“If Time, so fleeting, must like all humans die, let it be filled with good food and good talk, and then embalmed in the perfume of conviviality.”
– MFK Fisher, “Meals for Me” in Serve it Forth
Red beannn
While riding the high of successfully making muffins with pureed lentilness (see below), I decided I would try making red bean muffins in the same manner. I added some coconut flakes and chocolate chips. They were a bit dense…meaty, shall we say? Still good though. Substantial. I think I prefer the consistency of the lentils more (and the golden yellowy colour is so pwetty), but the innards of the red bean have that purpley-white-red warm hue of adzuki.
Project Bean Muffin continues….
A couple of weeks ago I cooked some red lentils for an Indian stew. I had some leftover lentils, and as I peered into the sloshy mess in the pot, I thought, “What could I do with you, Sloshy?”
Muffins. Heck yes.
So I tipped the lentils into the blender and whirled it until smooth, and added some rice flour, agave syrup, and some pumpkin and flax seeds, and then baked it until golden!
It was nummy.
moofins
Recently I’ve gotten into gluten-free, vegan baking, mostly of muffins. I know a few people who are celiac, meaning they are allergic to the gluten protein in wheat. I have read a few books about the commercial practices of meat production, and find it unappetizing and cruel to eat animals that have been mistreated. Moreover, the food scientist in me loves the challenge of developing gluten-free (GF) recipes. Most GF baked goodies are full of starch (rice, potato, corn) to replace the wheat flour. This means there isn’t much protein and fibre in the food, which isn’t very nutritional balanced, nor is it functionally helpful in terms of creating a baked good that is aerated, holds together, and isn’t heavy as a door stop. The beauty of gluten is that it creates a cohesive structure that holds in air bubbles that develop from rising agents like baking powder and from gas expansion during baking, so you get a light, fluffy treat to pop in your mouth. Without it, you tend to get something that is heavy, dry, and crumbly, qualities which GF bakedness is notorious for.
Anyway, before I launch into a discourse on the amino acid structure of wheat protein, let’s just say that I want to make GF yummies that aren’t sad ghosts of their gluten-containing counterparts, that both celiacs and non-celiac can enjoy in rosy, Lucullan harmony. I believe we can achieve! Oh yes indeedy.
Besides, wheat is just soooo pedestrian.
If you know me personally, get ready to be force fed all my experiments. Don’t worry, its going to be great. Just hold still…
Well
I like to bake. I like to eat. I have a thing for muffins. My friends say they like what I make and since I can’t stop thinking about food, I might as well think out loud and indulge my penchant for egocentricity and self-indulgence.
Toodle loo for now!