Gluten-Free Cooking Tips (taken from FitnessandFreebies.com)

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Gluten-Free Cooking Tips

taken from FitnessandFreebies.com

July 14, 2004

Beware of spices which contain wheat flour! Many manufacturers use wheat flour to keep spices from clumping. Knox un-flavored gelatin is readily available in regular grocery stores in the baking supplies area. It adds moisture and helps bind ingredients. It is a welcome addition to bread recipes with gluten-free flours. Besides commercially prepared Egg Replacer, Flaxseed can be used as an egg substitution. Mixing one tablespoon ground flaxseed with two tablespoons warm water for each egg. Let it sit after adding. If you are soy tolerant, add one half teaspoon lecithin to this mixture plus one teaspoon baking powder to help the leavening process. When substituting this mixture for a regular egg, add one extra. Duck eggs are often tolerated by those who have problems with chicken eggs. They can be hard to find. Look for them in Chinese markets. Coconut milk is a good substitute for cow and soy milk. Xanthan

gum can be substituted for guar gum. Rice bran can be substituted for rice polish. Sweet rice is a rice that is low (10 to 18 percent) in the starch compound called amylose. White rice can NOT be substituted for sweet rice (it is not sticky enough ). Tapioca flour works roughly the as tapioca starch. GF breads should be beaten by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula. A whisk doesn't work - the batter should be a bit too thick for this. The mix master over-beats them and they get too fine a texture and tend to fall. If you put 1-1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar and 1-teaspoon of baking soda in for two loaves, they do not interfere with the yeast but help the bread to rise and keep it up during baking. Limit the use of potato, bean, arrowroot and tapioca flour to about 25-percent maximum. If the bread is 'sticky' when baked, cut these flours down further.

~Melonie (R.O.C.K. leader for NoVa/Metro DC Chapter) & Owner of SillyYaks (www.groups.yahoo.com/group/SillyYaks)

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson__________________________________________________