I'm sure I haven't found just the right recipe - or my inexperience prevents me from adapting a terrific recipe to the conditions in which I'm baking: gas stove, Pacific Northwest weather (wet, wet, wet nine months out of the year, then three months of arid, gorgeous sunshine.) Very Jekyll and Hyde.
With experience and time this will change - I hope - but I'm not terribly patient and would like these delicacies today. Since they are not about to fall in my lap, here is my growing baking bucket list:
- Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, corn-free, sugar-free yeast-free sandwich bread
- Corn-free "Corn" bread
- Oat-free Oatmeal cookie
- A decent tortilla
- Light, airy biscuits
- An edible cracker
- Dried fruit sans sugar
- oat-free granola
- cereal
Really, bread isn't too much to ask under these restrictions, is it? When I used to make bread for my son, I was allowed to use yeast. I had varying success with it, but many times there was a thin layer of gummy dough that settled near the bottom of the bread. Other times, the bread would have giant air holes outlined by a fragile perimeter of gum.
My biscuits? Dense, doughy bricks.
As I reacquaint myself with GF baking, bakers these days shy away from using gums (xanthan and guar) as a binder as this often feeds the gummy residue that plagues GF baked good. Plus, I have a corn allergy, so xanthan gum is a no-no now. I will begin my quest for an edible sandwich bread with leaner and meaner GF flour blends and hope for the best.
I know people have reported success with bread machines, but I hesitate to make such an expensive purchase until I have found a recipe that has a prayer of working. Converting to the GFDFEFSFYFCF whole foods mostly organic lifestyle has proven expensive enough. I have to curb my inclination to obtain gadgets to make life easier. It's only easier if the chef puts in the time first.
An oat-free oatmeal cookie is probably the most attainable item on the list. I've just got so much on my plate right now, I haven't buckled down and tried something. The biggest obstacle, clearly, is the lack of oats. Quinoa flakes have been suggested as an oat stand-in. The taste seems a little earthy, but it's worth a shot. When I triumph, I will post it.
One of the many things I mourn is the loss of corn. I used to make a great Chicken Tortilla soup adapted from Ree Drummond's delicious recipe, but I can't have corn tortillas anymore. I'm hideous at rolling out dough, which puts a serious cramp in my ability to make tortillas and crackers. Or pie crusts. I was a mediocre to non-existent baker before all this started, so I have little foundation from which to launch my GF baking career. It's no wonder it fizzled out. But I am renewed (read: desperate) in my commitment and will push on like a good do-bee.
I used to eat the dried blueberries from Costco by the bag. I still did after my diagnosis, until I thought to scan the ingredient list. Holy Moses! I had no idea how many products contained sugar. Dried fruit, tomato paste, tomato sauce, dressings, condiments, allergy-free crackers, cereals...the list is staggering. I nearly wept as one item after another had to be stricken from my grocery list. However, a dried fruit solution might be on the horizon. We've bitten the bullet and purchased a dehydrator. I know there are products on the market that are sugar-free (Eden makes a line of dried fruit that is fruit-juice concentrate sweetened) but, again - expensive. It will do in a pinch, but I want to create alternatives that are less costly and self-sustaining.
The dehydrator should also come in handy for making homemade granola. I've been surfing many a gluten-free vegan site and have found a wonderful selection of granola recipes (mostly raw) that I will try. My dehydrator should be here today, so I must get busy soaking buckwheat groats.
Cereal - will I ever eat this breakfast staple again? The first big hurdle is corn. Many gluten-free cereals contain corn. If they don't, they contain oat. If they don't, you can be sure they contain some form of cane sugar. If by some miracle they are fruit juice sweetened, they either contain corn or oats. Sigh.
As of October 21, 2012, my bucket list is modest. It must be, b/c to make it any bigger would create a challenge too large for my wee brain to handle. Baby steps is the name of the game when converting yourself to a healthier, alien lifestyle. As my success rate grows, so will the list. I will have faith. And courage. And patience.
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