Be Free For Me Blog

This time of year, I am always scrambling to salvage anything and everything I can out of my garden before the bitter frosts come nipping at the late season vegetables. A frost so daring and bold that even flings with an Indian Summer, the strongest picket fence lined with heavy duty chicken wire, and my clinging thoughts of summer, can’t keep it at bay. 

Moving quickly through my overgrown vegetable plot with my garden shears in hand, I begin to feel like a bargain shopper during the last 10 minutes of a farmers market. Working my way through each and every row, I clip & stock pile everything and anything I can.

One of the largest crops at every summer end is the herbs. What once started out as tiny sprigs of green, are now fragrant bushes screaming out, “Use Me!”

What I have found to be the most magical use of an abundance of herbs, which also allows me to enjoy them year round, is pesto. Although “basic” pesto usually consists of basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic and pine nuts, it is easy to change the ingredients slightly to adapt to different food allergens. Shaking up the recipe can also add even more flavor and zip to the sometime bland gluten and allergen free menus.

Some of my most favorite uses of pesto include tossing it with fresh tomatoes and hot pasta; adding a bit more olive oil, along with fresh cracked pepper and drizzling it over salad greens for a quick and easy salad dressing; and smothered over fresh fish and vegetables before grilling or broiling.

For more pesto pointers and recipe ideas see the article “Pesto Pointers for the Gluten and Allergen Free” on BeFreeForMe.com.

Whenever food allergies or gluten-free lifestyles are mentioned on TV it brings more awareness and justification to the lifestyles that millions of people, like you and me, are living everyday. Hearing the words gluten-free or allergen-free on TV, especially on cooking-themed shows, gets me so excited that “our” lifestyles are getting more main stream every day!

But just in case you are not glued to the TV set, the following summaries and links bring you up to date on the latest buzz and recipes that makes gluten-free and allergen-free living a prime time event! 

Top Chef Masters (Bravo TV)
In the August 5, 2009 episode the chefs were asked to cook for Zooey Deschanel who can’t eat any meat, fish, eggs, dairy, soy or gluten.   The result?  Recipes prepared by the celebrity chefs that look awesome and are fit for company or fancier meals. Many of the recipes are noted as being a challenge to prepare, and contain ingredients that may not fit the bill for an everyday supper. However, they all look super delicious! These recipes include:

Quinoa Pasta with Salsa Verde, Gremolata and Tomatoes

Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Lentil Salad and Cashew Sauce

White Gazpacho with Grapes and Vanilla Oil

Corn Tamales with Chile-Braised Beans, Braised Greens, and Glazed Mushrooms

Strawberry Champagne Soup – Strawberry Rice Ice Cream and Almond Brittle

Emeril Green Episode (Discovery Chanel)
Who doesn’t love a gluten-free pizza party? On July 16, 2009 another mention of gluten-free living and recipe development can be found on an Emeril Green episode, where he makes Italian specialty dishes for a newly diagnosed celiac and her husband. Emeril says he has just the recipes so that this couple will have a pizza party to remember. Some of these unforgettable recipes are:

Gazpacho

Italian Salad

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough, White and Red Pizzas

Gluten-Free Pasta Primavera

Emeril Green Episode (Discovery Chanel)
Another mention of gluten-free living and recipe development appeared on April 27th, 2009 on another episode of Emeril Green, where he makes New Orleans favorites, san the gluten. The New Orleans Style Pecan Pie looks so good!

Gluten-Free Chicken Etouffee

Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

Skillet Cornbread

New Orleans Style Pecan Pie with Gluten-Free Crust

Martha Stewart Living / The Martha Stewart Show:
There are many mentions of allergen and gluten free recipes in the last year of Living, Martha Stewart’s magazine and cooking show. Make sure you check out the allergen-free Cinnamon Toastie recipe from BabyCakes in NYC, as well as these other noteworthy and yummy recipes including:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Layer Cake

Hazelnut-Vanilla Shortbread

Polenta “French Toast”

Allergen-Free Cinnamon Toasties

When my parents sent me off to business school and footed a hefty bill, I don’t think they imagined the most important thing I would learn during my junior year internship was how to make the most perfect, sugary sweet blueberry muffin in the world. But yes, Mom and Dad – it is true.

My internship was at Jordan Marsh and I was an assistant manager at one of the stores. Jordan Marsh was a Boston-based department store founded in 1841 legendary for their bakeries, and more so for their blueberry muffins. Every morning that sugary-sweet berry aroma started to make its way through the store, wafting through each and every department, slowly but surely, floor by floor.

I was a smart little gluten-eating cookie back then.  I asked to come in early each day (blamed it on the Route 128 traffic) so I could take my morning break first, at exactly 10:20 AM each day – right about the time those delectable sugar-crusted muffs were being taken out of the oven.

Nearing the end of my internship, the recipe for the legendary muffins made its way around the store, employee-to-employee, faster than the news that the muffins were out of the oven and ready to be served.

I found the recipe a few weeks back and tried it out, gluten-free style of course… Gluten Free Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins.  I am proud to say that I aced it – they came out sugary, sweet, and exactly the way I remember – minus the gluten.

And for the record? I also aced the internship. Sweet.

Gluten Free Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup of sugar (plus another plus ½ cup for sprinkling the tops of the muffins before and after baking)
2 eggs
2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour (plus another 1-2 tablespoons for tossing the berries)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup milk
2 cups of blueberries – plus a handful to sprinkle on the tops of the muffins prior to baking

With a blender, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until smooth. Add one of the eggs and beat. Repeat with the second egg. 

Sift together 2 cups of the gluten-free flour, salt and the baking powder. Add it to the creamed butter mixture slowly, alternating with adding milk.

In a large zip lock bag add the 1-2 tablespoons of the gluten-free flour and 2 cups of the blueberries. Gently shake until the blueberries are coated. Add a bit more gluten-free flour, if needed.

Next, carefully fold the flour-coated blueberries into the batter and refrigerate for ½ hour while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 6 jumbo muffin tins, as well as the outside of the tins (since the batter mushrooms over).  Remove the muffin mix from the fridge and fill the muffin tins generously with the batter. Evenly sprinkle the muffin tops with ¼ cup of the sugar and about 5-6 extra blueberries (not coated in flour) on each muffin.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Cool for 30-40 minutes before removing from tins to ensure they come out in one piece.

Question: I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but I’m always in a hurry and need some quick and healthy gluten-free / allergen-free ideas. Help!

Eating on the run in the morning is a challenge for many of us. It’s tempting to skip breakfast and just grab a coffee but you need to fuel your body with healthier choices to stay energized and alert. Here are a few ideas…

• GF toasted bagel, bread or English muffin with nut butter (almond, cashew or peanut) with sliced banana and glass of milk or 100% fruit juice

• Smoothie made with fresh or frozen fruit, yogurt or milk*, spoonful of ground flax, crushed ice and sweetener (honey, sugar, agave or sugar substitute) and a gluten-free muffin or energy bar (see recipe below)

• Frozen GF waffles (e.g., Van’s or Nature’s Path) with cottage cheese, peaches and sprinkled with cinnamon and a dash of syrup

• GF cereal or granola with yogurt or milk* and fresh fruit

• GF hot cereal (e.g., Bob’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty GF Hot Cereal or GF oats** and a spoonful of ground flax) made with water or milk* prepared in the microwave and served with fresh or dried fruit (e.g., raisins, apricots, mangoes)

• Leftover GF pizza warmed in the microwave or eaten cold and a glass of 100% fruit juice

* GF Milk substitutes (almond, potato, rice or soy beverages) can replace milk for those with
   lactose intolerance.

** GF oats available from Bob’s Red Mill, Cream Hill Estates, FarmPure Foods, Gifts of Nature, Gluten-Free Oats). For more information about GF oats see http://www.glutenfreediet.ca/oats.php

There are a number of granola, muffin and portable fruit bar recipes that can be pre-made. Here is one of my favorite healthy energy bar recipe detailed below. These energy bars can be stored for a week in an air tight container and can also be individually wrapped and frozen for up to one month.  You can also find more recipes, tips and substitutions along with the nutrition content of the recipes in the Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide.

Carrot Apple Energy Bars

1 ¼ cups sorghum flour
½ cup amaranth flour
1/3 cup rice bran
¼ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup non-fat (skim) milk powder
1½ teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon gluten-free baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ cups grated carrots
¾ cup dried fruit mix
½ cup chopped walnuts
Line 13 X 9 inch baking pan with foil and grease lightly.

In a large bowl or plastic bag. Combine sorghum flour, amaranth flour, rice bran, ground flaxseed, milk powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Mix well and set a side.

In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs, applesauce and brown sugar until combined.

Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in carrots, dried fruit and nuts.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan; spread to edges with a moist rubber spatula and allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 325° F oven for 30—35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack and cut into bars.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or individually wrapped and frozen for up to 1 month.

Yield 18 bars

From Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide and reprinted with permission from: The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt, Robert Rose Inc., Publisher, 2005; bestbreadrecipes.com

Note: Ask Shelley Case is a feature of BeFreeForMe.com. It is published the first Tuesday of each month. Shelley Case is a Registered Dietitian, Consulting Dietitian, Speaker and Author of Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide.

I discovered an awesome gluten-free fried dough!

No, I didn’t discover it at some carnival stand, amusement park, fair or seaside resort. I found it in my very own kitchen during a “mistake” I made last week while developing a pancake recipe.

What was suppose to be a no-fuss, skillet-less pancake transformed itself into a shiny, disk of bubbling crispy batter. As soon as I opened the oven door, I thought I was in the House of Mirrors… I knew I wasn’t dealing with any ordinary pancake anymore. This darn disk of dough had played a trick on me.

I was in heaven. The buttery balloon-like pockets were screaming for powdered sugar & cinnamon louder than children on a field trip while diving down the rollercoaster’s largest hill.

Check out this recipe yourself. And beware – because you won’t want to share!

Gluten-free Fried Dough

4 tablespoons butter
½ cup gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
½ cup milk
2 eggs
A few dashes of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the butter in a glass pie plate, and put in the oven until melted. Do not burn!

While butter is melting, whisk the rest of the ingredients together.

Remove pan from oven, and make sure that the melted butter is distributed evenly across the bottom of the pan. Pour batter over the top.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the edges are crispy and browning.

Remove pan from oven, and remove any butter that has pooled on top of dough. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cinnamon or granulated sugar.

Enjoy!

Since going gluten free I don’t eat that much bread. I know that there are plenty of gluten-free breads out there that taste just fine and could fool even the savviest of gluten-eaters – but I still don’t eat much of it.

What I do love is finding creative ways to wrap, roll and stack my deli meats, cheeses, nut spreads and jams.

Some of my favorites? Rice spring rolls, corn taco shells and really big lettuce leaves. Read more of my favorites in my article, Use Your Head for Substitutes for Bread.

Post to this blog and share your ideas and thoughts about your “next best thing since sliced bread” too… We all need some more lunch ideas!

Making rich, flavorful and lump-free gravy can be a horrific task for anyone, let alone those who are cooking a gluten free or allergen free Thanksgiving meal.

When I was little I remember my Mom on Thanksgiving Day orchestrating the turkey getting carved, the potatoes being mashed, the veggies coming off the stove and the pies getting warmed in the oven. Then came the most stressful and hectic part of the Thanksgiving Day meal preparation: the gravy.

Back in the gluten-day, my Mom made gravy the old-fashioned way. All I remember is a lot of frantic stirring, a lot of flour, and if there wasn’t enough stirring – a lot of lumps.

The key to making perfect gravy is to use a whisk, rather than a spoon when mixing the ingredients. Also, mixing the cornstarch with a bit of broth to make a thin paste, instead of adding the thickening agent directly into the gravy mixture makes certain a lump-free end result.

The following gravy recipe is guaranteed to be lump free, stress free – as well as gluten, dairy, fish and nut free… (for a soy free version use soy free chicken broth).

Good Gravy.

Gravy

This is a basic recipe using turkey or chicken drippings. You can vary the flavor with your favorite herbs ands spices.

1 ¾ cups GF chicken broth, such as Swanson’s Natural Goodness, divided
½ cup strained drippings from turkey or chicken
¼ cup white wine (optional)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground sage
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning

1. Combine strained drippings, broth, and wine in heavy saucepan, reserving ½ cup of the broth. (To lower the fat content, skim the fat off the top or freeze it for 15 minutes so fat congeals and can be removed—or use a specially designed measuring cup that allows you to pour the drippings from the bottom, leaving the fat in the cup.)

2. Place pan over medium-high heat, adding seasonings. Stir cornstarch into ½ cup reserved broth, making a thin paste. Gently whisk thickening mixture into pan, continuing to whisk until mixture thickens and boils. Adjust consistency by adding more thickener or chicken broth. Remove from heat. Strain, if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Makes 2 ¼ cups. Serves 8 (about ¼ cup gravy each).

Reprinted with permission from Gluten-Free 101 by Carol Fenster (Savory Palate, Inc.)