Beginners Gluten Free Guide

Here are a few ideas to get your creative gluten-free juices flowing.

Shopping
Fred Meyer, Local Food Coop, G.F. Joes (Tumwater, WA), Trader Joes, and online at Amazon.com

Bread
I have not been too adventurous with making my own yet, but really like Pamela's Amazing Bread Mix. It is a cinch in a bread maker or there are instructions for baking it yourself. It is great toasted (I toast twice). I didn't care for it as french toast and just plain (untoasted) for a sandwich. I just found a box of 6 mixes, for approx. 24 dollars on Amazon.com. This is a huge savings from what you would pay for them in the store.

Pasta
There is no other pasta I'd recommend but Tinkyada (rice pasta). It has the best flavor/texture. I've tried just about all of them and they are all excellent. One tip: if you are going to be baking the pasta in a casserole, like a noodle bake, I've found that putting it in uncooked, as long as there is sauce to cover it, is best. Otherwise if you cook your pasta first, then bake it, it turns out mushy.

Mixes
I have tried some mixes, but since I like to bake, I've really stayed away from them. They can be very pricy and not very tasty. One that I really like however is the brownie mix from Gluten Free Pantry. Our local Walmart carries it, and it is even better than brownies made with wheat.

Flours
I have experimented quite a bit with different flours and flour mixes. Through it all, I've discovered that I do not care for bean flours. I can always taste it in my baked products, and do not care for it. The only thing I actually like it in is a good carrot cake recipe. In that case, I've used Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour mix. Just don't taste the dough while you are making it, because it is nasty!

The flour mix I use for pretty much everything and really, really like is a blend of brown rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour (all Bob's Red Mill). The recipe is: 6 parts (cups) brown rice flour, 2 parts (cups) potato starch and 1 part (cup) tapioca flour. Then I add 3 tsp. xanthan gum. I mix all together and store in an airtight container. However, I just got a good gluten free baking cook book, Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts, who says not to mix your xanthan gum in the flour container because each recipe requires a different amount. So, I have since stopped adding in the xanthan gum, and do it per recipe.

I substitute this flour mixture in all my recipes (gluten-free and non gluten-free recipes), cup for cup and love it. The flavor is fantastic and very, very close to wheat. The only thing that can be off sometimes is the texture (can be a bit gritty), depending on what you are making. Cakes turn out really great, as long as there is enough moisture (i.e. oil, banana, yogurt, water, applesauce, etc.). Cookies, on the other hand, can be a bit gritty. However, I've heard that you can buy superfine brown rice flour by Authentic Foods that completely takes care of that. Unfortunately it is very expensive, and equally expensive to ship, if you order online. So, I get by with my regular brown rice flour and am generally very satisfied. Also, I'm generally much more satisfied by substituting gf flour in my standard non-gf recipes, then using special gf recipes - many of which I've had to throw the end result out!

Sauces
I use cornstarch to thicken all my sauces and am really satisfied with how they turn out. When using cornstarch, you must mix it in to your liquid, rather than in with the butter when making your standard white sauce. Don't be afraid to continue adding more (dissolved in a liquid first) to get it to the desired consistency.

Recipes

Cream of Mushroom Soup
I start by chopping fresh mushrooms into tiny pieces. Then I fry in a skillet with butter and chicken broth. Once mushrooms have condensed, I add in a combination of chicken broth, a little milk, and cornstarch (can use potato starch as well). Then I season with garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder. I use the proportions for a standard white sauce. This turns out very close to the real deal and works fantastic in casserole recipes. For cream of chicken, I omit the mushrooms and use all chicken broth.

Pancakes

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 3 T tapioca flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 4 T dry buttermilk powder
• 1 T sugar
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 T canola oil or coconut oil
• 2 cups water

Mix dry ingredients and then stir in wet until well blended. Cook as you would normal pancakes.

Waffles

• 2 cups gf flour mix
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3 t. b. powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk, plus some
• 2 eggs
• 4 T melted butter, and cooled
• 1 T sugar

Stir wet ingredients into dry, adding additional milk until you get batter a little thicker than pancake batter. Pour into waffle iron and cook until done - usually 3-5 min.

Eating Out

Wendy's - check their website for menu
Garlic Jim's - GF pizza that's pretty yummy

Taco Del Mar - check website for menu

Outback Steakhouse - ask for Gluten-Free menu

Websites/Blogs

csaceliacs.org
glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com
glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com (vegan, casein and gluten free recipes)

glutenfreecookingschool.com
allrecipes.com (type in gluten free)