My First Gluten Free Birthday

Real GF Ice cream Brownie Cake with Icing! Brian made it all by himself, disastrous process but tasted soo good! We had it a day late to let it freeze together....another extra day to celebrate :) And thanks to Shannon for letting him use her kitchen and freezer!

A Minute to Complain

Now that I have fully immersed myself in the gluten free world, forgoing the gluten is easy most of the time. (It is the hidden stuff that gets me.) Natural foods and gf substitutions leave me satisfied without the tummy issues. But give up yeast too? That seems so unfair. Just when I accepted gf beer, now I find that I shouldn't have that either because of the yeast? Thats just cruel! Of course I feel much better and am (usually) happy to comply....but to give up my favorite balsamic vinegar? And then regular vinegar, which is in everything including all condiments and salad dressings. And wine?? No!! Especially on a hot Chicago summer day, a glass of cold white wine shared on the back deck, or a rich drink of Sangria is always appreciated on a warm evening out. Cubs games, boating and team drinks after my own sports; just feels like something's missing without a cold brewski. Because I seem to be ok with yeast in smaller amounts, my game plan is to cut down, not cut out completely. It is just too unfair to go through life without wine! So this is the issue that really gets me down. The issue that I am still trying to deal with and accept. Especially when everyone else seems to be indulging in all of these treats. Why yeast? I still have not figured out that answer yet. Thank goodness for that anonymous girl who posted her recommendation for buttermilk instead of yeast. She unknowingly improved my life in tenfolds! Now someone needs to figure out how to make gf beer yeast free too! At least I can have my olive oil and lemon. Now I had better start losing some weight with all of these calories that I have stopped consuming!

Blueberry Muffins

I used 1/3 cup each: tapioca, quinoa and sorghum flours (more later)......

First Bread Machine Loaf

My Loaf did not look this perfect, but it still worked. It was sweeter than expected, and tasted more like banana bread without the bananas. I will try it again as a cinnamon raisin bread, or maybe banana bread ;) I used the equivalent of 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp lemon juice to replace 1 teaspoon yeast. (more in total but this is the equation). I used Pamela's sandwich bread mix, under the white bread cycle as directed on the package. Next time, try buttermilk instead, and maybe use the gluten free cycle? Also add a little flax seeds to the mix.

Ideally I want to make my own mix using the sorghum, sweet rice flours along with quinoa and tapioca on the gluten free cycle.

My First Pizza

For pizza crust
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white rice flour*
1/3 cup quinoa flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup buttermilk minus 1/8
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

For topping
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (about 1 tablespoon)
4 large fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

*Be sure to use white rice flour; brown will result in gritty pizza dough.

Special equipment: pizza stone or heavy baking sheet, baking peel or heavy baking sheet, parchment paper

Preparation

Make pizza crust

In bowl of electric mixer, whisk together tapioca flour, white rice flour, chickpea flour, sorghum flour, xanthum gum, and salt.

In small saucepan over moderate heat buttermilk until warm but not hot to the touch, about 1 minute (temp should register between 105°F and 115° F on candy thermometer). Add buttermilk, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons oil to dry ingredients and, using paddle attachment, beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until dough is very smooth and very thick, about 5 minutes.

Remove racks from oven, set pizza stone or heavy upturned baking sheet on bottom of oven, and preheat to 400°F. (Preheat at least 45 minutes if using pizza stone or 20 minutes if using baking sheet.)

Have ready 12-inch square parchment paper (not wax!!). Scrape dough onto square and form into a ball, or half it and make two small balls. Coat ball with 2 teaspoons oil, then use oiled or wet fingertips to pat and stretch each ball into 9-inch-diameter round, 1/4 inch thick, with a 1/2-inch-thick border. (wet hands with water several times for best non-sticky results).

Using baking peel (open ended pizza pan), transfer crust with parchment to preheated pizza stone and bake until top is puffed and firm and underside is crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. Using baking peel, remove pizza from oven and discarding parchment paper, transfer baked crust to rack to cool. (Baked crusts can be made ahead and frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, up to 1 month. Thaw in 350°F oven until hot, 4 to 5 minutes, before topping and broiling.)

Top and broil pizza
Preheat broiler. Transfer baked crust to pizza pan. Brush 1 teaspoon olive oil over crust. Spread with sauce, leaving 1/2-inch border bare, then sprinkle each with mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano (and toppings if desired). Drizzle remaining 2 tsps olive oil over pizzas.

Broil pizzas about 4 inches from heat, rotating as needed for even browning, until cheese is bubbling and browned in places and crust is golden brown, 4 to 8 minutes. Scatter with basil, slice, and serve immediately.

• I broiled crust first for only 4min b/c it was half-rising, and smoking b/c of wax paper instead of parchment! Then baked pizza w/toppings about 10min at 350-400, the broiled it 4-5min to brown cheese and crisp crust. *Keep turning pizza in broiler to prevent burning.
  
• I put cornmeal on bottom of pizza pan, after parchment was discarded
• I used water on my hands which worked much better than oiled hands when spreading dough into crust.

Pizza Sauce
Prepare this fat-free sauce while the pizza crust bakes. It fills the kitchen with a delicious aroma. And by letting it simmer for 15 minutes, it becomes thick so it won't make the pizza crust soggy.

8 oz gluten-free tomato sauce
(make your own with recipe below)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 scoop minced garlic
2 tsp sugar or 1 tsp honey (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in small sauce pan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Top pizza crust with sauce and your favorite toppings. Makes about 1 cup. *I doubled this recipe. I also used 1 tsp fennel seeds in the double recipe and it was too overpowering, so try 1/4tsp per 8oz sauce next time. Also, try sweet rice flour instead of white rice flour? The rice flour seems to have made it a little chewy.

I Made Real Pizza!

After two hours of hard work, about 10 mistakes and even more cursing, I created a real pizza!!! I am still shocked. All of the other pizzas I worked hard on in the past 7 months or so came out terrible, and not at all like pizza the way each recipe or blogger claimed. I was trying to be positive, but they all tasted bad, kinda smelled, and still somewhat hurt my stomach. (yeast? seems to be) This one LOOKS like pizza, TASTES like pizza, crunches like Pizza, smells like pizza and, what the heck, even feels like pizza. Good golly, it IS pizza! And my stomach is happy, just really full after eating so much of it. Brian loved it too, said he "could eat that for dinner anytime". Yea! A real success! Ok, enough of the bragging (for now) but seriously, I am shocked that it came out "real" after all of the past experiences, after all of my "trials" today with it, and all of the things that went wrong. For instance, cutting the recipe in half except for the buttermilk on accident, then having to re-add all the halves and almost messing up on all of the counts (who can keep track after adding the 16th half-teaspoon of something?) And having the thin dough that was SUPPOSED to be really thick, stuck all over my hands and everything else, while listening to really bad and loud music blare out of my too-far-to-reach radio. Then smoking out the oven and setting the smoke detector off, scaring the crap out of Lacey and I. Then seeing half of the crust rising and whistling inside the oven like a half of a volcano that is about to explode all over the already disastrous kitchen. (It crossed my mind to wonder where the fire extinguisher was at this point.) I took several recipes and tips and combined them all to invent the one that I came out with today. Amazing to me, after all of the frustration and exhaustion, when I tasted the pizza, I immediately wanted to turn around and go through the whole process again, this time perfecting all of the little mishaps that I could taste. That is what these good notes are for...I will perfect it another time, in a faster interval, I have decided.
On a side note, today was the first time that I used quinoa flour, which also made the perceived outcome unsure. The description on the package of the flour being the most versatile next to wheat was convincing, and very true I just found out. It is also the most nutritious of all the whole grains and brings a tender moist crumb to all baking needs. Yep, I agree. I will be using a whole lot of this new quinoa flour. The answer to my gluten free prayers.

First Bagels!

I made mine with poppy seeds and sesame seeds on top using egg wash, and also with Sorghum flour in addition to sweet rice flour. I replaced the yeast and water with 2 cups buttermilk. They came out great! The original recipe is in italics and in a different font just to keep the first one for now. My best concoction so far has bullets in front of it and is beneath it in regular font again.



The dough itself will not be as smooth as gluten based dough so these bagels will have a slightly lumpy appearance. The key really is learning how to form the bagels…which I am afraid only practice will perfect. I wish you luck and hope that your path to gluten free bagels is paved with golden lox and cream cheese.
Real Honest Gluten Free Bagels

Wendy Wark’s Gluten Free Flour Mix

According to the girl who originally posted this recipe "This wonderful flour blend is from Karen Robertson’s book “Cooking Gluten Free!”. Not only are all the recipes in the book outstanding but it also contained this miraculous flour mixture. I make this flour mixture in large batches and use it for everything. It can be used cup for cup in place of traditional flour."
Wendy Wark’s Gluten Free Flour Mix
2 ¼ cups Brown Rice Flour
¾ cup Sweet Rice Flour
2/3 cup Tapioca Flour
1/3 cup Corn Starch
¼ cup Potato Starch Flour
2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

*This recipe with yield 7 bagels
Bagel Ingredients
3 ¼ cups WW gluten free flour mix
2 tablespoons yeast
1 ½ cups warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum

My Recipe:

• 2 c buttermilk
• 1/2 c quinoa flour
• 3/4 c sorghum flour
• 1 c brown rice flour
• 3/4 c sweet rice flour
• 2/3 c tapioca flour
• 1/3 c corn starch
• 1/4 c potato starch
• 2 t. and 2 1/2 t. xanthan gum separately
  
• 1 T. sugar
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. sea salt
  

Cooking Items
1 gallon water
4 tablespoons sugar
Cornmeal
Tea Kettle of water
Vegetable oil for greasing a bowl
Kitchen towels
Cookie Sheet (I recommend aluminum)
Large stock pot
Slotted spoon
Dissolve the 3 tablespoons of sugar in the 1 ½ cups of warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the water and stir to combine. Allow this to sit for about 10 minutes to proof the yeast (the mixture should get foamy in appearance).


Lightly oil a mixing bowl with vegetable oil and set aside
Set the tea kettle on the stove to get it boiling
To the warm buttermilk add the salt, 2 1/2 t. xanathan gum and 1 ½ cups of the flour mix. Use your hand to mix the ingredients together. The mixture will be lumpy so do not fret. Continue to add the remaining flour a ½ cup at a time. When you have about a ½ cup remaining of the flour it is time to turn the dough mixture out onto a work surface. You will really need to knead the dough well to get all the flour to combine. The texture of the dough will be slightly sticky (remember this is not wheat we are dealing with). If you feel the dough is too dry keep kneading it and it should become tacky around the same time that your arms get tired. Form the dough into a nice neat ball and place into the lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel.
Place dough into the oven on the middle rack. DO NOT TURN THE OVEN ON. Place a baking pan on the lowest rack in the oven and fill it with the boiling water. Close the oven door and let the dough rise for about an hour. Adding the water into the oven really helps this dough rise. (won't rise much w/o yeast, but I let it sit just in case). I have tried other methods but this seems to work best.
After 1 hour remove all items from the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and gently punch it down. Divide the dough into 7 equal sections and begin forming the bagels. I like to roll the dough into a ball using a good amount of pressure (for smoothing purposes) and then I gently flatten it and use my index finger to punch the whole in the middle. Let the bagels sit and rise again for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime set a large stock pot with the gallon of water on the stove and bring the water to a boil. When the water boils add the 4 tablespoons of sugar and bring the water down to a simmer. Sprinkle the cookie sheet with a thin layer of cornmeal.
After the bagels have sat for 15 minutes drop 3-4 bagels into the simmering water and allow them to cook for about 4 minutes. After 4 minutes turn them over in the water and let them cook for about 4 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon remove the bagels from the water and place on a kitchen towel. After all bagels have taken a dip in the water arrange them on the cookie sheet.
You can also put a topping on the bagels such as poppy or sesame seeds. To do this you will want to whisk together 3 tablespoons of water with 1 egg white. Before you put the bagels in the oven brush a thin layer of the egg wash on the top of the bagels and sprinkle them with your topping of choice.
Cook the bagels in the oven for 25 minutes and then turn them over and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Let them cool for about a half hour before you try and cut them. If you try cutting them when they are still hot you run the risk of turning them into a glob of dough. Freeze bagels once cooled. Enjoy!