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Baked Rice Paper Rolls

by Emilia on April 24, 2008

I was thinking about something to make for this months Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free event hosted by Gluten A Go Go, the theme is finger food and I thought I’ll make some rice paper rolls. My idea is not highly imaginative, but these rice papers rolls have been a life saver for me; spring rolls are one of my all time favorite foods and I went through some major agony when I found out that I could not have them anymore.

I discovered rice paper some years after going gluten-free and I didn’t actually know that I can bake them or fry them; I just ate them as summer rolls. After some time I tried baking them and they were almost like spring rolls, crispy, but maybe too chewy, this makes them a bit different than spring rolls. They are anyway good enough for me when I want to indulge myself with something crisp and salty.

You can of course use any filling you desire, but my choice is some salty and hot fried cabbage. I ate these kinds of spring rolls for the first time several years ago when I was 16, if I remember correctly, and never forgot about them, I still crave them occasionally. Those fantastic and perfect spring rolls I got the pleasure to taste were made by a Chinese couple; they travel around Finland during the summer and serve food at different summer events. I haven’t been able to do the exact kind of cabbage I tried back then, but I’ve managed to make something almost like it, the biggest flavors in this are garlic and salt. I still regret not asking them what they used in those spring rolls.

Spicy cabbage filling

-3 cups diced white cabbage

-5 scallions

-4 minced garlic cloves

-1 tbls grated ginger

-1 red long chilli, I used the seeds too

-1 tbls rice vinegar

-2 tbls gluten-free soy sauce, I use tamari

-salt according to taste

-1 tbls sugar or syrup of some kind, I use honey or ketchup

-a dash of black pepper

-peanut oil, or some other kind of oil

Heat a pan on medium heat and add the oil and then the cabbage. Fry them until the cabbage has become soft and somewhat see through. Put the cabbage aside and add all of those spices - garlic, chilli, ginger, tamari and ketchup (or sugar) to the oil, move them around a bit in the hot oil and then add the cabbage, salt, black pepper and vinegar. Fry them for a small while and then add the diced scallions.

Taste to make sure you like it, add some spices if necessary.

I have found two different kinds of rice papers.

Start by taking a big bowl and fill it with warm water, then you’ll also need a damp towel and a dry towel.

Dip the rice paper into the warm water so that it turns see through and soft.

Take it out and place on top of a damp towel. Put some of the filling into it like this.

Then turn both of the sides like this.

Turn the lower part like this.

Keep on rolling upwards until you have this.

These can be eaten like this, but I usually brush them with some oil and bake them in the oven for a small while until they are crisp. It is much easier to bake these than to deep-fry them.

Usually I’ll have two kinds of sauces for these; the other one is just store bought sweet chili sauce and the other one is made by mixing hoisin sauce, peanut butter, minced garlic and water. Just mix everything together in a saucepan on medium heat until you have a sauce, taste it and add some more hoisin sauce, peanut butter or garlic according to taste.

Popularity: 55% [?]

Egg-Free Mayonnaise

by Emilia on March 21, 2008

Making your own mayonnaise is actually very easy and fast, this is why I never understood why people bought their mayonnaise; the taste of fresh mayonnaise can’t be compared with the stuff that has been sitting on shelves for a long time. Yes, I do know that some people have a difficult time making it, since it can split, but once you learn how to make it it’s easy.

Making egg-free mayonnaise was difficult for me at first; all the recipes I found were a bit too complicated and difficult and so I gave up and just bought some Plamil mayo. It all changed when I found a recipe on a message board which used only soy milk, salt, vinegar and oil, the only problem was that that particular recipe used a ton of vinegar; the tartness was just too much. I finally tried to adjust it by adding only some tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to the mayo and it worked - I was so happy that I could finally make my own egg-free mayonnaise and it tasted a lot like the real thing.

This recipe is easy and tasty. You can season the mayo with black pepper, curry, paprika or garlic, but I prefer using the traditional spice - Dijon mustard. As for oils I like to use rapeseed oil or sunflower oil, canola oil might be good too, but whatever oil you use don’t use olive oil, the taste is horrible.

Egg-free mayonnaise

This will make approximately 1/2 cup mayonnaise

-1/4 cup or 1 dl soy milk

-1-2 tbls lemon juice, I like to use 2 tbls because I like the tartness it gives, but if you like your mayonnaise sweeter, use just one tbls

-salt according to taste

-approximately 3/4 cup or 2 dl oil

-spices according to taste

Put the milk and the lemon juice into a bowl, add the spices and the salt into it and mix well, I use a bamix, but any kind of hand held mixer will do, or a whisk.

Continue mixing and start adding the oil, use the traditional method which means that you need to add the oil slowly mixing constantly, pour the oil in a steady very thin stream. Continue adding the oil until the mayonnaise is thick enough and then continue with the mixing for a small while, one minute is enough.

Popularity: 19% [?]

How To Make Nut Milk

by Emilia on February 21, 2008

Making nut milk is easy and it tastes good, it´s a great alternative to soy milk and pretty inexpensive. You can use it in your tea or coffee, it tastes a lot like full fat milk or cream in coffee. It works great in baking and cooking. The best thing about self made nut milk is that you will not be consuming large amounts of additives with it, but you will be consuming large amounts of minerals.

You can use any kind of nuts in it but I would recommend using almonds, pine nuts or cashews.

Using a sweetener is optional; if you are used to drinking regular milk or sweetened soy milk or rice milk, then I would recommend using some kind of sweetener. Cows milk has lactose in it which is one form of sugar and gives it that characteristic sweet taste which people are used to.
Don´t use roasted nuts in your nut milk, use plain raw nuts. If you feel like soaking your nuts over night, you can do it, just don´t use as much water when making the milk if that is the case. Some people don´t like using raw nuts since they do have anti nutrients in them which are believed to inhibit mineral absorption.

I like to store my milk in glass bottles like the one you can see in the picture, remember to wash them before using and heat them in a oven to get rid of any bacteria. You should always heat your bottles, glass jars etc. when making something which needs to be stored in them.

You will need a blender, some cheesecloth or a fine mesh and something to store your nut milk in.

Nut Milk Recipe

This recipe will make about 1,5 litres/6 cups of nut milk.

- 1,6 dl or 2/3 cups nuts

- 15 dl or 6 cups water

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2-3 tbls syrup of any kind

You need to start by grinding your nuts into a fine powder, I have a separate grinder like you can see above, but a basic blender works just fine.

Your nuts should look something like that above after you have done the grinding, be fast with it or you might end up with nut butter. Then add your nut powder into a blender, heat your water until it is almost boiling, measure 1 dl/0,4 cups of hot water and add the syrup and vanilla into the water if you are using them. Pour the measured water into the blender and mix until you have a creamy paste.

After your mixture has turned into a white paste add the rest of the hot water, mix everything together on high speed for a couple of minutes. Then pour your nut milk through a fine mesh or through a cheesecloth.

Now you have made some nut milk. It will keep for approximately one week, remember to shake it before using.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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