I made some nachos with homemade guac last week. Instead of the normal refried beans, I used a can of black refried beans! I love black beans! Anyway, there was about half of the beans left so I decided to throw together a cheat soup with them.
In about a tablespoon or so of olive oil, I tossed in a half tablespoon ground cumin, and about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, and about 2 teaspoons of my homemade Cajun spice mix. Browned that all for a minute, added 3 cups chicken broth and brought that to a boil. I added the beans, simmered it for a couple of minutes and added the leftover guac, cilantro and some cooked rice.
Sorry to lower the tone, but I was just having a conversation with someone about cultural differences with respect to baking flour.
It's not exactly sparkling conversation but is anyone willing to share about the flour(s) you have and use regularly and speculate about why there might be differences?
I have strong flour for making bread (in a breadmaker) because that's what it labelled as for. Plain flour for making roux or beurre manie, batter, dusting meat or fish prior to frying, and any rare instance of making pastry. Self-raising for even rarer instances of cake or scones. Cornflour for finishing fondue, or frying cubed tofu.
By 'protein' do you mean 'gluten'? That's the term used in the UK. You see products labelled as 'gluten-free'. I know there's genuine gluten intolerance, though some people (I have one in mind) avoid it as somehow inherently unhealthy.
Nope I mean protein as described on the side of the packet. It is related to gluten and is one of the major factors that impacts the type of flour and uses.
I mentioned it because in North America the (wheat) flour descriptions are different. So sometimes recipes talk about "all-purpose" flour, which isn't the same as either British plain or bread flour. I think one of the main differences is the protein content.
I looked at the packet as I was using some to thicken a sauce this afternoon and sure enough there was a quantity for protein (though none for gluten, leaving it open as to whether protein=gluten in this instance).
I have to say I have passed a fairly long life unaware of protein-not-quite-gluten, and I'm not sure how it would have impacted my cooking if I had known.
I mentioned it because in North America the (wheat) flour descriptions are different. So sometimes recipes talk about "all-purpose" flour, which isn't the same as either British plain or bread flour. I think one of the main differences is the protein content.
In the US, depending on the brand, cake flour contains around 7–9% gluten, all-purpose flour contains around 8–11% gluten, and bread flour contains around 12–14% gluten. As its name implies, “all-purpose” flour can be used for anything, though the results in breads on one end and cakes or pastries on the other might not be as great.
It's not exactly sparkling conversation but is anyone willing to share about the flour(s) you have and use regularly and speculate about why there might be differences?
We have bread flour, all-purpose flour, and rather than cake flour as such, White Lily all-purpose flour. White Lily has long been favored by (American) Southern cooks for use in cakes, pastries and biscuits (American meaning). It’s made from soft red winter wheat and has a gluten content of around 9%, so at the high end for cake flour and the low end for all-purpose flour.
We also have 1:1 gluten-free flour. We don’t have any self-rising flours, but I do sometimes use self-rising cornmeal for cornbread.
White Lily flour for biscuits. ( USA) All-purpose for bread and everything else. Whole wheat mixed with All-purpose for weekly bread baking. My son has given me some cake flour but I have yet to use it. Perhaps he was hoping for some cake on his next visit. As there is only me I do not tend to bake cakes, never was a big fan more of a pie person.
What happened to kidney chops? Those pork chops you could sometimes get that had a portion of kidney in with them.
Thought of this today when saw a tray of pork loin chops @ a local butcher; the bottom one ( cut below 12th rib) had a bit of pure white fat ( capsule of kidney) attached where one would expect but on closer inspection (yes I bought it) no piece of kidney therein
Tangential on the subject of gluten in flour: if you are a particular type of vegetarian or vegan, you can spend hours rinsing whole-wheat flour to extract the gluten, then form and cook the resulting gluten into a kind of veggie steak. With the right kind of spices, seasoning, and sauces, it doesn't taste half bad, but then you can say that of many things -- possibly even a cleaning sponge, which has a similar texture to a gluten steak.
I'm not vegetarian myself, but gluten steaks made in this fashion are very popular in Seventh-day Adventist subculture because so many people are vegetarian or vegan, and you end up eating them at church potlucks and at people's houses, so I've had a go at making them myself once or twice. Once was enough, actually -- very time-consuming and messy process and you'd have to love the result a lot more than I do, to do it regularly.
I confess to rather missing the "all-purpose" flour we got in Canada. The bread-machine recipe book I have is Canadian, and calls for either "all-purpose" or "bread" flour in most of the recipes. Now that I'm back in the UK I use "strong bread" flour, but it doesn't seem to give quite the same results.
Maybe I'll need to look for a British recipe book.
Yes, but for obvious reasons the church ladies of my youth (and indeed of the present) never called it that. I didn't hear the word Seitan till I was fully adult, and outside a church potluck context, and thought, "Wait, that's just gluten steaks they're talking about!"
A new product has landed in my supermarket. It's labelled "chickpeas with a zesty vinaigrette"and comes in a tiny can. The vinaigrette tastes of lemon, but I think there's more to it.
Can anyone suggest what it could be so I can make some for myself please?
A new product has landed in my supermarket. It's labelled "chickpeas with a zesty vinaigrette"and comes in a tiny can. The vinaigrette tastes of lemon, but I think there's more to it.
Can anyone suggest what it could be so I can make some for myself please?
Is this the product? If so, the label at the link lists ingredients.
Comments
In about a tablespoon or so of olive oil, I tossed in a half tablespoon ground cumin, and about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, and about 2 teaspoons of my homemade Cajun spice mix. Browned that all for a minute, added 3 cups chicken broth and brought that to a boil. I added the beans, simmered it for a couple of minutes and added the leftover guac, cilantro and some cooked rice.
Yum Yum!
It's not exactly sparkling conversation but is anyone willing to share about the flour(s) you have and use regularly and speculate about why there might be differences?
Self-raising 9.3% protein
Plain 9.7% protein
Bread flour 11.7% protein
Chapatti flour 12.1% protein
I normally make bread with a mix of the last two, everything else with plain or SR.
I mentioned it because in North America the (wheat) flour descriptions are different. So sometimes recipes talk about "all-purpose" flour, which isn't the same as either British plain or bread flour. I think one of the main differences is the protein content.
I have to say I have passed a fairly long life unaware of protein-not-quite-gluten, and I'm not sure how it would have impacted my cooking if I had known.
We have bread flour, all-purpose flour, and rather than cake flour as such, White Lily all-purpose flour. White Lily has long been favored by (American) Southern cooks for use in cakes, pastries and biscuits (American meaning). It’s made from soft red winter wheat and has a gluten content of around 9%, so at the high end for cake flour and the low end for all-purpose flour.
We also have 1:1 gluten-free flour. We don’t have any self-rising flours, but I do sometimes use self-rising cornmeal for cornbread.
Thought of this today when saw a tray of pork loin chops @ a local butcher; the bottom one ( cut below 12th rib) had a bit of pure white fat ( capsule of kidney) attached where one would expect but on closer inspection (yes I bought it) no piece of kidney therein
I'm not vegetarian myself, but gluten steaks made in this fashion are very popular in Seventh-day Adventist subculture because so many people are vegetarian or vegan, and you end up eating them at church potlucks and at people's houses, so I've had a go at making them myself once or twice. Once was enough, actually -- very time-consuming and messy process and you'd have to love the result a lot more than I do, to do it regularly.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seitan
Maybe I'll need to look for a British recipe book.
Yes, but for obvious reasons the church ladies of my youth (and indeed of the present) never called it that. I didn't hear the word Seitan till I was fully adult, and outside a church potluck context, and thought, "Wait, that's just gluten steaks they're talking about!"
Can anyone suggest what it could be so I can make some for myself please?
Is this the product? If so, the label at the link lists ingredients.
(in my defense I needed to put on the glasses I use for needlework to read the tiny print)
Yes @questioning, Thank you.