For various reasons, I keep a supply of gluten-free flours on hand, mostly due to, I am sad to say, my brief efforts at gluten-free baking. These days, I mostly use these flours for specific recipes, and, sigh, thickeners. The lesson I took away from my naive, young, wide-eyed baking experiment was that it took too many ingredients, too much time. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Pantry — GF Flours to Keep on Hand”
Tag: gluten-free flour
Falafel
Is there a better food than falafel? No, I say, there is not. Except maybe mashed potatoes. It’s a close call.
Finding gluten-free falafel out in the wild is hard. Making it at home is so easy, you won’t miss going out for this wonderful food at all. As a bonus, falafel makes a great vegan option for those times you need one.
One huge note, that I’ll repeat in the Notes section as well: do not use canned chickpeas when making falafel. They have absorbed too much liquid in the can, and will create a heavy, less fluffy falafel. You will thank yourself for soaking your garbanzo beans the old-fashioned way!
Crispy Fried Onions
I’m going to warn you up front: if you make these, make a lot. More than you need for whatever recipe you’re making. Trust me on this. You will find yourself “tasting” just one, then another. And another.
Your husband will grab a few, just make sure they do taste all right. Anyone who walks by the pile of fried onions will indulge in a taste test. Before you know it, you will have to lay down the law: no more tasting until you’re sure you have enough for the recipe.
After that, it’s open season for crispy fried onions. No point in having leftovers, right?
This gluten-free version of stuff you traditionally buy in a can during the holidays is so addictive, you’ll discover uses beyond green bean casserole just because you can’t stop eating them!
Your Gluten-Free Pantry: Online Sources for Gluten-Free Flour
While baking isn’t my strong suit, I do try my hand at gluten-free breads every now and then. I like a good challenge…and gluten-free baking is certainly that, particularly because it takes a lot of ingredients to make breads that are tasty and light. While gluten-free baking has the potential to reduce the costs of the breads you eat, tracking down the ingredients you need can be challenging.
Sure, stores in my area are starting to stock a limited selection of gluten-free flours and mixes, but selection is generally limited to more popular items. Whole Foods a broader selection of gluten-free flours, so I’ll use them as a resource. However, based on my experience, product availability can be spotty. I’ve run in to pick up a flour I know they carry, only to discover it’s out of stock. Continue reading “Your Gluten-Free Pantry: Online Sources for Gluten-Free Flour”
Everything Gumbo
For the gluten-free eater, gumbo is one of those foods we will likely never enjoy in a restaurant. At the heart of this dish is the classic New Orleans-style roux — a mix of flour and oil cooked until it is a rich, deep brown. Roux is synonymous with gumbo.
But I love gumbo, and knew I could make an excellent dish using gluten-free flour, specifically, in my case, Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose GF flour. I also borrowed a trick from Alton Brown, using my oven to build my roux. This allowed me to do all my prep work while the roux turned a gorgeous shade of chocolate brown.
You can make chicken gumbo, shrimp gumbo, vegetarian gumbo, gumbo with okra, without okra. It’s your gumbo. This recipe has everything but the okra (which I prefer served on the side, lightly fried rather than in the stew itself). As a bonus, gumbo served over steamed rice makes an impressive they’ll-never-guess-it’s-GF party dish!