Thursday, March 18, 2010

Fabulous Gluten Free French Bread

This recipe for gluten free french bread is on the Gluten Free Homemaker's blog. It is an adaptation of Carol Fenster's recip -- in particular, it uses Fenster's baking directions, which call for putting the dough directly into an oven, then turning it on -- no rising and no preheating. As a result, the bread can be prepared really quickly -- once you mix up the dough, it bakes for only about 35 minutes, with no additional rising time required.

I've been baking the gf french bread following the recipe on GFH's blog -- one slight change. Instead of using fresh egg whites, I use Just Whites (dried egg white powder) by Deb El -- this way, I don't have to feel guilty for not using up the yolks. I add the powdered eggs with the dry ingredients, then add the additional water with the other liquid ingredients.

The recipe makes two loaves -- we usually have one fresh, then freeze the other, sometimes preslicing into small slices, or larger sections for sandwiches.

Needham, Massachusetts -- a gluten free restaurant hotspot!

Needham, Massachusetts (a suburb fairly close to Boston) seems to have a surprising number of gluten free restaurant options for a town of its size. Options include:

Not Your Average Joes -- salad, chicken, fish
Rice Barn -- Thai restaurant with an extensive gluten free menu (although the menu isn't currently online)
Bertucci's -- part of a chain featuring Italian food -- no gf pizza or pasta, but a variety of other entrees and salads
Stone Hearth Pizza -- gf pizzas, pasta, salad and dessert
Wild Willy's Burgers -- burgers and grilled chicken on gf buns, ice cream and shakes, gf fries, Redbridge beer (gf menu not posted)

There is also the wonderful store A New Leaf in the heart of Needham Center, which has an enormous selection of gluten free food, including a lot of frozen items such as Udi's bread and Joan's Great Bakes bagels. The manager is extremely helpful, and if you are looking for a product that is not in stock, he will often be able to order it for you. Note that A New Leaf has three locations -- I don't know if the other two stores have as extensive a selection of gluten free options as the Needham store.

A teen and her family's experiences living gluten-free.