Gluten free baking

[Aspasia]

I haven't read that, Mike. It sounds interesting. My body lets me know relatively quickly, and in no uncertain terms, that most processed food is a terrible idea for me! Even dried fruit, if it is preserved with sulphur dioxide (which most commercial stuff is) is bad for me. It makes for a higher than average grocery bill.

I do wonder whether Chorleywood bread, with it's long-chain amino acids, might not actually sensitise people to gluten, who might never otherwise have had a problem.

[Mo]

As I said on the rhubarb thread, I make crumbles with it, wouldn't attempt pastry as even cheap flour is a problem there and I think the cheaper flour has a lower gluten content. The high gluten is recommended for pastry & bread. Of course I may be remembering wrong from 40 or so years ago when my MIL saw my sticky mess pastry and failed to reach her usual standard using my flour. (I find the dearer own brand is OK not the Value)

[Aspasia]

Update, as promised (though rather belated: it has been a very busy period).

We've just tried 'Le Veneziane' gluten-free tagliatelle. It's amazingly good, and you really wouldn't know that it was gluten-free! All the corn pasta we've tried is better than it used to be 20 years ago - less gritty - but this beats it by a mile.

Doves Farm self-raising gluten free flour is not bad at all for cakes, though it does not taste exactly like the real thing.

Warburton's sandwich thins are also good when toasted or fried (with a fry-up). I haven't tried them cold, though. They're basically thin potato scones, and much better for it, in my opinion, than other GF things that are trying to be bread.

We've tried several recipes from GF cookbooks by Phil Vickery and Elizabeth Barbone, and the recipes are pretty good, though not exactly like. Except for the Brownies recipe in Elizabeth Barbone's book: we added some chocolate chips to the mix, and you honestly would not have known the difference from the wheat version.

[Aspasia]

GF crumb-coating substitute for fried fish (my own recipe).

Ingredients:
White fish fillets, fresh or defrosted and drained
Beaten eggs
Cornflour
Seasoning

Sift cornflour onto a plate and season. (I just used salt and fresh-ground black pepper, but you may be more inventive.)

Dip a fillet in beaten egg, then into the seasoned cornflour. Make sure that the cornflour gets into all the crevices.

Dip it into the beaten egg again, and then back into the cornflour, as before.

Allow to stand a few minutes, until the egg has soaked into most of the cornflour on the surface of the fillet (it will look yellow and battery, rather then white and dry).

Shallow fry as usual.

(When you lift it off the plate, it will leave some of its coating behind, but even so, the coating will not float off into the oil when you fry it, as long as it was coated thoroughly and left it to stand.)

This coating is quite thick, and not light like batter. But it is a way of still being able to have fish and chips and my family liked it a lot.

[Freeranger]

If corn isn't a problem, could you have Irish soda bread? Made from corn flour and buttermilk or yogurt mostly- that's a very 'real' texture, and filling too. Oat cakes are nice too for snacks. You seem to include rice as OK - I tried rice noodles and a rice-based pasta substitute that were nothing to write home about but easily a foil to a good sauce. Do watch for funny things, though - stock cubes and even some mustard have wheat in them, margerines, soups - you really have to read the labels and the small print.

[Aspasia]

I've never heard of Irish soda bread being made with corn: I thought it was all wheat. I'll have to look out for recipes! Also, you mentioning that put me in mind of American corn bread, which I had forgotten about, so thanks very much for that! All the recipes for corn bread that I know also have some wheat in them, but I should think it would adapt relatively easily.

I agree with you about the rice pasta and noodles: passable but not great. Also about watching labels. While my son is wheat intolerant rather than having actual coeliac disease, it's still best to be careful, I think. A surprising amount of crisp-like products have wheat in them, and even some flavoured rice-cakes do. Also soy sauce contains wheat as a thickener: you can use tamari instead though, and not really notice the difference except that it is runnier.

[chookmike]

I am keen to report a discovery which is helping me get something to eat that is 'bready'

Tresco 'Free From' aisle - look for a brown package about the size of a house brick:

Organic Three Grain Bread from a manufacturer in Germany called 'Schneider Brot' It comes in a pack of 7 slices, 500g for £1 so cheap too. Long shelf life in the pack and after that I just wrap it with film and put in the fridge - doesn't go stale for days it seems. Pack states it is wheat free, not gluten free, and is made from Rye, Oats, Barley. I thought these did have gluten in them but it does not upset my system. Reminds me of the 'black bread' that came with everything when I used to ski in Austria. I haven't found a sandwich filling which suits it but great simply with butter or for gravy/sauce mopping-up or soup.
Heavy but moist and very filling.

Good luck

Mike

[elliebear15]

Mike - rye and barley do have gluten in them - but it may be that the wheat gluten is the one that affects you, as the glutens in grains are all slightly different. It's a bonus you have been able to isolate the exact culprit! That should expand your menu options a bit - I am thinking nice warming winter stews with pearl barley in ...

I would never bother trying to make bread using gluten free grains - the yeast needs the gluten to work properly, and I am not interested in replacing it with chemicals, so I just go without or occasionally buy shop bought GF bread. The brand 'Genius' is passable, although I can't say I rate it very highly.

I used to be able to get the dry mix for a corn bread from an American supplier who was living in York a few years back. But I haven't been able to contact him for a while now and haven't managed to source it elsewhere. It's a shame as it was truly delicious. I tried making my own but in the UK you only seem to be able to get cornflour or polenta, and neither worked well.

Also - beware of lentils and buckwheat. Both inherently gluten free but usually grown in areas where the field next door could well be a wheat field, so they can't guarantee there is no contamination. I was gutted to learn this - I used to do a delicious lentil soup and buckwheat pancakes