Gluten-free "Oatmeal" Chocolate Chip Cookies

M* makes the best taste tester

I was about to add Organic Porridge Flakes to the composting pile, when I came-up with a better ending for the flakes: faux oatmeal cookies. I found a well-reviewed oatmeal cookie recipe online, which did not require a trip to the grocery for additional ingredients. With a few recipe modifications, I created Gluten-free "Oatmeal" Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The result? Very tasty, but the flakes did not soften enough for my liking—and I'm a gal who needs crunch in her baked goods (brownies and chocolate chip cookies without nuts aren't worth the effort or calories). I'm not sure if it was the millet or the rice flakes that was the culprit or simply the brand. M* wolfed the cookies down no problem, and he preferred the extra crunch. Of course, I helped finish the batch in just a few days time (chocolate chip and nuts are hard to resist). I'd certainly make this again when I come across another brand/ combo of gluten-free flakes.

Gluten-free "Oatmeal" Chocolate Chip Cookies
(modified from joyofbaking.com's Oatmeal Cookies)

Ingredients
3/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (can also use room temperature butter or margarine)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup Gluten-free Brown Rice Flour Mix
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups gluten-free flakes (rice, millet, soy, or combo)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, xantham gum, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. With a wooden spoon (or similar utensil), stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture until incorporated. Then stir 30 more times. Stir in the nuts, flakes, and chocolate chips.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet, leaving about an inch between cookies. Wet your fingers and flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers so they are about 1/2 inch thick. Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes, or until light golden brown around the edges but still soft in the centers. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to wire rack until cool.

Makes about 36 cookies

Gluten-Free Brown Rice Flour Mix

Great gluten-free flour mix that substitutes well, with addition of xantham gum, for wheat flour in many recipes.

Food Philosopher(TM) Gluten-Free Brown Rice Flour Mix
From Annalise G. Roberts "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"

2 cups Brown rice flour
2/3 cup Potato starch (not potato flour)
1/3 cup Tapioca flour

Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies with Agave Nectar

Yes these completely normal and yummy looking cookies are gluten-free and contain no white sugar. I felt confident that I had perfected the gluten-free chocolate chip cookie using the recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics," and I did want to reduce the amount of sugar in my baking. Since I had some agave nectar on hand, I simply substituted 3/4 cup of agave nectar for 1 cup of white, granulated sugar—I left the 1/2 cup of brown sugar unaltered. I've read recommendations that one is suppose to reduce the amount of liquid in a recipe when using agave nectar, but since there are no other liquids besides the eggs in this recipe, I did not make any modifications. I blended the agave nectar in with the brown sugar and butter, and then proceeded as described in the recipe below (except I used light brown sugar instead of dark because when this recipe was published in Gourmet in 2005 it called for light brown sugar).

The result? Happily, absolutely no sugar-substitute aftertaste. Our dinner guest and my sister both thought they were perfectly normal chocolate chip cookies—meaning that no one was able to just eat one or two or three or ...—although they were a little browner in color and very light, yet the slightest bit cakey. I also found them a little sweeter, so I might reduce the amount of agave nectar by a tablespoon or two. A plus was that I didn't get night sweats after eating a bunch late in the evening, as I've been known to when I have too much sugar in my system.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"
To make white sugar free, substitute 3/4 cup agave nectar for the granulated, white sugar
(click on image to see recipe in detail)

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Blueberry Scones

My sister was coming for a visit, and, as she is diabetic, I wanted to do some gluten-free and sugar-free baking. Having made lemon, cornmeal gluten-free scones before, I knew that they contained very little sugar (1/4 cup). I've been interested in substituting out white sugar in recipes for my own health--all the gluten-free baking I did in the winter didn't exactly slim me down for summer.

My sister uses agave nectar to make a sugar-free margarita, and I've read a bit online about using agave nectar in place of granulated, white sugar. As for how to substitute in agave nectar in a recipe, I've come across different suggestions. What I seem to find most, since agave nectar is quite sweet and syrupy, is to use 3/4 cup agave nectar per 1 cup of sugar and reduce liquids a bit (amount decided by trial and error I guess), if the recipe even calls for liquids. While setting-up a monthly Tesco delivery, I found that they carry agave nectar and added it to my order.

Recipe in mid-production. Agave nectar in plastic squeeze bottle in foreground.

The scone recipe calls for mixing the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together, and then adding, at the same time, the dry mixture and liquids to the beaten eggs. Since the agave nectar is syrupy, I added it to the milk. Since only 1/4 cup of granulated sugar is required, I didn't go through the bother of exactly measuring 3/4 of 1/4 cup (anyone have 3/16 measuring cup?), I just eyeballed "a little less" than 1/4 cup agave nectar. I also reduced the amount of liquid from 1/2 cup milk to a little more than 1/3 cup.

Recipe from Annalise G. Roberts' "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" (click on image to enlarge)

Another change I made, not related to sugar or gluten issues, was using fresh blueberries instead of raisins—just not a fan of the little, dried buggers. I did make the mistake of following the recipe and adding the blueberries in with the milk. Now, raisins could stand up to the next step, being beaten with a hand mixer. However, blueberries would just get mashed-up and color the batter blue. Instead of picking the blueberries out, I just mixed the batter by hand.

Scones head into the oven. The recipe said 14 scones one inch deep and 2 1/2 inches in diameter, but I ended up with 11 one inch-y by three-ish scones. I've never been good at judging size—of a crowd or a pastry.

Hopefully from the picture below you can see that the scones emerged from the oven looking "normal." As for the taste? Well, I was really pleased, and my husband and my sister both approved. As I did not eat many scones in my gluten eating days, I still wasn't confident in their true scone-iness. When I commented that they seemed a little dry without jam, my husband reminded me that scones are drier than muffins and are typically eaten with jam. I can confidently comment that the 1/4 cup of agave nectar sweetened the scones perfectly and did not impart any aftertaste.

Oven-fresh scones ready to be eaten.

Gluten-free Pancakes

I've been making gluten-free pancakes for two years now, and, each time the recipe varies slightly. The recipe I always modify is from an old Betty Crocker cookbook; the alterations are replacing wheat flour with a gluten-free flour mix and adding xantham gum.

The variation in each batch is in the amount of xanthm gum—I used to use 1/4 tsp but now I always use 1/2 tsp—or the blend of gluten-free flours. I have used almond meal, brown rice flour, white rice flour, gram (chickpea) flour and glutinous, though gluten-free, rice flour. M* and I have enjoyed each batch, except the ones where I mistakenly used a tbsp of salt instead of sugar or three tbsps of baking powder instead of three tsps or 3/4 pint of milk instead of 3/4 cup of milk, but certain ones have more closely resembled wheat flour pancakes. Unfortunately, I never bothered to note the amounts of each flour in those standout batches.

This past Sunday, I made two batches: one horrible (the 1 tbsp salt batch) and one fantastic. The key to the wheat flour mimicing pancakes was the use of some glutenous rice flour; I had never used it before, but picked some up recently in a Korean grocer. Gluten has binding properties that one approximates by adding xantham gum, but this rice increases the sticky factor.

The recipe—with my best estimate of the flour amounts—is below. What I discovered a few days later is that increasing the glutenous rice flour to 1/2 cup or more is not recommended. Thursday, I only had a few tablespoons of brown rice flour left, so I switched the amounts of brown rice and glutenous rice flour. The pancakes were fine, but not as light as the ones resulting from the recipe below.

Gluten-free Pancakes
1/2 cup plus two tbsps brown rice flour (finely ground)
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
2 tbsps almond meal
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Whisk dry ingredients, except baking powder, in medium size bowl until well blended. Add baking powder. Blend milk, egg and oil in small bowl, and then add to dry ingredients. Gently stir ingredients with spoon or spatula just until ingredients are blended.

Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes. If you have an electric stove-top, like we do unfortunatly, this is a good time to heat the burner to medium. Make sure the pan or griddle is hot before adding batter. We use a non-stick pan, but I still lightly coat it with cooking spray before the first batch. Pancakes should cook quickly—a few minutes per side—so stay close. Enjoy with your favorite syrup.

Gluten-Free Gnocchi

Companies are continually improving the taste and texture of gluten-free pastas: I use my husband as a gauge, as I haven't had wheat pasta in a few years. However, there are a few pastas that have yet to be available to the masses in a gluten-free form: ravioli, of which I especially miss pumpkin; tortellini, crave the spinach and ricotta variety; and gnocchi. Gnocchi has a sentimental value for me, as my stepgrandmother, born in Italy, would always have a pot on the stove when we went for a visit. She taught me and my sister how to make gnocchi when I was still in elementary school.

Gnocchi's main ingredient is potatoes—which are gluten-free. It's only the flour that needs to be substituted out. I've made gluten-free gnocchi before (recipe from Celiac.com), and I thought it turned out pretty well. However, I decided to try a recipe in a cookbook that I bought this year: "Healthy Gluten-free Eating".

This recipe used only potato starch as a substitute for the wheat flour—the Celiac.com recipe called for potato starch, corn starch and white rice flour. Making gnocchi is actually simple, (ingredients are mixed together at one time) although a bit time consuming (the cooking of the potatoes, rolling out of the dough and cutting and dimpling of each gnocchi). The first time I made the "Healthy Gluten-free Eating" version, the dough wouldn't hold together when we attempted to roll it out. My husband ended up shaping the dough in the correct dimensions, so that I could cut and dimple them. The end result—I thought not as good as the Celiac.com recipe, but my husband and our guest thought they were quite good. I thought the homemade tomato sauce and parmesan masked the gnocchis negative qualities.

Gluten-free gnocchi and tomato sauce with sausage, onion and mushrooms

Since we get potatoes delivered weekly and never use them all, I decided to make gnocchi a week later. This time I forgot that we needed eggs. As I'd already baked the potatoes, I did some online research and discovered the gnocchi were originally made with only potatoes and flour—no eggs or butter. So, I forged ahead without eggs, and the result was pretty much the same. I'm still not loving this recipe, but one of the problems could be the potatoes we are using—and the potatoes are the most important ingredient. We are using whatever type gets delivered, while every recipe that I've seen calls for a specific type of potato.

I'll certainly be giving gnocchi another go—and I'm thinking of varying the flour from only potato starch. I think that's what makes the gnocchi extra bland.

Gnocchi from Celiac.com
1 kg (2 lb) cooked mashed potatoes
1 cup white rice flour
¾ cup potato starch
¼ cup corn starch
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)
2 eggs
salt Mix all ingredients with hands. Knead lightly. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into small pieces. Place a few gnocchi in salted boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked. Cover with hot tomato sauce and serve. You can he re-heat them using a microwave oven.

Gnocchi from "Healthy Gluten-free Eating"
1 kg ( 2 1/4 lbs) unpeeled potatoes, preferably Golden Wonder or Kett's Pink
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
50 g (2 oz) butter
275 g (10 oz) potato starch
Parmesan, freshly grated

The recipe calls for boiling then steaming the potatoes, but Cooks Illustrated recommends baking them, and that's how we do it. Peel potatoes immediately once boiled/ steamed/ baked.

Push peeled potatoes through potato ricer. Add egg yolks, butter, generous pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well to combine and then, slowly stir in half of the potato flour. Knead lightly, ensuring all the flour is evenly distributed. Add more of the potato flour in this manner until dough is firm.

Boil a large pot of water (with a pinch of salt). Form a small piece of dough into a gnocchi size ball. Reduce heat to simmering and cook dough. When it floats to the surface, leave in water for another minute before removing. If the dough is too dry, the gnocchi will be heavy and stodgy. If it is too wet, it will fall apart during cooking. Adjust potato flour and egg balance in remaining dough as needed. Taste gnocchi and adjust seasonings.

Divide potato dough into four equal sections. Lightly potato-flour the work surface and roll out each section to form a log 3/4 in thick. Cut each log into 1 inch sections. Refrigerate pieces for 15-20 minutes to make dough easier to handle. Remove from fridge and gently press the back of the prongs of a fork against each piece. Then curve each piece with your fingers (we always use our thumb).

Place about 15 gnocchi in boiling water. Reduce temperature so water is simmering, and cook as mentioned previously. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and leave to drain thoroughly in a colander (if necessary). cover and keep warm while you cook the remainder.

Fast & Easy Creamy Polenta

Ever since having pan fried polenta in an Italian restaurant a few weeks ago, I've been imagining producing a similarly tasty dish at home. I have little experience with polenta; initially I didn't like it, and I probably would not have given it a second chance if I didn't have to avoid gluten.

My stepmother forwarded me her sister's microwave polenta recipe, which I quickly made. However, the consistency was creamy—like, I've realized, most polenta recipes. After my husband absconded with a bowl for himself, I tried frying up the polenta. That didn't go so well. The polenta was quite liquid to begin with, so when the bottom started turning from yellow to golden, the top had not hardened enough to be flipped without sliding off the spatula. While the result was messy, it was palatable and quickly eaten.

This recipe is great for quick clean-up. We just put all the ingredients in a Pyrex measuring cup.

After researching online, I realized that I could reduce the ratio of water to polenta from 4-1 to 3-1 for grilled or fried polenta and, importantly, I should spread it in a pan and let it set for at least an hour in the fridge. Yesterday, I attempted it again. I used about 3 1/3 cups of water and let the polenta set for just one hour in the fridge. I was able to cut the polenta into rectangles that held their shape when I put them in the pan, however the bottom of the polenta turned gelatinous before finally firming-up.

Polenta fresh out of the microwave and ready to set.

The result was certainly an improvement over the first attempt, but here are the changes for next time:

*3 cups of water to 1 cup of polenta
*refrigerate polenta overnight before frying
*make sure frying pan is completely heated before adding polenta

FAST & EASY CREAMY POLENTA

1 Cup yellow corn meal
4 Cups cold water (3 if you are going to be grilling or frying polenta)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Teaspoon salt

Pour all ingredients in large bowl. Stir until there are no lumps. Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Remove, stir and microwave another 3 (2 minutes if 3 cups water) minutes. Remove, stir and microwave for 2 minutes (1-2 for 3 cups water). Polenta will be cooked at this time. Cook longer if you want it less creamy. Times may vary slightly depending on your microwave.

Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

My maternal grandmother's sour cream coffee cake is the standard dish my mother would bring to any breakfast or brunch gathering. My sister makes it frequently as well. I have made it several times with various gluten-free flour mixes, and it has always come out super tasty. This time I used a brown rice/potato starch/tapioca flour mix and added 3/4 tsp of xantham gum to the dry ingredients.

Since I'm loving my new muffin tin, I decided to make Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake in it instead of an eight-inch square pan (that I don't have anyway). Sour cream is a little hard to find here—if, however, you want double cream, triple cream or cream fraiche, you certainly will have many options to choose from—and lite or non-fat sour cream is unheard of. To cut down on the fat, I used half sour cream and half low fat, Greek style yogurt. The cake was as moist as I desired, but I could have cut down on the sugar a bit. It wasn't too sweet, but the sour cream taste was muted.
Muffins waiting to go in the oven. Although they look completely covered with topping, more should have been added.

I realized that I was a bit stingy with the topping; the muffin expands while baking so you need to saturate the top with the cinnamon, sugar and walnut mixture. Some of the topping actually trickled down the side of the muffin and end up at the bottom. This was a nice treat, spreading the cinnamon taste into more mouthfuls. Another plus about the muffins: they took half the time to cook.

The muffins which disappeared in our bellies within 24 hours.

Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(can be doubled and cooked in 13x9 pan)

Cream together (in large bowl): 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar

Add: 2 eggs (one at a time), 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup sour cream

Mix together: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Add: dry ingredients to butter mixture

Grease and flour: 8 inch square pan (or muffin tin—12 muffins)

Pour: batter into pan (spoon into muffin tin)

Sprinkle: topping (1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and chopped walnuts) on top of batter before baking

Bake: at 350° for 45 minutes (20-25 minutes for muffins)

Quinoa Cakes

We don't have an exact recipe for quinoa cakes: I start with the list of ingredients off of a Whole Foods' label for quinoa cakes bought at their prepared foods counter. What we actually put in them often depends what vegetables we have: beets, carrots, zucchini, parsnips, corn, spinach, kale, black beans.

Making them gluten-free requires substituting the pastry flour with a non-glutinous flour, and I've mostly used gram (chickpea) flour. I also use thick low-fat yogurt (Greek style) which gives them a slight richness and added umami. Although it did not say how to cook them on the label, I started out frying them. However this required my almost constant attention, and I was only able to cook four medium size cakes/ patties at a time. I've started baking them in the oven at about 375° for 30 minutes (flipping them halfway through). M* and I can't tell a difference in taste between the two cooking methods.

When I recently made them with tahini instead of yogurt, M* and I were disappointed—the cakes were really dry. The only way to make them reasonably palatable was to drown them in lemon juice or, my favorite, ketchup. If we use tahini again, we'll certainly use a thinner paste and still use yogurt.

Quinoa cakes/ patties ready to be baked.

Here is the list of ingredients from the Whole Foods's label:
quinoa (we use 1 cup pre-cooked)
(yogurt—our addition)
cumin
olive oil (we use 2-3 tblsps)
pastry flour (we use 1/2-3/4 cup of gram/ chickpea flour)
garlic
lemon juice (very important for flavor—1 lemon)
tamari
black beans
diced tomatoes
bell peppers
carrots
cilantro
corn
sea salt

Zucchini Bread

Modified a zucchini bread recipe I found online to make it gluten-free. I've done this before with a different mix of gluten-free flours and this time I used the Brown Rice Flour Mix from "Gluten-Fee Baking Classics"—both times the results were delicious. That being written, I think for the next batch I'll reduce the cinnamon by 1 tsp and the sugar by 1/3 cup. I know it's really closer to a cake than a bread, but, in my opinion, the sweetness and cinnamon overpowered the zucchini.

Zucchini Bread IV (from Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C).

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Notes:
Replaced flour with equal amount of Brown Rice Flour Mix and add 1 1/2 tsps of xantham gum.

I didn't have the correct size loaf pans; I used three smaller ones instead. Not sure of their size as I forgot what the dimensions (in centimeters, of course) were on the label.

Batter distributed evenly between three small loaf pans.

Fresh from the oven and ready to be eaten.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is the first recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" that did not turn out perfectly (or close to). Yes, the cake and muffins were yummy, delicious even, but the cake and especially the cupcakes fell in the center. My plan was to bring the cupcakes in honor of M*'s birthday to Judge Pub Night, but I'm too vain to have brought gravitationally-challenged cupcakes to a gathering where people do not know that I usually produce well-formed baked goods.

The problem may have been that I opened and closed the oven doors a few times during baking: I had the cake in the upper oven and the cupcakes in the lower. I actually accidentally slammed the bottom oven door once. Since the recipe calls for 2 tsps of baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda, I should have been more careful. Since the recipe was for two 9-inch round layers and I split the batter between cupcake and oval pans, I felt that I needed to check the progress of their baking throughout. Another reason they could have fallen is due to not being cooked enough, but M* and I liked how they tasted and did not think they were gooey.

I love this type of cake with my Grandma Welling's seven-minute white icing. M* found the icing too sweet—the sugar hurt his teeth. I told him that he is not allowed to say anything negative about Grandma Welling's recipes, but I did agree to attempt the recipe with less sugar in the future.

Chocolate Fudge Cake from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"
4 ozs unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 3/4 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps pure vanilla extract

Melt chocolate in small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir regularly. When done, remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.

Whisk ingredients 3-7 in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk canola oil and milk in liquid measuring cup until thoroughly combined. Discard two tbsps of liquid.

Beat sugar and eggs in large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add dry and wet ingredients in two additions at low speed, then at medium for 1 minute.

Cook in center of oven in two 9-inch round layer cake pans (lined with parchment or waxed paper and sprayed lightly with cooking spray) at 35o° for 30-35 minutes (35-40 minutes for 8-inch layers; 18-20 minutes for cupcakes).

Cool cake layers in pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pans, invert layers onto a rack, peel off paper, and cool.

Notes:
I could not find unsweetened chocolate, so I used 80% dark chocolate and reduced the sugar by 1/4-1/3 cup.

I melted the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at low heat, stopping the cooking to stir regularly. Worked fine and took less work.

I didn't line the cake layer; I forgot=(

Grandma Welling's Seven-Minute White Icing
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup or 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (I've always used the cream of tartar)
1/3 cups cold water
1/16 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients except vanilla in double boiler; mix thoroughly. Cook, beating steadily (I use a hand mixer) until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; add vanilla extract and beat until think.

Cake cooling.

Fallen cupcakes.

Seven-minute white icing just after peaks formed. I had to improvise the double boiler.

Icing can hide a cake's imperfections. Drizzled dark chocolate is a nice finish on this cake.

Millet Flour

The gluten-free pizza crust recipe that I love suggests using 1 cup of millet flour along with the brown rice flour mix. This provides the nuttiness that is missing when you substitute out wheat flour. There was a shortage of millet flour at the local health food stores, and I was beginning to worry that my pizza's wouldn't taste as good without it. I was at Al Amin on Mill Road, which carries a great variety of Middle Eastern, African, Asian and Mediterranean ingredients, and I saw a large bag of bajri flour paranthetically labled millet flour. It looked a bit greener than the millet flour I had bought previously, but I decided to try it.

Above is a photo of the bajri flour (bottom) and the little bit of millet flour that remained from a previous purchase. The difference in color is obvious, and the bajri flour appeared to be milled to finer texture.
I am happy to report that there was no difference to the appearance or taste of the pizza. It's a plus that the bajri flour is cheaper than the millet flour purchased in health food stores.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

I made a large pot of spicy chili, and since I had corn meal and a gluten-free cornbread recipe I made cornbread as an accompaniment. I should have known by the sugar in the recipe that this was a sweet cornbread which I prefer with a cup of milk and a bit of butter and jam. M* and I certainly ate all of it within a few days, but we never ate it with the chili. The sweetness and cakey texture just didn't mesh with the mouth-burning, vegetable-laden tomato chili. Since I haven't had cornbread in many years due to gluten issues, I forgot about the differences between sweet and savory cornbread. One can find quite a bit online explaining the difference between or extolling the virtues of one of the two types. Here's the Wikipedia explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornbread#Regional_tastes.

Gluten-free sweet cornbread

I certainly would make this again if I want a sweet treat, but next time I want a savory version I'll modify it by lessening or removing the sugar, adding corn kernels and possibly adding some diced, mild chili peppers.

Gluten-free Cornbread from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup Brown Rice Flour Mix
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk minus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg, well beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Combine oil, milk, egg and vanilla in another small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and gently stir to combine, being careful not to over mix. Pour batter into muffin pan or 8-inch round cake pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes for muffins or 25 for bread. Eat and enjoy.

Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Tea Loaves

Another recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise Roberts. There is nothing bad in this book. I've made this recipe twice in the last week. The first time I made it, I gave one loaf to our landlord, and the remaining loaf disappeared in less than 24 hours.

This recipe is very easy. Grating the 2 tbsps of lemon rind is the only time consuming step, and that only takes about 10 minutes. I found that one and a half lemons renders the desired amount. All ingredients are standard in a kitchen, except maybe the lemon extract. I didn't have the four 5x3 loaf pans, so I used two larger ones (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 I think). Baking time was only three minutes longer.

My second batch, which I've just taken out of the oven, I modified slightly. Since the recipe calls for a lot of sugar, I reduced it to 3/4 cup. M* noticed the difference and like it; he said that it tasted less like candy. I also substituted two egg whites for one of the three eggs. I'm going to attempt to make this with egg replacer, to keep the cholesterol down for M*.

Recipe
2 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 packed tbsps grated lemon rind
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp lemon extract
3/4 cup milk
granulated sugar to sprinkle on top of loaves

Mix the first six ingredients—set aside. Combine and beat the next four ingredients with mixer at medium-high speed for one minute. Add milk, flour mixture and mix until just blended. Fill loaf pans (lightly coated with cooking spray) with batter and cook in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool loaves for 10 minutes in pans before removing them to cool completely.

Gluten-Free Raspberry Lemon Cornmeal Scones

Another recipe from Gluten-Free Baking Classics. Ingredients: Gluten-free flour mix (milk, raisins, brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour) cornmeal, sugar, xantham gum, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon peel.

This is an easy recipe, although it requires a few more bowls (= more cleanup) than I'd like. Not being a raisin fan, but feeling that I should replace an ingredient instead of just deleting it, I used frozen raspberries (all I had). Since frozen raspberries do not hold their form once defrosted, they ended up almost completely blending into the mix and gave the scones a pinkish tint and a general raspberry flavor that complemented the strong lemon taste. I didn't have lemon extract, so I used lemon juice and a bit more peel. Maybe it was the addition of the raspberries or just the strength of the lemon, but the impact on the taste buds of the cornmeal was minimal.

It wasn't until I had cut out six circles from the dough that I realized they were suppose to be one inch thick—I was going more for thick cookie dough depth (about half an inch). Regardless, they are yummy, and, really, a small scone is better for the waistline.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Heaven

Thanks to my sister, who sent a 24 oz bag of chocolate chips, I've made two batches of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies since Christmas. Matt and I (ok, mostly I) finished the first batch in about four days, so we're (ok, I am) showing restraint with the second batch: it's lasted about a week. The ability to show restraint with sweets is not a trait exhibited in either branch of my family tree. At least I haven't made any late-night trips to the fridge for a chocolatey snack—maybe that's because we haven't been going to bed until late-night.

Pizza Pizza!

Delicious gluten-free pizza that is. And I'm not just writing that because I've forgotten what pizza made with wheat flour tastes like: I tried some of Matt's pizza in Rome, and I like mine better. Yeah!! I use the brown rice/potato starch/tapioca flour mix and then add some millet flour for nuttiness/grain-goodness, xantham gum, yeast, salt sugar, oil, flax seed (my touch) and warm water. After a quick break to let it rise, the crust is ready to be baked and topped. I've made it twice since Christmas, and well be making it weekly. The crust is so good that one can top it with olive oil and herbs to get yummy GF focaccia.

Gluten Free Goodness

I would not be happy if I could not have pancakes, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Since I'm suppose to avoid gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kalmut), I have to bake these items myself. Luckily I like to bake, and, since my mom rarely bought mixes of any kind when we were kids, I've always understood that if you want sweet treats, it's going to take a bit of work and preparation.

The UK is definitely gluten free friendly, and I've located all the necessary ingredients: brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, gram (chick pea) flour, almond meal, gluten free baking powder and xantham gum. My pancake recipe is just a modified version of a Betty Crocker one where I substitute a mix of brown rice flour, gram flour and almond meal for one cup wheat flour. I also add 3/4 tsp xantham gum which helps bind the pancakes (this is what gluten does and xantham gum mimics this behavior). Now, I'm an approximator (I fill up the one cup measuring cup with the flour mixture-I don't measure each ingredient separately), so the pancakes may turn out differently each time. Today I made them with a little more gram flour (about 1/3 cup), and we think it made them lighter.

The brownie recipe is also a modification of a recipe-Epicurious' Best Cocoa Brownies. The recipe is easy to modify without too much of a change in flavor because it only calls for 1/2 cup flour to begin with. Once again the mixture I use changes each time, but I mostly use brown rice flour and a bit of almond meal. I sometimes use gram flour. I'll also add about 1/2 tsp xantham gum to the dry ingredients. I've also made them cholesterol free (for M*) with egg whites and vegetable based shortening. Thanks to the use of high quality cocoa and sugar, these are still moist and chocolaty enough to serve to friends.

Once I find a bag of chocolate chips that contains more than 12 pieces, I'll be making chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is from a fabulous gluten free cookbook-"Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. Her recipes first appeared in Gourmet magazine in November 2005. The big plus about her book is that you don't have to create a gazillion different gluten free flour mixes to make the recipes in her book. There's one basic one using finely milled brown rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch. Then there are a few modifications if you want to make breads and certain cookies.

Saturday Night Cooking

Gluten-free apple cinnamon cake, corn chowder soup and roast chicken with rosemary, thyme, onion and garlic. M* and I didn't set out to spend a few hours in the kitchen, but after a trip to the Whole Foods-like Waitrose, we felt inspired with our bags of high quality groceries.

First, the GF apple cinnamon cake. This recipe was actually for muffins, but we don't have muffin tins here and couldn't bring myself to spend $38 on a 12 count muffin tin. The recipe was from the cookbook "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. Gourmet magazine published a few of her recipes and her brown rice flour mix in November 2005. Thanks to her, I made irresistible chocolate chip cookies that people didn't realize were not made with wheat flour and thin-crust pizza that a friend said was the best pizza she had tasted in Los Angeles-she moved to LA from NY about 18 years ago. So how was the apple cinnamon cake? I'll let the photos tell the story.

(Sat night left, Sun night right)

With M* no longer in classes (he's still finishing a few projects), he took a break and made his yummy corn and bacon chowder. The recipe calls for two cans of cream corn, but no one at Waitrose had heard of it before. They do sell it in the UK, but maybe Waitrose is too upscale. M* just pureed some corn in the blender instead. Other ingredients include potatoes, bay leaves, celery and celery leaves, vegetable broth, chili pepper, milk frozen corn, onion. Simple recipe with pleasing results.

Roasting chicken in the oven is pretty basic, and I have taken the CI recommendation to rotate the chicken from one wing side up to the other wing side up and finally to the breast up. Having a v-rack is recommended to keep the chicken off the bottom of the pan, but I've just been approximating this effect by making an aluminum foil grid on the bottom of the pan. I didn't have time to brine the chicken, so I just created a rosemary, thyme and garlic paste and rubbed into under the skin. I also put a bit of onion and rosemary inside the chicken. Chicken was really yummy, and it made great chicken broth when we cooked it down the next day.

I still have to master using the thermometer. After the chicken had been in the recommended time, I tested the temperature, and it was certainly above the suggested level. However, I thought the chicken could have really used another 10-15 minutes. I hate cutting into a dish, only to have to have to put it back in the over. I'm still not sure if it was my temperature-taking technique or the super-cheap Tesco thermometer that was the problem.