As the International Year of Pulses draws to a close I continue to be inspired by beans. I am really enjoying Hodmedod’s bean flours. They are milled in Essex from British-grown beans, peas and quinoa.
https://hodmedods.co.uk/collections/flours
The flours are naturally gluten free and protein packed. As well as pancakes and fritters, I’ve been using them to make flatbreads and crackers. Unlike a lot of gluten free flours, the flour works really well for pastry. Taste tests at my local health food shop, The Bran Tub, show that the bean pastry works in both savoury and sweet dishes.
I recently experimented with the yellow bean flour on my Christmas Cookery course. I made vanilla shortbread and mince pies using a combination of yellow bean and rice flour. Being packed with protein the pastry held together really well and there was no need for Xanthan gum. Both the doughs were easy to manage and gave a really tasty short texture.
Lizzy’s Gluten Free Shortbread
Gluten Free Shortbread
200g margarine
80g caster sugar
200g yellow bean flour
100g rice flour
extra caster sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 150°/Gas 4.
Sift flours and sugar work the flour into the margarine. Roll out to about 1cm thick and cut into shapes as required. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes until crisp.
Dust with caster sugar and cool on a wire rack.
A customer who is gluten free attended and she was impressed with the flexibility of the pastry, she used it to make a mini chestnut and red pepper strudel and some pastry cases that with then loaded with a mushroom and almond filling and a tofu and caramelised onion filling.
Festive Savouries
