Gluten-free Gourmand

Have a burrito - a real burrito.  Just like I did every day this week since I came up with this recipe for gluten-free flour tortillas.  They aren't even hard to make! There are several secret ingredients.  The first one is not so secret - it's more of a traditional, but underground ingredient.  The ingredient that makes these tortillas taste so good is lard.  Yep, delicious lard!  It's how flour tortillas are made.  (Sub out with vegetable shortening if you are vegetarian, of course.) The second secret ingredient is my  Deluxe Pastry Flour .  It has just the right balance of gluten-free flours for texture, pliability, and flavor.  You need flavor in your flour to balance out that fat you're using.  You know, the lard.  It's delicious, but you want to taste flour with a beautiful enhanced flavor.  As much as I like lard, you don't want the lard flavor to take over your tortilla. That's exactly what will happen i...

This week head over to the Gluten-free Homemaker to read a review of my No. 1 All-Purpose Flour and enter a giveaway to win a free bag of flour!  You get to choose between the No. 1 All-purpose Flour and the No. 2 Deluxe Pastry Flour .  You have until June 2nd to enter, so hurry over!

Do you want to experience the feeling of endless layers of buttery dough shattering against your teeth as you bite into a lovely pastry?  Then you need to make yourself some of these gluten-free croissants, because odds are that no one is going to make them for you.  It's hard to get good glutinous croissants let alone GF ones, so you will have to fend for yourself.  This recipe does take several hours to a day to prep, but it's worth the time and effort for fabulous, flaky, buttery gluten-free croissants. Note: This recipe takes about 24 hours.  If that's too long to wait for your croissants, check out my newer recipe, Quicker and Easier Croissants. I learned many things about croissant making and gluten-free dough while developing this recipe.  I've done a separate post on tips for making gluten-free croissants that you can read for more details.  I also have a post with more photos for laminating the dough that you should read before delving int...

I assure you that I am the most impatient cook ever.  If there is a step that can be skipped or a corner that can be cut I will skip and cut at the same time.  I tend to look at recipes as a collection of concepts, many of which are just the author's unscientific and convoluted way of going about making something that should be very straightforward.  I look at recipes for methods for creating something, then I modify that method and create something similar, but mine, and faster and better. Near-perfect croissants that split a little It's this tendency to change things and modify that makes croissants a tricky thing for me.  They are very dependent on technique and making them is very detail-oriented.  I'm more of a big picture person. It's also this tendency to change a recipe that allowed me to figure out how to make croissants gluten-free.  It's a long and grueling process to make the laminated dough.  I simplified it.  Trus...

I used to say that the only things I missed about eating gluten were croissants and beer.  Those of you that follow my Facebook page know that I've been working really hard to perfect a recipe for croissants.  My next post will be about making the croissant dough.  This post will be about the technique for laminating dough for puff pastry, croissants and danishes.  The three types of dough are a little different from each other, but the technique to incorporate the butter into the dough is the same for all three recipes. You will need: Ingredients 1 recipe puff pastry, croissant, or danish dough. chilled butter for the recipe, usually 12 oz/3sticks/340 grams 2 Tbsp GF flour or starch of your choice potato starch for dusting the dough Equipment parchment paper or, less desirable, plastic wrap rolling pin, preferably a club-style pin but I use a marble rolling pin A dry, clean pastry brush I drew heavily from Joe Pastry's blog post about this same t...

I have a Restaurant List going of Portland's many safe gluten-free eating establishments.  That list is of the restaurants in Portland that have gone above and beyond in order to offer safe dining options for people who eat gluten-free.  I want to list out a few more restaurants which may or may not be celiac-safe, but which definitely have options for those who are looking for something with no gluten ingredients.  For clarity I'll list the restaurant with what I know about its degree of gluten safety. Seven Virtues GF Sandwich Elephant's Delicatessan - Each item in the hot and cold deli case is labeled for various food restrictions.  Those labeled WF have no wheat or gluten ingredients.  The servers are very helpful when you have questions about ingredients.  However, everything is prepared in a common kitchen with no segregation. Por Que No ? - There are very few things that are made with gluten in these taquerias.  Most dishes are served w...

Now most bloggers on Friday do a recipe roundup of some great-looking things they saw on the internet that week.  Well, I have higher standards for this blog post.  Considering I'm deep into research and development for a new bread recipe and possible new gluten-free flour, I only want the best information for you, my readers.  Therefore I am rounding up the best gluten-free bread recipes of all time . That's right, folks.  My recently-revealed Gluten-free Boule Bread recipe and my Best Teff Sandwich Bread recipe are just the beginning for me.  I have big, soft, fluffy, chewy things in store.  With crispy crust.  But first I want to share with you, my readers, some of the research I've done.  After hours of perusing the internet for the best gluten-free bread recipes to learn from, I came up with this list: Gluten-free Crusty Boule by Gluten-free Girl Some Bread for the Table by Gluten-free Boulangerie Sourdough Bread (Boule), Gluten-...

Some of the best advice I ever got was: "Always use the right tool for the job."  I got that advice about power and mechanical tools, which I have plenty of, being the handy person that I am.  However, the same advice goes double in the kitchen.  Here are a few tools I have that I use daily to improve my performance in the kitchen. I have this Lodge Reversible Cast-iron Skillet that I use almost daily.  The flat side is perfect for pancakes or tortillas.  (I don't know how people cook pancakes without it.) The grill side is excellent for steaks. I also use a number of other cast-iron skillets like this 13-inch round. This Kitchenaid Stand Mixer is something I longed after for a years.  Finally I received one as a gift from my adoring boyfriend, lover of shallots and asparagus .  I have the stainless steel bowl, which is appropriate for my level of clumsiness.  However, how cool would it be to have the glass bowl to see if your...

I love Mexican food.  I've been to Mexico so many times it's hard to count.  One of my favorite Mexican dishes is the Chile Relleno, or stuffed chile, but now when I go to restaurants I usually can't have it.  Even though it's mostly chile, egg, and cheese, it's usually not made gluten-free.  A little bit of flour is used in the egg batter to hold it together. I'm having my sister and her family over for Cinco de Mayo, and this hand-down her favorite Mexican dish.  She and her family are vegetarian, and this dish is one of the few Mexican dishes that is both satisfying and meatless.  I decided to wow her with my new chile relleno recipe that I've adapted to be gluten free.  I'm hoping it's just like the traditional chile relleno we used to have in Mexico. Recipe for Gluten-free Chile Relleno This recipe makes 2-3 chiles rellenos.  Double, or triple it as necessary for more servings.  The recipe makes plenty of sauce and batter for two...

Editor's note: The flour mix for this recipe is no longer available.  Please see the Bread Page for updated recipes. Do you miss the opportunity to knead your bread now that you cook gluten-free?  This recipe is for you.  If you just miss crusty bread, this recipe is for you, too. My panel of taste testers included gluten-eaters and non-gluten-eaters.  Everyone was a fan of the chewy inside and the fresh-baked flavor very much like regular bread.  Even my super-picky  6-year-old niece loved it.  This is a girl who eats almost nothing and once declared that she doesn't like gluten-free food.  (She is not GF.)  She kept asking for more slices. "Quick" Gluten-free Bread isn't instant.  It's just fast relative to breadmaking in general.   This recipe is akin to the 1-hour bread recipes all over the internet for "regular" bread.  This recipe is gluten-free, so it's more like a one-and-a-half hour recipe, but it's the same con...