Sorghum recipes

[Atash Hagmahani]

http://www.ksgrains.com/sorghum/Sorghum%20Recipes.pdf

White sorghum has a mild flavor. I kinda suspected it would work in lots of things as long as they don't need any gluten to hold them together.

I'm pushing wheat substitutes because I think wheat is going to get scarce. You can use a lot of other grains to make non-wheat flours, as long as gluten is not needed, which, for a lot of things, it's not. In fact, you don't WANT any gluten in your cookies, scones, or waffles; they'd be tough and leathery instead of tender.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Duh, the idea is to grow your own Sorghum IF you have an appropriate climate. Actually it is fairly tolerant. Grow it where corn grows but Sorghum is actually somewhat more tolerant. Good grain for hot and humid summers that are too short for rice.

[opsec]

http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/gluten-free-casein-free-flour-tortillas/

Here's a recipe for gluten-free tortillas. I eat tortillas a lot more than bread. Do you know if Sorghum can be used for this?

Gluten Free Flour Tortillas
(makes 8 tortillas that are gluten free and casein free)

2 c. Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. warm water

1. Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients thoroughly. (I do this with my hand)

2. Add the cup of warm water to the bowl and mix the dry goods into the water with your hand. Just squish it all up until all of the dry ingredients are no longer dry. And then keep mixing a minute longer because it’s fun and we should all be pretend we’re kids once in a blue moon. =)

3. Separate the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place all but one of the dough balls back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap until you’re ready to work with them.

4. Sprinkle a clean, flat surface with a bit of rice flour and then roll you dough ball into a roughly circular shape. Get is as thin as possible. (If you need some practice on rolling out dough, check back here Friday for a tortilla rolling tutorial)

5. Throw the tortilla onto a hot griddle (I use a cast iron griddle on medium heat with just a smidge of shortening or oil) and let it cook approximately 1 minute – or until it has started puffing up and the bottom side is developing those lovely brown spots. Flip the tortilla and cook the other side until is toasty as well.

6. Slide the cooked tortilla onto a waiting plate and repeat from step 4 until you’ve cooked all 8 tortillas. I generally roll one tortilla out while another is cooking, so that there’s is always a tortilla on the gridle.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Probably. Notice that it's using xanthan gum as a binder.

One of my concerns with eating too much non-yeasted grain is the phytic acid binding up nutrients. Remember that post about "nixtamalization" that you posted? All grains have similar problems though corn is especially bad; you could end up with pellagra eating too much corn without the lime to neutralize the phytic acid.

One of my ideas is instead of eating tortillas, make a yeasted batter similar to that of a dosa (dosas are not yeasted, but fermented. Probably has the same effect of breaking down the phytic acid), and make thin pancake-like breads similar to a dosa (from southern India) or Injera (the flat bread of Ethiopia, which is usually but not always a type of sourdough). That way, you don't have to deal with anti-nutrients. (plants don't want us to eat their seeds and are trying to sabotage us!)

Wrap these around savory ingredients--whatever you have on hand or in the garden. Hearty greens or potatoes would be good. Spiced lentils like Ethiopians eat (Misir wot) would be good. Leftover meats would be good.

[Lady Lilya]

Atash, if you soak the whole grains for 24 hours first, then grind them and add the other ingredients, that eliminates the phytic acid issue.  There are tons of websites with recipes about that. 

It isn't the yeast that breaks down the anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors, it is the warm and moist conditions.  Remember, the grains are designed to sprout when wet and warm, and to defend themselves against digestion in the mean time.  (Which is why some people soak until at least the point of sprouting, to ensure all the phytates are gone.)

Look up Sue Gregg's blender batter for pancakes.  It is the most well-known recipe.

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Opsec, most of my gluten-free friends use a blend of flours, usually aiming for a neutral flavor and texture.  Each has tweaked based on their family's preferences and so they are all different.  And they all use some sort of gum to make up for the lack of gluten. 

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BTW, Atash, have you ever heard of Crispy Nuts?  Since nuts have phytates too, many of my friends soak them for 24 hours, then dry them back out in a low oven.  Makes them crispy.  But remember, once you eliminate the phytates, they are susceptible, and shouldn't be stored for any length of time. 

The real key to phytate-free eating is planning your meals ahead, so you can put grains and seeds and nuts to soak the day before.  If you need a grain you haven't pre-soaked, you are better off using refined versions for that meal and do better with your planning next time. 

Phytate-free eating also means storing your grains in whole form, and grinding the soaked grains just before use.  Which means you need the right grinding equipment that can handle something moist.  But it also eliminates the concern about the natural grain oils becoming rancid while flours and meals sit in storage. 

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Right now I am taking a bit of a vacation from worrying about maximizing nutritional health.  But when I start up again, I plan to work my meals around small quantities of rare-cooked grass-fed meats, large quantities of pasture raised eggs, large quantities of grass-fed home-fermented dairy, large quantities of home-fermented veggies and salsas and chutneys, and a moderate amount of soaked grain and nut products.  I think this diet would function best for us in terms of macronutrients and micronutrients. 

[Atash Hagmahani]

Soaking their rice before grinding it is how Indians make their dosa batter. I have no objections do doing it that way; the only problem is that I don't have a warm enough climate to get it slightly fermented, which is how the batter turns bubbly. Hence the yeast.

Sprouting, bacteria, and yeast all work.

I was curious about this issue and looked it up. Turns out a few folks are claiming phytates "protect" us from "excessive" mineral content and free radicals!!

But I think that deficiency diseases caused by lack of enough minerals are more common than too much mineral. Zinc deficiency used to be rampant among the poor in Egypt and Iran from eating too much unleavened bread, and poor Italians used to get deficiency diseases from eating too much polenta. Poor southerners used to get pellagra from eating too much corn-meal.

I'm also concerned about our soils wearing out, and just not providing enough mineral as it is. So, better to get maximum nutrition out of grains. Remember, according to blood types, I'm supposed to eat a lot of grain anyway! Oddly enough it seems very natural to me. If I haven't had a hearty bread to eat, I feel like I haven't really eaten.

[Lady Lilya]

Well, phytates ARE antioxidants.  But so are lots of other things that we all get plenty of.  I don't think the tradeoff is worthwhile. 

And there is such a thing as too much antioxidants.  I was just reading about how the high antioxidant levels in tea can contribute to difficulty absorbing enough folic acid while pregnant.  Yet our culture's nutritional advisers seem to push us to consume as much antioxidants as possible.  No wonder they think we are in desperate need of more phytates!

You are right, Atash, that mineral deficiencies abound in the modern United States.  One way to get more is to make bone broths.  They can be used for soups or as a base for sauces.  Some people drink them throughout the day as a tea. 

[opsec]

It isn't the yeast that breaks down the anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors, it is the warm and moist conditions.

 

I forgot about this. Does this mean you can just soak corn overnight and dispense with the lime altogether? Maybe the lime is just being used for expediency and is not essential to the process of breaking down the phytates.

[Atash Hagmahani]

I forgot about this. Does this mean you can just soak corn overnight and dispense with the lime altogether? Maybe the lime is just being used for expediency and is not essential to the process of breaking down the phytates.

Probably. I visited Sue Gregg's website, and I think she is partially correct: pre-industrial people often (not always) soak their grains to make them cook faster. Often they were using firewood for cooking heat and did not have enough to spare for long cook times.

I would guess that grinding down to flour first is partially an expediency, and partially an issue of division of labor. The problem is that whole-meal flours don't keep long. Better to only grind grains as you need them.

I've eaten "flour free" breads before, made from grains ground wet after sprouting.

[Lady Lilya]

The Traditional Nutrition people and the Weston A Price Foundation people have lots of data about this topic.  I've only scratched the surface.

Opsec, they say an acid medium is most ideal.  ie putting some whey into the soaking liquid.  If you fermented foods regularly, you'd have more whey than you know what to do with.  (I've only done a small amount of fermenting, and after filling several water bottles with it in the fridge to keep on hand for kickstarting new ferments, I ended up just dumping most of my extra whey down the drain.)

[Ozark Lady]

My experience with alternate grains has been, that they make breads very heavy.

I can make good cornbread, but other than corn, if I use grains in bread it is heavy.

I have never grinded a grain, I am talking about store-bought grain flours.

I grew up with barley, rice, lentils etc in soups not in breads.  Even whole wheat bread, I find is too heavy without being mixed mostly with white flour.

Is there a way to lighten alternative grains?

[Atash Hagmahani]

Yeast-leavened breads really need gluten. There are ways around this using vegetable gums, but the bread comes out tasting like cardboard. :(

Some quickbreads do not need gluten, especially if they have egg in them. Egg makes a fairly good, though delicate, binder. But delicate is exactly what you want. Pancakes with eggs, for example, can be made out of non-glutinous grains. Actually, you can even make pancakes without eggs, if you let the batter ferment.

Indians make dosas and Ethiopians make Injera out of non-glutinous grains, and they come out spongey. So it's possible to make a sort of "bread" out of non-glutinous grains, but it's a wrapper, not a loaf. My idea is to make a wrapper that you would wrap whatever savory vegetables you have in it, for a cheap and easy-to-make supper.

I'll experiment some time when I have some time.

[Lady Lilya]

All of my wheat-free friends have perfected flour combos they use that also include different gums. 

[Dame]

My sister insists she prefers using grape leaves as sandwich wrappers, rather than grain wrappers.  Quick, low cal and easy if you have grapes.

[Ozark Lady]

Okay, gums are purchased, a manufactured item?
So, how could you do this on the homefront and be self sufficient, if you are dependent on chemistry to create gums etc?
Are there naturally occuring gums?

I know that yeast is naturally occuring, and I have been experimenting with wild yeasts, and with keeping a dough alive, and not soured.

Next is salt rising... on my to experiment list.

And then I think that I will try soaking grains and using them, but I don't have a grinder, so they would have to be blender ground.