Gluten-free Gourmand

I've done it.  After years of development and encouragement from friends who have tried my recipes, I've finally started to sell my gluten-free flour mixes to the world.  Here's a recipe that's the first in a series of recipes that all use my flours. This crust is the perfect gluten-free thin crust.  It can come out kind of chewy or crisp, depending on how long you par-bake it before adding toppings.  Please try, share, comment, and enjoy! Gluten-free Pizza Crust Recipe Combine in a medium bowl: 1 cup (135 g)  Deluxe Pastry Flour 1 tsp yeast 1 Tbsp (12g) sugar 1/4 tsp salt In another bowl, whisk: 1 egg at room temperature or warmer 2 T olive oil 1 tsp apple cider vinegar Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and loosely mix together.  Sprinkle over the dough: very warm water (115-120 degrees F/46 C) until the dough comes together enough to be stirred or kneaded, about 1/4 cup (60 ml).  The dough will be sticky a...

Waffles are easy.  Or, they can be.  My Gluten-free Corn Waffle Recipe and my Buckwheat Waffles Recipe take a little time and care.   That's why I decided to make a quick and easy basic waffle recipe that's not only gluten-free, but also dairy-free.  And of course it's delicious. For the liquid I used my favorite dairy substitute: coconut milk.  I wrote about the beauty of coconut cream in my last post and in my Gluten-free Vegan Scone Recipe . Easy Gluten-free Dairy-free Waffles Makes about 4 Belgian-style waffles. Mix in a medium bowl: 1 cup white rice flour 2 Tbsp sorghum flour 1 Tbsp tapioca flour 1 Tbsp potato flour 2 Tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder Heat your waffle iron. In another medium bowl, beat thoroughly: 2 eggs Add: 1 1/2 cup coconut milk 2 Tbsp canola oil 1/2 tsp vanilla Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  When the waffle iron is hot, lightly spray it wi...

Have you tried these pretzels yet?  They are just like regular pretzels, but better. I don't even like regular pretzels in all their salty blandness.  I never sought them out as a snack.  Ener-G Wheat-free Pretzels have more flavor than the regular kind, and the texture is just what you're looking for: crisp, dry, and fresh. Plus, they are gluten-free as well. Let me know in the comments if you have tried these pretzels, and what you think!

I love pancetta . It adds so much to any dish that you make with it. The rich, savory flavor of it compliments and intensifies any food that it's cooked with. This recipe for pancetta-wrapped scallops is incredibly simple, but very impressive. There are only three ingredients in it. I serve it as an appetizer either on its own or over a bed of sauteed greens. This recipe serves two or four. Pancetta-wrapped Scallops Rinse and pat dry: 4 large scallops Leaving the flat ends open, wrap the scallops with: 4 slices pancetta (one slice per scallop) You can use any style of pancetta. I uncurl it if I'm using a rolled pancetta. If sliced thin, the pancetta will stick to itself at the end of the wrapping process. Heat a cast-iron pan or another pan that can sear your scallops nicely (not a non-stick pan) on medium-high. When it's hot enough to make a splash of water sizzle, add: 1-2 Tbsp olive oil or butter The fat should heat up right away and become ...

I have been spending the last several weeks working on a few new recipes: gluten-free vegan scones and gluten-free pancakes. I have now produced a scone recipe that I can't wait to share. This recipe is incredibly simple. I was resistant to the idea of vegan scones until I found a few recipes for cream scones, which don't take butter or egg. Therefore there is only one dairy product to substitute: the cream. In a cream scone recipe, the fat in the cream is the substitute for the fat in the butter that has been omitted. Therefore I couldn't use a low-fat substitute like rice milk. I have found that coconut cream is the best vegan substitute for regular cream, especially in cooking. I love coconut soup, coconut curry, coconut everything. It's the only non-dairy cream I've found that has somewhere close to the right fat content to substitute for cream. To make sure the coconut cream was really rich, I first scooped the dense part out from the top of the c...

The Deschutes Brewery is now going to have gluten-free beer on tap year-round! I heard about the brewery developing some new gluten-free beers a few days ago and went to the brewery to verify. My server, Jen, was extraordinarily helpful. Not only did she verify that they would be serving gluten-free beer year-round, but they also are working on various recipes. I had been in several months ago to try the Gluten-free Golden Ale , which I had really enjoyed. It was bitter and hoppy. The recipe included sorghum, brown rice and roasted chestnuts. At right is a picture of my friend Ben from Gluten-free PDX with that very ale. I asked Jen about gluten-free options on the menu, because at first glance there didn't seem to be a lot of clear choices. She clued me in to the fact that they have things that can be made gluten-free indicated with a little symbol of a head of wheat crossed out. Vegetarian options are noted with a green leaf. When she came back with our beers, J...

This week for What's for Dinner? Wednesday blog carnival I'm doing a simple rice recipe and a review of some battered halibut and haddock from Starfish. For more dinner ideas go see Linda at the Gluten-free Homemaker . Eric over at Starfish asked me to sample his new breaded fish products and let him know what I think. That's right - he gave me free samples, meaning that I've been bribed . In spite of this I will try to give you the most objective review I can possibly muster. After all, if someone tried to "bribe" me with inedible food I'd have something to say about that. As my fair readers may know by now, I take food very seriously. There are two sets of instructions on the box: one for cooking in the oven, one for deep-frying. I appreciated the fact that there are no microwave instructions. Who wants to eat microwaved fish? In the name of science, I should have tried it anyway, but I couldn't bring myself to it. I'm more of an...

In Mexico, they serve ceviche everywhere on the coast. They serve it in restaurants, and vendors sell it from coolers on the beach (not recommended!) It is actually made without cooking the fish, but the lime and any other acids in the juice "cook" the fish in a chemical process without heat. As with any recipe, but especially when raw fish is concerned, buy your ingredients some place that you trust. I get my fish from New Season's in NE Portland or at Umajimaya in Beaverton. Both places have fish good enough to eat raw. If you want to do a shrimp ceviche, the shrimp should be cooked, but otherwise you can follow this recipe. There are lots of variations to this recipe, but I tried to make it like they serve it on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This dish is usually considered an appetizer, but I could eat it all day. I am not going to give quantities for this one, as you can adjust the ingredients according to your taste. Start by buying the fish. About a qu...

I love dairy. When I was trying to figure out what my health problems stemmed from I was mortally afraid that it would be wheat or dairy, or both. I was actually relieved that it was just wheat. While there are grains galore that you can use to make muffins or scones , there is really no substitute for dairy. However, when I went off wheat I became temporarily lactose intolerant . This is common for people recovering from gastrointestinal disorders, including celiac sprue. It was in this period of secondary lactose intolerance that I discovered a dairy-free New England style clam chowder. It was only later, after reading virtually every clam chowder label out there, that I realized that this is one of the few canned clam chowders in existence that is also gluten-free. The only other one I've found is Progresso brand, but that one has MSG (which is possibly not safe for celiacs - can anyone give me a definitive answer on this?) Down to the nitty-gritty: I really like this so...

When I realized that I would have to be on a gluten-free diet for the rest of my life, one of my primary thoughts was: I can still eat steak. In fact, when people try to have pity on me for my dietary restrictions, I tell them that I love my diet: it includes steak, potatoes, and ice cream. You probably don't need instructions on how to cook steak and potatoes. I'm mentioning it for What's for Dinner? Wednesday not because I think people need to know more about steak and potatoes, but because I sometimes like to remind myself to keep it simple. Simple is delicious. For more gluten-free dinner ideas see Linda at the Gluten-free Homemaker. My friend and I bought all the main ingredients for this meal at the Portland Farmer's Market. The herbs were picked form the garden - they miraculously survived the winter. First I cleaned and prepped the potatoes. We put a dry skillet in the oven at 400 degrees to heat up. I mixed some walnut oil, salt, sage, and thyme toget...

1. I don't eat gluten. That means no wheat, barley or rye. People feel sorry for me when they hear of it, but I don't feel sorry for myself because I eat really well. I think that being on this restricted diet has made me a better cook. The only things I really miss are croissants and beer. 2. I have spent a lot of time worrying about "being efficient" and "conserving energy" when it comes to personal projects and work routines. Recently I realized that I was so worried about being efficient that I was often paralyzed with indecision, and I was so concerned with conserving energy that I never started anything. 3. I've spent most of my life sitting down and reading. When I read I become addicted to to a novel like it's crack cocaine. I think about it all the time and don't want to do anything else. If I didn't have a job I would probably never go out except for food while I'm in the middle of a novel. The only remedy is to finish it. 4...

For my What's for Dinner? Wednesday blog carnival post I decided to do a dual product review/easy dinner idea: pasta with tomato sauce. I dressed mine up a bit with some sausage from New Seasons (they don't add any wheat or other fillers to their deli sausage) and some broccoli. However, this is always a go-to meal when I want something fast and satisfying. This has always been a favorite meal. For other GF dinner ideas, visit Linda at the Gluten-Free Homemaker . When I discovered Tinkyada pasta for the first time, I was pretty excited to try a new brand. They have a white rice pasta which I reviewed last month and thoroughly enjoyed. Then I realized that everyone else knew about Tinkyada pasta before I did! It's sold in most of the stores I frequent, including New Season's on NE 33rd and at Food Front on NW Thurman. (It's also widely available on the internet.) I read several blog posts about how good their brown rice pasta was, and I was eager to try it. ...

I don't exactly think of Carson City, Nevada as a gluten-free mecca. While my relatives there are very supportive of my diet and have made wonderful meals for me, when I travel back to Carson City to visit I always wonder what exactly I'm going to end up eating when I go out on the town. Well, no more! I found out by accident that Carson City has some of the best wheat-free, gluten-free bread I've ever tasted. The City Cafe Bakery at 701 S. Carson Street is the producer of this fine GF product. They make a whole host of gluten-free treats, including sandwiches, scones, and muffins. They bake the bread on-site, and they sell it by the loaf. Loaves come sliced, frozen, and unlabeled. My stepmother Penny helped me vet the bread, and she said that she tasted corn flour. I called to get the list of ingredients, and corn starch is definitely in there. The bread also contains eggs and milk. Penny noted that the bread is much lighter than most GF breads. In fact, I thi...

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...

Now with a new addendum! Whenever I go to a grocery store in another town, I always try to peruse their gluten-free options to see if they have any products I haven't seen in Portland. Last weekend I was excited to find a gluten-free pasta I hadn't seen before called Tinkyada White Rice Pasta. I have been looking for a white rice pasta since I went to Italy last spring. They have excellent gluten-free pastas there, and all of them are made from white rice flour. I haven't been able to find one like the Italian version in Portland. Imagine my surprise when I found a white rice pasta in Carson City, Nevada! The Raley's supermarket there has an excellent health food section. The ingredients listed on the pasta are: stone ground white rice and water. The cooking instructions should be taken with a grain of salt: the package tells you to cook it for 16-17 minutes! I know GF pasta takes a bit longer to cook, but I didn't boil it for nearly that long and it came ou...

Now what you have all been waiting for: the recipe for the polenta that I served with the braised rabbit in my previous post. Unlike rabbit, polenta is completely vegan. At its simplest, it's made from just corn meal and water. This recipe uses vegetable stock and onions to give it a savory, hearty flavor. This dish can be served as a main course and topped with a tomato sauce, a white sauce, or cheese. Here I have it as a side dish, and it is tasty enough to be served plain. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan heat: 3 cups vegetable stock In a large skillet, heat on medium low: 2-4 Tbsp olive oil Chop into small pieces, then add to the heated oil: 1/2 onion Sautee the onions for about five minutes, then add the vegetable stock to the skillet. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together until smooth: 2 cups warm water 1 1/2 cup yellow corn meal Slowly add the corn mixture to the stock-and-onion liquid on the stove, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer for 10 minut...

A friend of mine who is a dedicated gourmand recently commented that it seems like I truly enjoy being gluten-free. It's true; I look upon it as a culinary challenge, and my restriction has brought me to many a recipe that I would not have found if I could just eat a sandwich every night. I actually feel like my options have expanded and that I've become a better cook since I've started this diet. That I am capable of easily digesting everything I now cook helps to reinforce my gluten-free ways. My aforementioned friend has introduced me to some new recipes and techniques for making dishes that are traditionally gluten-free. The project we worked on most recently was braised rabbit - an animal that I had only eaten once and had never cooked. Rabbit is not readily available in most butcher shops, but you should ask about special orders at a specialty butcher shop. Or, substitute chicken, lamb, or another meat. Braising is a technique that produces a very tender meat. ...