Gluten-free Gourmand

I've been looking for an easy breakfast that's not too sugary, so I took a traditional muffin recipe and I cut the sugar in half.  I used a combination of high-protein, high-fiber flours for optimum nutrition.  I chose teff, buckwheat, and almond flour because I like their flavor, and I used my favorite all-purpose flour mix for the base.  If you've been wondering what I use for my all-purpose flour, you won't have to wonder much longer.  I have an announcement about that coming soon, where the gluten-free flour will be available to all!  I'm really excited about it, and I will tell you more very soon.  The gluten-free flour I use is really the best I've tried, and it gives everything you make a really traditional flavor and texture. Back to the muffins: if you don't have the whole-grain flours on hand, just substitute out any other whole-grain flour you like.  For that matter, if you don't have coconut milk or olive oil you can substitute r...

  I have been struggling to fine-tune these pancakes for several weeks now. I had never used quinoa flour before, and wanted to feature it in a new recipe creation. I also wanted to give people who read my blog a taste of how I mix flours together for general-purpose mixes. These pancakes come out pretty thick and fluffy with a moist and tender yet resilient texture. The quinoa flour lived up to its reputation of having a slightly bitter flavor. I used Ancient Harvest brand. Does anyone have any tips for another brand to try? I thought the best way to work with this flavor was to use buttermilk instead of or in addition to milk. The sourness of buttermilk counteracts the bitterness of the quinoa. Update: I've made these pancakes several times since I posted this recipe and they have never failed.  I serve them to people who normally eat wheat with good results.   I have my flour arranged in my cupboard now so it's easy to mix everything together. ...

I had a good weekend. Saturday morning I went to the Portland Farmer's Market , where I scored some great lamb steaks from SuDan Farm , ate some habanero caramel chocolates from Alma Chocolate , and bought some vegetable starts for my garden. Then I went to the Gluten-free Food Fair, which I heard about through the Gluten-free Portland website. New Cascadia Traditional was there, as well as numerous other vendors. The highlight was sampling the gluten-free pizza from Mississippi Pizza Pub , which I hadn't tried before. The crust was really good, kind of like an herby foccacia bread, but not too thick. I'll have to go down there and do a full review of the place soon. I hear they also serve GF beer there. After the fair I went to Bob's Red Mill for the first time. They have a good selection of GF pastas and other products in the store. I bought some Ener-G White Rice Spaghetti that I'm excited to try, as well as some Tinkyada spinach spaghetti that look...

Last month I wrote a post about basic gluten-free flours : their properties, their uses, their virtues, and their downsides. Here is the promised extension to that original post, which hopes to shed some light on some other more specialized GF grains. Amaranth flour (also known as Inca wheat or quihuicha): This flour behaves quite a bit like sorghum flour, and has a lot of flavor. It is a grain high in protein and very nutritious. A dough made with amaranth is very delicate, wet, and tricky to handle. I only use a small portion of this flour in my all-purpose mixes for the flavor it adds. Buckwheat flour : a close relation to rhubarb, this grain is in no way related to the wheat family. It is a very dark flour with a strong, distinctive and pleasant nutty flavor. The flour has a very fine grit, and can be used in making whole-grain products. It does not behave well on its own, producing very dry and brittle product unless it is mixed with other flours. I usually recommend s...

Among my friends, family, and co-workers I am famous for my scones. I get frequent requests for the recipe.   People are usually surprised to hear that it's wheat-free and gluten-free, it tastes so much like "regular."  Well here it is! The Best Gluten-free Scone Recipe Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together in a large bowl: 2 cups Gluten-free Pastry Flour 1/3 cup sugar 1 Tbsp baking powder (make sure it's GF) 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt plus a pinch 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if it's not included in your GF flour mix) Cut into pieces and drop in: 6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two knives, coating the pieces with flour as you go, until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized. Keep this mixture cold, chilling it in the refrigerator if the butter starts to soften. Stir in: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) and/or 1/2 cup dried fruit (optional) Whisk together in a separate bowl: 3/4 cup ...

The first time I tried to make scones with a GF flour mix the dough smelled like salty beans. I looked at the ingredients on the store-bought package only to find - sure enough - garbanzo bean flour. After trying a few other pre-made mixes with similarly disastrous results, I decided I could do better on my own. Over the last year or two I've been experimenting with making my own gluten-free flour mixes. While I'm not quite ready to share this secret concoction with the world, I do want share what I've learned about the properties of some basic gluten-free flours. Brown rice flour : It gives your product lots of texture and flavor. However, it is not pliable enough to be used by itself in most recipes, and it produces a dense, heavy, whole-grain feel. White rice flour : This gives you a somewhat lighter and more pliable dough than brown rice flour, but without the benefit of the flavor of the whole grain. It is made from raw white rice. Glutinous rice flour (or stick...