GF-Zing! - this website is Gluten Free!

We tried a new cookbook, it’s not a gluten free cookbook, but it’s really fun, and the recipes are good and easy to convert to gf and there are two Gluten Free Cupcake recipes included in the book. The book is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. On the back of the cookbook is the header “Prepare for Total Cupcake Domination” which gives a hint that the author has a sense of humor.

For a test, we tried Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting. For this recipe, we substituted 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup gluten free cookie flour mix and added 1/2 teaspoon extra xantham gum to the batter. It took a little longer to bake these gluten free cupcakes than the instructions noted in the book - so test those cupcakes with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

We did not have “coffee extract” so we made our own using 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee and a small amount of hot water. The cupcakes were yummy, with an interesting mochi-like texture, for those of you who like mochi - it’s chewy. We can’t wait to try other recipes from the cute little book.

This is a recipe for a baked version of an old-fashioned side dish - sweet potato puffs - from the 1977 cookbook of the Virginia division of the American Cancer Society. You can make these puffs from yams, or sweet potatoes, and for a sort of modern fusion-cooking vegetarian experience Gf-Zing! recommends that you serve them with a mushroom risotto flavored with thyme. Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

Mixture:

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes, cooled

2-3 Tablespoons melted butter

5 Tablespoons orange marmalade (a bitter marmalade is best)

1 or 2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all these ingredients together, spread out on a pan and refrigerate until cold. Using a spoon, form balls of this mixture the size of walnuts or slightly larger, and roll each ball in chopped blanched almonds (you need 1 cup of chopped blanched almonds for this).

Place the sweet potato balls on a silpat lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until the almonds are browned. You could serve these with roast poultry or pork also.

Gf-Zing! has been experimenting with the 123 Gluten Free Pound Cake mix, and we have hit on an excellent set of additions. Make the mix as directed on the package but use grapefruit soda, and add 3/4 cup of dried currants, and 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom seeds. It is important to use freshly ground cardamom seeds. Use dried, green cardamom pods, crack them open and take out the seeds, discarding the shells. Crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle until you have a powder, and then measure 1 1/2 teaspoons.

We make the cake in an angel food cake pan, with a cookie sheet underneath on the oven shelf below to catch any drips. We dust the greased cake pan with mochiko (sweet rice) or tapioca flour. It takes 1 1/4 hours to bake.

• The additions of currants, cardamom seed and grapefruit soda make an excellent cake. Try it with a cup of darjeeling tea!

Gf-Zing! received the following questions about flour substitutions from a reader named Melissa:

I’ve read that as a substitute for wheat flour in a recipe that you can use chickpea flour for a substitute in a 1:1 ratio without any further changes to the original recipe. This seems too easy – do you know if this is true?

Here’s our answer: Chickpea flour can be substituted for wheat flour 1:1 for dusting meats that are going to be fried, but it has a pretty beany flavor so it would not necessarily be the right choice for substituting in baked goods. We would not use large amounts of chickpea flour in baked goods because of this beaniness.  For frying meat, you might also try using mochiko flour (this is sweet rice flour), especially for making something like Coq Au Vin for which the flour is a vital thickening agent in the sauce.

I’ve also read that 1 cup of the following (after mixed very well) equals 1 cup of all-purpose flour, is this also true and how does it taste? 1 cup of cornstarch or arrowroot, 3 cups of rice flour, 3 cups of potato starch flour, ½ cup soy flour

As for a flour mix, for baked goods Gf-Zing! prefers the following general mix, and if we are making a cake we add extra xantham gum to the batter:

Flour Mix

2 cups plain brown rice flour
2 cups plain white rice flour
1 1/2 cups sweet brown rice flour (this is a different kind of rice flour – you could also use sweet white rice flour)
1 1/3 cups tapioca starch or tapioca flour
2/3 cups GF corn starch
1/2 cups rice bran or rice polish
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free. Mix all the ingredients together in a large container or bag. Use as much as you need for your recipe. Store the rest.

Hope this helps!

This simple recipe from the Gf-Zing! website is designed for the gluten-free community, but the glutenated world will enjoy it too! You can make a delicious meal with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. Have ready a couple of plates, some mashed potatoes and a glass of pinot noir for the chef, and start cooking:

• 1 to 1.5 pounds Lamb top round roast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
• freshly ground salt and pepper
• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large tomato cut into eight wedges
• 1/2 a lemon

Slice the lamb roast into four 3/4 inch slices - each one should be the size of a playing card or a burger. Spread each slice on both sides with the minced or grated garlic, then sprinkle one side with thyme, mint, salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a robust pan until hot. Fry the lamb steaks on the non-herb side for 3 minutes, then flip them to the other side that has the herbs on it.

Fry for 2 minutes, then add the tomato wedges and fry for 2 minutes more. Move the lamb steaks and tomato wedges to your plates, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and serve.

A helpful reader has sent an email to gfzing@gmail.com with a new link for the Spanish recipes section, since the old Recetas sin Gluten: Aptas para Celiacos was no longer working.  The link has been changed.  Thanks to alert readers for their assistance!

Most muffin and quick bread recipes include a very large amount of sugar, producing a cloyingly sweet breakfast.  This Gf-Zing! recipe uses less sugar (and some honey), and is gluten free.
Mix Dry ingredients in a large bowl:

1 cup Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Mix, or other GF flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup pecan meal
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl:
1 cup fresh or canned squash, mashed
1/2 cup mango juice (or other fruit juice)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg product

Stir the two mixtures together until thoroughly mixed, then add:
3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 12-muffin pan with aluminum liner papers.  Fill liners with batter to the top.  Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

These yummy muffins were developed for the Gf-Zing! website. The large amount of cinnamon balances the blandness of rice-based flours.
Use a 12-muffin pan, and line with aluminum foil liners.

In a large bowl, mix:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum

Mix throroughly, then stir in 2 cups Bette’s Featherlight Rice Flour Blend (Authentic Foods makes a pre-mixed bag of this flour blend, or you can mix your own using the directions in one of Bette Hagman’s books.)

Next, stir in 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup broken or chopped pecans. Stir to blend thoroughly.
Spoon the batter in to the muffin liners, then bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make sure all your ingredients, including the spices, are gluten free.

This easy frying technique is very versatile and worth trying for almost any product that you might once have “floured” before frying. The result is gluten-free, but it is superior to much of what the glutenated world consumes!

You will need to find some gluten free rice wrappers (banh trang wrappers) in an Asian grocery store. These wrappers are round, and they have a cross-hatch pattern on them from the basket weave of the manufacturing process. You can use the 6 inch or the 8 inch variety - no matter. To use the wrappers, you soak them in warm water for 20 seconds, one or two at a time. Be careful to read the label - there are a few versions of this product that contain wheat (they have a different cross-hatch pattern on them.)
Set out a pie plate of warm-hot water right next to where you are working, and open the package of rice wrappers.

Prepare a zesty seasoning mixture of chopped scallions, garlic, ginger, hot peppers, salt, pepper or whatever you like - use some type of onion-like vegetable, and some fresh herbs that go with fish. You will need a tablespoon of seasoning mixture per piece of fish.
Cut the fish into 4″ pieces (skinless, boneless). Use salmon, cod, hake or other firm-fleshed fish.

Place a single wrapper in the water, then lay it out on a piece of waxed paper until it is soft enough to roll - about 20 seconds total.

Place the soaked wrapper on a plate, put a tablespoon of the seasoning mixture in the center of the wrapper, spreading it to the same size as one piece of fish.

Put a piece of fish on top of the seasoning on the soaked wrapper.

Complete the package: Fold the bottom piece of wrapper over the fish, then fold in the two side bits, then roll the package up towards the top of the wrapper so the package becomes a sort of egg roll.

Set the wrapped fish aside and continue with the rest of the pieces of fish, using one wrapper per piece.

Heat oil on medium-high until hot enough for frying in a non-stick pan or heavy pan and fry the wrapped fish packages for 4 minutes per side until crispy and browned. The oil should be hot enough so the packages sizzle immediately when they go in the pan.

Serve the fish packages as is or with a gluten-free asian dipping sauce - the kind that is served with pot stickers.

It’s been a couple of years since we had a good pound cake, with a fine crumb, a rich buttery taste and a golden exterior. On a whim, we purchased a box (it is a large, heavy, substantial box) of 123 Gluten Free Delightfully Gratifying Bundt Poundcake and took it home. This cake really is easy to make - you add 3 sticks of softened butter and 5 eggs, and then, and here is the fun part, you add 3/4 cup of soda (pop)! The batter is pretty heavy before you add the soda, and then things start looking like batter and it’s off to the oven in the angel food cake pan - the kind with a tube up the middle. We let it cook until it was nice and brown and the bamboo skewer we stuck in the middle came out clean. We greased the pan using the wrappers from the butter and then “floured” the pan with tapioca flour as instructed on the package.

This is a rich, bad-for-you treat is excellent on its own, and even better with a little bitter marmalade spread on a slice for breakfast. We will be trying it out in a few recipes that call for a “purchased pound cake” as well.

Update: We tried this cake again, using a tangerine soda, and added the grated zest of two lemons to the mixture. This made a much more lemony cake, and we liked it even better. Note also that the mix is expensive, but that the resulting cake is very substantial - it will last quite a while, even when sliced thinly.  Unlike other gf cakes, this one is just as good, if not better, than what the glutenated world eats.

Next time, we will experiment by adding orange peel and a lot of dried currants to make a tea cake.  We are very optimistic about this mix and the potential for some really great desserts.

This is A Gf-Zing! recommended product. Gf-Zing! does not verify the gluten free status of any product.

This nice rice pudding from Gf-Zing! has large grains of rice and tart cherries to offset the sugar. The recipe is not cloyingly sweet, and is quite attractive-looking because of the large grains of rice.

In the rice cooker, put 3/4 cup of Arborio rice, 4 cups of non-fat milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of dried cherries and 2 Tablespoons of slivered almonds. Set the menu to Porridge, close the top and turn on the cooker.

When the cooker switches to “keep warm,” beat 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract in a large bowl. Add the hot, cooked rice mixture to the egg mixture, about a soup spoon at a time, and beat well with a large spoon after each addition. The reason for adding a little of the hot rice at a time is so that the egg will not cook suddenly - if it did, it would make a sort of rice pudding with hard-boiled egg bits in it - Yuck! If you add the rice a bit at a time and stir vigorously after each addition, then you will get a nice creamy rice pudding.

After this mixture cools, serve it in small bowls with heavy cream to pour over each serving. You may have to do a little counter-top clean up, if the milk comes out through the vent holes in the top of the cooker during the cooking process. We had to clean up this milky mess, but we didn’t mind because the rice pudding was so tasty!

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

There is a good collection of gluten free recipes for Thanksgiving dishes to grace your table this year - click on the Thanksgiving link in the index on the right hand side of this page, and enjoy!