Gluten-free recipes

I have had a gluten free diet since childhood, and my youngest child has the same genetic affliction. The hardest thing about having a gluten intolerence is the number of places the damn stuff exists that you would never expect (soy sauce, glazes, the glue on postage stamps).

Thanksgiving is usually not a problem-- except for the stuffing and the gravy. Cooking bread based stuffing inside of the turkey will contaminate the turkey (and yes it is enough to cause a problem).

In our family we make a brown rice stuffing which is the only stuffing that touches the turkey. We then offer "Stove Top" to the non-gluten intolerant of us. Gravy can be made with corn starch (rather than flour)... but it just doesn't taste the same... I generally skip gravy (which is OK with me).

The past few years there has been a noticeable change for the better in product offering and in product labeling. Places like "Whole Foods Market" have whole sections with respectable products. I like Jillians bread and there are a whole number of decent gluten free pastas and cookies .

It was a lot harder to be gluten free 10 years ago than it is noe.

I don't do too much baking, so I can't be too much help in this area. You can make a delicious crustless cheesecake (which happens to be one of my favorite foods in the world)-- and flan is delicious.

It is a lot harder to do gluten free baking then you would ever imagine. There is a reason that gluten is put into so many things-- gluten is the key ingredient most baked goods... removing it ruins the texture and replacements often taste a bit odd.

One train of thought on the gluten free diet is to avoid imitations of glutenous articles-- the saying was "If you can't eat bread, don't eat bread". And for many years I followed this philosophy (which wasn't that hard since most gluten free bread tastes like styrofoam). Rice or potatoes for lunch work fine.

The latest batch of gluten free products are good enough that this changes a bit. The baking mixes from Pamelas or Gillians make reasonable cakes. I have never seen anyone have any luck making baked goods, other than simple cookies, from scratch. Many have tried, and we tend to be very gracious and appreciative of the effort, but it is very difficult.

Pies (either with no crust or with the recent make of commercial gluten free crusts) are great. Cheesecake, custards, fruit... all good.

((I realize as I write this that if I had a problem with dairy, I would starve to death)).

My ex used to make gravy without flour or cornstarch from simple preference and I liked it too. I don't remember specifics, but I think he took a little brandy and some water, or maybe broth, s & p, heated all that with the pan scrapings, and that was it. Of course, that wouldn't work if one wanted to be alcohol free, even though much (not all) if the alcohol is cooked off.

On baked goods, I'd think of making budino di riso, an italian rice pudding dish - thinking that rice is gluten free by definition, but not sure if that's true. I used to go nutso over the little budini di riso found at Emporio Rulli in Larkspur (and now there are other Rulli's in San Francisco and elsewhere. Not handy for you, of course, Swimpy, and besides, they were a seasonal thing as most of the confections at Rulli were (what season or feast day, I forget now). Anyway, I remember chasing down a budino recipe - will look for it and see if it has any flour in it. Or maybe other rice pudding recipes are good too...

Yes... rice is gluten free-- and a good rice pudding (with cinnamon and raisins) is absolutely delicious.

I make gravy without flour too. Just take the juices from the pan where the
turkey was roasting, transfer it to a small pot, add some cut up carrots, celery root (or other root) and cook until the vegetables are tender. Puree with an
electric hand held blender, add some gluten-free chicken broth if necessary,
season to taste, perhaps add some cut up mushrooms and that's it. Great gravy!

Here's one recipe from a blog, Poppy Field -
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://papaverodicampo.blogspot.com/2007/12/budino-di-riso-torta.html&ei=hlgJS9zbA4zasgPgjdTACQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA0Q7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDolci%2BToscani%2Bbudino%2Bdi%2Briso%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

I see that seems to be taken from the book Dolci Toscani, the book of Tuscan Desserts, by Anna Bianchi
http://www.amazon.com/Dolci-Toscani-Book-Tuscan-Desserts/dp/088001587X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258904079&sr=1-1

That turns out to be the recipe a friend sent me back when I was looking up budini, though slightly different than the one in the first link -

Budino di Riso
Unsalted butter
2 T - cocoa powder
1 c - arborio rice
4 c - milk
1 t - grated lemon zest
1 t - vanilla extract
1 t - salt
3 T - sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 T - finely ground toasted almonds
10 amaretti, crumbled (they don't usually have flour, I don't think)
1 t - almond extract
1 t - grated orange zest
3 T bread flour - hmmm, what about rice flour or cornstarch, or.. skipping it?
1 t - baking powder (is that gluten free?)
Confectioner's sugar (is that gluten free?)
Sliced almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 370 degrees. Grease four 4 oz. ramekins and dust with cocoa powder, shaking out the excess.
2. Place the rice in a saucepan with the milk, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt, and cook over low-medium heat until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and drain in a colander.
3. Transfer the cooked rice to a bowl and stir in the sugar, eggs, almonds, crumbled amaretti, almond extract, orange zest, flour, and baking powder. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly blended.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared ramekins.
5. Bake until puffy and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 1 minutes. Invert onto servinc plates, dust with confectioner's sugar and serve, garnished with sliced almonds.

Makes 4 six-ounce puddings

mrs. hamburger was famous for her chocolate hazelnut torte (flourless, of course)

I have the German cookbook she originally got it from, but I don't think I'd trust my translation of some of the details.

there are a number of good recipes online for it (including a number of gluten-free and diabetic cooking websites) . This one

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-flourless-hazelnut-cake/Detail.aspx

looks quite a bit like her basic version.

There are some beautiful flourless chocolate hazelnut torte recipes out there. More work obviously, but impressive.

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/18139/flourless-chocolate-hazelnut-torte.html

Traditionally made with apricot preserves, but mrs hamburger was of the school that liked to make this cake with seedless raspberry preserves.




Crushed hazelnuts also make a wonderful cheesecake crust - and given the time of year - a pumpkin mousse cheesecake might be nice.

Oops, I'm mistaken about the first link, from the Poppy Field blog, being taken from the Dolci Toscani book.

How about nut brittles? they're very Christmassy and are generally gluten-free.

Perhaps your son can come in a few days early and work up some gluten-free recipes with you.

Here's an easy (I typed icy - I think I need to close some doors/windows) microwave peanut brittle.

http://delightfullyglutenfree.blogspot.com/2007/12/daddys-peanut-brittle.html

CJ might remember the name of a German/Austrian treat which is a sort of a lacy nut brittle which has a thin chocolate base. I can't seem to turn this one into English in my head.

We're getting off to a rousing start. Gravy is not an issue as no one but me likes it.

Osso, I'll look into the rice recipes. thanks.

Bethie, Hazelnut torte ooooooh...

Florentiner?

That's it! The ones I'm used to are much lacier looking, but it's the same principle. Maybe more baking soda in the syrup?

CJ, do you have a recipe?

http://www.e-celiacs.org/2-Gluten-Free%20Prescription%20Diet.htm
the Gluten-free prescription diet

This is an amazin g resourc for information for people with gluten sensitivity.

Reading up! This is going to be a good thread.

You can by rice pastas that are just fine, but can go from under-cooked to over-cooked in a flash.

The translation on the first budino recipe and comments was, ah, hilarious, and besides that, had british measurement -
I'll try to find the equivalents in US measure.


We need: 200 grams of rice (7 OUNCES) from / 200 g of sugar (7 OUNCES/ 80g of butter (A LITTLE LESS THAN 3 OUNCES)/ 150 grams of peeled and chopped almonds (SMIDGE MORE THAN 5 OUNCES) in a blender / 1 quart of whole milk / 3 eggs per 50 g (1.75 OUNCE) of raisins found in rum / grated rind of one lemon / half bag of baking powder vanilla already (I'VE NO IDEA, see other recipe relative to amount of rice). Or, better yet, find other recipe with raisins in rum.. and US measure.

Preparation:

Boil the rice in cold milk with a pinch of salt and lemon rind, cover with the lid but do not always turn to attack the bottom. (what?)

A (at) nearly complete cooking combine sugar and butter.

Just add the cooled finely chopped almonds, whole eggs, raisins found in rum or brandy and grated rind of a lemon.

Pour into a 30 cm (11.8 INCHES) baking pan, buttered and floured or paper-lined oven.

In oven at 200 ° (392 F) for 45 minutes, since it takes color quickly lower the temperature to 180-160 ° (340F, using 170 to search) and cover with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Remove the cake from the pan when it is warm.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar when it is quite cold (the wet surface of the cake tends to absorb much icing sugar, it is therefore appropriate to decorate the last minute).




Good luck if you try it - I may try it myself.

Yes, Swimpy...a German one - I am translating here
100 gram = 3.5 oz. or about 1/2 cup

100 gram sugar
100 gram sliced almonds
80 gram whipped cream
30 gram butter (the real thing)
10 gram honey
50 gram each candied lemon/orange peel*
50 gram gluten-free flour
chocolate (melted)

Heat up the whipped cream, butter, honey, and sugar, add the candied
lemon/oranges and the sliced almonds. One spoonful at a time transfer the mix on a buttered cookie sheet and bake for about 10 - 15 min on 390F.
Let them cool down and put the Florentines upside down on a plate.
Melt the chocolate and brush the underside, let cool down and brush again.

Swimpy, make sure the Florentines are cooled down, if they're still warm
they might crumble/break up.

*) candied lemon and orange peel. We call it Orangeat and Zitronat, and I am not sure where you can buy this. You probably can substitute with grated
lemon and orange peel.

Florentines are so good - I think I will make some too....

Other sources of gluten-free carbs besides rice include oats, millet, quinoa, and a couple I've never tried - teff and amaranth. Buckwheat is supposedly ok as well. Tapioca can be used as a thickening agent as can arrowroot or kudzu powder.

I'm not gluten intolerant but I've done a gluten/sugar elimination diet a couple times and I agree with your son --- I feel much better without both.