We’ve got a most unusual giveaway this week.  Very hip new product.

Zocalo Sweet Potato Flour. We’re giving away TWO one pound boxes. So there will be two winners.

Let me tell you how I learned about this product.  At the university where I teach (Bastyr University) we have many students who eat a gluten-free diet.  In both the Dining Commons and the culinary classes we are always looking for innovative ways to make tasty gluten free products.  One day I heard that the chefs in the Dining Commons had produced  some awesome coconut cupcakes using this flour.  I marched right up there and asked if I could borrow a cup.  It worked really well in Raspberry Lemon Thumbprint Cookies.  Also in Sweet Potato Corn Muffins. I bought my own boxes and started adding some to breads, muffins and scones. I used a tablespoon in the Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes recipe we’re featuring this week.  Very fun product.

The ingredients?  100% sweet potato.  The sweet potato has been a significant source of nutrition for over 8,000 years and in modern times is known for its  high  fiber, vitamin A, iron, and calcium. Despite the name “sweet,” studies have shown that it actually helps stabilize blood sugar levels. The roots are most frequently boiled, fried, or baked. They can also be dried and processed to make starch and flour. Sweet potato flour holds moisture well, brings a richness of flavor, and adds a slight sweetness to any baked good.  Sweet potatoes are a proud member of the EWG “Clean 15″ list too.

The Zocalo company also makes a nutty tasting Mesquite flour (that Patrice added to some chocolate chip cookies - divine!), as well as quinoa flour, lima bean flour and more.  Check it out!

HOW TO ENTER THE DRAWING!

For a chance to play with Sweet Potato Flour:

1. Be a subscriber of Cookus Interruptus  Not a subscriber yet? Type your email address in the subscribe box right up there on the right above the blue navigation box.   There’s also a place to subscribe on our home page (upper  left).  I check this.  The last two contests I’ve had to move on and punch up a new number on random.org because the first choice folks weren’t subscribers.

2. Be a friend on  Cookus Interruptus facebook.  Not our facebook friend?  Easy.  Go to the Cookus Facebook page and click the thumbs up “like”.

3. Add a comment to this blog post (not facebook)  telling us ( in a sentence or two) any silly pet names you were called as a child.  Unfortunately no one called me Sweet Potato.  Instead I got called Hammerhead (by my dad - don’t ask), Cindy Sue (don’t ever call me this).  Later in life I have been sometimes called Miss Cynthie and my friend Brian refers to me as “That Lair Woman”.  Okay.  I’ve totally fessed up.  Your turn now.   Only ONE entry per person please.  Multiples will be deleted.

4. Contest ends at 5pm on Sunday May 20th .  Check your email on May 21st .   The  winners will be chosen by random.org.  If you don’t respond to your “winner” email by Tuesday the 22nd  @ 5pm , we will choose a new winner.

Don’t you just love working with different kinds of flours?  I do.  Each grain expresses different flavors and textures. Ta da!  The best  flours to use when you need to avoid wheat.

I’ve divided the nine into wheat-free flours – for those of you who like to have the variation but who don’t necessarily need to make gluten-free baked goods – and gluten free wheat-free flours.

One of our culinary students at Bastyr, Benita Baird, is a very skilled gluten-free baker.  So much so that she already has a job prior to graduation!  I have added Benita’s two cents throughout. Neither Benita nor I are particularly fond of wheat-free, gluten-free baked goods that employ bean flours.  We find them too beany, which sounds redundant but I can’t think of another way to express it.

Wheat-free flours
1.    Barley – Here’s a nice change from wheat with enough gluten to hold a cookie or muffin together (but not enough to make a loaf of bread).  Barley flour has a slightly sweeter taste than wheat, but produces a similar texture.
2.    Kamut – This grain is an ancient form of durum wheat that flourished in Egypt 5000 years ago.  About 2/3 of those with wheat allergies can tolerate kamut. This grain has a more delicate texture than standard wheat and products made from the flour have a golden color.  I like using it to make bread or using some as part of the dough for bread.
3.    Spelt- This durable grain has enough gluten in it to make nice yeasted bread.  A hybrid of emmer, the grain originated in SE Asia and was brought to the Middle East 9000 years ago.  Its thick husk protects it from pollutants. Spelt is higher in protein, fat and fiber than wheat.

Wheat-free AND gluten-free flours
4.    Almond meal – Benita finds almond meal or almond flour a little bland and pricey for what you get.  Fair enough.  I have had some good luck making gluten free cookies and muffins by combining freshly ground almonds with freshly ground sweet brown rice flour (you have to have a flour mill).  There’s enough fat and  moisture when ground fresh to keep the baked good from having that dry gritty texture and I didn’t need to add the gums.
5.    Buckwheat flour is great, says Benita, “because it forms a gelatinous aspect  much like xanthan or guar gum, meaning those don’t need to be used! Savvy gluten-free bakers take advantage of this and find gums innecessary when using buckwheat flour. I don’t usually use the pre-ground flour unless I’m making something that I want to scream BUCKWHEAT. Instead, I buy raw (or untoasted) buckwheat groats and grind them as needed in the coffee grinder. The flour is very soft, absorbent, fairly neutral in flavor and has a color comparable to whole wheat flour making it one of the most all-purpose gluten-free flours out there.”  Buckwheat is an awesome grain too because it’s is high in fiber and low in calories and fat.  It is also rich in lysine, not present in most grains.
6.    Hazelnut flour – Benita says this is the flour to buy if you are willing to spend a little extra to get a lot extra.  She loves working with hazelnut meal because it adds a buttery, rich quality to crumble toppings and pie crusts. It’s not very absorbent, however, and Benita warns it should mostly be used for texture and flavor in baked goods and not as a main flour.
7.    Rice flour is the main go-to flour for gluten-free bakers.  We have a gluten-free flour recipe on Cookus (click here) that centers around rice flour.  This grain needs a little sumpin’ sumpin’ to make the baked good stick together so we add some potato starch, tapioca flour and xanthum gum.   Sweet brown rice has a higher fat content than regular rice flour which means the flour mix won’t  require as much of the extra gums or flours and as mentioned before, I have had good outcomes combining sweet brown rice flour with almond flour.
8.    Sweet potato flour –  my new heart throb flour.  Stay tuned because not only are we going to show you how to make some Chocolate Lava Mini-cakes using this flour but also we’re giving away two boxes of it.  What’s it made out of?  Just dried ground sweet potatoes – so the nutritional profile is out of this world.  My sourdough starter gets all jazzed up when I feed it some sweet potato flour.  If the baked good has some ground nuts in it, you will probably not need any tapioca or gums. If not, you might add a teaspoon of tapioca flour to the mix.  And I guess it goes without saying that you’re going to get a beautiful pale orange color.  The “sweet potato-ness” doesn’t come through enough to overwhelm – just a hint. Adding this flour adds a slight spongy texture to the food.
9.    The teff grain  and flour from it are what is used to make the Ethiopian flat bread injera.  You know that bread that has  a stretchy texture to it?  Well that stretchiness comes in real handy when making wheat-free (or even non wheat-free) baked goods, especially if you’re using a base of rice flour or other flours and need something to give the dough some stickiness.  We use it in the Gingerbread Molasses Cookies on Cookus Interruptus.  My friend Mary uses teff flour in her brownies where the sticky stretchy makes gooey goodness. This flour can’t stand alone to make a cookie or cake.  Best if used as an added flour for texture.

Yee haw for Becky from Winston Salem, North Carolina!

Random.org spun out #56.

She wrote, “My favorite thing about my garden is the fact that it’s right outside my back door. It’s easy to sneak in a few minutes of gardening since it’s so close to the house and I like being able to see it easily from my back door.”

Nice.

Loved loved loved hearing about everybody’s garden!  Willi did too.  And some folks posted pictures - extra credit!  The most touching thing was that so many posts began with the words “I love…”.  Anybody else notice that?

CONTEST CLOSED.  Thank you for sharing your love of gardens!

I’m proud as spring peas to bring you this beautiful, practical book for our next giveaway.  Already in it’s third reprint (after being available for like two monthes…), this how-to from Willi Galloway is hotter than a serrano pepper.

Described as ” A Food Lover’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening, Including 50 Recipes, Plus Harvesting and Storage Tips” we feel this book is perfect for our Cookus Interruptus friends who are gardners or those dreaming of a little garden.  From sinking a seed into the soil through to sitting down to enjoy a meal made with vegetables and fruits harvested right outside your back door, this kitchen gardening book is filled with  useful information for both novices and seasoned gardeners alike. (more…)

My stomach and I like our beauty sleep. The following day is so much more enjoyable and productive after a restful night. If we time our meals with some degree of consciousness, our sleep benefits are magnified. No really. Read on.

(more…)

Chosen by random.org (not ME because I could never pick…so many people that I would like to be my friend and hope that they need to butter me up !)

#36 and #111

“I butter people up with buttery, flaky biscuits. With butter and jam on top. Or gravy.” says Katie from Oakland.  Mmm. Stop on by.

Brenna from Colorado wrote:

“I don’t know what is more fun — this butter crock or reading everyone’s posts! Great ideas. My boyfriend moved with me from the Seattle area to Colorado so I could go to graduate school, so I butter him up by cooking dinners for the two of us to share most nights of the week, no matter how hectic school is. Sunday night dinners are particularly fun, but we can find any reason to celebrate and toast over dinner!”

Here comes your butter crocks ladies!

I want out give a shout out to Roberto for writing the funny joke and to his wife who seems to adore him

And to everyone really.  Wonderful answers.  Gives me ideas…

“

One of my whole foods lectures at Bastyr University centers around de-mystifying how fats and oils are processed and refined for human consumption.  Learning how palm oil is produced, so I could bring this information to my classes, was distressing.

Many food processors, seeking to eliminate trans-fat, which comes from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, have switched to using palm oil.  (more…)

CONTEST CLOSED.  THANKS TO EVERYONE!

Many years ago while visiting my mother-in-law in southern California, I was  preparing a piece of morning toast and peered in the frig to find some butter.  Imagining that I would be scraping the hide off of my  bread trying to spread hard cold butter on it, she walked in and pointed to the counter.  Following her lead I spied this cute little crock.  What a surprise  when I easily pulled off the top and found a little cup of perfectly spreadable delicious butter.  (more…)

Jennifer from North Carolina emailed us this week asking for ideas on something other than mayonnaise to spread on her kid’s sandwiches.  Most mayo is made from refined seed oils that are …well questionable as to their wholesomeness. Read our previous post “Check Your Oil“.   And then there’s the eggs involved, which some people need to avoid.  Regardless, it’s cool to change up what you slap on your bread and occasionally move away from the mustard-mayo routine, right?  So here are 5 pretty yummy subs. (more…)

Ladies and gentlemen, did you know that only 40 percent of adults say they eat breakfast at all.   The most common choice, of course, is cold cereal with milk — chosen by nearly a third of all adult breakfast eaters, according to an ABC poll. We can do better and here’s why we should; a better breakfast can help you: (more…)