Gluten-free Gourmand

I recently heard from a reader who is new to gluten-free bread baking and is really delving into it.  Eric from San Francisco had a lot of great questions for me about why I created some of my bread recipes the way I did.  He also asked me to flesh out some of the bread-making methods I use.  He had a couple of great photos he shared with me and he's been nice enough to let me show them to you! Eric: Your recipes and methods work well! I cannot believe how well. GF Bread that actually rises and that is workable, who knew?! Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge. I'm new to Celiac so this has been a really tough time. Baking calms me and your blog has really helped me accept my fate and inspires me to bake more! I have a few questions, if I may: 1. Regarding baked and uncut bread. How long would it stay "fresh" on a counter? Do I need to cut, wrap and freeze it if unused in the same day? I was hoping to store some baguettes out, uncut for a fe...

This is a very traditional sourdough bread recipe, using artisan methods to create a nice, tangy, San Francisco-style sourdough bread.  If you like a really sour-but-smooth sourdough bread, this is the recipe for you. There are just a few differences between this recipe and a standard wheat-based recipe.  The most notable difference, of course, is the psyllium husk, which is a gluten substitute.  Read more about psyllium and other binders here .  Then of course there's the flour.  I use my own Bread Flour Blend for bread baking, but if you live outside the U.S. read my post  Make Your Own Gluten-free Bread Flour .  If you use your own flour blend, you may have to adjust the amount of water and psyllium you use. Why sourdough?  It's incredibly delicious, for one thing.  The natural process of fermenting the bread through the sourdough process makes it really good for you, too.  Then there's the fact that sourdough bread stays ...

Rustic boules or round loaves have been made for thousands of years by people all over Europe.  It is one of the oldest forms of bread making there is.  Round loaves used to be cooked in simple clay ovens.  The fire would be built inside the hollow oven then swept out once the clay walls were very hot.  The bread would then be placed on the hot oven floor and the openings were stopped up to trap the heat  and steam inside, giving the bread a nice crunchy crust.  As the oven gradually cooled, the bread would gradually stop cooking, giving the inside a tender crumb.  This recipe uses a technique that simulates this ancient way of baking, but in reverse.  The bread goes in a cold oven to help it rise more than it would at room temperature.  Placing the bread in a heavy stock pot or dutch oven helps trap the moisture to get a nice crisp crust.  The bread finishes at a high temperature to brown the outside. This recipe makes a 1-lb loaf....

These whole-grain scones are gluten-free and delicious.  Have them with your afternoon tea or for a hearty breakfast treat.  These scones are made with the traditional method and all the traditional ingredients - minus the gluten.  What is gluten anyway, except an impediment to soft, delicate scones?  With wheat flour you have to be careful not to manipulate pastries too much for fear the gluten will make them tough.  You don't have to worry about that with these gluten-free scones: they will come out soft and delicious. Whole-grain Blueberry Scone Recipe The secret to getting the right texture of scones is to keep everything cold while mixing.  Some people put the pastry cutter, butter, and bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before starting to keep everything cold enough. The coldness is necessary so the chunks of butter can form little pockets in the dough when they melt away in the oven.  This creates air space for the baking soda to do it...

If you've looked online for a gluten-free recipe, you've probably run into this dilemma:  you want to make something now, but you don't have - or can't get - one of the flours your delicious-looking recipe calls for.  This quick guide is a reference for what kind of flour to substitute for what you're missing. Keep in mind a few things when you substitute flours in a recipe: first, do it by weight if that is possible.  A digital kitchen scale will make your life so much easier!  Different flours measure very differently in measuring cups sometimes.  Second, any substitution will change the texture and density of the dough.  Thirdly, if you don't see the flour here that you want to substitute, try thinking of something with a similar fiber content and texture, and experiment.  Starches can almost always be subbed out for other starches, and whole grain flours can replace each other, but don't sub a starch for a whole grain.  Then let m...

I have to confess that I'm not very good at following directions.  In fact, I almost never cook anything exactly as instructed, and I am pretty savvy about when and where to skip steps or make substitutions.  When I saw that the King Arthur Gluten-free Bread Mix called for three eggs I was tempted to change the recipe entirely, but I was afraid that if it didn't turn out I wouldn't be able to legitimately review it.  So I started off to make the bread as directed. I threw in the three eggs, warm water, and 4 Tbsp of walnut oil.  I mixed with an electric mixer as instructed.  I added the flour one cup at a time.  Somehow, in the middle of it all, my subconscious took over and I ended up doing things my own way by sheer force of habit.  Sure, I added the three eggs, but I skipped another step entirely.  And it still came out. I've been making a lot of gluten-free bread recently, and I've figured out that you can completely skip the second rise...

I love pumpkin, but for some reason, I've never liked pumpkin pie. I've tried to get into it, but it's been over thirty years now and I have to admit that I've been unsuccessful. I have, however, found a solution: Butternut Squash Pie. I make this pie as more of a custard than your standard pumpkin pie. I go a little light on the seasonings and the sugar. Butternut squash is naturally sweet so you don't have to add a ton of sugar. Butternut Squash Pie Recipe (A clever substitute for Pumpkin pie) Have a (gluten-free) pie crust ready to bake. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. With a cleaver or other dependable knife, remove all the seeds and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes: 1.5 lb butternut squash Roast the squash on a baking sheet or roasting pan until it feels done when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Puree the squash in a food processor. In a large bowl, whisk: 3 large eggs Whisk in: 2 1/2 cups of the butt...

I haven't been blogging as much this summer due to good weather, but I'm finally here at my 100th post! It's going to get pretty autumnal in Portland so I'll be doing some cool-weather cooking.  Some recipes I'll bring you this fall will include: - Gluten-free pie crust - Gluten-free butternut squash pie - Lamb stew - Home-made bread - New GF pasta reviews - Restaurant reviews - More Gluten-free beer, of course That's right - bread!  I've been baking up a storm and making headway on a new gluten-free bread recipe using my own special blend of flours.  I'm pretty excited about it, but it's not quite ready yet.  This is a teaser: Add caption This loaf collapsed a little; not enough xanthan gum, I think.  I'm trying to do this without eggs, so it's a bit of a challenge. Well, wish me luck! xoxo Gina

My loyal readers may be shocked to find out that I have never made my own gluten-free bread. That is, I had never attempted it before last night.  I wasn't giving it too high a chance of success.  I have a history of screwing up bread recipes - and that's with glutinous bread.  You know how people go on and on about how much they love the feel of bread dough in their hands as they are kneading it?  I was not one of those people.  I hated kneading.  Now I have another reason to love being gluten-free: no more kneading.  And guess what?  It came out great!   I tried the Gluten-free Crusty Boule Bread Recipe that I read about on Gluten-free Girl earlier this year.  It's very similar to a no-knead bread recipe I had heard about from my sister of the Green Baby Guide blog.  The idea is actually very basic - even primitive.  Did you know that people used to bake bread on a hot stone with a pot inverted over it?  Bread was c...

Making cornbread gluten-free is easy. Unlike other breads, cornbread does not rely on wheat for any of the properties that make it what it is. The taste and texture depend mostly on the corn. I have had corn bread with lots of different types of flour, and they all turned out well. I use a gluten-free pastry flour mix for a more tender and moist crumb, but feel free to use rice flour, brown rice flour, or your favorite flour mix. Southern corn bread calls for just corn meal, and is more savory than sweet. This is a northern cornbread recipe, which calls for all-purpose flour in the mix and has a more cake-like consistency. Use some corn flour in addition to the corn meal if you want to make the texture even more tender. Gluten-free Cornbread Recipe Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x9x2-inch pan. Mix together in a large bowl: 1 cup stone ground corn meal 1/4 cup corn flour 3/4 cup  Deluxe Pastry Flour 4 Tbsp sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1...

Due to popular demand, I am now revealing my new Pancetta Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Actually, I only had one vote on the matter in my last post , and it was from a fellow cookie-lover, Jenn from Cinnamon Quill. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, or if you just love chocolate, please go straight to her vegan World Peace Cookie Recipe which looks amazing. If you're really into pancetta , stick around for this post or see my recipe for Pasta Carbonara or Pancetta-wrapped Scallops . As you can probably guess, I'm on a bit of a pancetta kick. While the rest of Portland is devouring bacon by the pound, I'm getting into the more subtle flavor that pancetta lends to a recipe. For something more intense, check out Pete's Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies . He candies the bacon before using. I went a different route with this recipe. I left the pancetta uncooked. Half of it I whipped into the butter to infuse the pancetta flavor throughout the batter. The other half o...