Easy gluten free cheese straws

We've decided to try adding photos to the blog, but are having a few technical difficulties. Anyway if you crane your neck, you can see a photo of some gf cheese straws that we made today. These were incredibly easy -- a combination of gf flour, Parmesan cheese, baking powder, black pepper, water and olive oil. The recipe is from the September 2007 issue of Cooking Light magazine, and is called Pecorino-Black Pepper Breadsticks. To me, they seem more like cheese straws than breadsticks. I followed the recipe ingredients and instructions pretty much as written, although I substituted gluten free flour for the regular flour called for in the recipe (remember to add xanthum gum as well, if your flour mix doesn't include it already) and used Parmesan instead of Romano. I couldn't quite get the breadsticks to roll out, so instead I shaped an 8inch long rectangle on my cutting board, and sliced thin strips with a knife. I moved each strip to a parchment covered baking pan and baked. That's it!

Yom Kippur Break Fast, Gluten Free Style

We hosted a Yom Kippur "break fast" for about 22 people last night. Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday calling for a 25 hour fast, from sundown one day until one hour after sundown the next. It is traditionally marked by a "break fast" -- a festive meal -- at the close of the holiday. We served the following -- these foods would also work well at a brunch:

1. Jocelyn's Kugel -- this is a somewhat sweet, very rich noodle pudding.
1 pound of noodles (kugels traditionally use egg noodles. I used Tinkyada rotini, which worked well)
1 pint sour cream (save about 1/3 of this amount for the topping)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten
1 pound cream cheese

Boil and drain the pasta. Mix the other ingredients together, then add the drained pasta and mix. Pour into a 9 by 13 inch pan, and spread the remaining sour cream on top. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

Add additional topping:
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons gluten free flour
3/4 cup ground walnut (can be omitted)
2 tablespoon buter

Mix these ingredients together, and sprinkle over the kugel. Put back in the oven, and bake for an additional 45 minutes.

2. "Bagel and lox" pizza
This is based on a recipe from Fast and Festive Recipes for the Jewish Holidays, by Marlene Sorusky. It is an alternative to serving bagels and smoked salmon.

1 recipe of gluten free wrap bread, baked in a 14 inch pizza plan
I got this recipe from some terrific cooks at the Delphi Forum. See this link for Cindy's Wraps as adapted from 125 GF Recipes by Washburn. Or, see Gluten Free Gobsmacked experiments with the recipe. I make a few changes when I use it, based on GFG's experiments as well as ideas from others on the Delphi Forum -- I use sorghum instead of rice flour, only 1 tsp of yeast, I substitute one tablespoon of Expandex for 1 tablespoon of regular tapioca flour, and I don't let it rise.

Once the crust is baked, let it cool. Then, spread it all over with cream cheese, and top with thin slices of English cucumber, small pieces of smoked salmon, and capers -- the same way that you would top a pizza. You can also add red onion slices and dill. Slice it as you would a pizza.

3. Gluten free quiche I made one with asparagus, and one with broccoli

4. Cheese and crackers. For crackers, I used Glutano "ritz" like crackers, and Blue Diamond almond nut thins.

5. Egg salad and tuna salad, with Real Food corn thins. (Corn thins are a bit like rice thins, but less crumbly. They are larger than crackers, and a good bread alternative.)

6. A friend brought a platter of hummus, carrots and stuffed grape leaves (Trader Joes says that their grape leaves are gluten free.)

7. Another friend made a spinach salad.

For dessert, we had the following:

1. A friend brought fruit salad.

2. Chocolate chip cookies from Gluten Free Baking Classics, by Annalise Roberts. I made the dough a few days before and froze it in logs. You can slice the dough even when it is frozen, and bake it without needing to defrost it.

3. Lemon squares, again from Gluten Free Baking Classics.

4. Trader Joe's meringue cookies.

5. Foods By George gluten free brownies.

Sadly, we forgot to take photos.

Muffins

I was very surprised that gluten-free muffins, cakes, and cookies taste just as good as gluten baked goods. The other day, a friend who isn't gluten-free and I baked a batch of gluten-free chocolate ricotta muffins. When my friend tried one, she thought that they tasted just as good as any muffin, and I do too. This is a recipe that I use a lot, for dessert or for breakfast. On school days, I have barely any time to eat so I either have a muffin or a carnation instant breakfast to take with me to the bus stop.

Chocolate Ricotta Muffins
(from Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts)
(posted with permission from Annalise Roberts)

Makes 10 muffins.

1 1/4 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix
(To make 3 cups of this mixture, combine 2 cups brown rice flour (extra finely ground, she suggests Authentic Foods brand), 2/3 cup potato starch, and 1/3 cup tapioca flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (part skim)
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position rack in center of oven. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cup liners.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. In another medium mixing bowl whisk egg, ricotta, milk, oil, and vanilla together until well blended.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and combine until well blended. Do not over beat.
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and place in center of oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from pan and serve immediately or cool on a rack.

Muffins can be stored in a tightly sealed plastic container in refrigerator or covered with plastic wrap and then with foil and stored in freezer for up to three weeks. Best when eaten within four days of baking. Rewarm briefly in microwave.

Gluten-free tortillas

One of the foods that I missed most was tortillas. I tried the corn tortillas that we bought in the store, but I didn't like them very much. My mom found this recipe on the Delphi Forums Celiac site. The person who posted it on Delphi found the recipe from a support group in Texas. Thanks for the great recipe! I always look forward to having the tortillas!

Tastes just like wheat tortillas! ( They are very flexible)

1/4 cup each cornstarch, tapioca flour, potato starch, white rice flour and brown rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 generous tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup water, more if needed

Mix dry ingredients and add water. Let rest 10 minutes. Divide into balls, roll into tortillas, and cook on a hot oiled skillet until it starts to bubble. Flip and cook on the other side. Makes 4 - 6 largish tortillas.

Some tips we learned from the people on Delphi and from making this recipe a lot:

-- You can roll the tortillas out using a rolling pin. It helps a lot to put the dough between parchment paper because it is very sticky. We bought a tortilla press, so we now put a ball of dough in the press between two pieces of parchment paper, then roll it out some more to get the tortillas really thin.

-- If the dough is a little sticky when you roll it out, dust it with white rice flour.

-- As each tortilla is finished, put it into a zip lock plastic bag while you are cooking the rest. It keeps them moist and flexible.

-- I like to have a wrap for lunch in school, but it takes too much time to make the dough in the morning. We've made the dough and rolled it out the day before and stored it in the refrigerator in between damp paper towels in a plastic bag. It only takes a couple of minutes in the morning to fry the tortilla and make a wrap. (I wrap the whole wrap in aluminum foil so it doesn't fall apart.)

-- If you like the recipe, you can mix up several batches of the dry ingredients and store in plastic bags. Then, when you want to make the tortillas, just add the oil and water and you are ready to go.