Manioc Tortilla

Despite saying what I did about lettuce being the ultimate paleo bread, I actually fancied something different to cos with my Friday night Chilli.

Manioc?

Manioc is pounded cassava root. Dehydrated, it is sold as a flour and used widely in South America, notably Brazil who eat it as Pão de Queijo (or, Cheese Puffs).

What if they could be made flat?

Inspired by Primal Saoirse on Mark Sissons' forums, I followed her guidelines for Manioc Tortilla.

I like how she said she didn't weigh or measure, just went for it! My kind of cooking. Her guidelines were good but I deviated, as I always do ...

I began with half a cup (a real cup) of sour starch (or, polvilho azedo), then some pecorino cheese - some, unmeasured, but grated and tamped down it might have made a quarter of the cup I used for the flour, and two eggs.

Whisked together with a fork ... coz Grok didn't have a food mixer, right? Or because I don't have a food mixer!

No milk in the house, but I do have butter! So, about a centimetre slice off the end of a stick, softened and poured in, the mix was now pourable, but certainly not a batter. Loosened with a little water, it became a good batter.

Flavours? Chilli flakes and marjoram. Why? I like marjoram and I fancied pepping up the tortilla.

Pour a ladle into a skillet and flip as the sides start to come away from the pan, colouring both sides and then flip out onto a board.

Presenting ... Primal Saoirse's Manioc Tortilla

Cheese Puffs (Revisited)

Inspired by Paul Jaminet's post on Brazilian Cheese Puffs (also known as Pão de Queijo) I made some up: Cheese Puffs and they were great, although perhaps a little heavy?

After some tweaking and experimentation, I think I have come up with a method which is very simple, quick to undertake and delivers a more pleasing result - this may well be the exact texture that is achieved with Paul's method, but not having any cultural reference for this bread I'm guessing.

Perhaps the key difference between my first attempt and this very successful recipe is the starch itself - I have tracked down a source of Yoki brand and use their Polvilho Azedo, or sour starch.

While I am happy with many dairy products, especially fermented dairy and the fattier products, milk is not something I routinely ingest, nor would I suggest it to others - this is the one area of dairy that remains contentious, even for a paleo plusser like myself.

Previously, I have used soured cream, buttermilk and other fermented dairy, but this time it was milk. If you can get raw milk, great! The combination of milk and butter makes the soft centres much akin to croissant, in terms of flavour.

This is practically baking, so recipes do matter ... well, the ratio does, anyway.

Formulation

2 measures of Polvilho Azedo and Cheese (as 3:1)
1 measure of Milk and Butter (as 2:1)

You also need an egg and some baking powder.

So, using a cup, take one and half cups of flour, half a cup of grated cheese, two thirds of a cup of milk and one third of a cup of butter. Makes 12.

Got it?

Warm the milk, or buttermilk, or coconut milk, or water, or whatever liquid it is that you want to use, melting in the requisite amount of butter, coconut oil, lard, dripping, olive oil, or whatever fat it is you want to use. Butter is good!

Pour that over the measured amounts of flour and grated cheese - again, cheese can be Cheddar, Parmesan, Pecorino, Manchego, whatever you fancy. I find sheep cheeses work out best for flavour and passing through a fine grater for texture.

Entirely different flavours can be made up by varying the ingredients, but the key thing is to keep to the ratio: 2 measures of solids to 1 measure of liquid.

Crack in an egg and sprinkle in some baking powder - half a teaspoon, or so, per cup of flour.

Mix together to form a wet batter.

It is not imperative, but letting the batter stand for an hour seems to really improve the overall texture.

Pour out into greased cupcake moulds and place in a pre-heated over set to 200C for about 15 minutes, during which time, they will rise and crisp up.

Removed on the scant side, the balls will drop but will be more chewy and something like mini-Yorkshire Puddings. Less baking powder and they won't rise so much. Left until fully crisp, the centres will be soft and fluffy and the balls retain that inflated shape. Less batter per mould will rise better.

You'll get to find exactly how you like them, but there's a couple of tips to get started with ...

Cheese Puffs

Inspired by Paul Jaminet's post on Brazilian Cheese Puffs (also known as Pão de Queijo) I wanted to make up a bread to accompany an oily, deep and sumptuous Italian Inspired Seafood Stew: Italian Inspired Seafood Stew

Back to the bread ...

The Brazilian recipe uses cassava flour, milk, eggs and butter, and Paul's article then mixes in some parmesan cheese for the cheesy tang.

I made a more Italian twist on these ingredients ...

Cassava flour, eggs and using olive oil rather than butter, soured cream instead of milk to boost the sourness of the flour, and pecorino cheese rather than parmesan, these bread balls came out crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside with a wonderful sour tang from the cassava flour, cream and cheese - perfect for offsetting the oiliness in the main dish.

I have made them up again since using potato flour, yoghurt and cheddar cheese - perfect accompaniment for deep, luscious meat stews where dumplings would conventionally accompany.

I have also tried a little baking powder in, which produces a much lighter, fluffier ball.

Next, I will experiment with beef suet for the fat content, aromatic herbs and hopefully make up a paleo+ dumpling.

So, the method ...

I'm not at all good at following recipes. I read recipes, understand the principles and then deviate wildly when the ingredients are in front of me.

Take a cup of flour and place into a mixing bowl.

Crack in one egg - free range, outdoor reared, woodland chicks; just get the best eggs you can from birds which are reared as naturally as they can be.

Roughly mix together by hand.

The mix will be too dry. Add in small amounts of milk, yoghurt, soured cream, whatever your preference until a good dough is formed.

Add in a little salt if you like, but it is not necessary with most cheese.

Grate some cheese - Parmesan, Pecorino, Manchego, Cheddar, whatever your preference and roll into the dough.

Gently kneed the dough a few times to ensure the ingredients are well distributed and set about hand rolling balls of the dough just smaller than a golf ball.

Place the balls onto a very lightly greased oven-proof plate and bake in a pre-heated over set to 200C for 20-30 minutes until the colour changes to a pleasant brown and the outsides are hard.

Break one open - if it's still too doughy, just return to the oven.