SMW

Regular Rice Krispie treats are not gluten free - Rice Krispies have barley malt flavoring which contains gluten, however, many of the more 'natural' cereals do not have barley malt flavoring and work fine for making rice crispie treats. You can add M&M's if you want the rice krispie treats to be a bit more exciting. Most cookie recipes convert well to gluten free cooking - so you could buy a gluten free flour mix (make sure it contains xanthan or guar gum) and use it in a recipe that you already know and love and it would most likely turn out fine. If you are interested in a bit more adventurous gluten/peanut free cooking, I have white cake and chocolate cake recipes that turn out well - for what it's worth, gluten free stuff often turns out better as cupcakes than as whole cakes, but we all know kids love cupcakes. I have loads of gluten free recipes (not tested on kids, though - my husband is the gluten free one) so if there's something you would like to make, let me know and I'll see what I can come up with. Also, I have not come across any gluten-containing baking powders, plain chocolate, or vanilla - these things are often specified in recipes, but you should be OK with what you have (asuming you don't regularly mix wheat flour in with these ingredients). You can always look for the new "contains wheat" statement in the allergy ifnormation, I would be shocked if any of these products contained barley or rye.

Gluten Free White Cake This recipe has always turned out well for me! We even had it for our wedding cake. 3 eggs 1-1/2 c sugar 1/2 c butter 1-1/4 c rice flour; 1/4 c tapioca starch 1/2 c potato starch 2 tsp xanthan gum 1 tsp salt 3-1/2 tsp baking powder 1 c plain yogurt 1 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy and lemon yellow. Add butter and mix. Mix dry ingredients, add to egg mixture, and stir to combine. Add yogurt and vanilla and mix. Bake ~45 minutes for 9x13, ~30-35 minutes for two round 9” layer pans, 15-20 for cupcakes. Note: I recommend rice flour from the Asian market - it is a much finer grind and results in a better texture for baked goods. Keywords: Dessert, Cake ( RG1738 )

I clean with a spray of hydrogen peroxide and a spray of vinegar. I read somewhere that this can kill germs as good as bleach, it's non-toxic, and I rather like the smell.

Sometimes steaming meat is a *good* thing - I made BBQed pork ribs this weekend and, following a Cook's Illustrated tip, we took them off of hte grill and then wrapped them tightly in aluminum foil and then in a brown paper bag for an hour before we ate them. The result was tender and juicy ribs that melted off the bone. Yum! However, the impression I got from the Batali comment had to do with this steaming not being good for most cuts/treatments of meat, which makes sense to me.

What a cool idea - I like the direct to the problem approach. As *soon* as I finish my dissertation, I'm going to take a day and do this. I'll post my results. Did you keep track of the cost/time? It would be fun to know (and to see how low you could go)!

I had several really excellent meals when I spent four days in Aix, unfortunately I have no idea of the names/locations. I do have to say, the general level of quality was quite high, so I imagine they'll do OK!

This recipe is often recommended for camping - no egg pan to clean! I've never tried it, but I'm glad to hear it works - might be fun sometime.

I'll add to the contingent supporting Cook's Illustrated's The Best Recipe (now The New Best Recipe). The recipes are basically good, some are great, and I haven't yet tried one that completely failed. It's where I start for basic American-style cooking, and it has loads of useful information that can often help you improve other recipes that you come across. I've learned a lot from this book.

Wolfgang Puck shares a recipe here: Chicago Tribune story I think the capers are a brilliant addition, I'm going to try them in my next chicken salad.

I frequent a large variety of ethnic markets in Chicago, and I agree that they are by-and-large less spic-and-span than non-ethnic grocery stores. Nonetheless, any produce is going to be washed at home, and often the dirty stuff keeps better without being cleaned off (potatoes, carrots and the like), and I also wash the tops of cans before opening them (no matter where they are purchased). In addition, I do think part of it is cultural conceptions of whether or not food is largely sanitary - particularly before it's prepared - I think American grocery stores sell an image that's not true. Meat in asceptic packaging may not disgust us, but that's not the natural state of meat. Food, is, by and large, messy, and it takes a lot of effort to make it seem like it's not.

I think that, as mentioned somewhere in this thread, the key is to leave them sit. they will release themselves from the bottom of the pan. It will take a while, and you can't use high heat or they'll burn, medium low works for me, but they will taste great when they are finished!

Sorry for the belated reply - yes I think that a little salt in the water will kill anything that is in the mushrooms, even if it were something hard to see, which is a good thing! It's also nice to know that while you are cleaning them nothing is likely to be crawling around! Your dinner looks tasty - I love veal chops, and that's a nice delicate pairing for the morels. My DH is out foraging again today! I hope he finds some! (Although he paid quite the price for the last ones - he ended up with poisen ivy on his face, even in his mouth!)

I vote for pie (my favorite is rhubarb). My mom's pie crust melts in your mouth. There's way too much dry cake with sugary frosting in the world. Bad pie at least generally includes fruit. Bad cake has nothing to redeem it.

Add a little salt to that water, and you'll be sure to draw everyone out! My recommendation is even more simple than what you've heard so far, but the best way I know of to enjoy morels. Saute in butter, serve over toast. Yum. The toast adds a bit of crunch, and the morels add all the flavor one could ever want.

I made another death wish smoothie this morning with no ill effects - it seems pretty safe so I decided to go check it out - on Amazon the descriptions of several blenders mention making smoothies right in the glass (however, this is not mentioned for the one closest to the model that I have). The actual product instructions do not mention anything about not using it in drinking glasses, and indeed, don't say anything about not using it in ordinary glasses, but say "Position the handblender deep in the container being used to prepare your food or drink." which I am now taking to mean that any container can be used. If anything bad happens, I'll post it on the cooking disasters thread!

In reading Chufi's blog last week, I noticed that she whipped up breakfast smoothies right in the glass using a stick blender. I have always been afraid to do that, I guess my fear has been that the glass would break and go flying all over (or into the hand that is holding the glass). I haven't looked at the manual of my blender, but it seems likely that this is not recommended Nonetheless, the thought of one less dish to wash spurred me on, and so this week I proceeded to make three mango smoothies right in the glass. Each one has turned out fine. However, I still worry, and I'm not sure I should continue this practice. I'm not sure if this matters, but I have a Braun blender with a 400W motor, if I am remembering correctly - it has 5 speeds and a turbo option - I have been using level 3 - as well as level 3 turbo. I'm curious to know if I am risking my luck, or my right hand, or if others successfully use their stick blenders in their glasses without problem.

Morels are up in northern Illinois - at least they were the weekend before last. Unfortunately my dear husband managed to poisen ivy (poisen oak?) his face in the putrsuit of said morels and now looks like a Death Eater, but at least we had a great dinner! I think it's an early year - we've had enough warm days here, as well as plenty of moisture.

I really enjoyed this book - I got it for a birthday present, at the time I hadn't even heard about it, which normally makes me a bit suspicious. However, I was a surprised to find that this book enlightened me on topics about which I already know a decent amount. Yes, the first part makes the point that everything we eat seems to come from corn, but there's a lot more here than that. What I particularly enjoyed was the elegant descriptions that described the various systems that all of our food is embedded in - whether it's an industrial farm or the natural ecology. I also enjoyed his discussion on animal rights. I've already passed my copy on to a friend, and recommend this book if you are interested in these issues.

I am looking forward to this blog, Passover is such an interesting holiday for those of us who didn't grow up with it, and, in my opinion the food plays a different role than it plays in most other holidays, which I also find interesting. By the way, spelt actually does have gluten! It's not considered safe for people with celiac disease, although it is tolerated by many people who are allergic to wheat Maybe you have a wheat intolerance if it is OK with your system.

I think that Time Life Foods of the World the Cooking of Italy would be a great place to start - it's really as much of a food and culture reference as a cookbook, although the recipes in this series are quite excellent in my opinion.

Slightly off-topic reply - malted milk powder has barley malt in it - no wheat, but it does contain gluten, which isn't one of the top eight allergens that's now clearly listed.

Yup, find your own good spot! We still have at least a month before they start sprouting here - but it's certainly time to use up the comfort stash in the freezer.

A little late for help with the dinner, which seems to have turned out splendidly, but, in my experience (crispy 'corn meal mush' for breakfast once a week) the best way to get it nice and crispy is low and slow on the stovetop. That is, not that high of a heat (although actually medium low is more accurate than low) and let it sit - don't try to stir too much or loosen it from the bottem of the pan. When the polenta releases itself from the bottem of the pan (and I use cast iron that's well-seasoned) it's ready to be turned. It can take around 15-25 minutes a side, but I find the texture contrast of crispy outside and creamy inside to be well worth the wait.

Do you have a pressure cooker? If so, you can cook the beans in 1/3 the time with no soaking. the texture isn't quite as good as with regularly cooked beans, but it's great for last minute beans and especially in soups, I think. I cook all my beans without soaking anyways, as recommended in a number of places on this site, so if you have time before dinner, you could just do that !! They take a bit longer, but are much less prone to bursting. Good luck!

My DH is gluten-free so when he's gone of course I have a gluten fest. Lots of pizza. More pizza. Stock the freezer with pizza leftovers (cost per square inch is always lowest with the largest) for luches when he returns. Other things that are indulged in include: Tuna casserole with egg noodles Beef goulash with egg noodles Egg noodles with butter and cottage cheese Yes, I have a serious thing for egg noodles. I don't know why! They never were such a big part of my diet. I think it might be because they're not really restaurant food, like other pasta. Finally, grilled cheese sandwiches with ketchup. It's not worth two pans when it's the both of us.