The Renegade Celiac

Thanksgiving Goodies

2011-11-30T12:52:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone and finally the goodies are eaten or discarded. One of the most challenging part of the meal is always the desserts. This year I did go toward some classic desserts that are naturally gluten free - even if they are filled with calories!
I made a basic white cake mix the day before for a traditional trifle. This cake does not have to be brilliant and does not have to be all light and fluffy either which helps. A few slices of the cake were placed at the bottom of a glass bowl, then removed to spread with strawberry preserve and returned. Next is the liqueur part - I use sherry but you can use red wine or even brandy if you want to. Let this all sit to marinate overnight. Add a layer of fruit (peaches, strawberries, raspberries etc - fresh or canned) and cover with a layer of red jello. When this has set, add a layer of cooled Birds' custard. Top off with a layer of whipped cream and decorate with sprinkles, fruit or whatever.
My other main dessert was a pavlova. This uses a 6 egg meringue spread into a circle. Bring the edges of the circle up slightly to form a bowl and cook in a cool over (325) for about an hour until light brown. Remove onto a serving plate. Fill with a mix of freshly whipped cream with fruit incorporated. This does not really need anything on top but a few pieces of fruit can be used.
As I said not great for the waistline but pretty good for being gluten free - I really should have taken a picture but forgot - gosh darn that means I will have to make another one!

Baking Day

2011-11-16T15:25:00.001-08:00

Blueberry

Don't know what came over me today except that I had some blueberries in the fridge, some overripe bananas and some cranberries. Combining them was not an option but within an hour I had made 3 batches or cookies.
Banana Bread: 4oz butter, 1/2cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbs syrup 6 bananas (I only used 4) 2 cups Pamela's flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp xantham.
Cranberry muffins: 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4cup veg oil, 1 egg, 1 cup orange juice. Then add the flour 1.5cups plus 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp xanthan) ;
Blueberry: 4 oz butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla and 1/2cup milk. Add 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp xanthan)

The muffins were standard mix and blend the sugar and fat, add eggs then flour with fruit in it.

Bake 20 mins.

The result was interesting and varied - the blueberry was fine, the banana was rather sweet for my taste and the cranberries needed a bit more sugar or something but might be fine for breakfast!!!
Here are the assemblage - and for one hour of baking it was not a bad deal - the kids think I am in training for the holidays rather like runners train for marathons, I have to train for baking sessions!!

Cranberry and banana 'bread'

Note that if anyone need the exact recipe I can track them down and let you have them. 1 came from Allrecipes.com the other from food.com

A Basic Bread Stuffing Recipe for Poultry

2011-11-15T18:43:00.001-08:00

With Thanksgiving round the corner I decided I need to spend some time making stuffings etc so that they would be decent for the holiday. The arrival of Udi's bread since last year has made a major difference and for a basic bread stuffing it works well, particularly if you have fresh herbs in the garden.
I like to use the bread almost frozen - traditionally bread is one day old, but that was before ultra processing and preservatives, and gluten free bread really is not 'fresh' even at its best stage! So at least half frozen does allow the bread to be ground into small pieces rather than sticky clumps.

The other problem with gluten free stuffing vs traditional is a matter or how much do you want to make? Bread is cheap and thus was used to add bulk, gluten free bread is not cheap. So I tend to make just a small amount - maybe just 4 slices of bread.

So trim the crust off the 4 slices of bread and whirl in chopper to make breadcrumbs.
To the breadcrumbs, add a tablespoon each of fresh thyme, sage and parsley.
Add a minced onion (finely chopped).
Mix one egg with a tablespoon of milk and add slowly to the stuffing. If you are lactose intolerant etc, use artificial egg liquid.
The final mix should be moist but not soggy.
Let the mix rest in the fridge for 30 mins then cook in 375 degree oven until fully cooked.
Serve with poultry and enjoy.

Gluten Free BBQ Sauce

2011-10-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

The thing with commercial barbecue sauce is that they use 'vinegar'. Some admit that the vinegar is malt vinegar, most do not but I assume that they use malt vinegar as well. For most people that is a problem as the malt tend to be from barley, so making a good barbecue sauce was essential if I was going to enjoy bbq ribs etc on the grill - ribs sans sauce are pretty dull!

So after a few goes, here is what I am now making and the guys all seem to think it is as good as the commercial brands - except that I don't make enough to store in a jar - maybe I should consider that, but I am not sure how long it would keep safely.
The recipe:

About 1/2 cup/ 100ml tomato paste;
1/2 cup/100ml dark molasses;
About 3 tbsp wine vinegar;
Juice of a small lemon;
3 small/2 lg cloves garlic
About a tsp chili flakes.
Mix all together and use to brush onto meat.

Note that the garlic and chili can be changed with your taste. I use some great chili flakes that are very strong, so only a tsp is needed. Adjust this to your taste. Red or white wine vinegar can be used. The consistency is sticky and able to be brushed on.
Let me know what you think.

Pork with Gf herb/wine sauce

2011-09-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am far from a great cook, but with a family you need to make an effort. Lately we have been in a rut - same things each week - shepherd's pie, sweet sour pork, burgers etc. Yesterday, I needed a change and the pork chops were the target. Stuffing with a sage/onion stuffing was the first thought but the kids made a face at that idea. I continued with the herb idea though because right outside the kitchen is the herb garden with a rather large sage bush.
The result was a herb/wine sauce:
Start the chops in a little olive oil to brown; add garlic and onion for about a minute then add about a cup of white wine. Deglaze the pan with the wine (ie scrap up all the gunk on the bottom of the pan). I added about a cup of chicken stock (this was gluten free homemade stock that was still frozen so I am not sure what the final amount was!). Then the herbs - I used about a tablespoon of freshly chopped sage and parsley. A little salt and pepper to finish off, covered and it was about ready in 20 minutes. I did uncover and thicken with about a tablespoon of cornstarch before it was finished. Served with minted little potatoes and veg. For a richer sauce a nob of butter and a dollop of cream would be added, but as someone is watching cholesterol and I had no cream, that was out anyway.

- Note this was in the freezer, and had to be quickly defrosted for this picture - forgot last night, so the sauce looks a bit lumpier than it really was.

Labels andIingredients Issues

2011-09-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

Having a good list of ingredients is very helpful to finding out what is gluten free and what isn't. Labels that clearly say Gluten Free are an additional help. What I found this week though truly threw me.

1: On a trip to the Kroger store, I passed by the organic freezer section and indead they now have little tags underneath gluten free items that indicate they are gluten free. Every one of the items actually said on the packet that they were GF, but Kroger feels the need to double indicate that. I don't have a problem with this but it become redundant in the cake mix aisle when the little gluten free tag goes almost unnoticed among the plethera of price cuts on other brands. And Betty Crocker does indeed clearly indicate that the gluten free mix can be spotted by the large Gluten Free line on the packet. However most celiacs tend to stay away from processed food and that is where it is most helpful. For instance there are no tags under potato chips such as Lay's Wavy chips that are indeed gluten free and the package says so on the back! Maybe they move the chips around too quickly??? Lea and Perrins also states that it is gluten free on the package, but no mention of that in the store where it would be very helpful. The cream of the crop came when I found a package of chicken - fresh chicken - with a label Gluten Free!! Can we expect the whole fresh meat and veg aisles to be cluttered with gluten free tags too?

2 This was a Walmart problem and I have no idea how these things came into the freezer but they did and I am trying to get things out of the freezer so I cooked them yesterday evening. Now most meat stock is not gluten free - they add flour for thickeners etc. Some are fine, others, particularly cheap ones, have yeast extract etc as well. So the problem came yesterday when we had two frozen steaks that had a 'marinated with seasoned beef broth' label. The ingredient list states: Beef, *seasoned beef broth (beef broth [water, beef stock] seasoning, chemicals etc etc. The problem here is that because it is less then 10% or whatever reason, the ingredients of the stock part of the broth is not mentioned.Stock is not a prime ingredient - it is a combination of other things, yet for some reason it is allowed to be unidentified on the pack. Major gripe point for me.

2011-09-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

This blog has certainly been neglected this year! I didn't realize that I purchased though cookies as long ago as February! Maybe part of that is that I have not really done much cooking over the summer and summer was filled with visitors, vacation and 2 large conferences.

This year the conference worked out very well. Not only did the wait staff provide the gluten free meal promptly but they confirmed that it was gluten free as they placed it before me - that is great when you are faced with something that has a sauce or other doubtful dish.

One thing that I did found out was the Steak and Shake fries are NOT gluten free!!!! I was prompted to ask after I found out our favorite bar/restaurant finally handed me their allergy list and the fries were listed as containing flour. That restaurant is so un gluten free that it will be the star of another blog!

Lots of Cookies

2011-02-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

I was in Meijer the other day doing a quick shop and at the end of an aisle of soda, I think, before I turned into the cat food aisle, there were some gluten free cookies. Granted they would be better in the middle of the cookie aisle but to say that I was spoilt for choice would be an understatement! I am accustomed to seeing Pamela's cookies but these were from Glutino and included wafers, and cookies.

I think I came out with 5 packs all together and it will take me a week or two to eat them - still doing the calorie thing to get rid of Christmas pounds.

And for those who want to try the rock buns below please note that I forgot to add in the melted butter, so pop back and add that!!

Rock Cakes updated - missed the butter!!!

2011-02-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

I tried a recipe the other day for what was termed 'blueberry muffins'. Well after a few tweeks to the recipe to accommodate gluten free flour, it ended up more like what we used to have as kids - rock cakes. Typically these are uneven, crisp texture on top with a light, cake like base filled with currants. The danger is that if the rock cakes are too crisp on top you can almost break your teeth on them!

So here is what I did:

1 1/2 cups gf flour plus 2 tsp xanthan
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp gf baking powder
1/4 tsp grated orange rind
scant punnet of blueberries (about 2 cups)
1 egg plus one egg yolk
2 tbs melted butter
about 1/2 -3/4 cup to mix

Mix the dry ingredients and add the blueberries and rind to coat them;
Mix the eggs with 1/2 cup of milk and add to mix;
Add the melted butter;
Stir the mix and if too dry add a little extra milk
Final consistency should be a sticky kind of mix.

Put the mix into large paper or greased muffin pans and bake at 375 for about 20minutes (lightly brown on top).
Makes about 8 to 10 muffins and they do freeze well.

Original recipe: Take it and Like it Basic Blueberry Muffins

Gluten Free Stock

2011-02-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Basic Cooking Stock

The problem with most stocks and gravies is that they are full of sodium, preservatives, color and, usually contain gluten, sometimes in the form of malt extract. Making stock however has somehow gained the reputation of being something only fine chefs have time to make. As gravy needs a good stock base, the two go hand in hand and both are easy to make.

Chicken stock is the easiest to make in our house because we have at least one roast chicken a week. There really is not much left after the family has eaten, but the carcass and whatever is left does make a terrific base for a stock.

Generally I let everything rest overnight in the fridge so that I can have a long simmer time but the stock can be made right after the meal if that is what suits your schedule.

Put carcass into a large pot and almost cover with water. Put onto the stove to boil. While that is coming to a boil, grab some veggies. I usually have at least 2 onions that are close to sprouting, some ‘should have been used’ carrots and maybe a parsnip in the veg. drawer. Add all these to the pot along with any other that you have around. Some chefs recommend using the scrapings from the vegetables too. I add black pepper and a few cloves of garlic and fresh herbs (or use dry in the winter). When the pot comes to the boil, lower the heat to simmer, cover and ignore for about 3-4 hours, which is why I generally do this in the morning. Slowly the kitchen will be filled with a delightful aroma of chicken. Continue simmering until the carcass comes apart very easily and any meat has fallen off. The liquid is probably cloudy but that is fine. When you think it is flavored enough, take off the heat and let the pot cool a little.

With a large colander and bowl, strain the hot stock into a bowl. I like to do this over the sink in case it splashes. The bones can be discarded, and the liquid put into the fridge overnight. By morning all the fat from the stock has risen to the surface and made a solid layer. It can be spooned off to give you a fat free, salt free stock. Usually I reheat gently and put the stock into plastic bags or an ice cube tray so that it can be frozen. Fresh stock should be reheated every other day.

A vegetarian option would just use the vegetables and simmer until they are almost disintegrated.

Use the stock in gravies and meat dishes knowing that what you have made is gluten free, salt and preservative free, and considerably cheaper than buying a box.

Gluten Free Apple Pie

2011-02-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

For the years before gluten free flour was on every store shelf, I used cornstarch for the base of any pastry. It made a decent tasting pastry that was almost impossible to roll out. Consequently I rarely made any pies.
Why I decided to loose a few pounds and bake an apple pie, I don't know, but I got a couple of apples and decided to give it another try with the modern gluten free flour.

I used the same base as before - 1 part fat to 2 parts flour;

For this small pie that was 2 oz butter and 4 oz Pamela's gluten free Baking and Pancake Mix. Rub together until the fat is no greater than a pea and the whole mix is crumbly. Add 1 tablespoon sugar for dessert pastry.
Moisten with 1 egg yolk and about a tablespoon of milk. This makes a rather damp and sticky mix, so rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
To roll out - this was the really tricky bit until a month or two back - put plenty of flour onto a flexible plastic chopping mat and roll out to the right size. I was just using a small dish so that was about 8 inches diameter. Make sure that the pastry is not sticking to the mat by having lots of flour under it, and running a long knife under to free up any sticky bits.With the pie dish close by, put the rolling pin at the edge of the pastry. Lift the chopping mat up so that the start of the pastry falls gently onto the rolling pin. Carefully continue rolling up the pastry by lifting the mat, until all the pastry is rolled, then quickly move the pastry onto the waiting dish. This has to be done quickly because the stuff still has a tendency to crack and break. Unroll the pastry and mold into the dish.
Spread a tablespoon of sugar onto the base of the pie and fill with apples.I pre-cooked the apples, then roll out the top in the same way as the base.
Brush with a little bit of milk, then a sprinkling of sugar to give a glaze and bake in a 375 oven for about 20 minutes.

The pastry was acceptable texture-wise and apart from the dark color from the flour mix it baked and browned well.
So using the chopping mats, that can be picked up at almost any supermarket, makes it so much easier to get gluten free pastry into a pie dish, that I may will be tempted to bake some more.

Gluten Free Living Magazine

2011-01-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

I was at the bookstore earlier this week and noticed that there are several gluten free magazines out now. Gluten Free Living is one that has been a round a while, but I lost track of it over the past few years. I don't know if there were production problems or not, but Ann Whelan is still the lady in charge. The magazine is full of great information including an article on the gluten free labeling requirements. Among the ads in the magazine were one for soups. This is an area of the supermarket that I usually bypass when looking for food as most contain gluten. By accident I picked up a few for the family, but after reading the Progresso ad in the magzine, I double checked and there were two in the cupboard that are indeed gluten free!
I am not sure if this is a new line, or an adjustment but look for the Progresso soups and the gluten free ones are clearly identified on the front. Chowders and vegetables soups are among the selection - when was the last time you had a can of chowder from the supermarket???
There is also a web site mentioned :www.liveglutenfreely.com which has coupons, newsletter and other interesting tidbits on it.

calories or contamination???

2011-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday season I managed to put on a few pounds. Nothing unusual I suppose,but it came on quickly about the time I started the treadmill last November. My first thought was the muscle was building up and that would settle and the pounds would evaporate. With cooking and drinking and not doing much over the holiday the few extra little pounds hung around. Well here we are in January, and I have cut back the alcohol, stopped eating the cookies and desserts (except those brownies, and the strawberry thing etc. - well the mission is to learn to bake), and this morning the scales went UP a half pound.
So my mind is turning to contamination and all the possible places where contamination could occur. I make waffles from a mix for the kids in the morning which usually ends up all over the counter because the opening is way too small to pour lumpy mix out into a cup container; I make sandwiches and generally clear up crumbs from pizza etc during the day as well. Could one of these be causing a problem?

So my idea to to let someone else make the sandwiches and the waffles, and in return I am going to count the calories to see if I can shift this 3 lbs that is bugging me!

If/when it goes, I will start playing do-it-all mother again to see if one of the above is the issue. Definitely a conundrum though.

A Gluten Free Chat on Twitter

2011-01-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you on twitter, I have started a Gluten Free chat. A twitter chat is joined by posting a twitter message with the #glutenfreechat included. You can follow the chat in tweetdeck by adding a column for everything that has #glutenfreechat or #celiacchat in it; or you can join the chat via tweetchat. Just enter the name in the tweetchat box and it will take you to the entires. To post to the chat use the same # tag as above.

The chat will be from2-3 pm eastern.
Join in the chat about what we are eating/cooking etc.

Brownies and the ongoing search for gluten free bread

2011-01-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

So after the last success with a white cake, I decided to try out some of the other boxes that had found their way into my cupboard. I had several bread mixes and a brownie mix.
First I tried the French Bread & Pizza mix from the Gluten Free Pantry. The mix suggests that you use a gluten free setting for the bread mixer - do bread mixers now come with that setting? Mine certainly does not, but it is a few years old now.I chose the French bread setting which is a short, single rise bake.I also substituted white wine vinegar fro cider vinegar. I forgot to check it after the first mix, so it didn't get scrapped down but it did rise quite well. Taste was not bad, but rather sweet and similar to other gluten free breads. I suspect that it will loose all the softness in a matter of hours, but I will try freezing it as well. I would also like to try this mix for bread rolls as it may be suitable. The toasting took a while, and was acceptable - that is the small half piece in the front there,

While the bread was cooking I tried the brownie mix from Betty Crocker. This was incredibly easy to make - just add the liquid butter and two eggs. The mix had chocolate chips as well as chocolate in it so was very chocolaty and sticky going into the pan. Coming out it was still very chocolaty but tasted pretty good. I am not the worlds biggest chocolate fan, so I doubt that I will be making these very often, but they are good tasting and a cinch to make particularly if the oven is already on.

An Elegant Strawberry Dessert

2011-01-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

The best gluten free recipes are those that don't start with flour and this strawberry dessert was one of those. Now, I am not going to endorse buying fresh strawberries in January in Toledo because even if they are USA grown, they travelled way to far and were basically tastless. However, someone bought them and they were in the fridge and if I didn't do something with them they would just rot. So.... to the recipe books I went.
This recipe starts with whipping 2 eggs whites and, in a different bowl, a cup of heavy cream. Puree the strawberries - I threw them into the grinder - and sit over a seive for a few minutes to get some of the juice out. In a saucepan, dissolve 4oz sugar in 4 tbs water and heat until the whole thing is at drop stage. Mix this with the egg whites, then add the strawberry puree and mix in the cream. Pour into a mold and sit in the freezer.
Overall it worked well but do not leave it in the freezer until you need it. Rather like sorbet, it is rock hard and needs to soften a little in the refrigerator.
This original recipe was from a Marks & Spencer/St Michael Puddings and Desserts book by Elizabeth Pomeroy (Sundial Books, 1977).

Gluten Free Cakes from The Cake Mix Doctor

2011-01-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

I am always on the look out for new books on gluten free cooking and one that caught my eye was the Cake Mix Doctor. Now apart from the fact that I really do not care to use mixes, it does have some advantages and I both purchased the book and tried the first recipe.

You may have noticed that gluten free cake mixes have made their way to the cake aisle of your local Kroger, which means we have become main stream folks, and it means that life gets easier. I chose to use the Betty Crocker yellow cake mix. The recipe called for a cake mix and vanilla pudding powder (one half packet). The result, if you like vanilla flavor was not too bad. The recipe was easy to follow and took very little in the way of ingredients.

The overall texture was good and light, but my distribution in the cake pans was off so the top had more mixture that the bottom. I used a simple raspberry preserve for the filling, rather than heavy cream based filling, and for an everyday cake it worked very well. I really should have tried the mix minus the pudding mix to say it is the mix that works, but I suspect that Betty Crocker would not put out anything that didn't work with a basic amount of skill.

Downside with the book is that everything is based on mixes and at first glance are just variations on a basic cake mix theme. If you really like cakes and have given up on how to make them, this book will help get you over the block. If however you are an accomplished cook who just needs a cake mix that works to get you started on your creative variations, then you probably will not find it over exciting. I tend to be in the first category and, I am grateful that white cake mixes have finally made it to the market as I am really not a big brownie lover.

Gluten Free Tasting

2010-07-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Generally, for obvious reasons, I avoid samples of food that are offered in the local stores, but when the local Whole Foods had a sample stand of gluten free carrot cake, I was curious. The stand had vegan and gluten free cake samples in little cupcake containers. The cakes started out looking the same - orange/brown body with white icing. The little containers were the same. I asked the lady which was gluten free and she handed me one.Now this is a celiac who has taken the bread bun off a hamburger and lived to tell the tale - hence my lack of concern with all this cross contamination stuff.
By the time we were in the parking lot, it was clear that the sample was not gluten free! Indigestion, gas, and my sunny temper plummeting into plain irritation - the kids noticed at once.
I emailed the store that evening, but used the general contact form - not result, so by Tuesday I went past and asked to speak to the manager. He was not there, but I was given his card. I rewrote the email the following morning and received a response within minutes. For some reason the protocols were not followed and some amendments were going to be introduced such as no two containers should look the same if they contain different materials particularly if this is for allergy sensitive material.

So the moral to the story is - let them know if there is a problem with a store who gives gluten free demonstrations or samples. They need to know that however you set things up, people will mix up the containers and the person serving may not notice. I will not be so keen to try another sample though, and will just go buy the packet if that is what I fancy trying.

Witled lettuce season

2010-06-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

I have long maintained that the best gluten free recipes are those that do not have flour in them in the first place. With summer veg and lots of fresh fruits around there are plenty of ways to cook without touching the pantry.
This week a had a head of fresh romaine lettuce and some time ago we had tried a recipe from Ramsey's book that wilted the lettuce then served with salmon on top. Ramsey of course had his nicely molded into a circle.
So my version:

Chop one shallot and a clove of garlic;
Soften in pan with a tbls of olive oil;
In another pan - cook the salmon in another tablespoon olive oil;

Add the full head of coarsely chopped/torn lettuce to the shalot mix and turn until warm and softened. The mass also reduces considerably.

Turn the now wilted lettuce onto a plate, top with the salmon.
I served mine with a few little boiled potatoes.

Simple and totally gluten free!

The GlutenFree Stock thing

2010-03-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

With budgets and money getting tighter, the shopper has been dropping my favorite brands for generic. For the most part that is tolerable, but for some things like stock it is risky. So the other week, with yet another cheap, garbage stock in the cupboard, and a chicken carcase in the fridge I decided it was time to make my own stock - at least I would know what was in the darn stuff. Problem was that I thought stock had to simmer for days on the stove to be anything like flavorful. I did not have time for that.

So, I tipped the carcase into a large pot, put about a quart of water in; washed 2 softening, end of the week carrots; peeled the last onion; threw in some winter savory and rosemary (the only two herbs still green in the garden under the snow) and let it simmer. I may have added garlic, and certainly salt and pepper. It took a few hours on low for the meat to fall off and the bones to come apart - my guage for -cooked. The smell was quite good.
It spent the night in the fridge and next morning the layer of fat at the top was taken off - boiled, strained and then I declared the stock ready for use. It lasted until Wednesday and made a pretty darn good gravy and stock for a casserole, so this week I am trying it again. It really is not difficult of even longwinded to do.

Next trick will be to find out how to do a beef broth - beef boned roasts are not as common as the smaller boneless things so that might be interesting. Danna Korn probably has somebetter ideas for this
I will no doubt report on the findings.

Gravy the old fashioned way

2010-03-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

When my mother was visiting she mentioned that I was the only member of the family that made gravy the old fashioned way. Of course that is primarily because the boxed stuff is thickened with wheat, so what options did I have? I can't say that I agree with her that I use the old fashioned way though.
I remember when growing up, the meat fat and juices were poured off, and one tablespoon of fat plus juices were retained in the pan. Add some flour and stir around until brown, then add broth and voila - gravy. I could not do that - I had over browned flour stuff and very lumpy gravy! Indeed we all need to seive the gravy most days. Then 'they' found the boxed/canned stuff and gluten free were left adrift. So I fudged the gravy thing, but memories are short sometimes, and this is apparently the 'old fashioned' way:

Mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with a little water until you get a liquid;
Mix this into some stock that is not at boiling point.
Stir until the mix is getting thick and the starch is cooking;
Add a few drops of browning (this is caramel stuff in a bottle and gluten free as far as I can see) - it can also be added at any time as it only adds color);
Pour the fat off the meat pan until about a tablespoon remain, plus any juices and bits;
Pour the 'sort of'' gravy stuff into the pan and swish around until all the bits are incorporated into the gravy;
Pour back into the saucepan and wash the now much cleaner pan.
You now have a reasonably tasty, brown looking gravy!

I dispute that this is the old fashioned way, but it realy is much better tasting than the bottle stuff anyway! Try it and let me know what you think!

Carol Fenster probably has some great recipes for gravy too in her : 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes

Those healthy yogurts

2010-01-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

You must have seen the commercials - get your body back to normal with healthy Activia yogurts. The little fellas in the yogurt will whack your sluggish bacterial guys into action to get you back in order - right???
Well I did/am doing that thing - post Christmas get into order/shape/healthy hits us all, so they were part of my new healthy thing. Problem was that my insides were not quite ready for the newcomers and got rather noisy. Then I noticed that Activia states that it is made in a facility that also uses wheat. Which brought me to the thought - was it the little bifudus guys or the wheat.
I really think that modern health codes require a decent wash between one run of a yogurt and the next and where in the world was wheat in the yogurt facility?? The only thing I can think of is that some of these have granola or some other additive.

I am now on day 6 or 8 or something, and the little fellas are now less argumentative, so we are getting on well again. Being of an age when I need calcium in any way that it comes, being able to have blueberry flavored healthy yogurt is a definate plus.

Bottom line I think is that it was a pure coincidence and although I have to be cautious, it is sometimes too easy to blame something that is in fact gluten free but just creates a ruckus with the system.

New Year's Eve

2009-12-31T14:24:00.001-08:00

So here we are at another new Year's Eve and the cooking gloves are back on. Although the formal dinner parties for 8 or 10 are in the past, we still have 7 tonight (the kids grew old enough to stay up way past midnight!).

On tonight's menu we have 4 courses, hopefully.

First up is the chicken liver pate. Most commercial pate contains bread/floour or somthing else, but I found most recipes do not need those. Mine contains about a 1lb chicken peices (boneless,skinless breasts) and about 6 chicken livers, plus a mixture of onions, celery and garlic - all ground up in the blender. I added a pinch of dried tarragon, which urked me as I had to buy the stuff and grow it all summer and I think I put just a little too much into the meat. Final touch was a dash of sherry (brandy was out as we finished that at Christmas - more was on the way). The pate was put into a slow oven for a few hours to blend and hopefull release some of the fats to mold it. Until I take it out of the tin I will not know that bit. The pate will be served with crisp french bread (for the others) and a toasted slice of gf bread for me, all on a plate of salad.

Next up will be the shrimp bisque - this was again a mix of recipes and had a bag of cooked shrimp (1 lb) onions and celery plus garlic (I think). I cooked all for a while and added 1/2 packet of chicken stock and the same of a carton of gf tomato soup. Again all was blended and is not in the fridge until it is served. I plan to add a dash of brandy and parsley to dress this and serve warm.

The main dish is beef - simple, with duchess potatoes (mashed potatoes piped into little swirl things) and steamed veg.

Desserts include Christmas pudding (for them), red jellow if it sets (bit late doing that) and a gf gateau. This is a white vanilla cake mix that I came up with - beat 6 eggs yolks with 8 oz sugar until creamy - I add a teaspoon of vanilla; whisk 6 egg whites until almost stiff. Add 4 oz gf flour, 4 oz cornstarch and some xantham and baking powder to the egg yok mix; then add the egg whites. Pour into a pan and bake at about 400. It does rise a little and is quite light. This I have covered with cream and decorated with fruit (I have no talent in this direction).

Hopefully some pictures will be added tomorrow when the items appear on the table.

Happy New Year, Everyone - and more baking with gluten free kitchen disasters next year.
Kate

Sweet and Sour Pork

2009-08-19T18:02:00.001-07:00

This is an old standby and it is based on a recipe that was originally in a cookery book, I think -or maybe a magazine in the 1970s. You can use chicken or pork for the recipe.

Equal amounts (about 2tbs) brown sugar, tomato sauce, OJ, cornstarch;
equal amount (about 1 tbs) rice or wine vinegar, red wine or port, soy sauce;

Mix all together and add some stock so that it covers chops, or coats chicken. Put into oven for however long it takes for the meat to cook (60-90 mins depending on what it is). For a coating sauce you need a little more cornstarch.
Serve with fresh veggies and/or mashed potatoes.

Gluten Free Cafe - Lemon Basil Chicken

2009-06-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

I was out of bread and wandering around the supermarket for the freezer where they keep frozen gf bread and waffle things - non too inspiring, but a needed something. I noticed in the frozen section next to the bread, some gluten free tags that were big enough that even I couldn't miss them.
The items were from the Gluten Free Cafe and the first time I have come across these. I picked up the Lemon Basil Chicken. The image looked decent, and the ingredients were fine.
Yesterday evening was burgers and fries for the family, and I really do not care for greasy burgers even if they are done on the grill. so I did the chicken.
It takes 7 minutes in the microwave, with a stir half way. The sauce was on one side, the rice the other and a few pieces of chicken were sat on top. I stirred the rice and sauce, and left the chicken where it was.
Time to taste - very good. The chicken was slightly dry, but would have been better if I had incorporated it in the sauce first. The rice was dry and not sticky and the sauce was smooth. My only comment is that the portion size is small and was not really sufficient for a full meal, but would be fine for a light lunch.
They have other frozen meals too, so check them out at your local supermarket and give them a try: http://www.myglutenfreecafe.com/products_lemonbasil.html

The Pancake thing

2009-05-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago, the guys arrived home from the supermarket with pancake mix and wanted that for breakfast. How difficult can pancakes be I thought. Well come the next morning there I was tea in one hand and box of Aunt Jemima's pancake stuff in the other - one cup mix, one egg, and milk, beat then pour. OK. Now when the older two were at school, pancakes came frozen in neat little rounds that cooked in one minute in the microwave. Well these younger ones like to make a challenge obviously and the consistency of this stuff is like cornstarch in water or milk - great when you stir it, but solidifies when left on its own for a few minutes.It took a week or two to get the pouring consistency such that it didn't flow all over the pan, neither did it sit in a pile like an uncooked burger - trial and error and a few down the sink in favor of pop tarts that cook in a toaster!

Well finally I cracked at the smell of these things, and found a pancake mix from Whole Foods. The package stated: 1 cup of mix, 1 egg, some milk - similar to the regular stuff right. Then I looked at the serving thing - makes 12! Now I don't know about the rest of the celiacs around, but if there is just one of you in the family - 12 was going to go a very long way and be rather old at the end! I decided to substitute the non-egg chemical stuff. It came out fine and half a cup of mix actually made about 3 days of pancakes.

Then I got to look at the ingredients, and decided that flour, baking powder and vanilla flavor were all in the cupboard - so I tried the cheaper version and made them with gf flour and it worked fine. I still have the consistency problem, and it does need more milk if you let it sit for a while, but works. I use half cup of Damata gf flour, a pinch of baking powder, a few drops of vanilla, a tbs of non-egg stuff, and about the same of milk. Stir with a fork, and when the consistency is pourable, pour a dollop into the greased pan. Cook until the bubbles pepper the upper surface, then flip for a minute to brown the other side. I serve sprinkled with sugar and fresh fruit on the side.

I am thinking of getting some lemon flavor to try as vanilla is a little sweet sometimes. Sprinkling with sugar and lemon juice would work too.

A sandwich to go

2009-05-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has been gluten free for a while will know that packing a sandwich for lunch was not high on the list of best lunch ideas. But yesterday I had a busy morning that was going to run into the afternoon so I thought I would take a chance at being 'almost normal' and do a sandwich. I also had a bunch of gf breads in the freezer that were rapidly approaching their throw out date.

I chose to use a piece of gf french bread from Everybody Eats. I had the forethought to cut the loaf into chunks before putting it into the freezer so grabbed one and defrosted it for 90 seconds. After a quick breakfast (pancake and fruit - that needs another post) I ran to the garden for some lettuce leaves. Two slices of unidentified but heirloom tomato and lettuce fit just inside the piece. That along with a couple of potato chips on the side, made lunch that could be eaten in the car between the morning and afternoon events. Biggest challenge - could I avoid the tomato dripping onto my light green Master Gardener shirt along the way? Yes I did!

So there we are - almost normal - a sandwich to go.

Today - Yorkshire puddings to go with roast beef for dinner - they are challenging with regular flour, but gluten-free?????? we will see.

conference season starts

2009-02-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

There was a time when eating at a conference was a case of running back to the room for a banana and a handful of dry cereal to survive. Things have certainly changed, and even with 'free continental breakfast' I can get a decent start.

The key is the new wave of ready made bread rolls. Mine come from Everybody Eats, which do frozen gluten free rolls by the half dozen. I brought 3 with me, in case I needed food last night (found a steak house though). I was able to microwave half the roll, and use the condiments provided. Coffee is gluten free anyway, and probably more necessary at 7 a.m.! I also popped into the supermarket yesterday and picked up a ready made bowl of cut fruit, and I munched on that too this morning.
So for the first time in several years of conferences, I have eaten sufficient to last all day if needed (boxed lunches can be anything when you asked for GF).

Well, time to go and start the day,

A trifle!!

2009-01-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

The bottom of a trifle is abasic cake which is not too deep. That is soaked with sherry then fruit, jello, custard and cream in layers to the top. I decided to make one today. The first thing then was the cake base.

For some stupid reason, I decided on doing a traditional Victoria sponge mix, and doing it the original way. That is the weight of two eggs in butter, sugar and flour. All I can say is that those Victorian cooks must have ad big biceps because mine ached after just beating for a few minutes with the wooden spoon! The batter was not as thin as I recall and that showed in the result which was not as good as I would like, but it was fine for what I needed.

Traditional Trifle showing layers

I also did some more blueberry muffins, that were so good last week, but this week as I was out of Domato flour I used an alternate baking mix adding xanthan. I chose to put them into larger muffin pans too. The result was respectable but the flour is based on bean flour rather than grain, and that gave a more earthy taste. Finally I did a brownie that came in a mix, and even I cannot make a mess of that! I am not a big fan of gooey chocolate, but the kids are enjoying it anyway, so I guess that makes it somewhat normal.

Larger size blueberry muffins

Day 2 of serious cooking

2009-01-17T17:29:00.000-08:00

Weekday meals are humdrum and nothing special. We cook one meal, that is gluten free, and is some variation on meat and veg plus sauce of some sort.

Weekends are when I try the baking part and this year I am determined to make some inroads into baking with gluten free flours. If possible I have always veered toward using recipes that are naturally gluten free, such as a chocolate torte, as they are much more successful. There are times though when I really want something different. Here is the overall result: From left: the kinda vanilla torte (not good), the bread (at back) and the blueberry muffins (v. good).

Last weekend I did try the bread again with excellent results, even if it was a little lumpy and uneven on top! In this business taste over rides looks when it comes to bread, and this flour and recipe seems to be working for me.

Then came some blueberry muffins. When you take a full 6 oz of blueberries, and not much batter, you are sure to come out with a winner and these were. Not very large, but moist and soft. I am thinking that some extra xanthan might be a good idea to help make them rise further, but they did taste ok. In fact one morning when I was out early and hadn't had time to get toast, I took two in the car with me - that sort of fast food on the go, is a real treat.

Then came the cake thing - not so stellar! This was a recipe that used one half corn starch and one half flour which seemed like it would work better than most. I am not sure what went wrong, but mixing the flours together would be a start as some of the corn starch seemed to clump together in ugly white solid masses. Even with whipped cream and peaches this thing was a flop.

Tomorrow as I am almost out of flour (ordered some more yesterday), so I am trying a standard cake thing as a base for a traditional trifle. Husband loves trifle and with even average cake when it is soaked in sherry and covered in jello, it will be barely noticed - I hope. Of course the cake may turn out fine, but there is no guarantee of that. I have different brand of gf baking mix, so I want to try the blueberry muffins again - in part because this is going to be a busy week, and I may need them!

Mutany in the Kitchen

2009-01-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

When you try to get organized by writing menus at the beginning of the week, things should go smoothly. Sometimes though, something comes along that makes you need to do a quick change. Last night was one of those times.

I had a notion that we would go for a quick beer at the local tavern before dinner. The menu had shepherd’s pie for the meal, but that is not something that can have a variable time to serve, so I substituted a beef pot roast. No big deal, I thought – boy was I wrong!!!

The pot roast was just a roast of beef, with onions, carrots and celery, plus some stock and into the oven to cook for somewhere between 2 and 4 hours – just what was needed. The kids could eat at around 7.30 or 8 and if we were later back, it could go back into the oven until 9 or so. My logic was flawless.

Unfortunately the family was horrified that shepherd’s pie was not going to appear - first one kid, then the next and finally the husband - all pointing to the menu list (not that they looked at that any other time).

What is so special about a shepherd's pie except that on cold winter nights it is comfort food? It used to be served on Thursday, when I cleared the fridge of all the left over veggies like the one zucchini, that I hadn't used, the 3 mushrooms, and a slightly limp rib of celery. By the time they were all zipped thru the chopper with onion and garlic plus some herbs the kids couldn't tell that the dreaded vegetables were in there.

I was vindicated - we got talking, and were back around 9.30, and still had something ready to eat, but boy what a fuss!

A Kind of Chicken Curry

2009-01-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

One pot meals are sometimes the best way to go with a family, and Saturday nights are ideal for them. Usually it is chili, but tonight for a change I did a chicken curry - well sort of.

One kid does not like rice, two don't like things too spicy, and I am not a big fan of Indian style curry. So we ended with more of a Chinese style curry.

The base of the curry powder is a homemade assortment of spices: turmeric, cardamon, fenugreek and coriander. I make this in bulk (about one cup dry mix at a time), and then add ginger and/or chili flakes when I use it. Tonight I used both ginger and chili for some heat.

So along with the chunks of chicken we had carrots, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and broccoli, in curry sauce made from curry powder, ginger, chili, tomato paste, chicken stock and a tablespoon of brown sugar (not sure why I put that in). Turned out not too bad at all and there was very little left over for snacks or someone's lunch tomorrow.

Bread and Banana Bread

2009-01-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning thinking it was a baking day and I was right. Usually things do not go that well when I bake and so today although I was enthusiastic about the idea, I was quite prepared for another disaster.

So first up, as usual was bread. Never a great success but sometimes it turns out well enough to eat toasted for a day or two before it turns into concrete. I used an old gluten free bread recipe from Bette Hagman's book, that I modified for the bread machine. Plus I was using a premade flour. The flour actually contains several flours, plus xanthum gum. I added a teaspoon of xanthum anyway. The yeast was out of date and been in the fridge a month or two (likely 6 or 7 months). I put everything in according to the bread machine instructions, used French bread settings and single rise, as per instructions from the flour manufacturer. Three hours later - quite a nice surprise!

Then I went onto a banana bread - well that was interesting, and is the squat little lump next to the bread. The recipes were varied in their needs after two ripe bananas (which I had). I found the flour packets in the pantry and tossed them all - most were out of date by many months. I did have enough generic mix to make the bread, and never having had any sort of banana bread, I did not know what to expect. The result was rather unleven, and very sweet, very bananary. I think it could use something in there to offset the banana taste. I am thinking cranberries, so I may try this again in some fashion. It also helps to put the eggs in at the right time - I had already put the mix into the pans and the oven, before I realised that the eggs were still on the counter.

The breads are in the fridge now, and we will see how long it stays soft, and freshish - my guess is maybe 48 hours, but it could be less than that.
Not a total disaster though.

The scales do not lie!

2009-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

The reality of too many beers, too many desserts and lack of excercise hit this morning. Way to many pounds have arrived since Thanksgiving, so drastic steps have to be taken.
The main culpret is Heineken. Now there are some of you that say beers are not gluten free, but back in the 70's it was generally accepted that gluten was too heavy to survive the brewing process, and thus beer was fine for a gluten free life, so I continue to drink it and do fine, thank you. In fact Budweiser was imported to England as guten free beer in the 1990's - not really surprising as it is generally considered just fizzy water anyway.
So my theory on beer is that I will only drink things I can see through, are not labelled winter ales, wheat ales, white ales or whatever, and I do not drink Stella or Fosters (which seem to affect me), but most lagers, Pilsners and light bitters seem fine. However, the calories they impart are still significant when you add them up. Hence I am not blaming the weight gain on gluten in Heineken - more too many Heineken over the past six weeks. Too many colories in, not enough going out.
It is not just the beer that has to go though - the bacon sandwiched between two pieces of gf toast, the bread fried in bacon fat, and other calory heavy, colesterol heavy food stuffs have gone too.
Back to being sensible for the New Year- how boring!

News Eve - Dinner and Promises

2008-12-31T17:51:00.000-08:00

So this is the first post on this new blog to track my trials as a gluten free non-cook, mother and definate survivor who takes gluten free in her stride.
On the menu tonight: Shrimp with sauce, Roast Duck, Duchess Potatoes, Fresh veggies and some new dessert called Zabaglione. The dessert is an simple mix of whisked egg yolks, sugar and wine plus some lemon zest.

The potatoes were a challenge - they were mashed then piped thru an icing bag. For years this has not been a problem, but maybe the bag had seen it's better days, and the potatoes had a few lumps which clogged the bag. The bag split on one side and sent neatly formed tubes of potato onto my arm. We persevered! Eventually the swirls were made and I changed aprons.
I thought of taking a picture of the potatoes but .... nope.

Dinner will arrive about on time, everything will look ok, and in true British form, the chaos will be masked!

Resolution for next year is to bake more - hence this blog. I made the resolution last year and filled the pantry with all sorts of strange flours, and used none of them. This year things will be different.

Well back to dinner,
Have a Great start to 2009!, and check back with this blog for my recipes and disasters in the kitchen