Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook (3 page)

SERVES 3 OR 4

1 cup 140 grams
white whole wheat flour

1 cup 140 grams
barley flour

¾ teaspoon 4.5 grams
fine sea salt

1 teaspoon 6 grams
baking powder

½ teaspoon 2.5 grams
baking soda

2 tablespoons 27 grams
light brown sugar

2 large
eggs

2 cups 480 grams
cultured buttermilk
,
homemade or store-bought

2 tablespoons 28 grams
unsalted butter,
melted, plus more for serving

Grade B maple syrup,
for serving

In a medium bowl, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, barley flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir together with a rubber spatula until almost fully mixed. Add the melted butter and stir until the batter is smooth.

Heat an electric griddle to 325°F (165°C) or a heavy skillet. Use a 2-ounce (60 ml) ladle to scoop the batter onto the griddle. Cook until the bottoms are set and bubbles appear on the surface of the batter, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until they are a deep golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 more minutes. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup.

WHITE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR is milled from spring white wheat and is lighter in color and flavor than traditional whole wheat flour, which is milled from red wheat. It makes adding a little extra flavor and fiber into your baked goods easier and more delicious for people who aren’t used to the stronger flavor and darker color of traditional whole wheat flours.

GLUTEN-FREE BISCUITS & GRAVY

BISCUITS ARE THE ULTIMATE COMFORT FOOD, AND GLUTEN-FREE
flour gives them an indefinable nutty, savory quality. The gluten-free flour also works beautifully for thickening, and it goes without saying that the better your sausage, the better your gravy. This is one of our all-time favorite breakfasts.

SERVES 8

BISCUITS

2½ cups 300 grams
What IiF Gluten-Free Flour

2 tablespoons 25 grams
sugar

2½ teaspoons 13 grams
baking powder

½ teaspoon 2.5 grams
baking soda

1 teaspoon 6 grams
fine sea salt

8 tablespoons 113 grams cold
unsalted butter,
cut into cubes

⅔ cup 160 grams cold
cultured buttermilk
,
homemade or store-bought

GRAVY

1 pound 450 grams
pork breakfast sausage,
bulk or links with casings removed

½ teaspoon 1 gram
garlic powder

¼ teaspoon 0.5 gram
cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon 3 grams
fine sea salt

6 tablespoons 55 grams
What IiF Gluten-Free Flour

3 cups 780 grams
whole milk

MAKE THE BISCUITS:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220°C).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Drop the butter into the flour mixture and quickly rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula just until it comes together into a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and fold and turn the dough a few times until it comes together. Pat it out to a thickness of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) and use a floured sharp round cutter to punch out 2-inch (5 cm) circles. The scraps can be re-formed and cut out one time.

Put the cut biscuits in a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) baking dish, fitting them snugly together. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and firm to the touch, 3 to 6 minutes more. Remove the pan from the oven and let the biscuits rest on the pan while you make the gravy.

MAKE THE GRAVY:
Set a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and season with the garlic powder, cayenne, and salt. Cook the sausage, stirring and breaking it up with a silicone spatula, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain off the excess fat and add the flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the milk, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes to thicken the gravy. Serve with the biscuits.

GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR MIXES

Gluten-free foods are popping up everywhere. We think that everyone knows someone who has a gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Special diets are nothing unusual these days, and a good host or chef knows how to work around them. Years ago we had a gluten-free client for whom we catered. At that time we played with some of the commercial gluten-free flours but were unhappy with the flavor. As a result we simply eliminated flour-based recipes from his menus. Fast-forward several years and gluten-free diets have become almost commonplace. This made us realize that gluten-free flour was something we needed to take a serious look at.

There is an abundance of them on the market, but they are expensive. We felt sure that we could make something better at home. Then Thomas Keller came out with his gluten-free flour, C4C (Cup4Cup). This made us take notice, because if Thomas Keller was putting his name on something, then it had to work. Never able to resist a challenge, Alex took a look at the ingredient list and set about developing his own version. We called the first version What IiF flour, for Ideas in Food. Then we considered the fact that corn allergies and xanthan sensitivities are often seen in people with gluten sensitivities, so we kept tinkering. The result is our Batch 2 flour, which is a slightly nuttier, more flavorful rendition of our original gluten-free flour and doesn’t contain any corn products. We’ve found that both flours are easily substituted for all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio by weight. We’ve happily included the recipes for them here so that you can make and use them in your kitchens. The recipes for both are by weight only, because accuracy is very important to the blending process.

NOTE:
If the nonfat dry milk is smooth and not clumpy, you can eliminate the blender step and thoroughly whisk everything together. Organic Valley nonfat dry milk is perfect for these recipes.

WHAT IIF GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR

MAKES 16¾ CUPS / 2,020 GRAMS

700 grams
cornstarch

450 grams
tapioca starch

450 grams
white rice flour

200 grams
brown rice flour

200 grams
nonfat dry milk

20 grams
xanthan gum

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, tapioca starch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, dry milk, and xanthan gum. In small batches, transfer the mixture to a blender, filling the blender about halfway. Turn the blender on low and then increase the speed to high to pulverize any lumps in the powders and uniformly blend them together. Combine the batches in a large bowl. Once everything has been blended, whisk the mixture well before transferring the flour into zip-top bags. It will keep for up to a year. This flour can be substituted for wheat flours in equal amounts by weight in recipes.

BATCH 2 GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR

MAKES 16¾ CUPS / 2,020 GRAMS

350 grams
arrowroot powder

350 grams
sorghum flour

450 grams
tapioca starch

450 grams
white rice flour
or millet flour

200 grams
brown rice flour
(or additional sorghum flour)

200 grams
nonfat dry milk

20 grams
guar gum

In a large bowl, whisk together the arrowroot, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, dry milk, and guar gum. In small batches, transfer the mixture to a blender, filling the blender about halfway. Turn the blender on low and then increase the speed to high to pulverize any lumps in the powders and uniformly blend them together. Combine the batches in a large bowl. Once everything has been blended, whisk the mixture well before transferring the flour into zip-top bags. It will keep for up to a year. This flour can be substituted for wheat flours in equal amounts by weight in recipes.

POACHED EGGS & SHRIMP GRITS

THIS IS A FUN SPIN ON THE CLASSIC SHRIMP AND GRITS. WE
make an easy and flavorful sausage with the shrimp. Grinding the shrimp with the seasonings and then letting the mixture marinate before cooking allows the spices to permeate the shrimp gently without overpowering its delicate flavor. We use a pressure cooker to cook the grits because it cooks them quickly and evenly, and you can put everything in the bowl of the cooker and refrigerate it the evening before, letting the grits soak overnight. Then you just turn the pressure cooker on when you make your morning coffee. This meal is easy to pull together first thing in the morning and so good that no one will guess how little time it took.

SERVES 8

SHRIMP SAUSAGE

2 pounds 900 grams
shrimp,
peeled and deveined

¼ cup 55 grams
dry white wine

1½ cups 28 grams fresh
parsley leaves

Grated zest of 3
lemons

1½ tablespoons 8 grams
fennel seeds

1½ teaspoons 3 grams
onion powder

1½ teaspoons 3 grams
garlic powder

1 teaspoon 2 grams
crushed red pepper flakes

GRITS

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons 200 grams
coarse ground grits

1⅔ cups 375 grams
water

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons 200 grams
skim milk

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons 200 grams
cultured buttermilk
,
homemade or store-bought

2 teaspoons 10 grams
hot sauce,
preferably Crystal

1 teaspoon 6 grams
fine sea salt

EGGS