Ready, Set, Bake!

Every cook book I have has at least one recipe for a flour blend, if not more than one, just to confuse me. Okay, fine, I can work with that. Which is a good thing as I much prefer to mix up my own batches as I've had a couple of bad experiences with the prepackaged stuff and apparently I look really interesting with flour in my hair. Never the less, I have figured out a few things. Not all blends are good (and some of them are just downright nasty); if the cookbook from Australia calls for something you aren't sure of, don't guess (oy...); and for the simple stuff, stick to what works. So, without further ado, here is in my opinion the best All-purpose flour blend that I have tried to date (thank you, Silvana Nardone):

• 6 cups white rice flour
• 3 cups tapioca flour
• 1.5 cups potato starch
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons xantham gum

In a BIG bowl, whisk everything together and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (or in the fridge, though I don't do this!). Makes about 4 pounds.

Now, just cause I have a recipe that I promised a friend of mine (which will be posted tomorrow, I promise!!!) that calls for it, here is Silvana's pancake mix as well:

• 9 cups Silvana's flour blend
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt

In a BIG bowl, whisk everything together and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. NOTE: This recipe is super easy to make in smaller batches for when you don't actually have enough of the flour mix to make that much. Simply divide everything by 3 (give or take) and you're good to go.

I'm makin' Waffles!!!!

My wonderful husband got me a waffle maker for the holidays. Heaven!!! The first time I used it, it brought me back to being a kid and how on Sundays my dad would make waffles for us all for brunch. And yes, I still put on way too much fruit, "butter" (in my case Earth Balance spread) and syrup, because really, if you Haven't filled each and every square, you're doing it wrong. Having said that, I have a confession to make: part of why I wanted the waffle maker was because of a specific recipe in "Cooking for Isaiah" that I really wanted to try. Meatloaf sandwiches on sun-dried tomato waffle bread. It was soooooooo worth it! By the time you've put it together, it's about the size of a too-big hamburger, and while it is a lot of ooey goey goodness, it didn't seem to fall apart in the same way that a regular 'bread' sandwich would have. The meatloaf is super moist, too, and worth making all on it's own. So, as I promised my friend L-A, here's the recipe!

Meatloaf Sandwiches on Sun-Dried Tomato Waffle bread

Meatloaf

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 1 sm onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 clove garlic, smushed in whatever way you want
• 2 lbs/1 kg ground beef
• 3/4 C Ketchup
• 2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup rice cereal crumbs (I use Nature's Path, as they are GF)
  
• 1 Tbsp choped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 5X9 loaf pan. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over med heat; add the onion and carrot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 min then let cool. (Note: I added mushrooms to this step, because we happen to like mushrooms.) In a medium bowl, combine the beef, 1/2 cup of the ketchup, eggs, cereal crumbs, onion mix, parsley, oregano 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. (Note: I also cheated as I didn't have the fresh herbs that night and replaced all the herbs and spices with about 3 Tbsp of Mama Mia Spagetti seasoning mix.) Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, rounding the top, and cover with the remaining 1/4 cup of ketchup. Bake until cooked through, about 1 hour. Let it set for about 10 minutes (or longer, which works better!) and cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Waffle Bread

• 2 cups Silvana's Pancake mix
• 1/2 cup drained chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 lg eggs, room temp, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 cups ''milk'' (I use almond milk, but soy, rice, hemp, whatever you use will work)
• Italian seasoning blend
  

In a large bowl, whisk together the pancake mix, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and Italian seasoning blend (Note: she says to just sprinkle it on the top of the batter right before baking, but that makes a god-awful mess, trust me on this). In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and milk. Add to the pancake mix mixture and stir until just combined. Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high heat. (I use a 5 setting on mine) Grease with nonstick cooking spray and fill your waffle iron to specifications; my waffle iron is full at 3/4 of a cup, so that's what I do, making sure to spread to the edges. Cook till waffle light says you're done (about 5 minutes) and repeat with remaining batter.

Serve the meatloaf on the waffle bread with tomato, lettuce and mayo. Sit back and joygasm =)

Back to the Begining

One of the hardest things that I had to come to terms with was that even though I have been cooking and baking for my entire life (my mum hated to cook, and was overjoyed to realize that I felt otherwise!), I was going to have to relearn EVERYTHING. Cooking was bad enough (until you can't eat gluten, you wouldn't believe the shit they put it in!) but baking... Gah! So when I did take it up again, after giving myself permission to mess things up and throw out what didn't work, I started looking around for cook books dedicated to GF and DF eating. The first thing I realized was Good Luck! But then once you do find them, they are not all created equal. Now, as I have a minor (read: large) obsession with cook books, that was less of an issue for me, since I just collect the damn things anyways. The two that I use the most are Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone (I decided I needed a waffle maker when I saw the recipe for Hash Brown Belgian waffles with apple sausage and fried eggs, though I'm happy to make Belgian waffles too) and Simply Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free: Breakfasts, Lunches, Treats, Dinners, Desserts by Grace Cheetham, though I also have her other one, I just haven't used it yet! Silvana's all purpose flour mix is the best one I've tried to date, and Grace's pie crust is simply wonderful. Well worth it, and both books have a lot of helpful info as well as just really tasty food!

Happy New Years, now almost time for bed!

Okay, so I haven't gone to bed yet, but before I do 1) Kamut baguette rocks! Yesterday we stopped in for what was supposed to be a really quick look at a shop called C'est La Vie Naturellement (1584 av Laurier East). Not only do they carry an impressive selection of gluten and dairy free stuff for a pretty small space(we picked up a spelt phyllo pastry that I'm so looking forward to trying out) but the staff were really friendly and helpful too! Definitely going back there. And 2) babycakes cake pop machines can and will handle GF cake batter just fine, and that's all I'ma say about that.