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Gluten free cooking hacks


kayb

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A brief conversation in the "Daily Sweets" thread about gluten-free brownies got me started thinking about the gluten free cooking topic. I suspect many of us are in the position I am placed from time to time, cooking for a relative who has celiac disease. I'm fortunate that my daughter leans heavily toward fish and fresh vegetables with little preparation other than steaming or roasting, but still, there are sauces and breadings, as well as desserts, to consider when she's one of the crowd at a family dinner.

 

For desserts, I tend to go toward berry crisps, with oats that are certified gluten-free. I didn't realize many brands of oats are processed in the same factories as wheat, and thus may have some wheat gluten in them. It doesn't take much to set her off with a reaction (though, thankfully, she's not to the level of walking through a bakery and having an episode triggered by breathing in flour particles), or ice creams/sherbets over poached or baked fruit. A crustless custard pie is always a good choice. Likewise, I bake quiches without crusts when she's around.

 

But I think one of the best hacks I've come across is using either crushed Rice Chex cereal or crushed potato chips for the breading on something like a schnitzel. Gives a great crispy coating, and the flavor is fine. I've also used crushed rice cereal with milk to make the panade for a meat loaf or meatballs; not quite as satisfactory as bread, but it works.

 

I can usually approximate the taste of a prepared Asian style sauce, as most of those have gluten in them, and thicken with cornstarch, if necessary. I've made a roux that was acceptable with a combo of rice flour, potato starch and cornstarch; takes more fat than a regular roux proportion. 

 

I use white corn tortillas in place of lasagna noodles. No, you won't mistake them for lasagna noodles, but they do make an adequate vehicle for separating the layers of cheese, sauce, and other goodies. And the kid does love her lasagna. (I've also found the quinoa pasta to be pretty decent.)

 

I'd be interested in hearing about gluten-free "hacks" others have come up with.

 

 

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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My spouse has celiac disease an an uncompromising vegan so I routinely work around those restrictions.  I am sure we make many substitutions, but not many come to mind at the moment. 

 

I have found that gluten free flour mixes (both store-bought and ones we have mixed) work well as  one to one sub in many dishes.  Not long ago we made a vegan GF cake with vanilla buttercream icing (vegan butter) and it was surprisingly good.  The texture was less than ideal, but it wasn't terrible.  The GF flours have also worked very well in batter-dipped fried food (General Tso's cauliflower).

 

As kayb said, many off the shelf Asian sauces contain gluten and often it is used in/as the thickening agent; however, many sauces also contain soy sauce and it usually isn't gluten free.  Fortunately, those sauces can often be created from scratch using gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.  Doubanjiang (Sichuan/Pixian broad bean paste) has been tough to work around - especially in something like mapo tofu where it is prominent.  We usually substitute some combination of whatever GF Asian chili sauce(s) we have handy, fermented black beans and/or fermented bean paste (homemade). Gochujang is an option when the sweetness doesn't clash with the dish. 

 

When I am at the Asian market, I stock up on various rice noodles on hand as they can often be subbed for wheat noodles.  Of course it often isn't quite the same, but it is usually OK - especially in Asian dishes.

Edited by rustwood
removed whitespace (log)
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 I was determined to play in my kitchen today and I wanted to try to make some cheese buns which had appealed to me. They were gluten-free but that wasn’t particularly important. They just looked good. 

67E3DBBF-4281-4E0E-B8B7-10E072CC2B7A.thumb.jpeg.94306e21a6582c31748b7197db82d3b2.jpeg

 

 They were very easy to make. The ingredients are cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and egg and almond flour. There is also some seasoning in there. I’m going to see if I can post a link to a recipe.

 

 They will never pass as bread but of all the gluten-free bread that I have tried I think I like these the best.  

 

 I offered them to someone who is avoiding gluten by choice and she seemed OK with them but certainly not over the moon. 

 

Here’s a link to the recipe. 

 

Edited by Anna N (log)
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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30 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 I was determined to play in my kitchen today and I wanted to try to make some cheese buns which had appealed to me. They were gluten-free but that wasn’t particularly important. They just looked good. 

67E3DBBF-4281-4E0E-B8B7-10E072CC2B7A.thumb.jpeg.94306e21a6582c31748b7197db82d3b2.jpeg

 

 They were very easy to make. The ingredients are cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and egg and almond flour. There is also some seasoning in there. I’m going to see if I can post a link to a recipe.

 

 They will never pass as bread but of all the gluten-free bread that I have tried I think I like these the best.  

 

 I offered them to someone who is avoiding gluten by choice and she seemed OK with them but certainly not over the moon. 

 

Here’s a link to the recipe. 

 

 

Thanks Anna.....not do able with the cream cheese since Johnnybird is also lactose intolerant.

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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1 minute ago, suzilightning said:

Thanks Anna.....not do able with the cream cheese since Johnnybird is also lactose intolerant.

Darn. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Just now, Anna N said:

Darn. 

thank you sooooo much.  I use a lactose free cream cheese on occasion but looking at the recipe it won't work in that recipe.  I am going to think about it and maybe be able to modify it a bit.  There are a few gf items that do work and I am still working with some of the recipes I tested for the gf cookbook for America's Test Kitchen.

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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3 hours ago, Anna N said:

 I was determined to play in my kitchen today and I wanted to try to make some cheese buns which had appealed to me. They were gluten-free but that wasn’t particularly important. They just looked good. 

 

 

 They were very easy to make. The ingredients are cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and egg and almond flour. There is also some seasoning in there. I’m going to see if I can post a link to a recipe.

 

 They will never pass as bread but of all the gluten-free bread that I have tried I think I like these the best.  

 

 I offered them to someone who is avoiding gluten by choice and she seemed OK with them but certainly not over the moon. 

 

Here’s a link to the recipe. 

 

 

 

Thanks for the link. Bookmarked, and i'll be trying them for the middle child soon.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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5D0A82E2-9537-4D6B-A10E-06DE6C1E89C1.thumb.jpeg.45f2c165856710bca905359bd8c7babd.jpeg

 

 Not a very good photograph but this was sent to me by the person who avoids gluten. She said the bun held up well to a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. These end up being more like slider buns than hamburger buns. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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  • 1 year later...

Bumping this one back up, rather than starting a new topic. I'm hoping my cooking will eventually evolve to less dependence on "substituting" for non-GF foods, but for now, I'm in "what can I do instead?" mode. 

 

I've made it for a tad more than a week without gluten, save a couple of "oops" moments. Tonight's experiment was in hopes I might be able to sub a corn tortilla for a pizza crust (thankfully, I'm fond of thin-and-crispy crusts anyway). I topped a couple of tortillas with halved figs and blue cheese and some proscuitto; baked at 350 degrees for five minutes in the CSO on steam bake, then followed that up with 4 more minutes on broil. Then I drizzled them with a little honey.

 

164775090_gffigandbcpizza.thumb.jpg.3162b228bf45764b0c4ed599802b1df5.jpg

 

Verdict: This needs work, although the flavor was good. 5 minutes is not nearly long enough at 350. I think I will up the temp and go six or seven minutes at maybe 450 next time and see how that works. Figs would have been better diced or sliced. And I used too much proscuitto (there is such a thing???). The whole thing was significantly richer than I expected, a tad too sweet (cut back on honey next time, too), and messy as all hell. Plus, one of the tortillas tore up as I was attempting to take it out of the CSO with a spatula. I ate about half of this. 

 

Next time, I will possibly use a double layer of tortillas, cook longer, use less proscuitto, use less honey. But this is somewhat promising.

 

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Better cooking figs on their own before putting them on the tortilla, they are going to release a lot of water if you add them raw. I would add prosciutto after all the cooking.

 

 

 

Teo

 

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Teo

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  • 2 years later...

Venturing into gluten free cooking this weekend for friends who will be staying with us. She doesn't eat guten by choice, not an allergy. She has told me that "should gluten pass my lips, it's not the end of the world." That being said I don't mind catering to her. I'm wondering about any tips for using gluten free tortillas to make enchiladas. (She is also a pescatarian.) I made GF enchilaa sauce and will do sweet potato, black bean, onions, peppers and mushrooms and cheese. Just a little nervous about how the GF tortillas will hold up as enchiladas. We are good friends so if it is a disaster, we will just laugh and eat the sides. The ingredients in the tortillas are cassava flour, oat hull fibre, oil, lethicin, xanthan gum, guar gum, baking powder... I know corn tortillas may have been a better choice, but in these parts, we only get small ones, about 4" diameter and they seem to have an infinite shelf life.

The second night we'll have grilled fish and salad, so no concerns there.

Edited by MaryIsobel (log)
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52 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Venturing into gluten free cooking this weekend for friends who will be staying with us. She doesn't eat guten by choice, not an allergy. She has told me that "should gluten pass my lips, it's not the end of the world." That being said I don't mind catering to her. I'm wondering about any tips for using gluten free tortillas to make enchiladas. (She is also a pescatarian.) I made GF enchilaa sauce and will do sweet potato, black bean, onions, peppers and mushrooms and cheese. Just a little nervous about how the GF tortillas will hold up as enchiladas. We are good friends so if it is a disaster, we will just laugh and eat the sides. The ingredients in the tortillas are cassava flour, oat hull fibre, oil, lethicin, xanthan gum, guar gum, baking powder... I know corn tortillas may have been a better choice, but in these parts, we only get small ones, about 4" diameter and they seem to have an infinite shelf life.

The second night we'll have grilled fish and salad, so no concerns there.

In my world enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. If your available are smaller than you feel ok rolling you could try the popular "lasagna style". More of a "casserole" but the flavors and textures are there. Like this https://altonbrown.com/recipes/enchilada-lasagna/

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2 hours ago, heidih said:

In my world enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. If your available are smaller than you feel ok rolling you could try the popular "lasagna style". More of a "casserole" but the flavors and textures are there. Like this https://altonbrown.com/recipes/enchilada-lasagna/

I've made enchilada  'casseroles'  for a good number of years now and am always pleased with them.  They are not 'pure'...but then, neither am I.  Of course, I always use a chile verde...recipe given to me years ago by @andiesenji...and would add poblanos to the filling content.  Right.  And then I'd also use Puerco Pibil made following a recipe by Robert Rodriguez, film director, in this case of Once Upon A Time in Mexico, a dreadful (in my opinion) movie starring Johnny Depp.  But a wonderful recipe.  :raz:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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One tip if you’re using corn tortillas for enchiladas…use the very freshest ones possible. Stale tortillas tearwhen you try to wrap them. 
 

Have done very little with cassava flour, so I’ve no idea how tortillas made with it will hold up. I find either King Arthur or Bobs Red Mill gf flour, which is brown rice, white rice, and potato starch works fairly well in most applications. 

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On 5/26/2022 at 1:52 PM, heidih said:

In my world enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. If your available are smaller than you feel ok rolling you could try the popular "lasagna style". More of a "casserole" but the flavors and textures are there. Like this https://altonbrown.com/recipes/enchilada-lasagna/

Well the gluten free tortillas were just fine. If I hadn't know they were GF, I would have tought they were flour tortillas.

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I've stumbled upon what seems to be an excellent website for gluten-free cooking and baking, Foolproof Living.  It also often works with unrefined sugars.  To me, gluten-free cooking is not a  problem...it's the baking end of it that I am not at home with.  However, this website has many recipes which I've already tried and found quite tasty.  

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I often have to do a bit of tweaking (not twerking—that would be terrifying) of proportions or baking time to get the result I want, but I've had good success adapting some recipes to be gluten-free. These are my general guidelines: 

  • Instead of a-p flour, use a mix of almond flour, coconut flour, and Bob's Red Mill 1:1 g-f flour
  • If measuring flour by volume, use more mix. For example, my original recipe for brownies called for 1/2 cup + 1 T a-p; I now use 1/3 c each almond and coconut plus 1/4 c 1:1.
  • Increase eggs (for the brownies, 3 instead of 2), decrease butter (3 oz instead of 4), and increase the leavening (¾-1 t instead of ½ t baking powder)
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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/1/2022 at 12:42 AM, Alex said:

I often have to do a bit of tweaking (not twerking—that would be terrifying) of proportions or baking time to get the result I want, but I've had good success adapting some recipes to be gluten-free. These are my general guidelines: 

  • Instead of a-p flour, use a mix of almond flour, coconut flour, and Bob's Red Mill 1:1 g-f flour
  • If measuring flour by volume, use more mix. For example, my original recipe for brownies called for 1/2 cup + 1 T a-p; I now use 1/3 c each almond and coconut plus 1/4 c 1:1.
  • Increase eggs (for the brownies, 3 instead of 2), decrease butter (3 oz instead of 4), and increase the leavening (¾-1 t instead of ½ t baking powder)

So easy to do, thank you for the tips! I just recently found out that I'm allergic to gluten and I need to change my eating habits

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  • 5 months later...

Just landed on another gluten-free site: Gluten Free Alchemist.  Has anyone else found this site?  And what does he/she think of it?  It seems very detailed and very complete...but then I'm currently drowning in information and not feeling competent to make any judgements.  (New endeavors always see me drowning in information for a while...)

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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1 hour ago, Darienne said:

Just landed on another gluten-free site: Gluten Free Alchemist.  Has anyone else found this site?  And what does he/she think of it?  It seems very detailed and very complete...but then I'm currently drowning in information and not feeling competent to make any judgements.  (New endeavors always see me drowning in information for a while...)


Haven't seen that one. Will check it out.

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