my only vice is corn chips

[samadhisoul]

i've gotten bread down. tried a few times to make corn chips/tortillas

they just don't give me that satisfying CRUNCH
I will be 100% for the next 30 days (at least:)), and *this time* I won't have chips with my guacamole, lol

what are the tips, tricks, secrets, whatever to good ole chips?

[Kris]

I haven't been successful at making raw corn chips. They never get crunchy enough for me, and when I chew them, they stick to my teeth. And frankly, they just don't taste at all like SAD corn chips. So I have decided to let them go, since what I really like is the salt and the crunch anyway.

Soooo...what to eat instead? I've got 2 suggestions for you, and others may have more. First, flax crackers. If you grind part or all of the flaxseeds (unsoaked) and mix in grated veggies and lots of spices, you can make some truly tasty, crispy thin crackers that would be great for dipping in salsa or guacamole or the like. Second, some people love chips made from dehydrated sweet potatoes. Alissa's book has recipes and instructions, but they're ridiculously simple. Just slice the sweets nice and thin on a mandoline, marinate in whatever you like (include water in the marinade to get out some of the starchiness), season, and dehydrate. My friends all love them, but I personally prefer flax crackers.

Hope that helps! I too was/am a chip junkie, always have been. But we shall overcome! :D

[Shivananda]

they just don't give me that satisfying CRUNCH I hear ya sister. I LOVE crispy crunch, used to think it was a major food group, and do find it hard to duplicate in the raw world. I think grease is probably the missing secret ingredient from SAD corn chips. Seriously!

I am on a quest to find something better than what I already know how to do. I've discovered with plain flax crackers that if I grind about half of the seeds into meal and use the other half whole they kind of fill in better to make a more uniform texture that I can make a little thicker without getting too tough. But I'm thinking there may be something that can be frothed up a little and then dehydrated to get more of a good crunch.

News updates as they become available.

[squidly]

I made some crackers the other night (4 cups frozone corn, 1/2 cup flax, juice or one orange and one piece garlic) and I left them in teh dehydrator for about 10 hours and then had to turn it off for 12 hours. I put the crackers back in for another few hours and they were crunchy when I got them out instead of the usual chewy crackers i get - worth a try maybe

[jorjeni]

I know what you mean. I am missing my salsa. I have eating salsa almost everyday since the first day I learned to make it years ago. I really miss my chips. I was thinking of dehydrating some corn then grinding it up then mixing in some oil and salt and then dehydrating again. Has anyone tried that????

[BDraw]

Not as cruchy as we all want, but here's what we have come up with to use as a substitute:

6 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/4 to 1/2 cup onion
1 tomato or (several slices of dehydrated ones)
1 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup flax seed (grind seperately)

Mix all but flax seed in K-tex blender till smooth. Pour into large bowl, add flax, and stir. Then stir some more. Spread onto Telflex sheets. (Makes 4 sheets for me in my Excalibur.) Dehydrate for 15 - 20 hours. I scored, flipped and removed Telflex sheets after 6 hours, then left on overnight. Yum! Who knows if you left them in even longer, you might get them crunchier. Oh. . . need to store them in a tin can to keep crunchy.

They are crunchy, yet chewy. We devour them with guacamole. I even snack on them all day - plain. But salsa sounds divine, please share your receipe!

[Shivananda]

I scored, flipped and removed Telflex sheets after 6 hours, then left on overnight. Sounds great, I'll have to try it.

Just something to share... I wanted to mention that most things can actually be scored when you first put them in the dehydrator, and with pizza crust and crackers and things like that I find it gives a nicer result.

[squidly]

what do you mean by 'scored'

[Shivananda]

what do you mean by 'scored'Cut part way through the wet food, so that once dry, the food will break apart on the intended lines, rather than just anywhere.

I learned this trick when making pizza crusts, that I could use the wheel of a conventional pizza cutter to roll marks into the wet crust mixture that, once dehydrated fully and made into a pizza, would allow breaking the crust into neat wedges.

Turns out the same thing works with crackers, where I use the pizza cutter to score lines in the wet mix so they break into neat little squares when dry. Or dessert bars, where I make rectangles.

And although not quite as neat, you can do the same trick by drawing lines in the mix with a table knife, or almost anything else. I just happen to have a pizza cutter handy and like the way it works.

[GlimR]

jorjeni~
I think drying the corn then grinding is a great idea....I have done that with wheat berries for crackers and they come out great. Think I will give that a try. Right now I make thin, very cruchy flax cracers w/ whole flax that is great with salsa & guacamoli...thanks for the idea! :)

[tvillemom]

I'm gonna give that dehydrating, grinding idea a try!! I bet mixed with some ground flax seed, seems (in theory) that it would work!? If I could get that "crunch", I would be set, and wouldn't even miss bread at all, if I could have my traditional corn chips!! Thanks for the idea!
Wendi

[GlimR]

Ok....I am really inspired! Have my corn in the dehydrator now.....sad corn chips are made from ground, dried corn so....sounds like just the ticket, with some celtic sea salt and maybe a little lime juice, water, maybe a touuch of olive oil......will keep you posted! Should be done day after tomorrow~

[tvillemom]

ALRIGHT...GLIMR....I'M WAITING BY THE COMPUTER FOR THE VERDICT!! Get that recipe "down" so those of us who are cooking illiterate can make them too ;) I would think some oil added in would give them some "crunch" and lime sounds like those SAD ones I used to buy that had a touch of lime!! Maybe I won't be able to wait until yours are done!! (My mouth is watering just thinking about them!)
Wendi

[levamssg]

I've made Alissa's corn chips and they turn out crunchy.


I use fresh corn (cut off the cob of course!), add some chopped onion, a generous sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Put all in the food processor and turn it into kind of a slurry ...

Spread this on teflex sheets (and score it). I dehydrate for a l-o-n-g time on the first side -- sometimes up to 24 hours (because I have a crazy schedule). I then flip it over, and dehydrate for a few more hours ... then break apart and let cool. These chips are Great when cool -- not as snap crunchy as SAD, but they are definitely crunchy. And sweet tasting! Wonderful with salsa!

I took some with me (and homemade salsa) to a mexican restaurant last night so I could enjoy chips and salsa along with the rest of the folks. Some of the folks liked my chips better ... and they definitely liked my salsa as well!

[BDraw]

Terry -- salsa recipe please. Thanks!

[levamssg]

BDraw ... I don't really have measurements. I tend to make small batches ...

I throw in a couple roma tomatoes
a hunk of onion
a few generous snips of cilantro
1/2 - 1 sweet red pepper
juice of 1/2-1 lime
1-2 cloves garlic
jalapeno pepper (a little goes a long way!)

I have one of those salsa making gadgets bought at a home show, and I "process" it (crank the thing) until it is still fairly chunky. .. but you could use a food processor if you carefully pulse the ingredients until they are chopped to the consistency you want.

enjoy!

[Arky]

I can't remember if it was Fred Patenaude or David Wolfe that I recall telling of how he used to be addicted to corn chips/tortillas. Then he realised that the reason was because they have an incredibly high glycaemic index, so eating corn chips effectively gives one's body a sugar rush, even though they don't actually taste sweet - in short they are a LOT less healthy than people imagine.


J.

[rawpriestess]

if you brush your corn chips with flax seed oil, and dehydrate them, they will turn out crunchy.

[GlimR]

Ok....I dried the corn, ground it in the vitamix...added water, oil (2T or so) salt and lime juice...looked good....dehydrated for about two hours and when I looked at it it looked like a dried up lake bottom in the middle of the desert......so...I scrapped it all off the sheet and put it in the food processer.....added ground golden flax seed and as much water as it would absorb.....spread it out again...looks ok.......almost all the way dried now, broke it up and am drying a litle longer to make extra crisp....they taste good but not sure, considering the time and effort, I'm not happier with flax crackers.........

[Rawkinlocs]

OMG...you're kidding right?

I just did the very same thing (dried and ground up corn) yesterday! Only thing was I didn't have any lime juice but otherwise, used the same ingredients! I checked them and it didn't look "quite right" so I thought to reconstitute them with water and add ground flax.

Wow!! That's so strange that we were on the same page like that! :)


Ok....I dried the corn, ground it in the vitamix...added water, oil (2T or so) salt and lime juice...looked good....dehydrated for about two hours and when I looked at it it looked like a dried up lake bottom in the middle of the desert......so...I scrapped it all off the sheet and put it in the food processer.....added ground golden flax seed and as much water as it would absorb.....spread it out again...looks ok.......almost all the way dried now, broke it up and am drying a litle longer to make extra crisp....they taste good but not sure, considering the time and effort, I'm not happier with flax crackers.........

[GlimR]

*L* They looked all seperated and cracked....weird huh?? :eek:
They look good now though!! :) You know on a diferent note I would love to know exactly how you dry and use the almond pulp...I make almond milk several times a week and always throw it out because the times I've used it wet in recipes they were horrid!!

[Rawkinlocs]

Yep, it's all crackly-looking! I'm going to do the "mixing with flax" thing later on and maybe even add a little ground buckwheat (got some that I sprouted and dehydrated) and see how it goes!

As for the almond pulp...I just take it straight out of the strainer bag and put it on the parchment paper (I use unbleached parchment instead of teflex sheets) and dry it...usually overnight is good enough. Once completely dry, I grind it up in the coffee grinder (or Vita-Mix) and put in a ziploc bag and refrigerate it until I'm ready to use it for something.

One of the things I like it for is when I make cinnamon rolls. Elaina Love's recipe uses wet almond pulp. I use the dried, ground pulp along with about 1/4 c. of ground oat groats in the dough portion of the recipe and those c.rolls turned out SOOOO much better. With the wet pulp, I didn't care much for them at all...but now, I and everyone I've ever made them for loves them! :)

I've also used it in cookie recipes and pie crusts!

[tvillemom]

RK...when you say oats groats, do you mean NOT soaked, just ground in the grinder? I have some on hand and I wasn't sure if I should soak, and then dehydrated them first, or is that necessary?? Would the same go for spelt....or should I sprout, dehydrate and then grind??? I'm willing to do the work if it's better...sprouting isn't that bad, as long as I know the outcome is great!!
Wendi

[Rawkinlocs]

Well, I don't soak the groats because they're not gonna sprout (not truly raw...been steamed - but I still personally use them) so if you choose to use them, you can just grind them dry, as they are. Now, you can order the "truly" raw oats from Alissa's website...they've already been sprouted, dried and rolled without heat so you wouldn't need to do anything but grind those up as well!

If you use spelt berries, then you'll want to soak, sprout, dehydrate, then grind since they're raw (to my knowledge) and will sprout for you.

But in all actuality, the use of the grains is optional...I think just the almond flour would be enough but I like the ground oats because to me, it makes the dough a little bit more "substantial" and I like the flavor it lends.



RK...when you say oats groats, do you mean NOT soaked, just ground in the grinder? I have some on hand and I wasn't sure if I should soak, and then dehydrated them first, or is that necessary?? Would the same go for spelt....or should I sprout, dehydrate and then grind??? I'm willing to do the work if it's better...sprouting isn't that bad, as long as I know the outcome is great!!
Wendi

[GlimR]

Rawkinlocs~
Thanks for the info....will give that a try.....I used the pulp wet in those rolls before........they looked great and sat like a brick in my stomach!! :p
Will give the dried pulp a try!!

[Sheryl]

Pssst.... Alissa sells truly raw oats!!! Try them!!

It is true that most oats are steamed (ie cooked) to stalibilize them. I know the ones I've bought here in Australia are cooked.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[tvillemom]

I think I'll check out Alissa's....I would rather go to the trouble of sprouting and dehydrating myself ;) Thanks for the info!
Wendi