Blender Artistry
Having just returned from San Francisco (where it poured for 10 days) to Portland (where it is now pouring), and attempting to get over a cold, and not wanting to go outside to the store to replentish my fridge, it's time for an adventure in the land of Comfort Foods.
I developed this item a couple of years ago, when I was well into my gluten-free diet but missing the satisfying mouth feel of toast. It doesn't really mimic the amazing crunchy-yet-chewy feel of homemade toasted sourdough (what a sad day when I let my sourdough starter go), but I discovered that it has an amazing crunchy-yet-chewy texture that is equally great in its own way. I suppose this is because I am an eternal optimist. Ahem.
Note: If you want a quicker version, you can make this with an equal weight of rice flour, but I think it tastes fresher using rice. Plus, it's fun to bring your blender to its mechanical knees. :-)
Rice "Toast"
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
Procedure:
Wash rice thoroughly in sieve. Dump into blender.
First objective: to get the rice reasonably chopped up using half of the water without overheating the blender motor too much.
How it usually goes: Start blender. Slowly add just enough of the water that the rice moves. After whirlpool of sludge is established, wait until it slows down and blender starts making funny whining noise. Slowly add more water until sludge is moving again. Wipe spatters of rice water off of eyebrows. This takes at least 3 minutes.
If you have a good blender, repeat the above with the remaining water. I do not have a good blender, but it's not dead yet, so dammit, I'll keep using it. In my case, I've probably just run it a bit too long and it's smelling, so I'll have to put the bottom half out on the deck for 10 minutes, unless it's raining/snowing/sleeting/all of the above.
Second objective: to blend in the rest of the water and get the rice slurry into an almost smooth state.
How it usually goes: much like the first round went. An added bonus of having an old blender is that it heats up the rice slurry, which I can only imagine makes the rice absorb more water without cooking it.
Now, leave the stuff for 8 hours or so. I work at home and I confess that I can't resist punching the button and giving it a whirl every time I pass through the kitchen, but I've left it overnight with the same results.
Finally, cooking time is here! Turn on the blender again and let it run while you get out the egg, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle in salt and powder, and crack the egg into a cup and then into the blender. I learned this the hard way and had a toast that was slightly crunchier than I had anticipated (but probably extremely rich in calcium) on one occasion...
Turn off blender to preserve your sanity. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cookie sheet. One cookie sheet is roughly equivalent to two drip trays that fit inside a Cuisinart convection toaster oven, in case you were wondering.
Give the slurry one last whirl in the blender and then pour onto cookie sheet(s). Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven and on your desired crispiness. This stuff burns quickly, so take it out if you see brown spots.
Play with ingredients (sometimes I add some cooked rice to the slurry and adjust number of cookie sheets) and with thickness (amount of batter per cookie sheet). Enjoy and give your blender a love pat. :-)