Gluten-free

Celiac Awareness Month – May

May 1, 2014 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

To help spread the word about Celiac Disease during May, I’ve asked a friend, who was the one to make me aware of Celiac to share her story with you.

Hi! My name is Linda Hill and I live in Tucson, Arizona. I am a wife and a mother of 2 adult daughters. Lois has asked that I write about my experiences of living with Celiac Disease.

Unlike many gluten-free diet followers, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease (CD) at the age of 9 months. It was considered very rare at that time (1953). Another health issue which required surgery is one of the reasons for the early diagnosis. Even though I had an early diagnosis, I have not led a completely gluten-free life. The information given to my parents at that time was not quite accurate. They were told that I would “out grow” the condition and that they should try to re-introduce wheat products in small amounts. So, my exposure to gluten was limited throughout my life, but not absent.

At some point in my late 30’s I read an article on CD and gluten-free cooking. It struck a chord within me and I decided to give it a try. I bought several different kinds of gluten-free flour and tried to make my own blend of baking flour following the directions in the article. I was miserable! I could not get anything to turn out or taste good. My attempt at gluten-free cooking lasted for about 3 months. I gave up and returned to ‘normal’ cooking methods with an effort at avoiding baked goods. That avoidance didn’t last long, either!

Prior to this time of experiment, I had been taking my younger daughter to pediatricians for unexplained stomach aches and constipation. I even made certain to tell them that I had been diagnosed at an early age with CD. I had one pediatrician tell me that it wasn’t considered hereditary and sent us off with advice to keep her well hydrated.

Fast forward to my late 40’s. I was again reading another article on CD. This time, a more comprehensive list of symptoms was included in the article. I could easily see me in this article, but more importantly, I could see my daughter. I printed the list of symptoms and left them out for her to read. After consulting with her doctor, we decided it was time to get serious about our gluten-free life style.

This time it was much easier. There were a few food companies who produced gluten-free flour blends and baking mixes. The products were there, but they weren’t always easy to find. However, my daughter and I were encouraged by the quality and results of some of the products and we were determined to make the commitment to a GF life.

As a mom, it was easier to accomplish a GF cooking change because I wasn’t doing it just for myself; my daughter needed it, too. I started my research on the internet and stocked the pantry with GF products. Some of the products were instant hits and others were immediately discarded after the first taste. Persistence is key in making any dietary changes. Fortunately, the food industry was also paying attention to the growing GF needs. Celiac Disease, and other health issues that respond to a GF diet, were making the news. Several GF companies were established and my desire for cooking experimentation increased.

Over the past 12 years, I have converted all of our family favorites at least once or twice. I have never cooked separate meals for our family. Everyone eats a gluten-free meal. I do keep a loaf of regular bread and a box of Ritz crackers for my husband, but our meals are gluten-free. It would probably be good to note that I have always loved to cook! Little by little, I pulled out my everyday recipes and began to experiment using the GF flour blends. Articles in a magazine, Living Without, and recipes on the internet, became my research reading.

A key factor for anyone who loves to cook, and eat, is a successful result. The information about the variety of GF flours and their uses, is what inspired and encouraged me in converting my recipes. Flours that use chickpea, also known as garbanzo, as a base flour are best used in dense bread recipes. Flour blends that are primarily finely ground rice flour and tapioca starch or potato starch are best suited for pastry baking. In my own experimentation, I found that an equal blend of corn flour, potato flour and GF multi-purpose baking flour make an excellent coating for braising/browning meats and poultry before adding them to a casserole style meal. Corn starch is often used as a thickening agent and I found that using potato flour is great in making a roux for gravy. Please, note that I have mentioned potato starch and potato flour. These are very different products and are not to be used interchangeably.

My best advice to anyone faced with making a change to a gluten-free life style is to not be intimidated. Experiment, make notes of what works best for your tastes, and keep trying until you get a recipe that fits your tastes. Using fresh vegetables, fruits and meats are another key factor in GF cooking. Limit the use of processed foods. However, sometimes it’s necessary to use them for convenience and label reading is important.

I invite friends to dinner quite often. They all know that they will be dining on a gluten-free menu and I never get a refusal to my invitations. Most of them will still question, “Is this really gluten-free?” It can be done and done well!

Restaurant dining is another topic altogether! So, briefly, I will say that the key to success is to speak up. Ask your server for a GF menu or for recommendations from the kitchen. Let them know that there is an allergen alert for gluten intolerance. Some restaurants will respond well and use a cleaned griddle surface and the cook staff will change their gloves before prepping your meal. Others will tell you that they are not equipped to handle your requests and that there may be cross-contamination. Again, I use the internet for information. I will often look at an on-line menu before choosing a restaurant. Fortunately, Tucson has several restaurants that are very responsive to the needs of a GF diet.

Travel can sometimes be a challenge. However, I find it less and less of a challenge as dietary needs of all kinds are more widely discussed. Cruise lines and airline companies are very well versed in a variety of dietary needs and they are eager to accommodate their patrons. It seems there is also a universal awareness. I have traveled in parts of Europe, Australia and Israel and I was thrilled to find that most places knew about gluten-free needs. I still travel with some GF snacks in my luggage, but with each successful vacation I am encouraged to try new locations.

So, I will repeat my advice. Do not be intimidated! Think about the positive changes that will occur in your life by following a diet that is more friendly to your digestive system. I know that I found more energy, less joint pain, and a clearer thought process once I adhered to the gluten-free diet.

Cottage Food Laws = A Home Based Bakery for Me!

March 14, 2013 by polishhousewife 3 Comments

Back in the ’80s, my parents gave us a subscription to Bon Appetit. A perfect gift because Ed and I both enjoy cooking and reading about new food ideas. It was a cover photo that had me making my first Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I got into fancy desserts in a big way. During this time, I was at home with our three daughters, working on my accounting degree part-time, being a room mother, Girl Scout leader and Sunday School teacher – all of the typical activities when one has school aged children.

I thought about doing some dessert catering. It seemed like the perfect solution, a creative outlet that would bring in a little extra money and brighten people’s days with some amazing treats. Then I found out that it wasn’t legal to sell anything prepared in a home kitchen. Talk about bursting my bubble.

Imagine my excitement last year when I stumbled upon the cottage food laws that are sweeping the nation, and yes, Arizona is a state when these laws have been enacted. The laws vary from state to state, so things I have done in AZ might not be legal in your state.

For most of 2012, I’ve been day dreaming and reading about home based bakeries. The time I spent in the steam room at our gym would involve brainstorming marketing ideas. I have a long list of notes in my iPad, so putting together a business plan was relatively simple.

We expect to be wrapping up our time in Poland in the coming year, so I’ve been in Arizona for the past several weeks, taking care of a lot of details for Silver Spoon: The Underground Bakery business licenses, registering with the state department of health, etc. We’re keeping it simple as we start out, just offering several kinds of biscotti and selling at farmers markets. Our daughter, Lauren, has joined me in this venture and will keep things running as I head back to Poland for the summer. We’re hitting 90 degrees this week, so it’s beginning to feel like summer in the Valley of the Sun, even if it isn’t even officially spring.

Currently, we’re selling at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. I especially like the fact that this market is run by a nonprofit. We hope to add one more market soon. I have to tell you that in the brief time we’ve been participating in the market, we’ve had a lot of fun. The other vendors are pleasant interesting people; the customers are there to have a good time and enjoy tasting and talking about the food we’ve prepared. And yes, they’ve also been buying our biscotti.

The candied ginger scones I made with the ABC Bakers inspired our candied ginger biscotti. We’ve included a vegan option since we have a vegan in the family, and my friend Linda suggested a gluten free baking mix that has made our gluten free biscotti very popular. It’s still too early to tell what will be our biggest seller.

Lauren and I make very good biscotti, and when you make something 4 or 5 times in one day, you get to know it really well and can tweek the recipe for the best results. We can’t compete with the biscotti sold at Costco on price, but they can’t touch us when it comes to taste!

You’ll notice that biscotti isn’t mentioned in our business name. That’s because my mind is so full of ideas about twists and turns this might take as we go about “sharing our passion for good food with like-minded souls.” Besides our website (link above), you can follow us on twitter and like us on facebook to see where this adventure takes us.

Low Carb Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Gluten free)

January 25, 2013 by polishhousewife Leave a Comment

I found this recipe while searching Pinterest for low carb ideas. It was on Mom, What’s For Dinner?, a great source of gluten-free recipes. While the texture was not just like a traditional pizza crust, if you can get past that desire for a chewy dough, the flavor with this cauliflower crust is fantastic.

We topped the crust with a little red sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. We followed the directions and made a 9 inch round. Next time, we’ve make smaller ones, 4 – 5 inches. The large one was just a little too difficult to move from the baking tray a plate.

I can see using this crust for things other than pizza. It’s kind of like a potato pancake, maybe top it with goulash.

for 1-9 inch crust, an average head of cauliflower will make 2 or 3 crusts:
Ingredients

1 cup riced (or grated small side) steamed cauliflower
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 450
Combine the riced cauliflower, cheeses, egg, oregano, garlic, garlic powder, and salt
Line baking sheet with parchment paper; brush paper with olive oil
Transfer the cauliflower mixture to the prepared pan, using your hands, shape into a 9 inch crust (or multiple smaller crusts)
Bake for 15 minutes
Add desired toppings and broil for 4 minutes

ready for the oven

after baking

toppings added – ready for the broiler

ready to eat! 🙂

Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken

January 22, 2012 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

We’re back in Poznan, missing our family, but looking forward to the new year. To me, it’s not about big, bold resolutions; it’s about a return to the pleasure of a normal routine, finding the time to make better choices regarding meals and activity – all the things that are joyfully forgotten during holiday celebrations.

After finding this article on a friend’s facebook wall, I’m incorporating vegetables into my diet in a big way. The article talks about using the Hunter-Gatherer Diet to combat MS. I don’t have this disease, but it’s hard to argue with the benefits a nine servings of vegetables and fruit a day. The question will be can I find ways to make them interesting. That will determine my success. The Chinese style veggies pictured here will be posted in a few days. Incorporating organ meat once a week; I don’t know if I’m ready for that part of the diet just yet.

My husband is cutting back on carbs for a week or so to break the cycle; “do widzenia” bread, potatoes, and beer. I found a recipe that mentioned crushed pork rinds as breading for chicken breast, but alas, no pork rinds in our Polish market. I was trying to think of something to add a bit of crunch and remembered that I had sliced almonds in the pantry. Voila, the Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken is born, and it was so tasty that we’re fixing it again in a few days for dinner guests.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Butterfly the chicken breast by laying it on a cutting board and slicing horizontally, ALMOST to the other side. Open it up and pound with a meat tenderizer (mallet) until the breast is about 1/4-inch thick
Season both sides with salt and pepper
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat
Run the almonds and Parmesan cheese in a food processor until the texture is breadcrumb-like
Spread half of the nut mixture out on a plate
Dip the chicken breast in the beaten egg
Spread the chicken out over the nuts and cheese and sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the top side of the chicken, pat the crust to secure it to the meat
Put the chicken in the hot oil and cook until browned on both sides
Divide into two servings. You can keep this warm in a 200 degree oven (100 C) if you’re fixing more than one breast

Serves: 2

Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes

January 18, 2012 by polishhousewife Leave a Comment

with huckleberry syrup

One of my daughters is vegetarian, a choice that I’ve gotten pretty good at accommodating over the years, if I do say so myself. When we got together over Christmas, she threw me for a loop with the announcement that she was more and more eating vegan. Vegan stumps me – no butter, no eggs, no cheese, no fun, no ideas!

Don’t get me wrong. She looks trim, healthy, fantastic, and I’m glad that she’s making thoughtful choices about her food and her health. I just can’t think of anything to fix that the rest of the family would want to eat.

Lisa to the rescue with a new cookbook she’s picked up – babycakes: covers the classics, the second cookbook by Erin McKenna. As the cover says, this book provides gluten-free, vegan recipes from donuts to snickerdoodles. We tried the Gingerbread Pancakes, and I have to say they were delicious and would qualify as fun.

Ingredients

2 cups garbanzo and fava bean flour (I wasn’t paying attention as Lisa read ingredients and used AP flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon xanathan gum (didn’t have – substituted a small handful of flax seeds soaked in equal volume of water)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon (didn’t have, so we omitted)
1/ teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (this wasn’t in the recipe, but how can you have gingerbread without ginger?)
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut or canola oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup molasses
2/3 cup rice milk (we used almond and added extra milk to get a good texture maybe because of the flour substitution)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat pancake griddle
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, xanathan gum, cardomon, clove, and ginger
In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients
Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until just combined
Spray or lightly brush griddle with oil
Ladle or pour batter onto hot griddle; cook until bubbles form in pancake and pop
Carefully, flip pancakes, browning other side
Serve with desired toppings. Lisa used soy butter, Ed and I, real butter and huckleberry syrup

Made: 25 6-inch pancakes

Spiced Pumpkin Latte

October 25, 2011 by polishhousewife 5 Comments

I’m not a barista, but I play one on TV. No, seriously, my daughter is a very experience barista, and I know just enough to say I might be playing fast and loose with the term latte. I frothed with great abandon, just for the fun of it, with no thought about the proper amount of foam.

I’m whipping up this autumn treat with the pumpkin I roasted over the weekend.

Ingredients

1 cup milk (almond or soy milk for vegan)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
espresso to taste, approximately 1/2 cup

Directions

Combine milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin. I used and immersion blender to froth the mixture, and then heated it until steaming.
Fill cup(s) with espresso and top with hot milk mixture.
This made enough for two normal sized coffee cups, or one huge mug.

Lemon Brine Chicken

March 24, 2010 by polishhousewife 6 Comments

Start this in the lemon brine early in the day, and by evening you’ll have moist, lemony chicken. It’s a classic flavor combination!

I’m not usually the one to do the grilling in our family, but I must have learned a little something watching over the years because this chicken turned out pretty well.

My parents have been brining the Thanksgiving turkey for the last few years. (Brining is soaking the meat in a salty, spicy solution before cooking.) It makes for very moist, flavorful meat. I would love to tell you that I always fix chicken this way, but the truth is I don’t usually plan that far in advance. (That’s why I don’t have a list of crock pot recipes for you too!)

I had to take photos outside to get the last bit of natural light. The chicken looks pretty good; the taste was even better!

Adapted from: myrecipes.com

Lemon Brine Chicken

Yield: 8 - 10
Category: Lemon Brine Chicken
Cuisine: American

Description

Chicken that’s moist and full of flavor

Ingredients

4 quarts water
2/3 cup kosher salt
3 lemons, quartered
1/8 cup dried parsley
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 – 5 pounds chicken, cut up (I used a jumbo package of thighs)

Instructions

Place water and salt in a large dutch oven, heat just enough to dissolve salt.
Squeeze lemons over the dutch oven, add the fruit as well as the juice.
Add parsley, onion, garlic, and pepper.
Add chicken to dutch oven. The water should just cover the chicken.
Cover dutch oven and refrigerate 6 – 8 hours.
Grill or bake as usual. I used indirect heat on a gas grill for about an hour and then medium direct heat to crisp up the skin.

It looks like this chicken thigh is haning out of Wee Dax’s mouth like some kind of giant poultry stoggie, but it’s an optical illusion. He was just hoping I’d turn my back.

Carrot Salad

December 10, 2009 by polishhousewife 3 Comments

Salad #3 of 7

Classic carrot salad, it’s a deli staple and one of the dishes from my childhood.

There was nothing my grandmother loved more than having all of the extended family around the kitchen table for dinner — except maybe Christmas. With our family of six, my cousin and uncle, it was close quarters, but that’s not the reason my grandmother hardly ever sat down.

She was perpetually jumping up to refill a glass or add one more thing to the array of dishes in front of us. Some things were always on my her dinner table, a relish plate with olives and pickles, mashed potatoes and gravy, spinach, a very well-done piece of meat, and carrot salad.

The menu was so predictable and cherished that more than a decade after the dear lady passed a way, a category in a game I made for our family to play at Christmas was “things on Grandma Rose’s dinner table.” My husband and our daughters were at a bit of a disadvantage, but my parents and siblings got a huge kick out of it.

When Ed and I were planning a picnic to take up to Mt. Lemmon for the 4th of July parade at Summerhaven, carrot salad was a natural choice to include in our picnic basket. Don’t you just love the way food can remind you of family history and events. With a simple substitution, I can make this for my vegan daughter, and the tradition continues. What dishes are traditional in your family? Do you still make them today?