Monday, March 2, 2009

Cookbook suggestions

I have purchased a lot of cookbooks over the years including GF ones. Some of them have been absolutely awful! I wondered if these people ever cooked (let alone ate) the recipes they put in their books. The answer is not to replace tasty foods with inedible substitutes. I would rather skip a food category than eat a horrible immitation. Bread is still a big challenge although there are some good recipes, just a few, but they are usually a lot of work.

My all time favorite cookbook for GF foods Bette Hagman's " Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods." If you don't have a GF cookbook, I suggest you start with this one. Experiment a lot with recipes to see if you can substitute GF ingredients for the regular ones. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Try using whole grain or healthier substitutes like brown rice, quinoa, teff, montina, buckwheat, sorghum and soy flours. You almost always have to mix flours to make them workable. Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" on making bread has a lot of recipes you can try. She uses a lot of bean flour which some people can't tolerate. I have successfully substituted soy flour for the bean flours without problem some of the time so you may want to try that. Bette's Walnut Bread is especially good.

Grocery stores are beginning to carry more GF options but for now they primarily carry the less healthy options. Health food stores are more likely to have better options so look around. You can also order online but shipping is generally quite expensive. If you find a product that you like and it isn't in your store, let the manager know that you would like them to carry it. The more we ask, the more likely they will start stocking for us.

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