The GFCF Experience

The GFCF Experience Halloween Candy Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:32:04 PDT

I originally posted this list last year, and received a lot of great feedback about new candies and even some confusion about existing candies, so here is an updated GFCF candy list for 2009. This list is primarily taken from http://www.gfcfdiet.com/, and is certainly not exhaustive. I am also sticking to candies that are typically given out on Halloween, so I won't be looking at specialty type candies here.

In light of the comments I received from last year, there are a few disclaimers I need to state before we start:

DISCLAIMER I While the products I list here are GFCF to the best of my knowledge, ingredients can and do change, and there is also the possibility that certain varieties of products are GFCF and others are not. So please read all labels before purchasing.

DISCLAIMER II This list is for GFCF candies. As such, it does not take into account candies that are GF but not casein free (like Three Musketeers, Butterfinger, or Tootsie Rolls). For a list of GF candies, please check out the links found at this site (there are probably a few additional GFCF items here too). Thanks, Bunny, for bringing this to my attention!

DISCLAIMER III Let's call this the Smarties disclaimer. As Lauren at Celiac Teen pointed out to me last year,products with one name in the United States can be vastly different than products with the same name in a different country. As an example, the Smarties I am familiar with are pure flavored sugar in a wafer the size of a Sweet Tart. But, the Smarties Lauren is familiar with in Canada are made by Nestle and, as she puts it, are a lot like M&M's, only better, and definitely NOT GFCF. The bottom line again is to make sure you read all labels carefully!

DISCLAIMER IV There is no......DISCLAIMER IV. At least not yet...

Anyway, on to the list!

Starburst Fruit Chews - The original fruit chews, others may or may not be GFCF.
Skittles - same as above. both Starburst and Skittles have cream varieties that I don't think are CF.
Lollipops - DumDums and Charms are GFCF, as are most lollipops that do not have a cream component in them. Tootsie Pops are a definite no no here!!!
Sweet Tarts
Spree
Smarties - Note that the Smarties necklaces reportedly contain gluten.
NECCO Wafers
Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
Gobstoppers
Bottle Caps
Pixy Sticks
Nerds
Runts
Gum - Double-Bubble, Wrigleys, Trident (NOTE: read labels and watch out for Recaldent, a casein derivative, in some gums)
Mike and Ike
Haribo Gummy Bears
Jelly Beans - Starburst, SOME Jelly Belly, Jolly Rancher, Mars (PLEASE READ LABELS!!)
ACT II Popcorn Balls
Mary Jane's
Candy Corn and Candy Pumpkin - most of these are GFCF, but we have seen some that are not. Again, you need to read the labels to be sure.
Farley's Candy and Sather's Candy - Farley's and Sather's sell bags of candies, like gummy worms or candy corn or other hard candy. But on their website, they do not include liGFCF information, citing the fact that ingredients do often change. They offer you the option of filling out an on-line request form, or simply calling them at 1-888-247-9855 to request the GFCF information. AND MAKE SURE YOU READ THE LABELS.
Fruit Leathers
Yummy Earth Candies make great organic treats that are GFCF with no artificial colors or dyes and no corn syrup. You can find them at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, even Toys R Us. Or you can order them online.

As I said, this is not an exhaustive list. If you have a favorite GFCF Halloween candy that is not listed here, please leave me a comment and I will add it to the list.

Now unfortunately, all the other families in your neighborhood, where your kids will be trick or treating, don't have this same information. Which, of course, means that your kids will be getting Reeses and Snickers and Three Musketeers and Hershey's and all the rest of those candies that they cannot have. What to do? What to do?

Here is what we do, with the full understanding of our children. We go out and buy bags of the stuff they can have and hang on to it. Then, after Trick or Treating is done, all the candy is placed into a big bowl. After the kids go to bed, Valerie and I remove all the non-GFCF candies and those we're not sure about and replace them with the GFCF candy we bought. All of the non-GFCF candy either goes to work with me or gets shipped to soldiers overseas or donated to the local food bank. And the kid's candy gets put on top of the refrigerator, and given out sparingly.

I hope this list helps you to have a Happy GFCF Halloween!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Chicken Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:17:22 PDT

Things have slowly returned to normal in our household since I last posted. Illnesses have lingered, but not enough to keep kids from school and Dad from work - with the exception of Nicholas, whose flu morphed into pneumonia, keeping him out of school until today. The snow stayed around for a few days before finally succumbing to more normal fall-like conditions. But the need for comfort food was still there, and a sale on chicken breasts prompted a desire to make a great comfort food, lasagna.

More on that in a moment. But first, I wanted to respond to a couple of comments that were left on some of my posts recently, and thank you for those comments!

First, an anonymous commenter on my article about Vegan Gourmet cheese suggested trying Cheezly brand cheeses. They are imported from Great Britan, and can be ordered online from Vegan Essentials. Cheezly comes in five flavors, and is available for $5.99 for a 6.7 oz. block, or $25.95 for a 2 lb. block, plus shipping. I also just discovered that back in June, Alisa at Go Dairy Free published a review of 4 different vegan cheeses, originally published at www.quarrygirl.com. Included in this review were not only Follow Your Heart and Cheezly, but also Sheese (imported from Scotland) and Teese, made by the Chicago Soydairy. Cheezly came out on top, but it is significantly more expensive than Follow Your Heart.

A second comment, also by an anonymous commenter, was left on my recipe for Shepherd's Pie, asking which brands of instant mashed potato flakes are GFCF. We use Idahoan, which are 100% potatoes with some preservatives, but no added potential allergens. In other threads on the internet I have also seen people recommend the Great Value brand (sold at Walmart) and Betty Crocker Potato Buds, though I have not used either. Note that these are just the base instant mashed potato flakes - those that contain additional flavorings may not be GFCF. As always, read the labels carefully and check with the manufacturer if you have any questions.

Now, on to lasagna!

With lasagna, there are two things that can be GFCF nightmares - the pasta and the cheese. The former is quite simple to overcome - GF pasta makers like Tinkayada make rice-based lasagna noodles that can be prepared just like wheat-based noodles. Or, in our case, we used DeBoles rice lasagna noodles, which are nice because you don't have to precook them; just layer them in the pan with the rest of the ingredients and bake!

Then there's the cheese, which is always a challenge. As far as I know, no one makes a CF ricotta cheese substitute commercially. If you surf the web, you will find many people making a "ricotta cheese" using a tofu base. I've also seen some using miso as a base, and I actually tried this one time, but the flavor was just not agreeable in my opinion, or the kids for that matter.

Then the solution - why do you need to use a ricotta-type CF filling? My kids love the Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese, so why not just use it? Which is just what I did.

This is a really simple recipe - the hardest part is cooking the chicken. And while we just used the basics, there is no reason why other things couldn't be added, like your favorite veggies in a layer (my wife personally thinks a little onion and garlic would be a great addition). And while you don't get the creaminess of ricotta, using the Follow Your Heart cheese gave the dish a sort of rustic look, and a dish that had my kids screaming for seconds. And that's what matters the most.

CHICKEN LASAGNA

Ingredients

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 - 3 breast halves)
8 - 12 oz. GFCF tomato sauce (I used Classico Tomato and Basil)
1/2 - 1 package DeBoles Rice Pasta noodles (no precooking required)
1 8oz. package Follow Your Heart Mozzarella CF Cheese, shredded
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Prepare the chicken. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. Place in the pan and cook about 4 - 5 minutes on both sides. Remove the chicken and slice into thin (1/8") pieces. If the chicken is not completely cooked through return the slices to the pan for a minute or two until chicken is finished cooking.

Assemble the lasagna. Spray a 13"x9"x2" pan with cooking spray. Place a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles, making sure to seat them in the sauce. Add another layer of tomato sauce on top of the noodles. Next, place half the chicken on to of the sauce, then half the cheese on top of the chicken. Repeat the noodle, sauce, chicken, and cheese layers.

Bake. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for a few minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Chicken Stock, Take II

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:12:04 PDT

When I last posted we were in the midst of an Indian Summer start to the Fall season. Temperatures were in the low 80s during the day, the humidity was low, and the skies were that deep blue that makes you realize why they call Montana "Big Sky Country". Aside from reinvigoring local wildfires that had been dormant for a couple of months, it was pretty idyllic.

That was almost three weeks ago. Things can change pretty quickly.

It all started a week ago. The weekend had started off as usual for us - a nice warm family breakfast. Except that Olivia, who normally eats enough for two, wouldn't touch hers. By lunch, Julia had lost her appetite as well. As the weekend progressed, Nicholas fell ill as well, then Valerie. By Monday morning, the bug had hit Helena as well. The kids were home from school sick, and I was home from work - mostly to help Valerie with the kids as she was ill, but partly to try and keep from getting sick myself.

It didn't work.

By Tuesday the chills had set in and I began coughing violently. By Wednesday, the doctor had confirmed it was the flu. H1N1? We'll never know, because the doctor said it wasn't worth spending $90 to take a test that's anywhere from 30% to 90% inaccurate. I had the flu, I needed to rest and drink lots of fluids, and I needed to stay home for the rest of the week. The prescription for the codeine-laced cough medicine didn't hurt...

Olivia managed to get back to school on Thursday, but Helena and Nicholas never made it back all week.

As if the flu wasn't enough, Friday came, and we all awoke to this scene:

Amazing how you can go from Indian Summer the the middle of winter in just three weeks!

Suffice to say, with the whole family being sick and record low temperatures in the forecast throughout the weekend, this was the perfect time to make some chicken soup! Which, of course, starts with a good chicken stock.

Back when I first started blogging I posted a chicken stock recipe that was pretty much our mainstay for the past few years. But this time I wanted to try something different, so I went looking through my cookbooks. The recipe I used is based on one found in the cookbook Conscious Cuisine, by Chef Cary Neff. It uses the same basics for the stock - chicken, carrots, onion, and celery, but the addition of garlic and tarragon give it a whole new flavor.

And while this is a recipe for stock, in reality you get a whole lot more, because an additional result is a fall-off-the-bone tender chicken that is perfect for chicken salad. Or, as meat in a great bowl of chicken soup.

CHICKEN STOCK
adapted from a recipe in Conscious Cuisine, a cookbook by Chef Cary Neff

Ingredients

1 3 to 4 pound chicken, whole or cut up
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, with leaves, roughly chopped
2 carrots, scraped and halved
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp black pepper
1 bay leaf

Place all the ingredients in a large dutch oven or stockpot, then fill the pot with water until everything is covered by about 2 inches. Cover and heat over high heat until boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 hours.

Carefully remove the chicken from the pot. Strain the stock through a colander into a separate pot, discarding the vegetables and spices. Cover the stock and place in the refrigerator at least 12 hours.

Remove the stock from the refrigerator and skim the fat from the surface. Use immediately or transfer into containers for storage. The stock will keep one week covered in the refrigerator or up to a month in the freezer.

NOTES

Once the chicken cools, remove the meat from the bones and use in your favorite recipes! My kids just love to eat it cold!

For the simple soup pictured above, heat about 2 cups of the chicken, two celery stalks, chopped, two carrots, scraped and chopped, and about 1/2 cup diced onion to approximately 12 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, add 1 cup uncooked rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste and serve!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken with Skillet Pasta and Vegetables

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:05:53 PDT

I've mentioned on numerous occasions that we eat a lot of poultry at our house. Not only does it taste good, but it also seems to work out better economically as well. Most every week, it seems that one of the three grocery stores in Missoula has some form of poultry on sale, like Albertson's does this week with boneless-skinless chicken breasts for $1.88 per lb.

The problem becomes one of not wanting to make the same thing over and over again. I mean, my family loves it when I make oven-fried chicken or chicken fried rice or pot pies, but every now and then we need to try something new. Plus, trying something new is always a good thing for the cook, that being me.

So, with this nice family pack of chicken breasts on hand, I took to my cookbooks to see what I could find. What resulted was a merger of a couple of recipes from a couple of different cookbooks that really worked well together.

A little aside here about cookbooks. I actually only own one GF cookbook, which is Carol Fenster's 1000 Gluten Free Recipes (given to me as a gift). Most of the rest of my cookbooks I've actually purchased from Barnes and Noble when they have one of their dot sales where you can get books for like $2.00, or from a yard sale. While a few are by notable chefs, many are not,but they all serve as great inspiration for creative GFCF experimentation in the kitchen.

The cornmeal-crusted chicken is based off a recipe found in the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals cookbook. I guess the funny part about that is that I pretty much used the homemade part of the recipe and not the pre-bought stuff Sandra uses so well.

The pasta and vegetables portion is based off a recipe for Chicken Skillet Stew from a cookbook called Heartfelt Cuisine, which touts itself as a "cardio-friendly cookbook for meat and potatoes folks," and is by Larry Schneider, Carman Brooks M.D., and Chef Eddie Matney.

The end result was a quick, easy, and flavorful supper that pleased all, even the vegetable-hating 3-year old!

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken
Adapted from a recipe found in the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade 20-minute Meals Cookbook

Ingredients

2 - 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp GF season salt
2 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp canola oil

Preheat the oven to 200° and place a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil inside. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Place the cornmeal, season salt, and paprika in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Seal and shake to combine.

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts to the Ziploc bag. Seal and shake to coat the chicken evenly with the cornmeal mixture.

Shake any excess cornmeal mixture off of each chicken breast and place them in the saucepan. Fry for 3 - 4 minutes on each side or until the cornmeal crust is golden brown. Add more oil as necessary for frying.

When the chicken is fried, remove to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Drain any excess oil from the saucepan, and return the saucepan to the stove to prepare the pasta and vegetables.

Skillet Pasta and Vegetables
Adapted from a recipe found in the Heartfelt Cuisine cookbook

Ingredients

1/2 cup Chardonnay or other white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water (or an additional cup of chicken broth)
1 8oz. package GF pasta (I used DeBoles rice Penne)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chopped broccoli (if using frozen, thaw first)
2 tsp garlic powder

After returning the saucepan to the stove over medium-high heat, add the Chardonnay and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to loosen the browned bits from the chicken. Add the chicken broth and water, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the pasta, carrots, celery, broccoli, and garlic powder, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until the pasta is tender, stirring often. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a piece of the cornmeal-crusted chicken.

The GFCF Review Experience: Vegan Gourmet Cheeses by Follow Your Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:49:04 PDT

As mentioned in the last post, one of the highlights of our Seattle trip was a visit to Romio's in the Greenwood area, where we had a fantastic GFCF pizza and breadsticks. The owner was kind enough to tell me that he used soy cheese from Follow Your Heart, and that he thought it was available in Missoula.

He was right! I was delighted to find this cheese in our local Good Food store.

For those unfamiliar with the company, Follow Your Heart began as a vegetarian soup and sandwich shop in California in 1970. Over the years the soup and sandwich shop evolved into a natural foods store and cafe, located in Canoga Park, CA. The Vegetarian Resource Group voted Follow Your Heart as one of the 8 best vegetarian restaurants in California. Another fascinating fact is that all of their food processing is done at the facility they founded - Earth Island. What is fascinating is that the plant is 100% solar powered - possibly the first food plant completely powered by alternate energy sources.

Follow Your Heart is best known for Vegenaise, a completely vegan (egg free) mayonnaise. They also have lines of dressings and sauces as well as vegetarian "meats."

The cheeses are sold under the Vegan Gourmet product name. There are four varieties - cheddar, mozzarella, monterey jack, and nacho, as well as sour cream and cream cheese alternatives. At Good Foods, only the cheddar and the mozzzarella were available, so those were our review products of choice.

The Mozzarella for us was a no brainer since we had it in Seattle, and we tested it out on a pizza at home. It is a creamy cheese that does not really have much of an aftertaste at all, at least compared to other cheeses we tried, including Tofutti. It was easy to grate, which makes for a great pizza. It melts, but it does take a while, and I ended up having to place the pizza under the broiler for a few minutes to get it to melt completely. But the resulting pizza was absolutely delicious, and the kids ordered me to make a bigger pizza next time!

The pizza left the kids anxious to try the cheddar, and we gave them the opportunity in the form of cheese omelets. Like the mozzarella, the cheddar would melt, but it took a while. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing about the cheese. There was a distinct aftertaste associated with the cheese, and the kids lasted one bite before demanding new omelets with the mozzarella.

So, from our household, we went 1 for 2. Which is not such a bad thing. The mozzarella quite honestly is the best cheese alternative we have ever used, and it really expands our kitchen recipe repertoire. While relatively flavorless itself, it will definitely add a creamy texture to dishes. We may even try it as a ricotta substitute in lasagna!

If you find it, definitely give the mozzarella a try. And if you have tried the monterey jack or the nacho varieties, please let me know what you thought of them.

The GFCF Seattle Experience Part II: GFCF in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:12:18 PDT

In Part I of this series I talked about some of the sights my kids and I enjoyed during our recent trip to Seattle. In this post I am going to talk about how we did this trip GFCF. I especially want to call your attention to my review of Romios, where my kids had their first experience of eating in a pizzeria!

First and foremost, though. Seattle is a great GFCF town, with dedicated bakeries (at least GF-dedicated) and restaurants which offer GFCF options and are allergen-sensitive. Unfortunately, with our busy schedule, we did not get an opportunity to try these (other then Romios). At the end of this post I will present a listing of some GFCF-friendly restaurants and bakeries, as well as links to where you can find reviews and more information.

With most long trips, we make a conscious effort to bring food with us and not give in to the temptation of stopping at fast food joints or C-stores to buy things. For our 8-hour drive to Seattle, we made a loaf of GFCFYF bread to slice for sandwiches. We also made some GFCF Chex mix (subject of a future post) and packed a couple of boxes of Envirokidz cereal bars. Add some water bottles and some fruit, and we were ready to hit the road!

The Emerald Grill

Once we arrived in Seattle, we ate dinner at the Emerald Grill, a restaurant in the Holiday Inn adjacent to the Holiday Inn Express. We actually ate there twice on our trip, mainly because of the convenience of eating somewhere close after a long day. The restaurant staff was very accommodating, and it was easy enough to get a bunless hamburger and fries, or grilled chicken and veggies, for a reasonable price. The food quality was fair, but it worked well for the kids.

Breakfast at the Express

As I had mentioned during my series on travelling to Asheville, NC, hotel continental breakfasts have come a long way from the gluten and carb-laden fare offered 20 - 30 years ago. Now, most hotels offer hot breakfasts including GFCF meats and eggs, as well as fruit. Still, I would advise packing some portable breakfast fare, as you never know what will be offered.

The Holiday Inn Express where we stayed has a nice continental breakfast lineup. Usually there was a hot meat available (with one exception, where they only offered sausage and gravy) and they always had plenty of hard-boiled eggs on hand. The hot eggs were either scrambled (good) or cheese omelet (not good). The biggest disappointment was a lack of fruit - only bananas to be had.

Fortunately, to supplement the hotel selections, we came prepared with my kids newest breakfast food - grits. We packed a box of instant grits packets from home and it worked out great; just add hot water, a little salt and pepper, and eat! For them, a perfect breakfast.

I should pause a moment and talk about the grits. We bought the Quaker Instant grits, and, while the packaging suggests they are GFCF, there is some controversy within the GF community as to whether this is the case. Quaker has told people who have called them that they cannot guarantee they are gluten free (they are CF), yet they say this is because they cannot guarantee there will be no cross-contamination during transport. Many refuse to buy Quaker products because of this, and others claim they have a reaction when they eat them. Still, there are many celiacs who have eaten them and suffered no ill effects. For my part, I have not seen any adverse behaviors in my kids when they have eaten them, This includes Helena, who is the most sensitive of my kids.

Eating on the Go

Long days with lots to do inevitably means eating on the go. We packed the Envirokidz cereal bars for a quick snack, as well as water bottles. But we also stopped for lunch each day, which I want to talk about in a bit of detail.

Woodland Park Zoo goes to great lengths to offer quality meals for its guests, both at the main food pavilion and at the Pacific Blue Chowder House, which is where we ate. Admittedly, we had typical kids fare - hot dogs and fries - but everything is cooked to order, and it was easy to get a bunless hot dog and waffle fries. The main food court, the Rainforest pavilion, also has a wide variety of menu options prepared to order. You will pay more, as you typically do in a place like this, but it is a nice option. The zoo also allows you to pack in food as well.

While we did not eat there, the Pacific Science Center has a cafe, but it's more like C-store fare, snacks, food you microwave, etc. You're probably better off going off site to find lunch, then returning for the afternoon.

On Sunday, we wanted to avoid buying food at Safeco Field (ballpark food is notoriously expensive). Down at the waterfront there are plenty of places to eat seafood, some of which may offer GFCF fare. Problem is, my kids HATE seafood. So we settled on an old favorite with them - Red Robin.

We have a Red Robin in Missoula, and it is my kids favorite place to eat. As a chain, Red Robin is sensitive to allergies, and in this location, they gave us two separate allergen-free menus, one for milk and one for gluten. It was a simple matter of marrying the two - hamburger with lettuce for a bun, and unlimited french fries (make sure the Red Robin seasoning is not used - it has gluten), and salads with grilled meat and GFCF dressing. It wasn't a local taste of Seattle, but it was a good taste, and one that lasted us through the ballgame.

Romios

Before our trip, I had decided that I would take the kids out one night for pizza. But where? There are a number of pizza places in Seattle that offer GFCF pizzas. Ultimately, we settled on Romios.

Romios is located in the Greenwood section of Seattle, about 5 miles up Denny Way from our hotel. While Romios is a chain with locations in California, Washington, and Oregon, the menus do vary from location to location. This particular Romios serves normal pizza and Italian fare, but everything on the menu can also be made GFCF, using locally made GFCF bread and pizza dough, GFCF cheese from Follow Your Heart and a dedicated oven.

The kids and I settled on a pepperoni, sausage, and black olive pizza with a side order of breadsticks. My kids, to put it lightly, were in heaven.

I've seen a review of Romios talking about the gf pizzas being like cardboard with sauce on it. Granted, this isn't a classic hand tossed pizza crust, but it was crispy outside, soft inside, and had a great taste. The soy cheese from Follow Your Heart was really good, too. It was very filling - the next time we go there, we'll skip the breadsticks only because it's too much food with the pizza.

You do pay a price - about $5 more than a comparable non-GF pizza, and $2 extra for the GFCF breadsticks, but you can't put a price on the joy your kids have getting a treat for the first time, and one they cannot enjoy in Missoula.

I really want to thank Debbie at Gluten Free Adventures and Gluten-Free TV for suggesting Romios to us.

The Seattle GFCF Experience Wishlist

As I mentioned at the beginning Seattle is full of places that cater to the GF and GFCF lifestyles. Here is a listing of a few:

Da Vinci's Cafe & Bakery - Like Romio's, Da Vinci's is located in the Greenwood section of Seattle. It exclusively deals in gluten free items, and in fact, is the GF bread supplier for Romios! Our intention was to grab some things to take home on our way out of town. Sadly, when we got there, they in the process of reapinting and the place was close. Oh well...just another reason to return to Seattle! Sea has been there - you can read her review here.

Cinnamon Works - Cinnamon Works is located near the Pike Street Market and offers a wide selection of GF and GFCF items. One review I read said that the biggest disappointment is that "they are sold out of half the items when I go there." Another purports them to have the best vegan pastries in Seattle.

Flying Apron Bakery - Flying Apron is yet another dedicated GFCF and vegan bakery in Seattle! In addition to a large variety of pastries and treats, they also feature a completely GFCF/vegan lunch menu.

Cafe Flora - Cafe Flora is a vegetarian cafe which provides many menu items that are or can be made GFCF and vegan.

There are many, many others - too numerous to mention here. But you can Google search Seattle Gluten Free and it will give you a list of restaurants and reviews. Or check out sites like Urban Spoon and Yelp where you can find reviews as well.

And then there is Shauna, the Gluten Free Girl herself. What better place to get restaurant recommendations than from a respected local? Search for "restaurant" on her blog to get some wonderful posts about her dining experiences in the Seattle area.

The Last Word

I hope you have enjoyed this two part series on Seattle, and I hope you will consider a visit there. And I hope that some of this information will help you plan your trip there.

I have one more post to share that is related to this trip - hopefully by the end of this week!

Thanks for reading.

The GFCF Seattle Experience Part I: The Sights

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:45:51 PDT

The Space Needle - Seattle Center

Recently, I took my two middle children - Nicholas and Olivia - on a whirlwind 2 1/2 day trip to Seattle. This would be their first time in Seattle, or really any city that large. It's about an 8-hour drive on I-90, with stops, from Missoula to Seattle, through the rugged terrain of Western Montana and Northern Idaho, into the rolling hills and farmland of Western and Central Washington, then over the Columbia River Gorge and Snoqualmie Pass and into Seattle. We had some really long days, but in the end got to see a lot of Seattle's main attractions, take in a Mariners game, and enjoy a great GFCF meal. What I hope post here is a summary of our overall experiences, then follow this up with another post about our GFCF experiences. I hope this helps if you choose to plan a trip to Seattle.

The Columbia River Gorge, near George, Washington

I'm no travel expert, but I Did Stay at a Holiday Inn Express

The first challenge in arranging this trip was figuring out where to stay. I had figured to try and stay downtown since that's where most of the attractions are, and hopefully we could get to most by walking or using public transportation, since Seattle isn't exactly known as a driver-friendly city (the last time I was there, I spent a week trying to drive around and got lost every day). My kids? All they cared about is whether the hotel had a pool.

The problem is...there aren't too many hotels in downtown Seattle that have a pool!

The last time I was in Seattle, my wife and I had stayed at the Quality Inn near the Seattle Center, which has a pool, and is the cheapest place to stay in that area. It is also the perfect example of the old axiom "You get what you pay for" - I wouldn't recommend it.

This time, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, right across the street from the Quality Inn. I don't think I have ever had a bad stay at a Holiday Inn Express, and this one was no different. The rooms were clean and comfortable, and the pool was warm and inviting. This set up our typical daily itinerary - up and in the pool for a morning swim, shower and eat breakfast, then off to our day's activities, back to the hotel for a night swim, then pass out.

It was about $150 per night to stay there, so not cheap, but within the mid range of most hotels in this area. They also, like most downtown hotels, charged a parking fee ($10), which was cheap compared to other hotels. For that, you got to park in a secured underground parking garage under the hotel.

There was also a bit of a convenience factor to the Holiday Inn Express as well. It was about a half mile walk to the Seattle Center, and was right on Denny Way, a major thoroughfare heading out north of town towards the zoo and a restaurant where we ate.

The City Pass

There's lots of cool stuff to see in Seattle. And one of the great ways to score good prices to the major attractions is to use the City Pass. City Pass is something that is available in many major cities that allows you access to major attractions for a pretty good price. For our Seattle trip, it was an absolute steal. For the three of us, we paid $130 total and got passes for:

the Space Needle (two trips up and down)
the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum (or you can get the Museum of Flight)
the Pacific Science Center (including an IMAX film)
the Woodland Park Zoo
the Seattle Aquarium
a 1-hour harbor cruise.

This was a special rate they are offering through the middle of September (which you can use through next March) but even at the regular prices you will still save money. The trick is that you have nine days from when you go to your first attraction to use all the passes.

Here's a brief synopsis of the different attractions we saw:

The Experience Music Project/Sci Fi Museum

The Experience Music Project Guitar Sculpture - Seattle Center

This was our first stop after arriving in Seattle. The Experience Music Project basically pays tribute to the history of music from the '50s to present, including permanent exhibits devoted to the history of the guitar and the Seattle music scene. The best part for kids is the interactive center, where you can actually play around with some instruments and sound boards. It's also the most crowded part of the museum. They also have an atrium with perfect acoustics where they play rock videos on a series of HD tvs.

The Sci Fi museum is a must if you are into the genre. Exhibits pay tribute to everything from Star Trek to Star Wars to Planet of the Apes to Blade Runner to The Chronicles of Riddick and the Matrix. There is also a cool exhibit where Robbie the Robot and the robot from Lost in Space get into this argument about who is better. My favorite part was the travelling exhibit paying tribute to the Muppets and Jim Henson. The kids got to play puppeteer with members of Dr. Teeth's band, and they had a lot of the original puppets of Kermit, Rowlf the dog, and Bert and Ernie, to name a few.

The kids making Muppet Music at the Sci Fi Museum - Seattle Center

These are both located at the Seattle Center, so it was an easy walk from the hotel to get there.

The Woodland Park Zoo

Olivia feeding the birds - Wodland Park Zoo

We started Saturday at the Woodland Park Zoo, and it was one of the highlights of the trip. We drove over there, and it ended up being cheaper for us to park there for the day ($5) than it was to take public transportation. Get there early, though - the lots were pretty full when we left in the early afternoon!

The exhibits are fantastic. Most of the animals have enclosures that simulate their natural habitat and give them plenty of room to live. And there is a really large diversity of animals in the zoo as well. One neat exhibit area that I had never seen before was a night time exhibit where they simulate nighttime so you can see nocturnal animals active. The highlight, though, were the gorillas, especially the cute little 21-month old female. It was fascinating to hear the volunteer talk about their habits.

Isn't she cute?

We were there for over 4 hours, and could have spent the whole day there, except that we had to get over to...

The Pacific Science Center

Nicholas and Olivia climbing the walls at the Pacific Science Center

Now THIS place is a kid's dream. The Pacific Science Center is located at the Seattle Center, and is four buildings of total interaction. Even if this post wasn't so long, I wouldn't have enough space to write everything about his place! There's wall climbing, a motion simulator, and interactive Gemini capsule, a butterfly garden, a place to interact with sea creatures, robotics, a motion simulator, optical illusions... and we never made it to the animated dinosaurs!

Nicholas checkin out Seattle sea life at the Pacific Science Center

They also have IMAX and IMAX-3D theaters here. With our City Pass, we saw a film called Animalopolis, about animals doing silly things, like a lion singing opera in the middle of the Serengeti. The kids loved it.

We topped off the day by traveling to the top of the Space Needle. I think the views are fantastic of Elliott Bay and downtown, and even better when you can see Mt. Rainier (which we couldn't). The kids? Meh...

The view of downtown Seattle from the Space Needle Observation Deck

Definitely, Saturday was my best day in Seattle.

Unwinding after a long day with some bumper car action at the Seattle Center

The Seattle Aquarium

Sunday was Nicholas' special day. We were going to spend the afternoon at Safeco Field, watching the Mariners and his favorite baseball player, Ichiro. But that was just a part of this busy day...

The day began with a monorail ride from the Seattle Center to The Westlake Center, Seattle's downtown shopping mall. From there it was a 10 minute walk down to and through the Pike Street Market (didn't see any flying fish) and our first stop, the Seattle Aquarium.

Large tank at the entrance to the Seattle Aquarium

The Seattle Aquarium is located at the waterfront and features exhibits about the different sea creatures in the Pacific Northwest. It has a couple of large tanks where you can just sit and watch the fish go by, as well as a couple of really large, interactive touch tanks (it was neat watching the sea urchin curl it's tentacles around my finger when I touched it). It also has nice indoor/outdoor otter and seal exhibits. We probably didn't spend as much time there as we should have, but the kids (especially Nicholas) were anxious to move on!

The Harbor Cruise

After the Mariners game, it was time for the last outing of our weekend (and our City Pass), a 1-hour harbor cruise courtesy of Argosy Cruises. The tour is a loop around Elliott bay, with a guide talking about some of the history of Seattle and the different ports. Seattle is a huge shipping port for the Pacific, as well as for cruise ships to Alaska and the summer home for those now famous Alaskan crab fishing boats (the ones on Deadliest Catch dock a little farther up they bay then where we were). We heard some interesting tidbits about some of Seattle's downtown buildings, and even how some of the cranes used to load and unload shipping boats purported inspired the design of the Imperial walkers by George Lucas in The Empire Strikes Back. You can see for yourself in the photo below. And notice that smaller building on the left, the one with the dome? That's the Seneca building, aka the R2D2 building.

All in all, a relaxing way to end the day.

Safeco Field and the Mariners

Sandwiched between the aquarium and the harbor cruise was the one event Nicholas was especially looking forward to: his first Mariners game.

Safeco Field is a beautiful ballpark. Our seats were in right field, seven rows from the field, and less then 100 ft from Nicholas' beloved Ichiro. The sun broke through the clouds, and it became just a perfect afternoon to watch a baseball game. I think Nicholas, truth be told, seemed to be a little overwhelmed - he and Olivia had never been to a place where there were so many people at once. The best part was that, since Ichiro plays right field, all of the people from Japan who come over to watch him play all sit in right field. So we were surrounded by Japanese holding signs and cheering every time Ichiro came on the field. And Ichiro, for his part, would smile and tip his cap to them. It was a great experience.

Ichiro saluting his fans

For Nicholas and Olivia though, the best part was being able to get on the field after the game and run the bases. What a treat for them!

Final Thoughts

A few final thoughts on touring Seattle:

Seattle is hilly - not to the extent of San Francisco, but hilly nonetheless. We didn't really explore the public transportation options extensively, but Seattle does have a large bus system, and some of the routes are free in the downtown area. There is a good bit of distance between the Seattle Center and the main harbor area (where the aquarium and the boat cruise are located), and it's about a mile from the main harbor area to Safeco Field. We probably walked about three miles on Sunday, and it was pretty exhausting, especially for the kids.

If you include the swimming at the hotel and meals, we were pretty much on the go from 7 am until 10 pm every day. In retrospect, I would love to have had some extra days on the trip to spend more time at the Science Center and the zoo. We also missed out on other attractions like Pioneer Square and the Museum of Flight, not to mention the Arboretum (I had seen that on a previous trip and it is beautiful).

I mentioned at the beginning that Seattle can be a tricky place to get around in by car - on a previous trip, I was pulled over for going on to a road strictly for bus lanes. This time around, we took a GPS system with us, and it was invaluable. If you don't own one, go buy one. We've had ours for six months, and we love it.

Stay Tuned

Thanks for bearing with me through this long post. Please check back later this week for Part II - our GFCF experiences on this trip!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Mom's Meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:12:24 PDT

Meatballs were a staple in our house growing up. Mom and Grandmom would get in the kitchen one day and just make a huge batch of meatballs. Some would go into the simmering pot of spaghetti sauce for that night's supper, while most would be put into ziploc bags and frozen, ready for use in spaghetti sauce another day, or simmered in brown gravy and served over rice for another quick meal. It was quick, it was easy, and it was delicious.

I had never made meatballs for my kids before, as we usually just made a simple meat sauce for spaghetti. So making meatballs was a good way to give them something a little different. The other great thing is that making meatballs is one of those things where you literally get your hands dirty, so it's a great recipe for having the kids help out in the kitchen.

From the GFCF perspective, most meatball recipes involve the use of bread soaked in milk, or bread crumbs. I was going to get around this like I do when I make meatloaf, which is to use instant mashed potato flakes. Of course, it helps to have some on hand... Instead I used rice flour, which ended up doing a great job of holding the meatballs together and not imparting any unwanted flavoring or texture.

I did make a few changes to Mom's recipe. First, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, which, since the ground turkey is so moist, caused me to cut back on the number of eggs I used (Mom uses 2 eggs per pound of ground beef, I only used one per pound). I also add a little bit of onion and garlic to provide a different touch of flavor.

But even with the changes, the meatballs still turned out to be quick, easy, and delicious, just like Mom used to make.

Mom's Meatballs
Adapted from Mom's recipe

Ingredients

3 pounds ground turkey
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup white rice flour
3 large eggs
1 tbsp basil
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder

Mix all the ingredients together by hand in a large bowl. Shape a rounded teaspoonful mixture by hand into a small ball.

Spray a frying pan or griddle with cooking spray. Fry the meatballs in small batches, turning frequently until they are brown on all sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels for a couple of minutes, then to a rack or plate to cool.

This recipe made a little over 100 meatballs! But again, the beauty of meatballs is that, when cool, you can place them in a ziploc bag and freeze them until ready for use.

Just make sure you leave enough to serve with rice spaghetti for supper!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Chocolate Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:59:51 PDT

Did you ever have one of those weeks where you had every intention of getting some things done, and then life intervened? Well, last week was one of those weeks. I had every intention of getting this posted up, then things just, literally, went up in smoke. While we are by all accounts having a mild wildfire season in the Northern Rockies, we have had just enough activity to keep me busy in support of the forests managing the wildfires. Not to mention dealing with the usual domestic issues, like a three year old who should be nicknamed F5 tornado the way she destroys things, and the occasional cranky, anal neighbor. All this made last week just a little bit chaotic and left little time to get things posted.

Yet all of that seems to make this post more appropriate, since when life intervenes like that, you need something to, well, take you away. Remember the commercial from the 1980s, where this woman is having the most chaotic day of her life and then, exasperated, she says "Calgon, take me away!" and she's instantly transformed into a decadent soaking bath away from all the chaos? Well, no bath here, but, in my opinion, something foodwise that could be just as decadent - chocolate pudding.

Growing up, the pudding I enjoyed came from the same place as most kids - Jello. And for my kids, we have bought the GFCF pudding made by Zen Soy, which my kids love but is quite expensive for what you get. As it turns out, though, pudding is really simple to make from scratch. The pudding I made is based on a recipe I found by Elise at Simply Recipes. As Elise shows in her post, this is a great recipe to make with the kids, provided you have enough spoons so they can all lick the bowl. And while we used soy milk in our recipe, I think this would be even better with almond milk.

The end result? Pure decadence for the most chaotic of days.

Chocolate pudding, take me away!

Chocolate Pudding
based on a recipe by Elise at Simply Recipes.

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 cups CF milk (you may need to adjust this depending on the milk you use)
1 large egg
4 ounces CF semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whisk the sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch together in a saucepan. Gradually whisk in the milk, then bring the mixture to a boil. While whisking constantly, boil the mixture until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a heatproof bowl, beat the egg lightly, then slowly add in the hot mixture, whisking constantly. Ass the chocolate chips, and whisk until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour evenly into four 6 oz. ramekins or cups, and cover with wax paper if you do not want a skin on top. Place into the refrigerator and chill until cold, at least 2 - 3 hours.

NOTE: Since I have more than four mouths to feed, I ended up doubling this recipe without any problem.

The GFCF Recipe Experience - Chunky Chicken Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:03:18 PDT

Seems like it's leftovers week here at the GFCF Experience!

My kids LOVE rice. They are equally happy having it with some gravy made from slow roasted chicken drippings, as they had this past weekend, as they are with just a simple dollop of Earthbalance CF butter. So when we make rice, we usually make a lot.

We had a couple of cups of rice left over from the weekend and I decided to try something a little different. Between the package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts I found in the freezer, and a craving for Chinese, a recipe was born.

I based this recipe off of one I found at Cooks.com. Much like the Shepherd's Pie, the beauty of this recipe is both its simplicity and its versatility - you can put just about any combination of vegetables in here, or even use turkey breasts or ground turkey. And it was all ready in under 30 minutes!

Chunky Chicken Fried Rice
based on Rosemary's Chicken Fried Rice recipe found at Cooks.com

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1/2 cup GF flour
1 tbsp CF butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 - 2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp tamari or GF soy sauce

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil or butter in a large saucepan or wok over medium heat. Add the carrots and onions and saute until the onions just start to brown.

Meanwhile, place the flour in a gallon zippered bag. Add the chicken to the bag, seal the bag, and shake until the chicken in evenly covered with flour. Add the chicken to the carrots and onions and fry until golden brown. Remove the chicken mixture from the saucepan.

Place the saucepan back over medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is heated through. Add the eggs to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are cooked. Add enough tamari of GF soy sauce to give the rice mixture some color. Add back the chicken mixture, and stir to combine.

Serve and enjoy!

NOTE: If you choose to make the recipe with ground turkey instead of chicken, simply cook the turkey first, and add that to the sauteed carrots and onions, eliminating the dredging with flour.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Shepherd's Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:21:25 PDT

We eat a lot of ground turkey in our house, not only because it tastes good, but (at least in Missoula) it's cheaper than ground beef. The problem is that you can only eat turkey burgers so many ways. Time to get creative.

Credit my wife Valerie for this idea. Faced with about 2 lbs. of turkey burger leftovers, she suggested shepherd's pie. This is one of those recipes that's quick (ready in under 30 minutes)and versatile - you can easily add any vegetables you like.

We "cheated" and used instant mashed potatoes for the topping, but of course regular mashed potatoes will do. You can always use fresh ground turkey as well - just brown it before you do anything else.

And when my son compliments me on one of my best dinners ever - well, then I know I've done my job.

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

2 lbs. cooked ground turkey
5 - 6 cups mashed potatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 - 3 carrots, diced
1 1/2 cups cooked peas
2 Tbsp crushed rosemary
1/2 cup CF sour cream
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp arrowroot starch
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots, and saute until softened. Add the meat and peas and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and add the rosemary. Add the sour cream, wine, and 1/4 cup of water, and stir to combine.

Dissolve the arrowroot in the other 1/4 cup of water, and add to the sauce pan. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce is thickened.

Spray a 9" x 13" casserole dish with cooking spray, and spread the contents of the sauce pan evenly in the dish. Evenly spread the mashed potatoes over the mixture.

Preheat the broiler. Place the casserole dish in the broiler about 6 - inches from the heat. Broil for 5 - 6 minutes or until the top is evenly browned. Remove from the broiler and garnish with some chopped parsley.

Adopt a GF Blogger: Kate from Gluten Free Gobsmacked

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:38:21 PDT

With Sea busy this summer with moving and welcoming Baby Yum, among other things, she asked for some help in hosting the Adopt a GF Blogger event. This month, Terri at Faking It Gluten Free Style was happy to volunteer. Thanks for helping out Terri!

For this edition of Adopt a GF Blogger, I chose a really good blog friend - Kate from Gluten Free Gobsmacked. Kate recently redesigned her blog, and her tagline reads "sharing everyday recipes from my gluten free kitchen with a side of life." And how appropriate that is! Kate recently became mom to her beautiful adopted daughter Zoe, and it's been wonderful to read about her joyful motherhood. While adjusting to life with Zoe has kept Kate out of the kitchen, they are finding their rhythm, as she says, and soon we will be treated to more of her wonderful recipes.

For this adoption, my intention was to let my kids, specifically Nicholas and Olivia, decide what to make. As we pored through Kate's recipes it was as you would expect between two rival siblings - one would like something, and the other would immediately say NO! But then we hit on a recipe perfect for summer, and one which that happily agreed with each other. Presenting...

Kate's Ice Cream Sandwiches!

What a great recipe! Very simple to make, though we did make one change. Several hours before we made the cookie sandwiches, we placed a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in the freezer. After a few hours, we let the ice cream soften up on the counter for 15 minutes, then scooped it onto the frozen baking sheet. The ice cream was soft enough so that we could use a butter knife and spread it into a 1/2 in. thick rectangle. We then put the baking sheet back in the freezer to harden the ice cream. When it came time to assemble the sandwiches, all we had to do was dip a pizza cutter in water and slice the ice cream to fit each cookie.

To me, the real advantage of this recipe is this: unlike store-bought sandwiches, which usually come in the big two (vanilla and chocolate), here you can actually use your favorite ice cream flavor. Our ice cream sandwiches are filled with Soy Delicious Mocha Fudge and Chocolate Peanut Butter flavors for a great GFCF treat.

Thanks for sharing such a great recipe Kate!

And I encourage you to visit Terri's blog after July 3rd for a delicious roundup of the latest Adopt a GF Blogger Event.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Tyler Florence's Crispy Potato Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:16:50 PDT

For my second Tyler Florence Fridays (TFF) submittal, I wanted to try something simple. And it really doesn't get much simpler than Tyler's Crispy Potato Pancakes. This is a dish that has some of my heritage behind it. In Poland, potato pancakes are known as Placki Kartoflane, and they are a staple of Polish and, in general, Eastern European cuisines. Plus for me, it's already a GFCF dish, so no substitutions!

You can find Tyler's original recipe by going to http://www.tylerflorence.com/ and searching the recipe finder on the main page under "Sides." The key, as Tyler points out, is to make sure you wring out as much water from the potatoes and onions as possible so the will fry up crispy. I only made one change to Tyler's recipe - I used crushed rosemary instead of chives. I was only going to make half the recipe, but my family liked them so much I made a full batch!

One of the great things about this dish is its versatility. There are many people that like to serve them with a dollop of sour cream (CF in our house, of course). In Tyler's case, he serves his as a side dish with applesauce. As for me - it was a perfect complement to oven fried chicken.

PLACKI KARTOFLANE (POTATO PANCAKES)
adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

4 medium russet potatoes, peeled
2 medium onions
1 tbsp crushed rosemary
Kosher salt and pepper
2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying

Preheat the oven to 200°. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place it in the oven.

Coarsely grate the potatoes and onions. Using a cheesecloth or tea towel, wring out as much water as you can from the potatoes and onions.

Place the potatoes and onions in a large mixing bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary and toss to combine. Add the egg whites as binder and mix thoroughly.

Place about 1/4" of oil in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Drop two tablespoons of the potato mixture into the pan, and flatten into a pancake about 4 inches in diameter. repeat the process for as many pancakes as you can fit into the pan.

Fry for about 3 - 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Immediately season with salt. After draining, place the pancakes in the oven to keep warm until all have been fried.

Serve with a dollop of CF sour cream, applesauce, or just plain!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Apple Cake with Lemon Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:34:16 PDT

It's always great when you can find an item on sale at the grocery store. We've been buying up blueberries while they are in season, and at a reasonable price, freezing them so that we will have plenty for the months ahead. This, of course, is strawberry season, and a ripe (no pun intended) time for some great strawberry pies (and a future blog post). And I can't wait for cherry season to start in a few weeks - Flathead Valley MT cherries are the best!

Last week one of local grocery stores was offering a great deal on Granny Smith apples. At this time of year, it's unusual to find apples on sale, especially Granny Smiths. But one must take advantage of opportunities provided, so I came home from the store with some lovely apples, wondering what to make?

I love making the GFCF version of my Mom's Jewish Apple Cake, but this time I wanted something a little different. We had recently been given a bunch of cookbooks and as I thumbed through them, a recipe for apple cake with lemon sauce caught my eye. Definitely different enough to try!

This recipe is adapted from one found the cookbook The Best of Country Cooking, a compilation of recipes featured in a variety of magazines devoted to country living, and published in 1993. The cake itself is a dense, moist cake which goes well with the lemon sauce on top. I only used about half the sugar the recipe calls for in the lemon sauce, and really enjoyed the resulting slight tartness. But it is definitely more of an adult taste - my kids loved the cake but not the sauce.

GFCF APPLE CAKE WITH LEMON SAUCE

adapted from The Best of Country Cooking, published by Reimann Publications in 1993

Ingredients: Apple Cake

3 eggs

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 tsp GFCF vanilla

2 cups GF all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into 1/2" pieces

1 cup seedless raisins

1 cup pecans (optional, I omitted this)

Ingredients: Lemon Sauce

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups water

4 tsp CF butter

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9" x 13" x 2" baking pan

Mix the flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add the four mixture all at once, and mix well. Add the apples and raisins (and the pecans if you used them) and mix until well combined.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake at 375° for 35 - 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

To make the lemon sauce:

Beat the egg yolks lightly. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, blend the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

Place the water in a saucepan and add the sugar mixture. Cook over medium high heat, while stirring, until the mixture boils clear and thickens. Remove from heat.

Beat a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper the eggs, then add the egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat, and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Stir to combine, then pour over the cake. The sauce will solidify as it cools.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:16:22 PDT

If there is one thing I've learned from being a Father, it's that 7 year olds have an incredible memory. And if you tell them that you are going to make cookies for them, well - they remember that, and will hound you incessantly until said cookies are made.

Of course, if you ask them to clean their room, that incredible memory suddenly goes away, but that's another story.

As it was, I told Olivia I was going to make oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and even though it was late last night and I was tired (I was up at 1 am rescuing the hamster from a game of cat ping pong, but that too is another story), I just had to follow through.

Besides, I was craving the cookies myself.

I adapted this recipe from one I found in my Mrs. Fields Cookie Book. The recipe comes together easy, and the end result - well, let's just say I kept Olivia's promise.

Simple, delicious, and GFCF - what more can you ask for?

OATMEAL PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
adapted from the Mrs. Fields Cookie Book

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups GF all purpose flour
1 cup certified GF oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (1 stick) CF butter (as usual, Earthbalance buttery stick work great!)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 tsp. GF vanilla (I like using pure vanilla (alcohol free)
1 cup (or so) GFCF chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300°. Line some cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and oats in a bowl with a whisk. Set aside.

Using a mixer beat the brown sugar and butter together on medium speed until a grainy paste is formed. Add the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well combined.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour/oat mixture. Add in the chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the lined cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 300° for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are browned. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a cool, flat surface.

Makes about 3 dozen yummy cookies.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Tyler Florence's Amaretto Chocolate Brownies - They're Twitterlicious!

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:53:52 PDT

If there is one thing I love to do, it's take a non-GFCF recipe and make it GFCF, especially when it's a recipe from one of the noted chef's in the business. Like Tyler Florence.

Tyler's website, http://www.tylerflorence.com/, is a wonderland of recipes and information. And one of the nice things Tyler has started there is his Twitterlicious Cooking Sessions.

Every Friday at 1200 ET (900 PT) Tyler holds a cooking class on Twitter. He takes one of his recipes (as voted on by visitors to his web site) and goes through the process of preparing it step by step on Twitter, offering cooking tips and advice and answering some questions as well. The full recipe with photos is posted on Tyler's blog to help you follow along. You can go to Tyler's web site right now and vote on the dish you want to have Tyler prepare for tomorrow's session. Right now the leader is Shrimp Scampi Linguine, but there's still time to vote!

Here's how you can follow along:

Follow Tyler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tylerflorence
Using your favorite Twitter Search engine (I personally like Tweetdeck), search for #twtlish. This is that hashtag Tyler and everyone participating uses. If you have a question or comment, be sure to put this hashtag in your tweet.
You can also join Tyler's Twibe at http://twibes.com/twitterlicious and follow along there!

So why is this all relevent to this post? Well last Friday's Twitterlicious dish was Tyler's Amaretto Chocolate Brownies. Brownies - need I say more? After looking at the pictures and following along on Twitter, I knew this was one recipe I wanted to add to my GFCF recipe list.

Making these brownies GFCF is quite simple in fact. Use your favorite GFCF all-purpose flour mix, add in some xanthan gum, Use CF butter (Earthblanace Buttery Sticks are my recommendation) and CF chocolate, and you're set!

Oh, and since we are using amaretto, let me stop and talk about GFCF alcoholic beverages. We all know that you need to drink gluten free beers, and most wines are GFCF since wine comes from fermented grapes. But what about liquor, and liqueurs like amaretto? Well, from what I have read any liquor that has been distilled is generally accepted to be GF. But, as always, you should read labels and check with the manufacturer if you are not sure. A great site for GF alcohol information (and drink recipes) is Mike's Bar.

Here are some notes from Tyler, via the Twitter cooking class:

To get the most flavor use bittersweet chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa fat. The higher the cocoa fat content, the less additives (like milk) to cut the flavor (and the greater chance the chocolate is CF!). For my version, I used organic bittersweet CF baking chocolate with 72% cocoa fat.
When you are melting the chocolate and butter in the double boiler, make sure the water is not touching the melting bowl or it could scorch the chocolate.
Line the baking pan with parchment paper, and cut it a little long so you have "handles" to help lift the brownie from the baking pan.
The brownie should be soft and almost melted in the center, progressing to chewy and then crunchy along the edges.

Here is my version. All I can say is two words - chocolate heaven.

GFCF AMARETTO CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) CF butter
8 oz GFCF bittersweet chocolate (at least 70% cocoa fat), broken into small pieces
1 1/4 cups GF all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp GF baking powder
pinch of salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 Tbsp amaretto liqueur

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan, and line with parchment paper, leaving some to overhang on the sides.

Sift the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt together, and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler, stirring until smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Using a mixer, combine the sugar, eggs, and amaretto until well combined. Reduce the mixture to low speed and slowly add the chocolate mixture. Slowly add in the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan, and bake at 350 for about 45 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out reasonably clean (mine actually took about 60 - 65 minutes, but I am slightly at altitude).

Use to overlapped parchment to lift the brownie out of the pan. Cool, then cut into squares (if you can wait that long!).

I am also submitting this as my first entry for Tyler Florence Fridays, a weekly roundup of people making Tyler's dishes.

Please Come Visit Me Today at www.autismlearningfelt.com

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:29:53 PDT

Tammy at www.autismlearningfelt.com was kind enough to ask me to guest post at her website today. Please come check out my post on the GFCF lifestyle here.

Thanks Tammy - I really appreciate the opportunity.

Please Come Read...

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:55:47 PDT

...my tribute to my Daughter Helena, who is 10 years old today!

It's over at The Autism Experience.

Happy Birthday Helena!!!

Adopt a GF Blogger - Delightfully Gluten Free

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:23:16 PDT

If there is one thing I love about Sea's Adopt a GF Blogger events, it's that it is a great forum for trying new things. Like rhubarb.

When we moved into our house in Missoula four years ago, we discovered that there were two patches of rhubarb growing in our backyard. Never having eaten rhubarb before, I didn't know what to do with it, other than give it away to people who love the stuff.

This year, though, I decided that it was time to make something out of that rhubarb. And with the Book of Yum announcing the latest installment of Adopt a GF Blogger concurrently with having ripe rhubarb in the backyard...well, the stars were aligned. All I needed was a recipe.

I am pleased to present my adopted GF blogger, Cassandra from Delightfully Gluten Free, and her Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp.

I had to make one change to Cassandra's recipe, which was to eliminate the dry buttermilk powder (since this recipe needed to be CF as well) but otherwise followed Cassandra's recipe exactly. And the result was a delicious crisp that my kids enjoyed with a scoop of CF ice cream.

It was quick, it was easy, and it was delicious. What more do you need?

So please pay a visit over to Cassandra's blog and try this and her other recipes. It is a trip well worth taking.

The GFCF Recipe Experience - Ciastka Z Konserwa (Polish Tea Cakes)

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:32:01 PDT

Saturday morning - the beginning of a long 3-day weekend. Time to change things up a little bit.

One thing I love to do on weekends is make a nice breakfast for everyone. I am an early riser as it is, so I have plenty of time to get into the kitchen and get things going before everyone else gets up. Usually, Saturday morning is for what my wife calls the artery-clogger breakfast - bacon and sausage omelets with a side of fried potatoes and some homemade GFCF biscuits - with plenty of ketchup and CF butter as well. But this Saturday, I wanted to do things a little different. It seemed like the perfect day to try out a new (old) recipe.

When my maternal grandmother passed away, I inherited many of her recipes that she had either hand written or cut out from newspapers 40 or 50 years ago. One of these recipes was for Ciastka Z Konserwa (pronounced Chaska Zi Konserva), or Polish Tea Cakes. Ciastka Z Konserwa literally means dough (Ciastka) with (Z) preserves (Konserwa). I had been meaning to try this recipe for the past few months - all the ingredients were sitting in my pantry, waiting to be used. Ironically, while my grandmother was a prolific baker, my mother and I cannot recall a time where she ever made these. Saturday seemed like a great day to dust off this recipe and give it a try.

It was well worth the wait.

These cookie/cakes had a rich buttery flavor that the whole household enjoyed. The recipe as given below made about 2 dozen tea cakes - and they were gone by lunchtime!

I used cherry, peach, and strawberry preserves for my fillings, and chopped pecans for the nuts. Of course, you are free to use whatever you want!

Definite 6 thumbs up from our household.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup CF butter (I used Earthbalance Buttery Sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks, beaten lightly (reserve the egg whites for dipping)
2 cups GF all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp GF vanilla
1/2 cup or more chopped nuts
Any good preserves

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Sift the flour, xanthan gum, and salt together.

Cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and mix well. Gradually add the flour and mix until well blended into a dough.

Roll the dough into balls about the size of a walnut. Dip the balls in the reserved egg whites, and then roll in the chopped nuts.

Place each ball on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Using the back of a ball point pen or the blunt end of a knife (or your finger), make a well in each ball.

Bake at 325° for 5 minutes, then remove and press down on the well again to keep it clear. Return to the oven, and bake an additional 10 - 15 minutes until golden (for my oven it was an additional 10 minutes).

Remove from oven and fill the well with preserves while warm. Let the cake cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

Makes around 2 dozen.

The GFCF Review Experience - Easy Microwave Buns from Delightfully Gluten Free

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:09:18 PDT

A Happy Friday everyone! At least here in Missoula, the weather is beautiful, and is expected to remain so throughout this long Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day is often seen as the unofficial start to the summer season, a season where the grilling heats up and burgers begin sizzling in backyards everywhere. Burgers, of course, are a challenge for GFCF people, not because of the meat, but because of the bun. It is especially challenging for us since we are yeast free as well, and it's hard to find yeast free GF burger bun recipes. We tried using biscuits in the past, and they work okay, but they don't have the same softness and texture of a burger bun.

So along comes Seamaiden, acclaimed blogger at Book of Yum, and founder of the Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger monthly event. A few days a ago she posted the announcement for the May Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger event. I have always enjoyed participating in this event - it's a fun way to discover great GF bloggers and great recipes. And I had a plan in mind for something I wanted to make using an ingredient I have never used before. All I needed to do was find a recipe. Which I did, and I have dutifully notified Sea that I am adopting Cassandra, from Delightfully Gluten Free. I am really excited about making one of Cassandra's recipes, and hope to have the post up sometime next week.

By the way, there is still time to participate! Go here at Book of Yum to sign up!

While I was searching for the perfect Cassandra recipe to make, I came across another recipe, which was for microwave hamburger buns. Cassandra had come upon this recipe through a couple of other sources. It is a fast, simple way to make low carb buns that can be used for hamburgers, sandwiches, or whatever! Given that I had some leftover turkey patties in the fridge to make for supper (plus an ample supply of the main ingredient, ground flaxseed meal) it was worth giving a try.

The first rendition was exactly as Cassandra did - except that I only used one tbsp of CF butter (Earthbalance) since she had said hers turned out a little oily. The texture was great, but even 1 tsbp butter made it still seem oily. It was a little salty as well, likely due to the salt in the butter.

The second rendition involved cutting the Earthbalance back to 1/2 tbsp and eliminating the salt. These changes worked out really well! It could probably use a little salty (maybe 1/4 tsp) but the results were just fine for me, and for the kids, who absolutely loved it (even Nicholas, who detests turkey patties, ate a patty on a bun without complaint!)

They definitely are eggy, but the egg in mine was not overwhelming, and it really gave the bun that burger bun-like texture and consistency. If you are concerned about cholesterol I am sure you could just use egg white and it will turn out well. These literally are done in about 3 minutes each, so they can be made fresh while the burgers are grilling. I made a few extras so the kids could have sandwiches in their school lunch. I also made a variation where instead of 4 tbsp of flax seed meal, I used two, and then two tbsp of GF flour. This version was my favorite; I made it this morning, then scrambled an egg and put some Canadian bacon in it and microwaved for a quick breakfast sandwich (didn't have time to make hollandaise sauce).

For the record, here is my favorite version of this recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 tbsp CF butter (Earthbalance stick or spread)
1 large egg
2 tbsp GF flour
2 tbsp flax seed meal
1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat the butter in the microwave until melted.

In a microwave safe bowl, scramble the egg (I used a 3-inch diameter bowl, vary this depending on how high you want your bun to rise). Add the melted butter, and mix well. Add the flour, flaxseed meal, and baking powder, and stir until all the ingredients are well mixed to a batter-like consistency.

Microwave the mixture in the bowl for 1 minute on high. Remove from microwave, let cool for 1 minute, then turn out completely on to a cooling rack. Slice in half when cool.

A quick, simple GFCF burger bun just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks Cassandra. I'm glad I adopted you, and I can't wait to make your Adopt a GF Blogger recipe!

The GFCF Recipe Experience: Rosemary Turkey Meatloaf - As Seen on TV!

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:20:35 PDT

Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places, but an infomercial? Especially one where BILLY MAYS IS NOT HERE? Or Ron Popeil, for that matter...

Tuesday morning, around 2 am, and I can't sleep. So out of bed I go, down to curl up in front of the TV and hopefully fall asleep. Now we only have the six digital channels you can receive locally in Missoula, so I don't have too many options (the flip side is that I can get through all the channels in no time!). One of those options happened to be an infomercial for the Magic Bullet Food Processor.

Remember the Magic Bullet? It's a high speed blender/chopper/juicer/mixer/whipper/grinder that can pulverize most anything in under 7 seconds. The one that was given to me as a gift a few years ago has long been replaced by a $20 blender. But it must work, because the success of the Magic Bullet has led to the company offering a new product - the Magic Bullet Food Processor.

Yes, it's a food processor, with a powerful 400 watt motor. But it's so much more too! It slices almost anything, as evidenced by slicing salad fixings into a bowl that could serve 300 people. It can transform into the most powerful juicer this side of Jack Lalanne's Power Juicer. It crushes ice, makes cake batters and doughs, and, like it's smaller brother, can pulverize almost anything. Heck, it might even spin straw into gold! And all in under 60 seconds!

And of course, it cleans up easy. Just throw everything in the dishwasher, set it, and forget it! (Oh...sorry...that's Ron Popeil's line for his Showtime Rotisserie Cooker).

What caught my eye though, as I was watching various foods get massacred, was the meatloaf. They took a couple of turkey breast fillets and threw them into this machine, along with some bread crumbs, an egg, and some spices, and voila! 6o seconds later, there was a turkey rosemary meatloaf, ready for the oven.

And while that wasn't enough to make me order processors for myself and all my friends (even though it was just 6 easy payments of $19.99 as a limited time offer), it was enough to give me inspiration for what to do with the ground turkey in my fridge. All I needed to do was track down a recipe to use.

Fortunately, I didn't need to purchase the Jeff Paul Internet Millions system to find a recipe to use (Jeff Paul is a scam, by the way). I used Google, and it was free.

I found an interesting recipe on Allrecipes for a rosemary turkey meatloaf. Other websites had recipes using similar ingredients so I thought I would give it a try.

When you are making GFCF meatloaf, the obvious concern is the binder, which is usually bread crumbs. You can always buy premade GF bread crumbs, or you can be like Karina and make your own bread crumbs out of frozen waffles. But I like to use instant mashed potato flakes - they are relatively inexpensive, and they add an nice texture and flavor to the meatloaf. If you do use them, though, make sure you only use about half the amount called for in bread crumbs.

So here is the recipe I used. No picture unfortunately - that was sold separately and I forgot to "act now."

INGREDIENTS

3 lb ground turkey
1 cup instant mashed potato flakes (or 2 cups GF bread crumbs)
1 onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup CF milk
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp rosemary

Topping:

1 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp GFCF Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the turkey, mashed potato flakes onion, eggs, and milk. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Press into the prepared pan.

At this point you can use your Showtime Solid Flavor Injector to insert solids like garlic cloves or pimentos or whatever you choose. Remember, the Showtime Solid Flavor Injector is a $30 value, but it's yours free when you purchase the Showtime Cutlery Set, as long as you call the special toll free number in the next 10 minutes.

Blend together the tomato sauce, brown sugar, and Dijon mustard. Pour the mixture over the top of the meatloaf.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until the juices run clear.

The verdict: This was definitely an adult meatloaf. My kids HATED it. I actually liked it, as did my wife. And it tasted even better the next day for lunch. The sauce on top mixed with the balsamic vinegar gives it a barbeque-like taste. One thing about the balsamic vinegar-I only used half of what the original recipe called for (with twice the meat) and it was pretty overwhelming. Maybe it was just my vinegar, but be mindful if you try this out.

The other thing is that, unless you use ground turkey breast, you will have a lot of juices. Maybe a tweak in the amount of mashed potato flakes or bread crumbs will help soak some of them up. But here is another tip I saw on the web - line a baking try with foil, and place a cooling rack on top of it. Use the loaf pan to shape the meatloaf, then invert the loaf onto the cooling rack. Pour your topping on (this way it will work down the sides) and bake. This will allow the juices to fall away from the loaf (it could also potentially make the loaf drier).

Make a mess? No problem! Just use the Swivel Sweeper to make easy work of floor clean ups, even in hard to reach areas. Only $39.99 plus shipping and handling.

As for that messy countertop after the topping drips every where, I have two words for you:

Sham-WOW!

BONUS! BONUS! BONUS!

As a special bonus for those of you who have read this blog in the last 30 minutes, I am pleased to offer you this special free gift - a lesson in Grits. Just click on "Grits 101" below to receive your free lesson. And even if you decide you don't like this blog, the grits lesson is yours to keep as my special gift to you.

GRITS 101

The GFCF Recipe Experience: GFCFYF Pizza Crust II

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:24:55 PDT

Ever since I posted about a GFCFYF pizza crust I discovered last December, pizza has been a regular weekly staple in our household. The problem is that when you eat something on a routine basis, it can become tiresome or you get bored with it. Such was the case with pizza and my kids. As for me, while I enjoyed the pizza I too was looking for something a little different. The first pizza crust was one that was really runny, and you poured it in a pan and let it bake a while before you added your toppings and finished the baking. I wanted something a little more in line with a traditional pizza - more doughy, where you had to roll it out.

Where would I find my recipe? Hello Twitter!

I have lots of great #gfree (that's Twitterese for gluten free) friends on Twitter, including some of my favorite food bloggers, like Sea, and Carrie, and Karina, to name a few. In fact, if you go to Twitter and search for #gfree, you will find a great community of gluten free folks more than willing to share advice and their experiences with the gluten free lifestyle. It was to this community that I asked for advice on a good GFCFYF pizza crust. And a short time later, I had several responses!

I chose to try one provided by JB Wagoner, which is actually found on Cook's.com. It is a really simple recipe, and one I can imagine could be enhanced by whatever you wanted to use to flavor the dough. I kept it simple, even down to the toppings (just a basic cheese pizza, using Tofutti mozzarella slices). The result was a nice 12" - 14" pie that came together easily and was ready from start to finish in well under 30 minutes. The best part, though, was that my kids raved about it. Even little Julia, who had really developed a dislike for the previous recipe, had seconds!

So go on! Give it a try! And if you do, please let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups GF all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup water, or as needed

Preheat oven to 425°.

Please all the dry ingredients into a mixer and mix on low speed until blended. Add the olive oil; mix on low speed to combine. Add the water just until the mixture forms a ball.

** Alternatively, you can follow the same procedure using a food processor. **

Turn the dough out on a floured surface, and knead a few times. Dust the top of the dough, then roll the dough out into a 12" - 14" diameter circle 1/8" thick.

Fold over the edges of the dough to make the rim for the crust.

Place on a baking sheet or pizza stone and brush the top lightly with olive oil. Bake at 425° for 5 - 8 minutes.

Remove the pizza from the oven, and top with your favorite toppings. Return to the oven and bake 8 - 10 minutes more, until the cheese is all bubbly.

The GFCF Recipe Experience: S'mores Featuring Carol Fenster's Graham Crackers

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:01:25 PDT

To the, my greatest reward from the GFCF experience is being able to create, for my children, GFCF versions of foods other kids are having. It's nice to know that when my kids go to a birthday party, I can give them a piece of GFCF cake or pizza, so they essentially are having what everyone else is having. This past weekend was one of my greatest rewards to date.

This past weekend was the final Pack meeting for Cub Scout Pack 4104 in Missoula, MT for the school year. Fittingly enough, it was an overnight camp out at the Larry Creek campground in the Bitterroot National Forest, about 45 minutes from Missoula. My little Bear cub Nicholas was excited about his first camping trip, as was I; growing up, I never had the opportunity to camp, and this was only my third camping experience ever.

He had a great time, soaking his pants and socks in the creek a hour after we arrived, participating in the Cub Scout Olympics, playing a couple of games of Folf, performing skits at the Pack meeting, and all around having fun with the other scouts.

But of course, when there is camping, there is food. And, when camping out, nothing is better in the evening than sitting around the campfire eating s'mores.

Let's see, to make s'mores you need three things:

Toasted marshmallows. Check. Most marshmallows are GFCF.
Chocolate. Check. We can use Tropical Source GFCF dark chocolate bars.
Graham Crackers. Ummm.....help?

There are probably some GFCF graham crackers out there somewhere you can buy at the store, but none of the stores in Missoula carry them. Time to find a recipe.

Fortunately, a great friend gave me Carol Fenster's 1000 Gluten Free Recipes cookbook for Christmas last year. And right there, on page 433, was Carol's recipe for graham crackers.

I was really amazed at how easy they were to make - the dough comes together in no time, and they take only about 15 minutes to bake. We did have to make a couple of minor substitutions to Carol's recipe, but they turned to be delicious - I can only imagine how good Carol's are with the original recipe. And even our friend Chris, Nicholas' den leader, could not get over how much they looked just like a store bought graham cracker. Check it out for yourself:

I apologize for the off color photo - I have to work on my photography lighting skills. Perhaps this picture gives you a better idea of how they turned out. As they say, the proof is in the eating:

And the best part is that Nicholas was able to enjoy a campfire staple just like everyone else. That's what makes the GFCF experience worthwhile.

Carol Fenster was kind enough to give me permission to republish her original recipe. So here it is, with any changes I made in italics.

Carol Fenster's Graham Crackers

reprinted with permission from 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster (Wiley, 2008) www.1000GlutenFreeRecipes.com.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Carol's Sorghum Blend**
1/4 cup mesquite flour

[I used 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose flour instead of Carol's mix and the mesquite flour ]

2 tbsp tapioca starch [I used an equal amount of corn starch ]
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground mace [I used an equivalent amount of ground nutmeg]
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp GF vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted CF butter, at room temperature
1 to 2 tbsp water, as needed.

**Carol's sorghum blend is as follows:
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups potato starch/cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour

Whisk together until well blended. Store tightly covered in a dark, dry place. makes 4 cups.**

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until the mixture forms a ball, adding the water as necessary. [I placed the dry ingredients into a mixer and mixed on low speed until blended, then added the honey, vanilla, and CF butter to the mix. I then gradually added water until the dough ball was formed.]

Knead the dough into a soft ball. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a 1-inch disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°. Place a minimum 10 x 10 in sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface. Place one of the dough disks on top of the parchment paper and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the dough out into a square 1/8" thick (should be around an 8" square). Transfer the dough, still between the parchment paper and the plastic wrap, on to a baking sheet, parchment side down. Remove the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2 1/4" squares and prick them lightly with a fork (or use a docker). Repeat with the second dough ball.

Bake the first sheet at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes or until the crackers are browned (mine took about 15 minutes). You have to watch them because the crackers can burn easily. Remove the sheet from the oven and cut through the lines again with a sharp knife. Let the crackers cool in on the baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer the parchment paper (with the crackers still on it) to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. The crackers will become crisp as they cool. Repeat with the second sheet.

Carol recommends removing the scrap pieces around the square (since it is difficult to roll out a perfect square) and freezing them for future use in a pie crust. Us - we ate them. YUM!

These crackers can be stored tightly covered for two days, or frozen for up to one month.

Please give this recipe a try. You will not regret it.

And when they are all gone, you will want s'more.

Asheville NC - A GFCF Haven Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Thomas Dzomba) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:42:31 PDT

In Part I of this series I looked at some of the places I and my colleagues ate at during my recent trip to Asheville NC. Asheville is a great town for those who are GF and GFCF, and many restaurants even beyond those I mentioned in Part I offer GF and GFCF alternatives or are willing to create a meal sensitive to your dietary needs. Now, in Part II, I want to take a look at other aspects of eating GF and GFCF in Asheville, including grocers and hotel dining in general. But first, let's have a look at Asheville's biggest attraction.

The Biltmore Estate

The Biltmore Estate has been owned by the Vanderbilt family since the late 1800’s, and is the largest privately owned estate in the United States. Now only 8000 acres, the estate once had land holdings of over 200 square miles, including much of what is now the Pisgah National Forest. Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the Forest Service, began his career working for George Vanderbilt at Biltmore, beginning the restoration of what was clear cut land into the beautiful forest it is today.

Over 1 million people visit the estate this year, mainly to see the huge 280-room mansion (above) and the Olmsted-designed gardens. But Biltmore is so much more, with numerous nature and bike trails for enjoyment, and numerous spectacular views. Biltmore also remains, to this day, a working forest and farm, raising their own cattle and sheep as well as vegetables and an award-winning winery (complete with tours and wine tastings.).

There are four restaurants at Biltmore – we ate at the bistro which is adjacent to the winery. Once again, the first words out of our server’s mouth was that Biltmore was sensitive to food allergies and would accommodate whatever needs there were. I ended up ordering a flat iron steak, which came with French fries and Biltmore-grown or locally grown vegetables – wonderfully GFCF! The meal, along with a glass of Biltmore chardonnay, was outstanding, It was pricey, but the portions were large and the food cooked to perfection. Best of all, I ate with the Biltmore Estate forester, so the dinner conversation was just fascinating.

And just to show you that the Federal Government knows how to drive a hard bargain, one of the stories told was how George Vanderbilt was interested in selling the land that is now part of the Pisgah National Forest to the US Forest Service, but the Forest Service balked at the price - $6 per acre. After George's death in 1914, his widow, Edith, reopened negotiations, and finally the Forest Service purchased agreed to purchase around 86,000 acres - at $5 per acre.

The GF Grocers

While I did not do any grocery shopping in Asheville, I did get some recommendations with regards to gluten free grocery shopping in Asheville. I will detail those in a moment, but first I want to spotlight a popular supermarket chain in the Southeast.

Asheville is the corporate home of Ingles Supermarkets, a family-owned chain with stores throughout the Southeast. Like many grocery stores, Ingles has come a long way when it comes to offering GF and GFCF products. On their website, that actually have two lists of gluten free items they carry: name brands and Ingles brands. Of course, individual stores may vary in what they carry - in fact, Ingles also has a listing of which stores have gluten free sections!

In addition to their great dining recommendations, my friends at Nine Mile also recommended Earthfare. Earthfare is a natural foods grocery chain based in Asheville, with stores throughout the Southeast. As their food philosophy states, they wish to sell foods as close to the ground as it gets - nothing artificial, antibiotic, growth hormones, transfats, high fructose corn syrup - you get the idea. They offer a "boot list" of common additives in foods, and which ones are okay for sale at Earthfare, and which ones have been "given the boot." As for GF items, Eathfare's website states they sell over 1000 GF items - all clearly marked in each store. Sounds like a winner to me.

Karen, the Gluten Free Sox Fan, also recommended Greenlife Grocery, which has stores in Asheville and Chattanooga TN, where she lives. Greenlife is another natural foods grocery store which features organic and all natural foods and which are locally grown if possible. Karen talked about how her store in Chattanooga has a great GF selection - maybe the one in Asheville does as well? Well, here's the scoop - they do! Not only in groceries, but in the deli area as well. Greenlife serves soups and sandwiches for lunch, and will make any sandwich on GF bread by request. (Thanks to the Asheville CVB (@foodtopia on Twitter) for the information).

Looks like Asheville has some great GF and GFCF grocery options as well.

Hotel and Living

Because of the nature of my trip, I managed to stay at three different hotels during my trip – The Hampton Inn in Spartanburg, the Sheraton Four Points in Asheville, and The Holiday Inn by the Airport in Charlotte. Going GFCF in hotels is not all that difficult. Of course, if you have a room with a microwave and a fridge (or a suite with a kitchen), it is easy to bring in and prepare your own foods. I didn’t have these in any of my rooms, but that’s okay. Going GFCF worked out well.

I can remember staying at Hampton Inns years ago, when they were one of the first to offer continental breakfasts to guests, whom they recognized were mostly business travelers who did not have time to go to a restaurant before starting their busy day. But back then, your choices were limited to cereal, or oatmeal, or a bagel, or yogurt – the only GFCF thing on the menu besides coffee or juice was fruit! These days, Hampton Inn, like most other hotels catering to people on the go, offer a much wider variety of choices, including hot choices like scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. At the Hampton Inn in Spartanburg, I was able to eat some eggs with a bowl of fruit, plenty of food to satisfy me for my travels that day.

The Sheraton Four Points is a tourist and meeting hotel which features a restaurant on site called the Chop House. I ate breakfast there each morning, - sausage and eggs with hash browns and unlimited coffee – all well cooked, GFCF, and the perfect way to start the day (the sausages in particular were wonderful). The one night I ate dinner, it was steak with fries and seasonal vegetables - again all delicious and GFCF.

The Holiday Inn in Charlotte also had an on-site restaurant, and again, sticking to the basics, I was able to get a GFCF meal. Steak (again!), fries (again!), and a nice salad with balsamic vinaigrette. It may seem repetitive, but it was GFCF and delicious.

Bringing It All Together

I hope this two part series gave you a little glimpse into this great little city in the North Carolina mountains. Asheville is a wonderful destination city, full of history and charm. It is a home base for the playground that is the North Carolina mountain experience, from trails to white water to skilled artisans. Asheville is the Cradle of Forestry, and home to the largest privately owned estate in the country.

But, most important to readers of this blog, Asheville has to be one of the best GF and GFCF-friendly cities around. A definite GF and GFCF haven.

I know that if I ever had to move back East, Asheville would be at the top of my list.