Rice Flour

Rice flour is an alternative flour to gluten flour made from wheat, barley and rye.  Often rice flour can be substituted in recipes calling for wheat flour, however the taste and texture may be altered.  Rice flour has less protein that wheat flour.  Rice flour is higher in carbohydrates and lower in fiber that wheat flour.  Both flours are low in fat.  Wheat flour has more protein.  Rice flour is higher in calories.

Rice flour can be made from white rice or browning rice.  The fineness of the flour can be different from wheat flour.  All flours can have different grades of fineness.

Try using rice flour in pancakes and waffles, muffins, cakes, bread, cookies, thickening in soups and sauces, and batters for deep frying.

This Week’s Challenge – Experiment with rice flour

            Try substituting rice flour for all-purpose flour in a recipe.  Decide on a recipe.  Research online for suggestions to help with using rice flour for a substitute.  What were your results?  How was the recipe different?  What did you like about the substitution and what did you not like?  Would other alterations like, more salt, have helped the result?  Remember to record your findings in your journal.

Tip for this Week -  Rice flour

            Rice flour has less protein that wheat flour and can be drier.  It is recommended to and more eggs to baking with rice flour.  Often more liquid is needed, but let the batter set for a few minutes to absorb the liquid before adding more.  Sometimes more salt or baking powder are needed.  It depends on what you are making with this substitution.

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

Lemon Cream Cake with Rosewater Glaze

Lemon Cream Cake

½ C     Butter, unsalted at room temperature

2 C      Sugar

4          Eggs

2 C      Rice Flour

2 t        Baking powder

½ C     Cream or buttermilk

1 T       Lemon peel, grated

1 T       Lemon juice

1 t        Vanilla

Glaze

1 C      Water

¾ C     Sugar

1 t        Lemon zest

1 T       Rosewater

The ingredients

1.    Cream the butter and sugar.

2.    Mix in the eggs.

Dry ingredients added to the egg mixture

3.    Add the rice flour and baking powder.

4.    Add the cream, lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla.

Liquid ingredients added.

5.    Pour into a prepared tart pan.

Mix gently.

Spread in a prepared tart pan.

6.    Bake at 325 degrees 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool.

7.    Allow to cool while you make the glaze.

8.    In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar.

Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.

9.    Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil one minute.

10. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest.

Add the lemon zest.

11. Stir to cool about 1-2 minutes.

12. Add the rosewater.

13. Poke holes with a fork into the cake.

Slowly add the glaze allowing the cake

to absorb all the glaze.

14. Pour the glaze slowly over the cake a little at a time until all the glaze is added.

The lemon zest show be visible on the surface of the cake.

Fish of the Week

Fish & Chips with Rice Flour Batter

2 lb.     Cod Filets

            Vegetable or Canola oil

New potatoes, tri color, sliced

Salt

1 C      Rice flour

1 ½ t   Baking powder

1 t        Salt

            Pepper to taste

1 oz.    Beer

The ingredients

1.    In a heavy frying pan or Dutch oven, add 2-4 inches of oil and heat on high heat.

2.    Wash and scrub, the new potatoes and slice with a knife or crinkle cutter and sprinkle with salt.

I chose to make crinkle chips.  This an old

cutter that I use to cut vegetables and fruit.

I like using different colors to make the dish interesting.

3.    When the oil is hot about 425 degrees, add the potatoes and fry until golden brown.

4.    In a small bowl add the rice flour, baking powder, salt and pepper and blend.

Stir the flour to distribute the seasonings.  This

is a good place to experiment with other seasonings.

5.    Dredge the cod fillets in the flour mixture and set aside.

Add the beer and blend.  The bear will eventually stop foaming.

6.    Add one tablespoon oil and the beer to the flour mixture and stir.  Allow to set to thicken.

7.    When the potatoes are done, remove from the oil to drain on paper towels and sprinkle again with salt.

8.    Drip one filet into the batter and drop into the hot oil.

When the potatoes are done, remove them from the oil

and place on paper towels to drain.  Sprinkle well with

sea salt.  Dredge to cod in the batter and add the cod to the

same oil used for the potatoes.

Add caption

9.    Continue with the other filets until the pan is full.  Do not crown the filets, they should not be touching.

10. Cook until lightly browned on one side and turn to brown the other side.

11. Remove each fillet when done to drain on paper towels.

12. Serve with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce or my favorite Sriracha ketchup.  Also malt vinegar or fresh lemon go well with this.

Note: the rice flour texture is a little different.  It will not turn dark brown, a beautiful light golden brown.  It will be a little more crunchy.  It is hard to get it to stick to the fish, so there may be patches of naked fish.

Happy cooking!

Black Rice

Black Rice

            Black rice is also called forbidden rice or purple rice.  I first had this rice on my cruise through the Panama Canal.  It is very unique and more delicate than brown rice.  It is an interesting and elegant addition to a meal.  Black rice is higher in protein, antioxidants and fiber than other rice, including brown rice. It is lower in iron than red rice. 

Wild rice is not a true rice, but I am including it here since it is black.  Wild rice is a grass and a close cousin to rice.  It is gluten free and high in fiber and protein.  It has tough outer shell that resists water in the cooking and a softer inner kernel.  It takes a long time to cook wild rice and it is recommended that it should be parboiled or soaked for a long time before cooking.

Wild rice is on the left and forbidden rice on the right

Rice is used in main dishes, side dishes, salads, soups, desserts, appetizers and beverages.  It is one of our most versatile foods.  It is eaten at all meals and is a breakfast staple in the majority of the world.

This Week’s Challenge – Serve rice for breakfast

            In many cultures leftover rice is served for breakfast the next day.  It can be served warm or cold with milk, sugar, spices and fruit like breakfast cereal.  It can be made into porridge or pudding.  Keep in mind that brown, red and black rice are high in protein.  Be creative.

Tip for this Week – Leftover rice

            Rice will dry out in the refrigerator.  It is important to store leftover rice in an air tight container or wrapped with plastic wrap.  I usually sprinkle a little water over the rice before closing up the container.  If you reheat the rice in a microwave, add a little water to kind of resteam the rice.   If I serve steamed rice for dinner, I often make the leftover rice into a different dish, like fried rice or added to a soup.

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

Black Rice Ball

The ingredients leftover black rice and teriyaki salmon

2 C      Rice, cooked or leftover

6 oz.    Meat or fish, cooked and cubed, leftovers

1.    Dice the fish or leftover meat into one inch cubes.  It is easy to make this vegetarian by using diced cooked vegetable like eggplant of squash or pickled fruit or vegetable like plum pickles or olives.

Make sure your hands are wet with water.

2.    With wet hand take a table spoon of the rice and flatten it in your hand.

3.    Place a cube of filling on the rice and top with another tablespoon of rice.

The trick is to use enough rice to just cover

the fish and shape into a ball.

4.    Mold the rice around the cube, into al ball and set aside.

Cover the cube with more rice and roll into a ball.

Check to make sure all the fish is covered.

5.    Continue until all the rice or cubes are used up.

6.    Serve cold or at room temperature.

This is a great summer lunch or picnic item.  In Japan, this is a common summer lunch or bagged lunch item.  It is a great way to repurpose leftovers.  It can be used as an appetizer, breakfast or snack.  This is a nice lunch with cucumber salad.

Cornish Game Hens with Wild Rice Stuffing

2          Cornish Game Hens, thawed and cleaned (I like to debone them)

2 t        Olive oil

½ C     Onion, finely chopped

2          Celery stalks, diced

1 lg.     Garlic clove, minced

3-4      Mushrooms, diced

¼ C     Wild rice

1 C      Broth, chicken or Cornish game hen

½ C     White rice, cooked

¼ t       Tarragon flakes

¼ t       Sage, ground

            Salt and pepper to taste

            Olive oil

            Garlic powder

The ingredients

1.    Prepare the Cornish game hens.  If you debone them, simmer the bones to make the broth to be used for gravy.

The Cornish game hens deboned.  I leave the wing,

thigh and leg bones in to keep the hens in shape.

2.    Heat the oil in a skillet with a lid.

3.    Sauté the onions, celery, mushrooms and garlic until soft.

Saute the veggies until soft.

4.    Add the wild rice and sauté three minutes.

Add the wild rice.  The rice will double in size when cooked.

5.    Add the broth and cover.  Turn down the heat and simmer until the liquid is absorbed.

Add broth or water and cook until the 

liquid is absorbed

6.    In a small bowl add the leftover white rice and the seasonings.

Add the seasonings and mix into the leftover rice.

7.    When the wild rice mixture id done, add it to the white rice mixture and stir to blend.

The stuffing mixed and cooling

8.    Set aside to cool.

9.    Stuff the Cornish game hens with the stuffing and truss the birds.

10. Place the prepared hens in a baking dish.

11. Rug with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

12. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Out of the oven and resting

I sometimes make gravy from the drippings from the Cornish game hens and any leftover broth.  I like to debone Cornish game hens so that I can easily cut the bird in half lengthwise.  When deboning a bird, always use the bone to make broth.

This a reduction gravy made from the broth of the

bones and drippings from the roasting.  I repeated the

seasoning add to the white rice.

The deboned hen can easily be cut in half

Fish of the Week

Shrimp Creole with Black Rice

The Creole garnished with parsley and

serve with a homemade roll.

1 T       Olive oil

1 C      Bell peppers, diced

½ C     Celery, sliced

½ C     Onion, chopped

2          Garlic cloves, crushed

1 C      Black Rice, soaked for one hour and drained

1 can  Tomatoes, diced

1C       Water

1 t        Oregano, ground

½ t       Thyme, dried leaves

1 T       Sirracha hot pepper sauce

            Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb.     Shrimp, raw medium or large cleaned with tail on

            Parsley, chopped for garnish (optional)

The ingredients

1.    In an oven proof skillet with a lid, heat the oil.

2.    Sauté the bell pepper, celery and onion until soft.

Saute the veggies

3.    Add the garlic and cook a minute or two.

4.    Add the black rice and sauté, stirring, for two minutes.

Make sure the rice is well drained.

Remember the rice will double in size.

5.    Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a boil.

Tomatoes and seasoning added.

Water and juice from the tomatoes added

6.    Add the seasonings and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for 20 minutes

7.    Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Shrimp added and placed in the oven.

8.    Check the amount of liquid and the doneness of the rice.  Add more water if necessary.

9.    Place the shrimp on top of the rice mixture, cover with the lid and set in the oven.

10. Bake 20-30 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the rice is tender.

11. Remove from the oven and allow to set 3 minutes.

12. Garnish with the parsley.

White rice can be used instead of the black rice.

Happy Cooking!