Rice for Breakfast

Being on a limited nightshade diet, no tomatoes, potatoes or eggplants, coupled now with a gluten-free diet (no wheat, barley or rye), it gets difficult finding alternatives for dishes that I love.  One in particular is hash browns in the morning. Potatoes were a staple growing up, being eaten in almost every meal, plus snacks. That was a lot of carbohydrates (or carbs) being consumed. Add bread to this, again eaten at every meal, and you're well above the recommended daily allowance of carbs. So wheat bread is gone as well as potatoes. Although peppers and tomatoes will be limited, potatoes will not be allowed. Sweet potatoes are okay, but tend to be too sweet for many dishes. Hence, an experiment with rice as a potato substitute in the popular breakfast staple, hash browns.

Rice is very sticky. It contains a lot of starch like potatoes but very little flavor of it's own. This makes it a good candidate for substitution. After several tries I succeeded in creating a suitable and flavorful  breakfast hash brown. The trick to holding it all together is to reheat the rice so the starch can work its magic. Once heated you mix the ingredients and form your patties. Place patties in the freezer for about 15 minutes before using them, or store them in the fridge for later use. The cooling allows the starch to bond the grains together, holding the form of the patty. Once cooled these patties can be pan fried to a golden brown and served with eggs. They may also be formed into small rounds, like "tater tots", and deep fried. This I will try later. It should make a good side dish for dinner or served with a burger, gluten-free bun of course.

Here is the recipe for the hash browns I made:

2.5 cups cooked rice, re-heated or just made
Garlic powder to taste
Onion power to taste
Celery seed to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 egg yoke

Combine and form into 4 patties. Let stand in freezer for 15 minutes or store in refrigerator for later use. Heat a skillet on medium to medium-high and add oil to generously coat pan. Place patties in skillet and let brown. Turn to brown the other side. Serve hot. Add cheese, optional.

Eat well and stay healthy

Bill

I Like It Cheesey

Cheese, the ever popular topping on sandwiches, pizza and pasta. It's origin is
unknown and has been known for close to ten thousand years. As animals
became domesticated, man began using their milk. Natural cheese can form form stored milk and early man would have found a way to utilize it's discovery. Cheese became a
way to preserve milk. Coating cheese in wax and aging it allowed for better preservation. Uses for this food source grew to the point where it has become a highly regarded commodity. Milk price in the US are based on the cheese commodities
market.

Cheese can be a poor mans food or a wealthy mans delicacy. It
is paired with fine wine and caviar or served on crackers for a snack.
It even comes in a can, but not really. So what distinguishes the
different cheeses, the cheap from the extravagant, and the best uses for them. Let's take a tour through a supermarket and look at the types of cheese they carry.

Cheese can be found in four different areas at the Supermarket. The cheese case is not the first stop for most buyers. This is where the hard aged cheeses and the imports are located. You will also find soft cheeses and domestics here as well. I call them real cheeses. Why? Because they have been crafted. Most of these cheeses have come from well established names or families with a long history of cheese making. These are not the top-of-the-line cheeses, although you may find one or two here, for those you would need visit a specialty cheese shop.  These hard cheeses are best served on a cheese platter so guests may enjoy the deep flavors.

The next stop is at the deli counter. Here you will find slicing cheeses like Cheddar, American, Provolone, Swiss and Muenster. These are not aged very long and still contain much water. I consider these cheeses to be semi-soft. These may have been aged from zero to six months. These cheeses do need to be refrigerated at all times. Hard cheeses are less likely to develop mold because of their lower moisture content than semi-soft cheeses. These deli cheeses are perfect for sandwich topping and for cooking.

And know we arrive at the dairy case. Here we will find shredded cheese and cheese bars. these are the same type of cheese that is found in the deli case, just pre-packaged. You will also find another type of cheese that is usually sliced and individually wrapped. I do not call this cheese. These have names like processed cheese food, or just cheese food, and imitation cheese. Processed cheese food is a product that takes real cheese and then adds to it to make something similar. It's less expensive than real cheese. I call these cheese sauces, leave them at room temperature and they will melt. Check the ingredients for cheese or cheese enzymes to determine if this is cheese food. For people on a budget or have a large family to feed this is a good choice. The imitation cheese product will not contain cheese or cheese enzymes in the ingredient list. They use artificial means to make a cheese type product. There is only one imitation cheese that is of any value and that is next.

The last stop in the market to find cheese is in the produce department. In a little spot where you will find vegetarian products. This is vegan cheese. Vegan cheese is cheese that does not contain milk. It is an imitation cheese food product made to resemble cheese. This cheese is an excellent choice for people who are lactose intolerant, and vegetarians. Unlike other imitation cheese, this product is not loaded with oils or artificial additives. Check the Ingredient list to make sure the products that your supermarket carries are the right products for you.

Best of Health
Bill Hunter