Crocodile Bread
Crocodile bread?
I saw this picture and said, “Oooo, what a neat picture.” To which my son replied, “It looks like a crocodile.”
This is my fourth attempt at a GF bread without eggs, store-bought yeast, milk or other flavor additives. Straight flour mix, wild starter, salt, water and xanthan/guar gums.
Both loaves look fabulous, but I think the flavor is a bit too sour. Here’s a picture of my firmish starter (I think it sorta looks like tofu):
I may add a tablespoon of sugar the next time around. My son thinks the loaves are going to taste “hecka good” despite not yet trying the bread (he licked the top). My neighbor who is a retired chef said it was “very good, but still has that cake-like quality that all gluten free bread seems to have.” He then ate some more. Apparently, the flavor is not affected by this cake-like texture.
I made one fake rye and one plain. Despite being a tad too sour, they are darn tasty if you ask me.
I have been contemplating and tinkering with how to make a vegan or GF/CF bread for years. I was also looking for something simpler. I mean, look in any gluten free bread baking book and you’ll find myriad ingredients ranging from chia seed gel stuff to Knox gelatin to recipes using six different flours. Don’t get me wrong, I own those books and I’ve made those recipes. In fact, my pizza recipe is awesome, but it has a lot of ingredients.
The problem with these recipes is that they usually require shopping at multiple stores, shelf space, more dirty dishes etc etc. And as if eating gluten free didn’t already make you sometimes feel like a freak, when you are standing there making bread with twenty ingredients, that feeling only gets worse.
My first three attempts at a simpler bread had one egg white in them. I must admit that I think the egg white makes a huge difference in not only appearance, but texture. This bread is good, damn good in fact, but the egg may come back in future loaves. Of course it can be left out if one chooses.
It will be interesting to see where this journey takes me.
~Sarah
