Corn Flour

[FreyaUSA]

I just found this in the Mid Eastern section of my grocery and was wondering if anyone else used this? The only grain I can eat that doesn't cause weird cravings in me is corn. (Rice, quinoa, millet...all seem to effect me strangely.) Because of this, I cook a lot with bean flours (soy and chickpea) as well as potato and tapioca, but am looking for something I can use in recipes where the "bean" taste might come through (pancakes and crepes, for instance) or where the other two are just too fine for using exclusively.

Thank you!

[tarnalberry]

What kind of corn flour? The fine grain stuff... sure - in combination with the other flours. You might try sorgum as well - a relative of corn, it's doesn't have the strong taste the other flours can have.

[FreyaUSA]

This is interesting. I'd looked for it in the past, but with no luck. But just now I noticed it is also called "Milo" which I've seen at the mid east and asian markets near me. Thanks for the tip! I'll try it. (And, like, I do need ANOTHER container of "flour" in my cupboard. I must have 7-10 now, including several mixes I've made. LOL!)

We should have a contest, "Who has the most flours in their cupboard?"

[tarnalberry]

If you count the different varieties of the same grain (corn meal/corn flour/corn startch, potato starch/potato flour), then I'm sure I'm over a dozen, excluding the mixes. (Though I don't have any _homemade_ mixes yet, just three pre-mixed mixes (Bob's Red Mills', Arrowhead Mill's, and Pamela's (I think)). I think I've got half a dozen on ice at my in-laws place, and we're only there two or three times a year! ;-)

[FreyaUSA]

Rofl! Okay, you're ahead of me, but especially since you have other people's houses camped out, too.

[tarnalberry]

It helps that my husband and I specifically made room in other parts of our budget for having a large food budget. It's one of the things we made a conscious decision to be somewhat luxurious about. And I've got a load of gluten-free-friendly stores in the area I had been frequenting BEFORE going gluten-free. So I'm cheating, and taking every last advantage I can get. :-P

It means, however, I've learned the following:

Amaranth flour makes really good pancakes, challenging even the mixes I like.

Soy flour (and the muffin recipe on the Bob's package) is useful for a baked good that doesn't make me go hypoglycemic.

Sorgum flour helps take out some of the "gluten-free flour" taste in these products (which bothers my husband, who isn't gluten-free, but isn't going to get me to cook gluten-filled muffins anymore).

Quinoa flour helps lighten texture a bit.

Masa Harina for your own corn tortillas is FAB!

Tapioca flour is my friend! :-)

[debmidge]

Celiac.com sells corn flour made by Shiloh Farms. But, it doesn't say gluten-free.

Bob's Red Mill sells it but it can't guarantee cross contamination. It doesn't say gluten-free

Ener-G sells a Corn Mix but it's hard to find -- but it's gluten-free and says so on the box.

I had a very, very hard time finding gluten-free corn flour, without threat of cross contam. So I took a corn meal made by Hodgson's and purchased a new electric coffee grinder and made my own corn flour. It turned out pretty good. So when I can't find Ener-G and I am forced to purchase over internet, I'll do my own milling until the order arrives.

[catfish]

Debmidge, I do that with great northern beans! I grind them in the coffee grinder and then sift them through a stretched nylon to remove the bits that don't get ground fine enough, and use this in place of Garfava flour where I want something milder in flavor and color. It works great! Plus, it's cheap!

[tarnalberry]

that nylon thing is a _great_ idea! :-)

[Guest PastorDave]

PastorDave's wife responding.

A very simple and very southern use of corn flour is to subsitute it for the wheat flour called for in some corn bread recipe. Makes a wonderful crumbly cornbread that is great with beans, ham, or just for snacking. (I love sweets, so I make mine with sugar and dip in honey.)

Corn four also makes great "Pancakes" to go with omletts.

[FreyaUSA]

PastorDave's Wife Could you post a recipe for cornbread using the corn flour? That is one of my kid's favorite treats and I would love to surprise him with it.

Tiffany, could you post your recipe for the amaranth pancakes? And thank you for all that information on the various flours! It helped me figure out why my banana muffins were getting lighter and lighter, I started using tapioca flour! (And my son wants them heavier and muffinier. )

When I bought some corn flour I didn't think of the cross contamination issue. Doh! But, I'll have to say, I think this batch, anyway, is safe. I react pretty quickly to even small amounts and haven't. From now on, though, I'll look for the ener-g one.

[tarnalberry]

The amaranth recipe is on the bag of Bob's Red Mill Amaranth Flour. It calls for an egg, 1/4 cup apple juice or milk and 1 tsp oil for wet ingredients, then 1/4 cup a piece amaranth flour and tapioca flour, 3 tbsp arrowroot powder (there are subs you can use for this, but I don't remember them off hand), 1/4 tsp each cinnamon (though I always use more) and baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

BTW, I've used the Arrowhead Mills pancake and baking mix for both pancakes and muffins, and they're good (my non-gluten-free husband who has a VERY finicky tooth will even eat them) and for muffins, produce a pretty dense, nearly scone-like muffin. (I use the mini-muffin tin to make them.)

[FreyaUSA]

Hey! Can I use the Arrowhead Mills pancake and baking mix as a replacement for Bisquick? (Boy, do I have questions. Lol!)

[tarnalberry]

I'm at work, and Arrowhead Mills doesn't have their ingredient listing up yet, but I do believe it's got some baking powder or soda in it already, so I think, for the most part, the answer is yes - but "results may vary". ;-)