Cooking Videos!!!

[Laura]

Ya'll really need to read Sydney MacDonald Baker's book "Detoxification and Healing" for its superb chapter on oils and fats. Refined oils, vegetable oils, were never meant to be consumed by human beings. They are one step away from plastic. Use butter, ghee, lard, duck fat, olive oil, and grapeseed oil for some things, and take plenty of fish oil or eat the small fishes (sardines, etc).

 

[shijing]

Ya'll really need to read Sydney MacDonald Baker's book "Detoxification and Healing" for its superb chapter on oils and fats.

Just got it today, and can't wait to start reading it this weekend since it comes so highly recommended :)

 

[dugdeep]

Something happened a couple of hours after my post on the date bread though. My stomach got upset and I had pain that lasted for a while. I don't know if this was a reaction to the flour, as I have cut all flour products off my diet. I have still been nibbling from the remains of the bread (too delicious to resist and partner made double quantity), with no apparent problems, but I have not eaten the same quantity I have on the first day. I think I need to properly test it once again by eating more of it.

Hi Gertrudes,
I'm about a week late on this, but I thought I should mention that your upset stomach may have been a reaction to the xylitol. When you first consume it, xylitol can cause gas and bloating because the body isn't used to it yet. From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol: "As with most sugar alcohols, initial consumption can result in bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence, although generally rather less so than other sugar alcohols like sorbitol." I noticed some gurgling in my gut the first time I used it too (put it in my morning smoothie), but continued use has built up my tolerance. I don't have any reaction to it now.

FWIW...

 

[Gertrudes]

Something happened a couple of hours after my post on the date bread though. My stomach got upset and I had pain that lasted for a while. I don't know if this was a reaction to the flour, as I have cut all flour products off my diet. I have still been nibbling from the remains of the bread (too delicious to resist and partner made double quantity), with no apparent problems, but I have not eaten the same quantity I have on the first day. I think I need to properly test it once again by eating more of it.

Hi Gertrudes,
I'm about a week late on this, but I thought I should mention that your upset stomach may have been a reaction to the xylitol. When you first consume it, xylitol can cause gas and bloating because the body isn't used to it yet. From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol: "As with most sugar alcohols, initial consumption can result in bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence, although generally rather less so than other sugar alcohols like sorbitol." I noticed some gurgling in my gut the first time I used it too (put it in my morning smoothie), but continued use has built up my tolerance. I don't have any reaction to it now.

FWIW...

Thanks for the info dugdeep. It's interesting that you mention xylitol as I just had a discussion about it today. In the health clinic where I work xylitol is apparently highly discouraged, main reason being that it is artificially processed. I looked it up on the net and the forum and couldn't really find anything about the dangers of xylitol except for pets. It's seems to be fine for humans. I think I need to do more research.

I am very familiar with the bloating, diarrhea and flatulence you described from other sources of sweet, your post has just shed a light on it. Looking back now to some episodes of intense bloating and the quantity of sweet sources I consummed I am sure, yes, it was the sweet... This was different though, in that I had none of those symptoms, just stomach pain. Similar to the pain I used to feel when eating dairy or wheat. I have been taking xylitol for about 2 months, but in very low quantities, just a tea spoon on my morning pourridge in the morning, and that's it. Don't know if that would be enough to build up my tolerance though.

My partner has cooked the bread again (double quantity, didn't last long!), but I was really careful and barely ate from it (He did it for me :P). No symptoms this time. I think need to eat more of it to see if was really the bread that caused it.

 

[Laura]

Some people don't tolerate xylitol well, but it has so many benefits that if you can, it's a useful addition to your diet. Even so, you don't want to overdo it!

One thing I have noticed is that people who do not eat a lot of fiber in their normal diet, when they start increasing it, sure get a lot of "action" in their intestines. It takes awhile to transition.

 

[Nienna]

I also used the almond butter on some GF bread that day and I may be allergic to almonds because I hadn't had them in awhile and ended up with itchy skin when I was trying to sleep.

This could very well be the case as I get itchy all over when I eat the nuts, too, and know that it is a reaction I get when I eat certain foods that my body cannot tolerate.

 

[Tina]

Just got around to making the date bread today. Had to make a couple of changes. I only had 1/4 cup of xilitol, so I used a 1/4 cup of organic apple sauce to make up some volume in case it mattered. I could only find chopped dates so used those and added walnuts. It turned out great. I didn't really see how it could taste bad with dates, walnuts, and a stick of butter! I did make it into ghee though. It was a nice dinner with a glass of homemade rice milk.

I'd like to try it with figs. I have two fig trees that put out hundreds of figs and I never do anything with them. I think figs would work becasue of the consistency and sweetness.

 

[Gertrudes]

Ok, so we have done some more bread this weekend. We transformed the date bread receipt into a bread that my partner could use for sandwiches. We have substituted the 4 cups of dates by 2 of chopped red onions, 1 of white onions, and 1 of leeks. Well, you probably have do enjoy onions as much as we do to enjoy this bread as much as we did :D It turned out with a wonderful flavour! We also added garlic and plenty of rosemary. A pinch of salt and a pinch o xylitol to enhance the salt.

I have to say that I am really enjoying the taste of buckwheat flour. It is so peculiar (at least from what I have been used to) and so yummy!

We did make a mistake, onions have obviously a lot more humidity then dates, so the bread took a lot longer to cook and there was one larger loaf that I think didn't really cook completely. So the bread turned out not very consistent, and not really appropriate for sandwiches because it very easily tears appart. It is still a work in progress, next time we'll do it with less water or with less "watery" vegetables.

As for nasty stomach aches from my part, none so far. :)

 

[vinny]

took the plunge and made some date bread yesterday. it was delicious!
Followed the recipe as per the video, substituting butter for ghee, and it was fine.

I did half the amount, thinking it would be plenty, (right...) - I would have taken a picture, but the stuff didn't hang around for long enough

 

[dugdeep]

I made the date bread recipe this weekend as a dessert for a holistic meal I made for some friends. It was a big hit! I couldn't find the date paste so made it by doubling the dates, as recommended. I made two regular sized loaves and two mini-loaves. The minis actually turned out a lot better. The larger ones didn't quite cook all the way through, even though I left them in the oven for an extra half hour, but the mini ones came out light and fluffy. A couple of my guests actually preferred the under-cooked ones, though, saying they liked the smoother texture.
I have a question, though - how are people storing the bread? I have mine in a plastic ziplock bag (not ideal, I know) and it seems to be collecting a lot of moisture and getting stickier. Is it better to store it in the open air, maybe covered with a dish towel?

 

[Gertrudes]

I have a question, though - how are people storing the bread? I have mine in a plastic ziplock bag (not ideal, I know) and it seems to be collecting a lot of moisture and getting stickier. Is it better to store it in the open air, maybe covered with a dish towel?

I think it is best not to use a plastic bag, as it won't allow the bread to "breathe", therefore creating moisture.
I have been keeping mine in plates covered with cloths in the fridge. This seems to been keeping the bread fresh quite well. I also freeze some bread, using (not so nice) plastic containers. Because the bread is frozen, it doesn't create moisture.

 

[Ollie]

I have a question, though - how are people storing the bread? I have mine in a plastic ziplock bag (not ideal, I know) and it seems to be collecting a lot of moisture and getting stickier. Is it better to store it in the open air, maybe covered with a dish towel?

I think it is best not to use a plastic bag, as it won't allow the bread to "breathe", therefore creating moisture.
I have been keeping mine in plates covered with cloths in the fridge. This seems to been keeping the bread fresh quite well. I also freeze some bread, using (not so nice) plastic containers. Because the bread is frozen, it doesn't create moisture.

I keep my breads, pastries and high protein energy bars in an air-tight tin - for those that I eat during the week, as these will only keep 'fresh' for a week. The rest I store in the freezer, in a sealed plastic bag. Having said that, the date bread went fairly quickly, and like Nomad, I only made a half quantity.

 

[Laura]

If you store in a closed container, put a couple of rumpled paper towels in there to absorb the excess moisture.

I've never stored them because they get eaten almost immediately.

We also liked the small breads - made in a muffin tin a LOT and I think that this might be the way to go. Or maybe add a little bit more flour to make a drier loaf.

 

[Human]

Made 'date bread' (third time now) with little modifications two evenings ago.

As my wife hasn't liked dates so much, we tried it with dried plums and apricots instead.
She loved it! And her work colleagues too... ;D

For me there was a bit of sour taste on the back of my tongue present probably due to buckwheat and not so sweet (like dates) fruits used.

We also heated our oven at 180°C because it's a 'weak oven' and without a fan (ventilator), if not it would have taken cca 1h 20 min to bake it properly on lower temperature and this extra time would have just unnecessary dried the cake (at least it looks that way to me).

For the future we have in plan to add some nuts and cinnamon inside (well, mostly she has this plan, because she very much loves cinnamon and puts it almost in everything, and has been fascinated how simple this date bread recipe has been and how fast you can prepare everything for baking process) and even to try it with apples (the structure and look of the cake reminded her on apple-carob flour cake that she used to make).

Looking forward to new videos.

 

[Ollie]

If you store in a closed container, put a couple of rumpled paper towels in there to absorb the excess moisture.

I put a paper kitchen towel on the bottom of the tin, with a sheet of parchment/greaseproof paper on top, then the bread, etc, and finally a sheet of kitchen towel on top, before closing the lid. Seems to work for me. :)