Gluten Free in Halifax : If gluten free was a superhero, it would be...GRAIN POWER

In case anyone missed the point of this entire blog; I love food! I think it comes from my Mom and Dad, both of whom enjoy good food and they rarely went out to sit down restaurants without my brother and I in tow. We were not much of a fast food family and much preferred the quietude of a restaurant with service and varying menu. You could almost call us food snobs, but we did have the occasional fast food sojourn which was not as fun as our restaurant adventures and usually occurred due to convenience and time constraints.

It wasn’t until food stopped loving me and caused me absolutely nothing but grief in 2010 that I lost my passion for cooking and subsequently eating. I began existing on the things that would keep my stomach from aching, my energy levels from taking a sharp nose dive and my weight from plummeting. Even when I was off and on the gluten free lifestyle, while waiting for testing, I felt like a fish out of water not knowing where to turn, what to cook and eat for the best. It has been a series of trial and errors, up and downs and I am wishing that a book like Grain Power: Over 100 Delicious GLUTEN-FREE Ancient Grain & Superblend Recipes by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming existed then. It did not however, but I am so very glad that it does now. The biggest hurdle has been getting enough fibre and grains into my diet and it has not been easy. I have existed on mostly chia, flax and buckwheat and psyllium fibre with the occasional quinoa and amaranth thrown in for the last year, but now with this book I can become further educated on the other types of grains that exist for those of us whom wheat is no longer an option.

The first 30 pages of this book are a rich resource for those either just beginning their journey using these ancient grains or who wish to further enhance their knowledge. Each grain has a brief description written about them in the introduction, detailing their origins and uses, however it does not end there as it does in most other whole grain cookbooks. Each grain is then given the star treatment and Patricia & Carolyn give in depth details about how to use each grain, cook each grain, turn each grain into flour, the yields they produce and each grain has a checklist that describes their flavour, texture, gluten-free status, classification as seed or grain and whether or not they are a complete protein. A detailed nutritional chart is also included in this section as well as a how-to section on sprouting the grains. Every piece of information that you could possibly wish to know is in this section.

Beyond the introduction the reader then delves into the nitty gritty of the book, the recipes. When I first received the book from Penguin Canada I flipped the book open to a picture of a chocolaty concoction that looked too good to be true; Chewy Chocolate Granola with Cherries & Buckwheat (Pg. 52) and I knew that this would be the first recipe on my list to try. I had to pick up a couple of ingredients to make this, as my pantry was not well stocked at the time in either the proper ingredients or the suggested alternatives listed. The recipe instructions were easy to follow and all the nutritional information was at the bottom of the page. The granola really was as good as its picture made it out to be although I think the next time I make it; I will cook it a little longer and crisp it up slightly. Two different time allotments are in the recipe and chewy is the lower time allotment but there is no indication as to what type of chewy that would be. As it turns out it is no cook, chocolate macaroon chewy before they are set. A good baseline indication would have been helpful for the recipe as I prefer my granola in between chewy and crunchy. The other thing was the fact that the recipe calls for slivered almonds, but I noticed in the photograph that natural, sliced almonds are present. Anyone who does any baking will know the difference between the two and I guess it boils down to a matter of preference. I prefer natural almonds and generally have them on hand in my cupboard as a staple to any type of blanched almond.

The next two recipes that I tried after indulging my chocolate craving, were two things that went perfectly together and were a perfect winter meal and made enough for me to have it for lunch all this week at work. I made the Smoked Ham & Leek Amaranth Soup (Pg. 116) and the Cheddar Garlic Ancient Grain Biscuits (Pg. 104). The soup was really quick and easy to whip up and I even had the amaranth in the cupboard as I use it in another recipe. It was tasty the first night, but better the next day after the flavours had melded together. I made one major swap in this particular recipe and that was the cream. In order to keep my soup dairy-free I used an almond/coconut milk combination instead of the cream and it worked just as well without altering the flavours. The amaranth and the starch from the potatoes (I added a little bit of sweet potato too) gave the soup a split pea soup consistency which was pleasantly surprising and belly filling. However, soup without biscuits just seems wrong, so it did not take long to make the batter and add the cheese and parsley and bake them up. One thing did confuse me about the recipe and that was in the preamble when the authors state, “Potato starch helps keep them gluten-free and gives them a lighter flavour,” (Green & Hemming, Pg. 104) But all of my ingredients were wheat and gluten-free, so how does potato starch “keep” it gluten-free? An unseasoned gluten-free cook might also be confused by this terminology.

Overall the book is put together and organized well. Most of the recipes have corresponding swaps suggested by the authors in case you do not have something on hand and most have an accompanying photograph that tantalises the reader in to wondering what to make next. I am already trying to determine that myself and I am intrigued about trying to make my own crackers. I am glad this book has found its way into my collection and I have a feeling that it will be put to good use. Kudos to Patricia & Carolyn for putting Grain Power into the hands of those who need it and those who just want to experiment with different types of whole grains.