Brown Rice Flour - a staple for the GF kitchen

A lady called Rita Greer was my heroine, as she wrote a number of cookbooks that explained how to use these different flours. However, even with the help of her books, not all my early attempts were successful.

However, I still use brown rice flour almost every day.

It is ground or milled from unpolished brown rice and therefore contains the bran making it more nutritious than white rice flour. I find it has a slightly nutty taste, which I enjoy.

After finding some of the packets bought in the grocery store rather gritty, I tend to use my Wondermill on the finest setting, to grind my own when I need it. This way I can use it straight away which lessens the chance of the flour going "off" due to the oil content in the bran.

It is normally used in combination with other flours. For example brown rice, tapioca and potato starch results in a good mix for bread making.

In the recipe below I mixed it with ground almonds for the easiest ever pastry recipe.

Sweet Almond and Brown Rice Flour Pastry Crust

So in this quick, easy gluten free recipe no rolling or handling is necessary!

You will need

• 1/3 cup ground almonds or almond flour
• 2/3 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch cloves (optional)
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp oil

Method

Choose the pie dish you wish to use (preferably non stick or pyrex) and add the flours and spices directly into it. Mix with a fork.

Put the water, oil and honey into a jug and pop it into the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to melt the honey.

Let the jug cool for a few minutes. Then pour the contents onto the dry mixture in the dish. Mix well with the fork. Then leave for about 5 minutes for the dry ingredients to absorb the wet.

Using the back of your fingers, press the pastry down to cover the bottom and sides of the dish evenly. Be gentle!

Either bake blind (empty) for about 5 minutes at 180^oC or pop in your filling of choice and then bake.