May 29th, 2009
Flatbread!
gluten free? yup. for real.
Does this seem gluten free? Oh, but it is.
Weeks ago, Mark Bittman’s column in the New York Times Dining section was called “Finessing Flatbread.” He sang the praises of flatbread, noting that it “often involves no leavening, no waiting, barely any mixing.”
Mark Bittman is a genius.
Flatbread is incredibly versatile, and comes out beautifully when made gluten free. And it’s very shoestring. Very, very low cost. You can even make it with just some cornmeal and water. I’ll explain how to make the variation that you see in this post, but really, the varieties are endless. My son saw what I had made for dinner tonight — mac & cheese — and even though it looked absolutely nothing like flatbread, even from across the room, he asked hopefully, “what is that? flatbread?” He then made me explain, in painstaking detail, how to make flatbread. This one’s for you, Jonny! Here’s how:
Ingredients
2 tBsp. olive oil
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 14 oz. can light coconut milk
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour olive oil in an approximately 10″ ovenproof skillet or pan (I use a medium sized Le Creuset cast iron pan, with the top off). Place skillet/pan in hot oven for 3 minutes, until oil is hot.
3. In medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the coconut milk. Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in the coconut milk. Whisk to combine. The mixture should be the consistency of pancake batter.
4. Remove the skillet/pan from the oven, pour the mixture into the bottom of the hot skillet/pan & return it to the oven.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the flatbread is browned and firm to the touch. Remove from oven & allow the flatbread to chill out in the pan for a few. Then slide it on out, cut it into wedges & serve.
I served it up alongside a crustless broccoli quiche (recipe to follow one of these days). It was simply lovely. I will be playing with this recipe quite a lot. It’s in the “Ratio” tradition, since you just need a flour of some sort and just a bit more water than you have flour (about a 1:1.25 ratio of flour:liquid), and then you can add whatever you like, really. I bet it would be wonderful and lightly sweet if the liquid was apple juice. I would use a lighter oil, like canola, instead of olive oil in that case.
Maybe one of you (are you out there??) will try something & let us all know your incarnation. A girl can dream, can’t she?
*sigh*
Warmly,
Nicole
Posted In : 
Posted By : Nicole
Posted on August 18th, 2009 at 12:40 am
well I’m trying your flatbread receipe, didn’t have cornmeal so I added more allpurpose flour. And for my own touch I put a couple of tablespoons of white wine in too…..I’ll let you know how it turns out
Posted on August 18th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Hi, Mike,
I can’t wait to hear how it turns out. It’s really simple and elegant. White wine sounds like a perfect addition. Thanks so much for posting!
Warmly,
Nicole
Posted on August 18th, 2009 at 3:44 am
well it seems to have turned out alright. been so long since I’ve eaten bread tho I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I am extremely sensitive to gluten so i have been on the hunt for a gf bread that I can actually taste. the store bought breads don’t quite do it. my next loaf is going to be the one you can make in a dutch oven. I think it’s from your site, then the french bread. Oh one question, can I use soy milk instead of coconut?
Thanks
Posted on August 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Hi, Mike,
Thanks for posting back to let us know how it turned out. You can definitely substitute any other sort of milk (or you can even use water, if that’s all you have on hand). Just keep in mind that the fat of the coconut milk helps both with the taste as well as with the ease of removing it from the pot or pan. So if your soy milk is low fat, maybe try adding some more oil or butter to the batter. I love both the dutch oven bread as well as the french bread. Let me know how it goes!
Warmly,
Nicole
Posted on September 27th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
We’re still in the very early stages of finding out exactly what my son (and probably me too) have, in terms of gluten free, celiac, who knows. But I am loving your recipes and your website, and your humor! I hope you someday make these into a book. Thanks for your culinary genius!
Posted on September 30th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Hi, Amy,
Thank you for posting! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site. Keep coming back!
Warmly,
Nicole
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
This is a WINNER! So easy to make!!!! I have made this a few times now….I like making it to accompany caserole (chicken and rice/noodles and ground meat etc) type dishes! Husband loves it and can’t even tell it is GF!