Pinole try outs part 2!

Yesterday, I had liquid Pinole for breakfast before an 8 mile run with a friend.  Keen to find out whether i’d sustain good energy levels due to the mystical properties of Chia seeds and high carb content of the toasted cornmeal, i gulpped on!

Liquid Pinole Recipe:

• 100g toasted cornmeal
• 2 desert spoons of Chia Seeds
• 1 desert spoon of Honey
• 500ml of water

First off, i used a small amount of hot water to melt the honey in a mixing bowl. Then i gradually added the cornmeal and water forming a paste, which, as you add more and more of the water, becomes a brownish liquid.   Finally, add the Chia seeds.

The Cornmeal doesn’t dissolve and the chia seeds can clump together as the begin to gel, so you’ll have to stir the mixture a lot.  Preferably before taking a mouthful.

Despite looking very unappetising, it tasted ok.  Although, I’ve never known anything to taste both nice and yucky at the same time.  In one hand there is a sweet popcorn like flavour, in the other it’s powdery (because of the cornmeal) and a bit bland with a hint of frogs eggs slipping down your throat (Chia Seeds).

Energy levels throughout the 8 mile run were pretty good.  However, I don’t want to jump the gun here as it could have been down to other factors too:

a) Running pace was slower than normal
b) I was running with someone (it’s always easier running with a buddy, right?)
c) Placebo effect?

More testing is required I think.  I’ll try making a few Chia Fresca’s through the week, see how I get on with them.  Also, I’m running the Great Scottish Run next, which i think would be an ideal place to try the Liquid Pinole for breakfast again.

I’d love to hear your experience with Pinole & Chia Seeds, so leave a comment!

I’ve just finished reading that book. You know, Born to Run (Just for the record I started reading it after my new found love for minimal/PoseMethod running).  And yes, I thought it was an amazing book.  So much so I’ve only gone and ordered a pair of Huaraches from invisibleshoe.com and I’ve started to experiment with making foods described in the book.  First stop, Pinole.  I haven’t managed to get a hold of Chia Seeds yet though, hopefully will soon.

The Recipe

Now, being from Sunny Scotland, I’ve never come across Pinole before. I didn’t even know where to buy some of the ingredients.  So, I looked around the interwebs for a Pinole recipe.  The first recipe I tried came from nomeatathlete.com.  This is all new to me so keep that in mind before any negative comments

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cornmeal, ground as fine as possible
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar (I used Honey)
• chia seeds (optional)

These ingredients don’t make a whole lot of product, but that’s a good thing (particularly when you’re experimenting).  Plus I guess this final product doesn’t keep for too long once it’s made – no preservatives in these babies!

Not mentioned in this ingredients list is water!  You’ll need water to make it into a palatable paste, dough for a cake or to drink.  I’ll touch on this later, but in other recipes I found they suggest using boiling water.
Method:

Toast the cornmeal in a dry frying pan on a medium heat until it browns (stirring regularly).   Once it is a light brown colour, transfer it to a bowl and add the other ingredients.

It looks pretty yucky doesn’t it.  At this stage, because the recipe didn’t say much about water, I added cold water tablespoon by tablespoon.  The reason hot or boiling water would be best, I think, is to dissolve the honey allowing it to be worked in evenly through the mixture.  Cold water definitely doesn’t do that. In total I added 15 tablespoons of water to get that consistency.

It was thinner than I would have it for eating as a paste but a lot thicker than it would be if you were to drink it.

I was aiming for a bar like form, so I transferred the above mixture into a lightly greased ramekin dish and put it into a preheated [fan assisted] oven at 150 degrees centigrade for 10-15 minutes.

After the beep, the end result was ready!

If you’re thinking it looks a little dry, then you’d be right.  I think that was down to 2 things – using cold water in the mixture (which meant the honey was clumping rather than mixing) and possibly not enough water in the mixture before whacking it in the oven.

They tasted pretty sweet but bland at the same time, and quite powdery. I had one the next morning before my run. Didn’t feel much different in terms of energy level during to be honest.

I think I’ll have another go at making pinole but this time use hot water to mix. I’ll also bake blobs on a baking sheet rather than in a ramekin dish and see what that’s like.  I’ll also try making it as a drink, which could be disgusting or great, who knows.  All part of the fun.  Once Cha seeds are available in my kitchen I’ll add those to any recipes.  It seems to be that Chia seeds are really the key ingredient for pure energy boosting.

There are plenty of other Pinole Recipes out there.  Click here for the Google search results of Pinole Recipe.

If you have any Pinole recipes you’d like to leave in the comments, please do! I’d love to try them!