Recipe: Gluten Free Pizza Crust by Beth Hillson

Beth sends out the weekly e-mails for GlutenFree.com. She is also the food editor for Living Without magazine. This recipe is for her gluten free pizza crust. If you've been missing pizza, give this one a try!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust by Beth Hillson
*Enough for Two 12-Inch Pizzas

Ingredients:

½ cup arrowroot flour
½ cup tapioca starch
1 cup chickpea or other bean flour
1 cup rice flour
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1¼ cups warm water
1 egg, lightly beaten, or flax gel
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon cider vinegar

Toppings
Gluten-free tomato sauce
1½ cups grated mozzarella cheese, soy cheese or other nondairy cheese
Other toppings, as desired (some ideas are canadian bacon and pineapple; pepperoni and black olives; or vegetarian pizza with red and green peppers, red onions, black olives)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare two 12-inch round pizza pans by spraying them lightly with vegetable spray or brushing with olive oil. Combine first eight ingredients until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix together water, egg, olive oil and cider vinegar. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth.
Place half the dough in each pan. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with vegetable spray and place it oil side down on the dough. With the palm of your hand, push dough evenly to the edges of the pan to form a crust. Repeat with the second pan of dough.
Discard plastic wrap. Brush dough with olive oil. Top with pizza sauce, grated cheese and other toppings of choice.
Bake in preheated oven on lowest rack for 14 to 16 minutes or until edges are golden. Let cool 2 to 3 minutes before slicing and serving.

Product Review: La Tortilla Ivory Teff Wraps

Bearing in mind that if you've had flour wraps before and crave the soft texture, finding a wrap to replace it that is gluten free is truly a challenge. Corn tortillas offer little solace - they often crack and split open after warming and all your fillings spill out. I've been looking for a better option, but unfortunately, this isn't it.

A more accurate name for this product might be TUFF wraps. I tried a few different heating methods just in case something worked better than another, but there was no way this product was going to taste any better or behave like a traditional tortilla.

These tasted a LOT like cardboard. They were awful, awful, awful. And the texture was tough and difficult to chew. After only a few bites, I pulled the wrap off and threw it in the trash. This has been, without a doubt, one of the worst gluten free substitutes I've ever had the misfortune of trying.

Product Review: Crispy Cat Mint Coconut

Well technically this really isn't much of a stretch for gluten free, but it IS a gluten free product nonetheless! I love coconut and mint, and I figured this would taste a bit like a Mounds or Almond Joy. Indeed it does - but with a bigger hit of flavors than you might expect.

The mint is strong but not overpowering, the coconut is soft and fleshy and is mixed with crispy rice cereal. I liked this best after it had been chilled - the flavor almost compares to a mint ice cream bar that way. It's coated in a rich dark chocolate blanket that is truly decadent to the senses.

The calories are a bit high on this one at 210, so enjoy in moderation or share it with a friend!

Product Review: Glutino Pretzel Twists

Pretzel lovers rejoice! This is the best pretzel I've had since going gluten free. And I think there can be quite a few recipes for this one with regards to crushing and breading things. I'm already thinking of a superfine crush to create a breading for fried chicken... Oh, and this would go great on fish, too...

These taste like the real deal - salty, crunchy and delicious. Open the bag and it SMELLS heavenly - the baked fresh scent that any wheat based product has. Glutino also sells stick pretzels, but I'm partial to the twists...

If you need a product to satisfy a salt craving, make these a "go-to" product - 24 of these (one serving) only has 190 calories. Available at glutenfree.com (click the banner to the right or at the bottom to go to the store) and in many health food stores, including Whole Foods.

Now if only I could find a soft baked pretzel that is as good as these are...

Product Review: Jo-Sef Graham Crackers

If you are looking for a fantastic graham cracker to make smores, you just found it! This is a terrific tasting graham cracker that is thick and crispy. These do not have the taste reminiscent of cardboard that some others have - they are slightly sweet, have a heavenly homebaked scent, and a nice crunch to them. Try these as an accompaniment to ice cream, as a base for chocolate mousse, spread with cream cheese or peanut butter.

I found these at glutenfree.com (click on the banner at the bottom of the page to visit the site) and they come in several flavors: cinammon, chocolate and vanilla. At www.josefsglutenfree.com you can also find these in a coffee flavor.

I have crushed up the chocolate ones for a pie crust base, the vanilla for smores and just for snacking. I used to eat graham crackers with peanut butter as a kid, so this was a definite find for me. Easy to love for both kids and parents alike!

Tip: For a pie crust base, just crush these in a blender or place in a large ziploc and roll a rolling pin until desired consistency is reached.

Product Review: Purely Decadent Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert

This is one of those products that makes you happy SOMEONE is taking food intolerances seriously!

I was already a fan of Turtle Mountain for their Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zig Zag Dairy Free Frozen Dessert, so when the new line of coconut milk products came out, I knew I wanted to try them. Having dairy intolerance off and on lead me to try several products, but these are some of the best.

The Cookie Dough flavor from the Coconut Milk line (there is also a Cookie Dough flavor in the regular soy line) is the best I have ever come across. The cookie dough chunks are fantastic - just like you are eating a little frozen ball of the real deal. The fact that this product line is both gluten free AND dairy free makes me one happy camper. In addition to the cookie dough chunks, this product also has these insanely good chocolate flakes that remind me of Magic Shell. Remember Magic Shell? All together, this is a delicious dessert that any age can appreciate - if you are older and missing cookie dough ice cream, this will hit the spot! Even my non-celiac husband loved it.

If you love coconut, give this line a try. Other flavors include Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, Coconut, Mint Chip, Mocha Almond Fudge, Passionate Mango and Vanilla Bean.

If you have an aversion to coconut, try their soy Purely Decadent line - there is sure to be a flavor you will like from the 21 flavors available! See their website at www.turtlemountain.com for more information!

Recipe: Tarragon Turkey & Rice Soup

I was looking for a soup recipe, and came across this tasty one compliments of glutenfreeda.com. Still trying to find that elusive "perfect chicken noodle soup" recipe. If you have it or know someone who does, let me know!

Tarragon Turkey & Rice Soup (gluten free)

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked turkey, chopped
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 cups gf chicken stock
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large heavy saucepan heat oil and melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots; sauteing until onion is translucent. Add chicken stock and remaining ingredients, except rice and tarragon. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Five minutes before soup is done add rice and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Pancakes

Here is a recipe I adapted from one of my grandmother's. They remind me of buttermilk style pancakes. Light and fluffy with a tender bite.

Gluten-Free Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups Nearly Normal All-Purpose Flour (see preview below for where to buy)
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 and 3/4 cup milk, soymilk or rice milk
4 Tblsp melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

Optional Add-ins: chocolate chips, pecans, blueberries, etc.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well-incorporated using a hand mixer or a whisk. Batter will be slightly thick. Preheat pan on medium heat, add batter (using a soup ladle works best for me) until desired size is reached. (silver dollar size, pancake house size, or plate size) Wait for edges to appear "dry" and bubbles to surface. Flip over and continue cooking on other side. Both sides should be golden brown and "crispy".

Add desired toppings and enjoy!

A note about making cookies...

I'm sure many of you may have already come up against this at one time or another, but just in case it hasn't crossed your radar yet, here goes!

I am in no way shape or form a professional chef - I am a home cook, just someone who loves to tinker with recipes and has a family cookbook to draw upon for new ideas. I also am addicted to food magazines and Food Network and get a great many new inventions from reading and watching.

Cookies are my Achille's Heel - for some reason I have yet to be consistent with them. That said, I do feel I need to pass along a tidbit or two about cookies:

* Do NOT, I repeat NOT, spray your cookie sheets with Pam or any other cooking spray. The end result will be a "cookie blanket" with crispy to burnt edges and gooey, undercooked "lumps" scattered throughout. You will be saying, "Dear Lord, what IS that thing?" before it's come out of the oven.

* Though some recipes call for Earth Balance Buttery Sticks in place of butter, for cookies the translation does not work well. As the sticks are 79% vegetable oil, you get the picture... I could not "contain" the cookies and they all joined together. I have had MUCH better luck using shortening instead. Go figure.

* If you use butter, just be aware that it needs to be soft, not melted, when making the cookie dough. Of course, you can always chill the dough for a while if you did melt the butter because you didn't feel like using hockey pucks, i.e. cold butter.

Now I am off to practice some zen meditation... be ONE with the cookies... :o)

Recipe: Almost Cheeseburger (Gluten-Free) by Connie Sarros

This is a recipe from Connie Sarros, published on the celiac.com site. Connie has authored Wheat-Free Gluten-Free Dessert Cookbook, Wheat-Free Gluten-Free Reduced Calorie Cookbook, and Wheat-Free Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Working Adults. This recipe is featured in the Wheat-Free Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Working Adults.

Ridiculously good as a dip with corn tortilla chips! Your kids will love it!

Almost Cheeseburger (Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:
½ lb. lean ground beef
1 teaspoon dried minced onion flakes
1 lb. gluten-free processed cheese, cut into cubes
¼ cup milk
1 Tablespoon gluten-free ketchup
2 Tablespoons gluten-free mustard

Directions:
Have an adult help you brown the beef and onion flakes in a skillet that has been sprayed with a gluten-free nonstick spray, breaking up the meat with a fork as it cooks. Stir in the cheese, milk, ketchup and mustard; stir until the cheese has melted.
Note: Use as a dip with crackers, as a cheeseburger with gluten-free bread fingers as dippers, or as a main meal by serving it over boiled, gluten-free elbow macaroni.

Product Preview: Nearly Normal Cooking Flour

Many of us who subscribe to the newsletter at Glutenfree.com were told about Expandex Modified Tapioca Starch, touting it as kind of a God-send to the gluten free community. Upon going to the site and learning it was no longer available in sample form, nor was there any place to buy it for home cooks, I pretty much chalked it up to another disappointment.

That is until I heard about Nearly Normal Cooking Flour from Jules Shepard. It CONTAINS this magical, miracle ingredient - and the rave reviews are coming in fast and furious. While most of the in-store locations for this product are in the East (Maryland, Minnesota and North Carolina), it can also be purchased at www.nearlynormalkitchen.com or www.julesglutenfree.com

The website www.nearlynormalcooking.com contains recipes, links to in-store locations, and much more for this highly touted product. I plan to get some and try it - many people say it gives their baked goods the loft and tenderness that is missing when using other alternative flours. I would love to hear from anyone else who has already tried this "miracle flour" to let me know if it lives up to the hype!