Savory Black Rice Porridge

I love porridge.  It's so creamy and soothing and satisfying.  I grew up on Malt O Meal and Cream of Wheat, and as I've gotten older porridge of any kind has become a comfort food, especially during the cold months of winter.  Ali has a recipe for rice porridge in the Elimination Diet book, which calls for grinding the rice in her Vitamix, but the last time I did the diet was in summer, and I was craving the cooling smoothies more than porridge. 

Since then, hubby and I have discovered black rice, also called forbidden rice, and have fallen in love with its rich, nutty flavor and the way it makes us feel.  Doesn't hurt that it has as many or more antioxidants as blue berries either!  It makes a lovely rice pudding that hubby enjoys for breakfast, but I can't eat sweets like I used to, so I've been working on a recipe for a savory version of porridge.  I haven't tried grinding it in my blender, but I imagine it would work ok.  Instead I use the mill that was my birthday present last year, so I've included instructions for using that.

Set stones til they are just barely brushing, then grind rice.  Should also be possible to coarsely grind it in a blender or a coffee grinder that is specifically used for spices.  Don't use one that grinds coffee though, or it will be cross contaminated if you are doing the ED, or just taste like coffee.  Here's my attempt at showing the texture it should be in a 1/4 cup measure.

 Savory Black Rice Porridge

1 C cool chicken stock
1/4 C coarsely ground black rice
2 tsp dried chives
1 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp (dash) turmeric
1/8 tsp (dash) coriander
1/16 tsp (pinch) cumin
salt

Add all ingredients except salt to a pot and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Start with a medium temperature burner, stirring constantly.  When it starts simmering, turn the temperature

down so it doesn't burn but is still lightly simmering and let it finish cooking until thick.  Salt to taste, depends a lot on whether your stock has salt in it or not.

ED add ons: caramelized onions, chopped sunflower or pumpkin seeds, cook with some finely chopped veggies like green beans and carrots...use your imagination!

Yield: 1 serving

Tip: Using cool ingredients and stirring constantly while it all heats up avoids lumps in your porridge.  They are almost impossible to avoid if adding ingredients to hot liquid.  Once it is simmering you can relax a little bit, but there's the risk of it burning, so don't ignore it.  Also, you might want to invest in these little measuring spoons so you can measure less than 1/4 tsp reliably.  I found some years ago and use them all the time!

Waffles: Whole Grain and Gluten Free

This is the recipe that started it all.  After Hubby went gluten free in February 2015, I asked my friends who were also gluten free what to buy, and they recommended the flour blend Namaste.  Now, I'm not trying to bash Namaste, but after using it and having everything turn out soggy and gummy, I was getting frustrated.  I also started to have digestion problems and feeling bad from all the starches and gums that seem to comprise main stream gluten free baking.  I knew that there were grains that were naturally gluten free, after all, there is more to life than wheat, barley and rye.  So I went searching for a gluten free whole grain waffle recipe and happened upon Alissa Segersten's blog, Nourishing Meals.  Turns out that she loves whole grains too, and tries to avoid the gums by using naturally gelling things like flax, chia and psyllium.  I spent weeks looking for all the weird flours her recipe calls for, and when I was finally able to make it, we knew that it would change our lives.  This is my adaptation of the recipe off of her blog, mostly just downsizing and streamlining it, because hubby and I can't eat 16+ waffles by ourselves!

Waffles: Whole Grain and Gluten free, adapted from Nourishing Meals
Yield: about  6 waffles

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 C (210g) whole grain gluten free flour (I like to use equal amounts of teff, sorghum and millet, but you can mix and match whatever you want or have!)
1/3 C (46g) starch (I use arrowroot, but tapioca, potato, corn or some other kind of starch will work also)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs (I've also used flax eggs, which are 1 T ground flax seed and 3 T water per egg, mix and set aside 5 minutes to allow to gel up)
3 T liquid oil, (I prefer melted butter, but coconut oil or something else works great too)
2 T maple syrup or honey
1 1/4-1 1/2 C milk (Dairy or non-dairy, buttermilk is awesome too)

Heat waffle maker.

In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together until uniform.  This is an important step in baking, but especially in gluten free baking because of the many different flours that are used.  In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together, then add to the dry ingredients. Start with the lesser amount of milk and add more if needed.  Depending on which flours and starches were used and how you measure depends on how much milk will be needed.

Yield: around 6 waffles, depending on your waffle iron

Spoon batter into waffle maker, cook until done and enjoy!  One of our favorite toppings for waffles are lingonberries!  I find these at my local Wal-Mart in the canned fruit section for around $6 a jar.

When we are feeling like we want something really special, I open a tin of this Herren Konfiture that we learned to love in Germany.

Apple Fritters: Whole Grain and Gluten Free

This recipe is one of mine and hubby's favorites for an easy breakfast.  I found it back when he still ate gluten, but it easily adapted for gluten free!  You can make it with just about any fruit you like, though if you use frozen fruit, the batter might not stick as well to the fruit, because it's wet.

Apple Fritters

Fritters

~3 C apples, cut into approximately 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 c (70g) whole grain GF flour (we like teff) and 1/2 c (70g) sweet rice flour OR 1 C all purpose flour (non GF)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (+1/2 tsp for teff mix)
1 egg
1/3 - 1/2 C milk, dairy or non-dairy (1/2 for teff, then keep adding 1 tsp at a time until the right consistency, described below)
oil for frying

Glaze

1 C powdered sugar
3-6 tsp milk, dairy or non diary

I usually mix the batter first, then turn the oil on to heat, then chop the apples and mix them in. But I only make 2-3 apples at a time, depending on their size.  If you are doing more I'd wait to heat the oil so it doesn't get too hot.

Mix all fritter ingredients except the apples in a large bowl. If making wheat fritters, the batter should be thick and kind of elastic. For GF it should be barely loose enough to stir easily, just a little smooth and slumpy, not stiff and not even close to runny enough to pour. 

This batter is too thick.

 I added about 2 tsp more milk and now it's just right.

If it's too thin, add a bit more flour, too thick a bit more milk.  After mixing the batter, set it aside to hydrate while you chop apples and heat the oil.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a wide frying pan on the stove. On a regular burner, usually about medium is a good temperature, on a power burner, it's a bit lower.  Chop the apples and mix them into the batter. There should be just barely enough batter to cover the apple pieces and kinda glue them together.

Drop piled spoonfuls of the mix into the oil and use the spoon to move the apple chunks into a single layer so it cooks evenly.

Fry until golden-brown and crispy, about 5 minutes, flipping them half way through.

Mix powdered sugar with 3 tsp milk, stir and add more 1 tsp at a time until its a nice thick glaze. 

 

Dribble onto fritters and serve.

Yield: 8-12 fritters depending on how big your spoonfuls are