"GLUTEN-FREE ON A BUDGET," by Chandice Probst and Tana Besendorfer, Front Table Books, $21.99, 250 pages
Cooking and eating gluten-free is not a death sentence. Meals can continue to be full of delicious, filling foods that everyone (gluten-free and gluten-full) will love. That is the attitude of Chandice Probst and Tana Besendorfer, the authors of the new cookbook Gluten-Free on a Budget.
Probst and Besendorfer are cheerful and optimistic about the gluten-free diet. They encourage readers to be proactive about their health and diet. This book highlights how possible it is to eat normal and that a gluten-free diet can taste just like the favorites a home cook grew up with.
This cookbook includes about 90 recipes divided into six chapters for breakfasts, salads/sides/soups, main dishes, breads, desserts and holidays and traditions. Practically every recipe has a photo. The recipes include those for familiar, comfort foods (scalloped potatoes, chicken salad, biscuits, apple pie) as well as some new, enticing options (Mesquite Chicken Pasta Salad, Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan Bread, Pao de Queijo). The authors also explain how to make some essentials that can be difficult gluten-free: gravy, cream of chicken soup, pie crust.
The recipes are tasty but not particularly healthy. They have a lot of sugar, cream, butter and meat. Of course, this makes them taste fabulous. After biting into one of the Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins, my daughter asked, Who is this angel lady?
The baked items call for a lot of ingredients, more than most gluten-free recipes. But they also taste better than most gluten-free recipes.
The Chocolate Caramel Toffee Cake is the best cake we have eaten since our wheat days. The rolls were so good, my 5-year-old recommended that we give them to Santa Claus this year instead of cookies. We weren't as excited about the Hearty Oat Bread it was too dry and crumbly. But homemade gluten-free food is never wasted. It became delicious French toast in the morning.
Probst and Besendorfer also have some great ideas for food on the go: breakfast egg cups, pancake bites, walking taco (assembled inside a corn chip bag). They also include tips on what to look for in basic ingredients, Celiac disease and gluten sensitivities, meal planning, school lunches and food storage.
Homemade food takes time. Gluten-free homemade food takes even more time. Many of the entree recipes in this cookbook are quick and efficient (pizza, chicken enchiladas, Hawaiian haystacks, Mongolian beef, beef stroganoff), but set aside an afternoon for the breads and pastries. Don't worry, that time won't be wasted gluten-free family and friends might just love you forever.
*****
RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS
It is a wonderful surprise when you bite into a muffin and its filled with a creamy raspberry cream cheese filling. Make a big batch; you might not be able to eat just one. Tana
cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
cup vanilla yogurt
cup whole milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
13 cup almond flour
cup brown rice flour
cup sorghum flour
3 tablespoons coconut flour
cup tapioca starch
cup potato starch
4 teaspoons baking powder
teaspoon xanthan gum
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese
13 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
raspberries
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add yogurt, milk and lemon juice. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to wet mixture. Mix until well blended. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare cream cheese filling by combining all ingredients and whisking until smooth. Put cream cheese mixture into a zip-close bag and snip a piece off the corner. Grease a muffin tin.
Using a small spoon or scoop, put a small amount of batter in the bottom of the cups. Pipe cream cheese on top of the batter. Place a few raspberries in the cream cheese. Cover with another small scoop of batter, making sure to cover cream cheese and berries completely.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. Let muffins cool completely. Any extra cream cheese can be piped on muffin tops.
Gluten-Free on a Budget," by Chandice Probst and Tana Besendorfer
Cooking and eating gluten-free is not a death sentence. Meals can continue to be full of delicious, filling foods that everyone (gluten-free and gluten-full) will love. That is the attitude of Chandice Probst and Tana Besendorfer, the authors of the new cookbook Gluten-Free on a Budget.
Probst and Besendorfer are cheerful and optimistic about the gluten-free diet. They encourage readers to be proactive about their health and diet. This book highlights how possible it is to eat normal and that a gluten-free diet can taste just like the favorites a home cook grew up with.
This cookbook includes about 90 recipes divided into six chapters for breakfasts, salads/sides/soups, main dishes, breads, desserts and holidays and traditions. Practically every recipe has a photo. The recipes include those for familiar, comfort foods (scalloped potatoes, chicken salad, biscuits, apple pie) as well as some new, enticing options (Mesquite Chicken Pasta Salad, Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan Bread, Pao de Queijo). The authors also explain how to make some essentials that can be difficult gluten-free: gravy, cream of chicken soup, pie crust.
The recipes are tasty but not particularly healthy. They have a lot of sugar, cream, butter and meat. Of course, this makes them taste fabulous. After biting into one of the Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins, my daughter asked, Who is this angel lady?
The baked items call for a lot of ingredients, more than most gluten-free recipes. But they also taste better than most gluten-free recipes.
The Chocolate Caramel Toffee Cake is the best cake we have eaten since our wheat days. The rolls were so good, my 5-year-old recommended that we give them to Santa Claus this year instead of cookies. We weren't as excited about the Hearty Oat Bread it was too dry and crumbly. But homemade gluten-free food is never wasted. It became delicious French toast in the morning.
Probst and Besendorfer also have some great ideas for food on the go: breakfast egg cups, pancake bites, walking taco (assembled inside a corn chip bag). They also include tips on what to look for in basic ingredients, Celiac disease and gluten sensitivities, meal planning, school lunches and food storage.
Homemade food takes time. Gluten-free homemade food takes even more time. Many of the entree recipes in this cookbook are quick and efficient (pizza, chicken enchiladas, Hawaiian haystacks, Mongolian beef, beef stroganoff), but set aside an afternoon for the breads and pastries. Don't worry, that time won't be wasted gluten-free family and friends might just love you forever.
*****
RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS
It is a wonderful surprise when you bite into a muffin and its filled with a creamy raspberry cream cheese filling. Make a big batch; you might not be able to eat just one. Tana
cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
cup vanilla yogurt
cup whole milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
13 cup almond flour
cup brown rice flour
cup sorghum flour
3 tablespoons coconut flour
cup tapioca starch
cup potato starch
4 teaspoons baking powder
teaspoon xanthan gum
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese
13 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
raspberries
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add yogurt, milk and lemon juice. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to wet mixture. Mix until well blended. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare cream cheese filling by combining all ingredients and whisking until smooth. Put cream cheese mixture into a zip-close bag and snip a piece off the corner. Grease a muffin tin.
Using a small spoon or scoop, put a small amount of batter in the bottom of the cups. Pipe cream cheese on top of the batter. Place a few raspberries in the cream cheese. Cover with another small scoop of batter, making sure to cover cream cheese and berries completely.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. Let muffins cool completely. Any extra cream cheese can be piped on muffin tops.
Gluten-Free on a Budget," by Chandice Probst and Tana Besendorfer
