I’ve been hearing a lot lately about two-ingredient dough which is a popular bread hack for Weight Watchers. It’s substituted for bagels, pizza dough and more. Most recipes say a serving is 3 Weight Watchers points. Which if you consider that a regular bagel is going to set you back at least 11 points, is significant.

I decided to give it a try. The recipe is very simple. For 4 servings, mix 1 cup self-rising flour with 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt. That’s it! Because we are gluten-free though, I had to substitute, so I made my own GF self-rising flour with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt mixed with the 1 cup gluten free flour.

You mix it all up and separate it into 4 balls. I decided to make bagels so I rolled each ball into a log then formed it into a donut shape. I brushed them with egg wash and then sprinkled with Everything Bagel seasoning.

Bake at 350 for 23 minutes then take it out and turn the heat up to 500 then bake it at that temp for 3 more minutes.

They were amazing! I cut them in half, toasted them lightly and then I put cream cheese, chives, and smoked salmon on top. I could not tell it was not a regular bagel.

The Weight Watchers app told me this comes out to 4 points, which I think is because gluten free flour has slightly more calories than regular flour.

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about two-ingredient dough which is a popular bread hack for Weight Watchers. It’s substituted for bagels, pizza dough and more. Most recipes say a serving is 3 Weight Watchers points. Which if you consider that a regular bagel is going to set you back at least 11 points, is … Read more →

Allow me to be totally honest. Kale and quinoa generally do not excite me. I do not like massaged kale salads. Kale chips are ok but there’s other stuff I’d rather eat. Quinoa is just a weird substitute for rice in my book. Given the choice, I’d rather have rice.

Recently we were embroiled in moving my daughter out of the house into her new apartment – something that took far too long, far too many trips downtown, and too many late nights. I managed to actually make dinner for the family only twice during the whole two week moving nightmare. Other nights were an every man for himself situation when we stumbled home at 9 pm and randomly ate microwave baked potatoes and pizza made in the toaster oven on pita bread. One night we stopped at the grocery store to each grab something we could reheat when we got home. I ended up grabbing kale and quinoa patties from the prepared foods section. And folks, they were really good. They didn’t taste like kale and they didn’t taste like quinoa. They were a little spicy and a little crunchy and deeply satisfying. I loved them. So I decided I had to figure out how to make them myself. On another crazy day I put together this recipe and made them in the afternoon. We reheated them in a skillet for dinner. Totally delicious. If I bring home another batch of kale from the CSA, I’m going to make a big batch and freeze them. Here’s the recipe I came up with:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth

1 medium onion, chopped (I used an uncured onion from the CSA)

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 packed cups kale, ribs removed

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp fresh chives

3 eggs

3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used gluten free)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

 

Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a pot over high heat. Stir in the quinoa, lower the heat to low and cover, allowing it to simmer about 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Cook the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until it is translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Boil a pot of water and add the kale, cooking about 5 minutes until it is tender. Drain and put in a food processor.

Add the onion and garlic mixture to the kale and add salt and pepper to taste. Add chives. Process until the mixture is finely chopped.

Dump the mixture into a bowl and stir in cooked quinoa, eggs, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan cheese.

Wipe out the skillet used for the onions and add 2 tbsp olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Using a self-cleaning ice cream scoop (the kind you squeeze and a metal bar swipes the ice cream out), place scoops of the mixture in the pan, several inches apart, gently pressing down on the tops to flatten slightly. Cook until they are browned and crispy on the bottom and flip, flattening slightly with the spatula, cooking until the other side is also browned and crispy and they are cooked through. They need to cook about 2-3 minutes a side. You will need to make several batches, depending on the size of your skillet. The recipe makes about 10-12 patties.

They reheated easily in a hot skillet and we ate them plain, but they would also be good served with tzatziki sauce, plain yogurt, sour cream, or with some sharp cheddar cheese or Swiss melted on top of them, possibly with some sliced mushrooms on top.

 

Allow me to be totally honest. Kale and quinoa generally do not excite me. I do not like massaged kale salads. Kale chips are ok but there’s other stuff I’d rather eat. Quinoa is just a weird substitute for rice in my book. Given the choice, I’d rather have rice. Recently we were embroiled in … Read more →

I’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. Their results are always trustworthy. When I heard they had a gluten free cookbook  (The How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook) coming out, I was skeptical. I have to say I am generally not a fan of gluten free cookbooks. I buy GF flour, pasta, and bread and I made regular recipes with them. I don’t usually want to have to use 5 kinds of flour to make one recipe when I can buy Cup4Cup and substitute it in most recipes.

So, I was reluctant. But I bought it anyhow. And I sat down to read it and I wondered why I doubted them. They do a very in-depth comparison of existing GF flour blends and also test GF pasta and breads on the market. I found the flour testing the most useful and I agreed with their conclusions, however they did not test my go-to brand, Cup4Cup. I found the pasta and bread evaluations less useful. I can’t find some of the brands in my store that they used and I also rely heavily on my store’s in-house brand for pasta. They offer really good advice about cooking with GF products and storing GF baked goods (in short, they get stale fast). This is a book where the writers thought carefully about what they were making and spent a lot of time figuring out what works and what doesn’t. It is the BEST gluten free cookbook I’ve ever owned. It covers breakfast items, bread (I haven’t tried making any yeast bread but I am definitely going to now), cakes, pies, cookies, and more.

The real gold in this book is that they give you a recipe for their own flour blend. After testing many on the market they create one that they found to be better than everything out there (except Cup4Cup which they did not discuss, sadly). I’m not going to reprint their recipe for flour here (you’ll have to buy the book), but it was easy to make and I found all the items on the shelf in my store – white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca starch and potato starch. I mixed it up and kept it in a large plastic container. A few minutes of mixing and I had a flour blend I could turn to for all of my baking.

So far I’ve made three recipes from the book so far: pancakes, coffee cake and carrot cake. I’m giving all three a big thumbs up. The recipes use their custom flour blend, BUT they tell you how much to substitute if you are using their top store bought flour blends. I love that part of the book. I made the recipes with their flour and was happy with the results, for the most part.

The pancakes turned out perfectly. Their method makes pancakes that are fluffy and cooked completely. They have some great tips about how important it is to preheat the pan and what size makes the optimum pancakes.

I was worried about the coffee cake because the batter didn’t taste great to me at all, but it turned out wonderfully – moist and fluffy. The only complaint I have about the coffee cake is that the glaze was too thin and ran off the cake.

The carrot cake was fantastic (moist with a depth of flavor), however the baking time was not long enough. I took my cake out of the oven and it was still jiggly in the center. I didn’t listen to my own instincts and let it cool, then it was obvious it was just mush in the middle. I put it back in the oven for 20 minutes, starting with a cold oven. Once it was baked completely, it was delicious.

I’ll definitely be baking more from this cookbook. If you’re GF, you want this on your kitchen bookshelf.

I’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. … Read more →

Ok not really, but it makes a nice story. This post is part of my weeklong celebration of Ireland in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. You’ve probably heard that we Americans make St. Patty’s Day into something it isn’t in Ireland and in fact, corned beef and cabbage is nowhere to be found on Irish menus. That doesn’t stop me from taking this day as a day to remember and celebrate all I loved about Ireland. My favorite part of Ireland was the food!

Before we went to Ireland I had read that it was gluten sensitive-friendly. I was completely overwhelmed at how true this was. When we visited Ireland, we did so after a week in France, where eating was a challenge. The language barrier didn’t help, although we made out quite well in Paris in general. I find that the hardest thing about traveling gluten-free is breakfast. Scrambled eggs get old really, really fast. While in Paris, I found a biologique store that sells health food and was able to buy some gluten-free bread which we then toasted each morning at the hotel breakfast buffet. It was a welcome addition to eggs, cold cuts, and fruit.

As soon as we arrived in Dublin, I sought out a store to buy some gluten-free bread. The Tesco supermarket near our hotel had an entire aisle of gluten-free bread, snacks, crackers, cookies, etc. We stocked up. The first morning at our hotel (the

Radisson Blu), we were thrilled to find that gluten free bread was available with breakfast – just sitting out in a basket with a label. I was in a gluten-free paradise! Every hotel we stayed at had gluten free bread available for breakfast, although we did have some back and forth about the oatmeal (“porridge”) and whether it was truly gluten-free at one location. I had one waiter tell me that so many people are “coeliac” in Ireland that it is simply nothing unusual. It is so common in fact, that the waitress at the not so great restaurant at the airport hotel we stayed at the night before we left Ireland told me ALL of their sauces are thickened with cornstarch, not flour, so they are all gluten-free.

My research revealed there were several restaurants in Dublin, all within walking distance of our hotel, that had many gluten-free items on the menu, or offered entirely gluten-free menus. If you are celiac or gluten-free, Dublin is a marvelous place to visit. Here are the two places where we enjoyed dinner while in Dublin:

Millstone

Our first dinner in Dublin was Millstone on Dame Street. The ENTIRE menu is gluten free. This cozy little restaurant was a perfect welcome to the country for us. Live music accompanied our dinner are we enjoyed Irish seafood chowder, goat cheese and berry compote, mussels with chorizo, salmon with prawn sauce, and pizza. Apple pie and chocolate cake ended our meal.  The food was fresh, perfectly seasoned and a glorious welcome to Ireland. I nearly cried I felt so well taken care of. Good gluten free pizza is hard to come by at home and gluten free desserts simply don’t exist in most restaurants (unless you’re having ice cream or the ubiquitous flourless chocolate cake). This is a not to be missed stop. We enjoyed the music, the comfortable setting and the sense of history we felt in the old building.

Brasserie Sixty 6

This menu had many GF options listed. The restaurant was very crowded, loud and busy  — and it is much bigger than it appears from outside. We had a good experience here as well and enjoyed crab with avocado mayo, lamb chop, cod with lemon confit and citrus salmon. Mashed potatoes and peas were to be shared. This place was hopping – a very popular spot. It was hard to hear but we enjoyed our food. The menu was a bit more creative than Millstone, but it wasn’t all GF. This is an excellent second place to go for gluten free dining in Dublin.

While there are several options for gluten-free dining in the city, alas, the one place I was desperate to try is not gluten-free in the least: Crackbird, where they make heavenly fried chicken. Maybe next time!

We don’t drink, but if you’re looking for gluten-free beer in Dublin, it can be found and I’ll refer you to an expert in this area.

Stay tuned as I continue to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with more posts about glorious Ireland.

 

Ok not really, but it makes a nice story. This post is part of my weeklong celebration of Ireland in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. You’ve probably heard that we Americans make St. Patty’s Day into something it isn’t in Ireland and in fact, corned beef and cabbage is nowhere to be found on Irish … Read more →

I recently tried Cup4Cup Gluten Free Pizza Dough Mix and am giving it 5 stars. Find out why: http://www.takingglutenoffthetable.com/?p=461

I recently tried Cup4Cup Gluten Free Pizza Dough Mix and am giving it 5 stars. Find out why: http://www.takingglutenoffthetable.com/?p=461

This site started out as MarthaAndMe, where I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart for a year. I learned a lot in that year and still have an appreciation for all things Martha. In the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, there’s a recipe for One-Pan Pasta.  The article that accompanied it explained that the editors came across a chef in Italy who made pasta dishes in just one pan, cooking pasta, vegetables, seasonings, etc. all together at the same time – no boiling pasta and making a separate sauce. The water cooks out, the pasta cooks and the sauce is created. It sounded too good to be true.

I halved the recipe and I also substituted gluten-free rotini for the linguine. It worked. It was magical. No testing the pasta to see if it’s done. No draining of hot water. No attempts to combine sauce and pasta. It was just as easy as was promised. The pasta was perfectly cooked (and I knew I was taking a risk using gluten-free pasta in this!). The sauce was really creamy and flavorful. I would add more basil next time and some oregano. Other than that, it was truly perfect.

This site started out as MarthaAndMe, where I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart for a year. I learned a lot in that year and still have an appreciation for all things Martha. In the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, there’s a recipe for One-Pan Pasta.  The article that accompanied it explained that the … Read more →

I’ve recently launched a new blog, called Taking Gluten Off the Table. It’s got two sections. One section is gluten-free recipes and food products. The second section is dining out – both here in my Western New York area and as we travel. My goal is to make the gluten-free life a bit easier for other people like me (and my husband) who cannot eat it. I’ve found that going GF has been pretty easy to do at home. I can make almost anything, but there are still a few things I’m desperate to figure out and am working on them, so I share that journey. However, dining out is so much harder than it should be. Hopefully my reviews will help people know where they can find good gluten-free experiences in restaurants and also make restaurants more aware of the needs of people on gluten-free diets.

If you know someone who is gluten free or has celiac, would you share the link with them? If you’re in WNY, please help me reach the people in our area who need this information!

I’ve recently launched a new blog, called Taking Gluten Off the Table. It’s got two sections. One section is gluten-free recipes and food products. The second section is dining out – both here in my Western New York area and as we travel. My goal is to make the gluten-free life a bit easier for … Read more →

I’ve had good news and bad news recently. The good news is that some health issues that had been plaguing me for a long time have finally been solved and eliminated. The bad news is that it turns out I am gluten and lactose intolerant. Now these two things are not the end of the world and it’s great to be able to heal myself by changing what I’m putting in my mouth. (And I have to credit my acupuncturist who is also trained in Oriental medicine for getting me to go gluten and lactose free, when my gastroenterologist was dismissive of my symptoms. She suggested it to me over and over for months and I finally wisened up and did what she suggested and got immediate relief.)

It was very hard to accept this initially, however. To think I can never buy a croissant, have dumplings at a Chinese restaurant, quickly grab a sandwich while on the go, eat fried chicken in a restaurant, eat Christmas cookies at a party, have a slice of birthday cake at someone’s house, enjoy a peanut cream donut from my favorite donut shop, sample things at bakeries, or have a pretzel at the mall was really hard to accept. I also felt like I had personally lost part of my heritage. Cooking and baking are important parts of who I am and my connection with my parents and grandparents. I cherish my grandmothers’ recipes and feel so in touch with them when I bake with them. Those recipes will never be quite the same for me now. This also makes it hard to eat at other people’s houses. I’ll have to explain in advance, be suspicious of how well they understand what gluten is (it’s in lots of things you wouldn’t expect and isn’t always called wheat or gluten), and find ways to eat without being rude, while keeping myself from getting sick.

I can handle certain dairy products with the help of Lactaid, so that’s a pretty easy work-around. However, there is no quick fix for gluten, other than avoiding it and substituting for it. So, I’m looking at this as an opportunity to spread my wings. I have been trying different gluten-free flours and I’ve also brought home lots of gluten free products. Some are horrible. Some are really good. Some are just ok. Cooking with gluten free flour mixes is a challenge. Recipes never turn out quite the way you are used to. I made blond brownies and they cooked much faster than they should. Same thing with Yorkshire pudding (family style popovers, essentially). And when I made a pie the crust was really hard to work with and burned a bit on the top. So, I’m learning.

Since I do not have an actual allergy (i.e. celiac disease), and since tiny amounts of gluten do not seem to bother me, I am hopeful that in time I will be able to eat some gluten again. But for now, it’s cold turkey.

There is tons and tons of info online about eating gluten free and I don’t pretend to be an expert yet. What I can do is share my experiences as I work through this new paradigm.

Here are some recent gluten free experiences:

Flours:

Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour: I initially wasn’t thrilled with this flour since it is yellowish, but it was the easiest to use in making pie crust – much less crumbly than the other brands. When I made spaetzle with it however, the dough was goopier than with other brands.

Cup4Cup Flour: This new flour was developed in the kitchens of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry. I was not happy to discover that the ingredients include milk powder, but it does not seem to have enough lactose in it to bother me. This is a nice flour, very close to real flour in color and texture. I’m alternating between it and Bob’s as my flour of choice.

Kind Arthur GF Flour: This is a pretty good substitute but has a bit of a grainy feel to it.

Products:

Pamela’s Cookies: These are crumbly, but taste great. It’s a luxury to be able to buy packaged cookies now and this is a great treat for me.

Wegmans Store Brand Brownie Mix: HEAVEN. This was just like real brownies. Wegmans makes other baking mixes, but I would rather use my own recipes with modifications.

Wegmans GF pasta: LOVE these. They are made with corn, but I swear you wouldn’t know. My family ate it without complaint. I’ve stocked up on every style they have.

Conte’s Gnocchi: I did not notice a difference with this product at all. A definite winner!

Chex cereals: Rice and Corn Chex (and associated store brands) are GF and delicious.

Annie’s Chocolate and Vanilla Rabbits: These are like Teddy Grahams. My son can’t get enough of them. I think they are great when I just need a little bite of something. And it satisfies my chocolate craving.

Mi-Del Arrowroot Cookies: Love these. They are  like animal crackers.

Udi’s Bagels: The whole grain bagels are very close to real bagels. I did not care for the plain white ones.

Udi’s Bread: I’ve tried several kinds that were just horrid (Schar’s white bread is awful), but the whole grain version of Udi’s is fantastic. GF bread products are always better toasted, by the way.

Foods by George English Muffins: I have tried the No-Rye Rye and the plain. I love the plain – they are really like biscuits more than English muffins, but are fluffy and delish.

Tamari sauce: Most people don’t know soy sauce contains gluten. I can handle small amounts of it, but I use this instead of soy sauce now in cooking. Tamari is basically a stronger soy sauce and I prefer the taste.

Bob’s Red Mill GF oats: Most people don’t know oats and oatmeal have gluten  – usually small amounts from processing. I have eaten the occasional packet of prepared oatmeal without trouble, but I buy these for baking and for making my own oatmeal (which I prefer anyhow).

Wholly Wholesome Pie Shells: These are GF and vegan as well. I used them to make a chicken pot pie and everyone gave it the thumbs up.

GF breadcrumbs: These are convenient and work just as well as regular.

Eating Out: 

This is where things get tricky, because you have to ask what things are made with. When I go to a restaurant I first scope out the things I know are GF, like salads (no croutons! and oil and vinegar dressing is always safe), grilled meat (but you have to ask about sauces), and sides like steamed or grilled veggies, baked potatoes or French fries (fortunately I’m not bothered by things that are cooked in the same oil as things with gluten – French fries and onion rings are usually made in the same oil). Then I identify things on the menu that MIGHT be GF and I ask. At a recent dinner out there were 4 fish dishes that seemed to have no breading or flour based sauces. I asked if they were GF or could be made GF. The waitress was clueless and asked the chef. All 4 could be GF. Score! I now always look at a menu online before I go to be sure there will be something I can eat. And if we intend to go someplace special, I will call ahead and alert the chef so that there will be definite options for me.

We recently went to a local restaurant called Merge, that has GF, vegan (i.e. lactose free) and raw foods on the menu, all clearly marked. It was like heaven for me. I wish more restaurants would do that! It made it all so easy, and many of the dishes could be prepared with or without gluten or dairy if you specified.

We’ve identified several pizza places that have GF pizza near us. There is also a local bakery that only makes GF food. I’ve been in once and will be back. Their Italian bread was nearly identical to regular. Their donuts were an epic fail. Their coffee cake wasn’t bad. I’ll try more products the next time.

Another trick I have up my sleeve is to bring a GF roll with me if I know I am going to a place that serves burgers or hot dogs. I can order it without a bun and pop it onto mine.

Eating out now takes work and forces me to speak up and ask questions, but it’s definitely doable. It’s still hard to see others at the table enjoying mac and cheese, breaded cutlets, and gravies. But I remind myself I can make any of that GF at home.

Managing Family Meals

This has had surprisingly little impact on our family meals. I’ve been making lots of potatoes and rice and the GF products I’ve served (bread, tacos, recipes made with GF flour) have passed muster without a peep from anyone. I use GF flour in sauces, soups, and recipes. Lactose free milk goes into recipes as well without anyone noticing at all. It is surprisingly easy to work around this at home. Baking is a bigger challenge, however. My GF apple pie was ok, but I need to work on my pie crust some more. And I have yet to try out a lot of my family baking recipes, which will likely need tweaking.

Searching for

What I am desperately still looking for includes:

GF puff pastry

GF wonton wrappers (so I can make my own potstickers and dumplings and wonton soup)

GF filo dough

GF croissants

good GF donuts

GF egg noodles

GF hot pretzels

Lactose Free Products:

I’m still trying to work out what works for me and doesn’t. Lactose-free milk has become a staple in my cooking and on my cereal. It is slightly sweeter than regular milk. Lactose free yogurt does not work for me for some reason. I can eat small amounts of hard cheeses. Lactose free American cheese works well for me. I’ve also sampled every frozen dessert option my store has that is LF. The coconut milk ice cream has the best texture, but I can’t get past the coconut taste. I did not like the rice milk ice cream or the soy milk ice cream. The almond milk ice cream is pretty good, but it all does have an almond flavor. None of it is perfect. So far I have been ok using small amounts of sour cream in cooking. Butter does not bother me, but we use a lot of Olivio instead. And I’ve always cooked with olive oil when possible, instead of butter.

Moving Forward

I will be cooking with GF flours and products from now on, but I don’t anticipate this having much of an impact on my blogging. There are many, many foods that don’t involve gluten in any way, and if I do make a GF substitute in a recipe, I’ll tell you. I will still be sharing my love of cooking and baking with you.

If you are GF or LF I would love to hear from you!

 

I’ve had good news and bad news recently. The good news is that some health issues that had been plaguing me for a long time have finally been solved and eliminated. The bad news is that it turns out I am gluten and lactose intolerant. Now these two things are not the end of the … Read more →