Bread!

As a person working on living gluten free for almost 15 years, I have struggled with finding good bread. Believe me, I have tried many brands and have worked on learning to bake it myself. In one word, ugh! Most gluten free breads do not taste good, most are a weird texture. In the past few years, I have basically given up. And, recently, am moving towards a world that is not only gluten free, but flour free, so bread is out. But, there are those days when a sandwich calls my name.

I have mentioned the name Mark Sisson before in another post. He advocates a caveman diet… no grains! He recently gave a link to this recipe which is the reason for this post. You can find the original recipe here, which gives the nutritional info and it is always interesting to read peoples’ comments.

Foccacia Style Flax Bread

2 c flax seed meal

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1-2 T sweetening power from artificial sweetener ( I will NEVER advocate using artificial sweetener. Please inform yourself about aspartame. I used xylitol, which kept it very low carb but have no problem recommending sugar. It just would change the nutritional information)

5 beaten eggs

1/2c. water

1/3 c. oil ( I used olive)

Preheat oven to 350º. Prepare pan ( a 10×15″ pan with sides works best) with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Mix dry ingredients well. Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren’t obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter ( if you look at the photo carefully, you will see that dreaded string!) Let batter set for 2 or 3 minutes to thicken up some ( leave it too long and it gets past the  point where it is easy to spread) Pour batter onto pan. Spread it out from the center into a rectangle an inch or so from the sides of the pan. Bake for aboutg 20 mins, until it springs back when you touch the tope. Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.

oh, this is good. It is moist. There is a bit of a bitter aftertaste from the flax but it is not really noticeable.  I actually followed the recipe exactly, which is unusual for me but in recipe testing, that is important. I can see many variation possibilities. How about adding some soaked raisins and cinnamon for a breakfast treat ? Or, add some garlic and rosemary for a more traditional foccacia ?

As a personal chef, I often have clients who are gluten free and I plan on making this a regular part of my menu. It is easy. It is delicious. It is healthy. What more could you ask for ? A simple thing like a tuna fish sandwich brought me much satisfaction today. And yes, there was mayonaisse involved.