it's inedible, like My first attempt at pizza. The only recipes that turned out okay from the get go were recipes that don't require a specific flour, like pancakes or banana bread.
On a side note, seriously it's impossible to mess up banana bread. I've made it with everything from expensive mixes and perfected homemade blends to all oat flour without even gums, eggs, or replacers and even almond butter. Seriously what even is banana bread? It can't be just flour and bananas!
Anyway, back to a less robust recipe, pizza. My first attempt was inedible. Just awful. Even worse, I used the manufacturer's recipe. I picked off the cheese and tossed the crust. Blegh. Take two, I decided screw unicellular, asexual organisms and went yeast free. It might have been better with a parbake. Here's try three:
I parbaked at 450F, turning the heat down to 350 halfway through because I was afraid it would burn. Then topped with sauce, mozzarella, and pesto, and baked at 450 for 6 minutes.
It was... edible. At one point, I thought, "this is what people mean when they complain, 'it tastes gluten free.'"
So far, I've made cookies, pancakes, a few different quickbreads, biscuits, crepes (don't), a whole bunch of pie dough, pizza, and regular old bread. Bob's GFAP flour is on the stronger, higher protein side of all purpose, so it makes sense that it doesn't behave well in pastry recipes. What's unfortunate is that it behaves equally poorly in bread recipes. The narrow selection of recipes it managed to pull off, pancakes and quickbreads, aren't dependent on flour to be good. I cannot recommend this flour. It just doesn't perform.
This is only my opinion, as a home cook. For perspective, I usually bake with more rustic flours, oat and buckwheat are my favorites, and if I can leave out ingredients like xanthan gum, eggs, or extra sugar and dairy, I do. I'm not opposed to weighty baked goods, as long as they weigh in with substance and flavor. I tried to give Bob's my best. I even used their xanthan gum. If you've managed to hack this flour into something edible, please share how! I would really love to know.
OH GOD HAVE I REALLY BEEN GONE ALMOST A YEAR.
In my defense, I did graduate this year! Still need to get into grad school, but step one is done at least! I have been cooking, and occasionally experimenting, just not documenting anything. Which is terrible. I made a hot sauce which is fantastic, and I have no idea how to replicate it. Gonna have to figure out soon because I'm almost out. I also finally convinced myself to start fermenting things. My first attempt (technically second, but my first attempt years ago without an airlock got mold, and I tossed it) but anyway my first re-attempt with decent equipment, no black mold in the walls, and plenty of antimicrobial ingredients for backup: kimchi!
![]()
![]()
In my defense, I did graduate this year! Still need to get into grad school, but step one is done at least! I have been cooking, and occasionally experimenting, just not documenting anything. Which is terrible. I made a hot sauce which is fantastic, and I have no idea how to replicate it. Gonna have to figure out soon because I'm almost out. I also finally convinced myself to start fermenting things. My first attempt (technically second, but my first attempt years ago without an airlock got mold, and I tossed it) but anyway my first re-attempt with decent equipment, no black mold in the walls, and plenty of antimicrobial ingredients for backup: kimchi!
2
41 - 60 of 61 Posts
