Gluten (wheat),Caesin (Dairy) & Soya (Soy) Free.ie

The eBook.

2011-10-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

I have converted the book to an ebook - only for iPad or iPhone right now. Although it is an epub format file it will only work on an iPad or iPhone - if you try and read it on other readers then it'll probably load, but look a bit wonky. It's very reasonable at 3.50 on blurb.com.Hope some of you find it useful.

Crunchy White Boy by Stephen Lacey | Make Your Own Book

Stephen

Har Har Me Old Salt(ine)

2009-09-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

Saltine Crackers

I've tried to made a few different types of crackers, and this recipe is the best (so far...).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups gf/cf flour mix
1/2 cup gram flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 vitamin c tablet - crushed
2 tsp xanthan gum
3 oz dairy free margarine
1/2 cup water
3 tbsps dairy free milk
salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees centigrade
Crush Vitamin tablet
Mix all the dry ingredients
Add the margarine and combine to the texture of breadcrumbs
Add liquid ingredients and mix to a soft dough
Sprinkle plenty of flour on a large piece of baking parchment
Roll out thinly and prick with a fork
Sprinkle lightly with salt
Cut into squares or whatever shape you like
Bake for 5 minutes, then turn. bake for a further 8 minutes or so until browned.

Enjoy!

Shep

P.S. I can't find my camera...I'll post pictures when I can.

Pop Tarts!

2009-09-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Wow - These are Amazing!

Righty-ho. There are certain things that i just thought that Conor would never get to eat again. Pop tarts in that category. Now thanks to the wonderful recipes of a lady called Pam over here: http://beyondthewheat.blogspot.com/2009/06/gluten-free-pop-tarts.html poptarts are back on.

Oh yes, they're on!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups GF flour
4 tsps xanthan gum
3/4 cup / 6 oz dairy free margarine (I use Stork)
1 large egg
1/4 cup water.
Jam or other filling.

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 Degrees Centigrade
Mix the flour and xanthan gum
Cut in the Marg and mix to a consistency of breadcrumbs
Mix in egg until it's fully combined.
Add the water all at once and mix to a frim, but not wet dough.
Pinch off a ping pong sized ball
Roll out flat on greese proof paper to about double the size of a pop tart
Use a pizza roller or knife to cut of the rough edges
Add the jam to one half and smooth out
Fold over and crimp edges with a fork
Bake for 18 minutes

Yum!

Manna from Heaven

2009-09-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Conor's Bread Revisited!

This makes a really Light and Fluffy Well Risen GF/CF/SF and Yeast free bread!!!

Yes, finally after 5 months of experimentation, failure, doughy bread and chewy toast I have finally managed to create a respectable, nay comparable white bread.

What's the secret?

Well, firstly - check your loaf tin. For months I have been laboring under the misapprehension that my 1.5lb loaf tin was a 1lb loaf tin. It was only by accident that this weekend I picked up a real 1lb loaf tin.

Secondly, rising agents. Without yeast there are a few things that can make bread rise. Variously in different recipes I've seen baking powder, vitamin c tablets and sparkling water all used.

Ingredients - I've been a bit more anal than usual here and listed exactly what I used. this is because I cannot actually believe that the bread I've made is GF/CF/SF and yeast free too! I have made it twice, the second time tonight just to confirm the results. I will generalise the ingredients eventually. I would particularly like to change the rice milk for hemp milk and I'll probably try it with my own flour blend too, but for recreatable results, here's exactly what I used. Update 09/09/2009: Now verified with Rice:Potato:Tapioca mix in ratio 3:1:1. Update: 13/09/2009: For a nutty taste mix 100g of Gram flour with 350g of the white flours.

450g flour - Doves Gluten Free plain white flour blend (what I used originally) or your own GF/CF flour blend. I tried this with a mix or Rice:Tapioca:Potato in ratio 3:1:1 last night and the bread turned out just as nice. This has the added advantage of making the bread Soya free too!
1 Haliborange halibonbon tablet
1 tsp sea salt - rock sea salt
4 tsp xanthan gum - Life free from brand
2 tsp baking powder - Royal Baking powder
2 large organic free range eggs (M&S)
Rice Milk (Rice Dream (+Calcium)) combine with eggs to make total liquid volume 200ml
200ml Sparkling water - Deep riverrock.

Preparation:

Preheat fan over to 200 degrees Centigrade (I have a Neff fan oven)
Dust a 1lb loaf tin with flour
Get out a mixing bowl, measuring jug, wooden spoon, spatula, whisk

Method:

Crush Halibonbon tablet in a pill crusher or with the back of a spoon until it it pure powder.
Mix dry ingredients and whisk together
Whisk eggs and add milk to total liquid content of 200ml
Add egg/milk mix to dry ingredients and combine together
Add sparkling water last and quickly mix to a lumpy batter
Quickly press into loaf tin and smooth top with spatula
Bake fo 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Shep

Emb-Ark-ing on a journey with Noah's Bread

2009-09-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Editorial

Ok, so this is a recipe that's knocking about all over the place, but I only just tried it yesterday. The results were disappointing. The bread came out small and lumpy. The amazing thing is, Conor ate the whole damn thing.

I made another batch tonight and it came out better. You really need to mix in the sparkling water proprely, even though you're supposed to work quickly. Quite a quandry.

Anyway, here it is. It's all over the place in various forms and with slight variations. This one works for me.

Original Noah's Bread (all credit to http://gfcfrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/10/noahs-bread.html)

from Kwan
This is the original version of Noah's Bread, developed by Kwan for her son Noah when she couldn't find any bread he could eat.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sorghum fl.
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup potato starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup CF milk
1/3 cup sparkling water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit, 200 centigrade

Mix all ingredients well, except the sparkling water. Once the batter is well mixed, add the sparkling water to make the batter rise.

Work quickly and form batter into buns, bagels, roll, etc. I use hamburger form pans and rings from the Gluten Free Pantry but you can also use aluminum foil to make form rings. I also put the batter into large ziplock bags, cut a corner, and squeeze out the appropriate shape of whatever I'm trying to make, such as bagels.

The batter should be thick and look somewhat lumpy. Don't use too much batter or form too high. The bread will puff and rise and settle back down once cooled.

Bake for 20-25 min until the crust is golden brown.
The crust will be hard out of the oven but will soften once cooled.

They freeze and thaw really well.

Regards,

Shep

Play Dough Cookies

2009-07-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Almond and Vanilla Cookies.

I call these play dough cookies because when they are prepared and before they are cooked the kids can play with them and shape them like play dough.

These make tasty sweet cookies. We add sesame seeds on top for a bit of variety.

Ingredients

2 cups GF/CF flour mix (Rice:Potato:Tapioca mix ratio 4:1:1)
1.5 tsps xanthan gum
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tspbicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup xylitol
6 oz cf soft margarine
1/2 tsp ground almond
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees centigrade
Mix all the dry ingredients together
Add in the margarine and mix until the texture is like play dough!
Add in vanilla extract
From into small balls and flatten with the back of a glass.
Shape as desired
Top with sesame seeds (optional)
Bake for 12 minutes

Conor's Bread!

2009-07-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

New Gluten Free, Dairy and Soya Free, yeast Free Bread!

Update * Update * Update * Update * Update * Update * Update

There is a newer version of this bread: http://sheps-gf-cf-sf-adventure.blogspot.com/2009/09/manna-from-heaven.html

Read on for the old recipe:

Ok, so we've had to rule out yeast based breads (unfortunately). The soda bread slices up too small to make decent toast.

I decided to take the accumulated knowledge of all our baking experience into making a decent, edible, toastable, white loaf.

This bread has a firm texture once cooked, but may seem a little moist. Don't worry, this will "cook" out during toasting.

The ingredients are simple, and it's a cinch to make and even though it's supposed to be toasted, Conor even eats the slices untoasted.

Ingredients

450g GF/CF flour mix (Rice:Potato:Tapioca in ration 4:1:1)
400 ml non-dairy milk (I use hemp milk)
2 eggs, beaten
4 tsps xanthan gum

Method

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Centigrade
Mix all the dry ingredients
Add milk and eggs
Mix until the mixture forms a batter
Pour into a 1 pound loaf tin
Smooth off the top and place a shallow + in the top
Cook for 35-40 minutes until browned (slightly) on top.

Oh yes, remember to toast the bread well!

Ging Gang Goolie Goolie Goolie Goulash...

2009-06-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

Ging Gang Gool Ging Gang Gool

So far to date this blog has explored how to bake gf/cf stuff and ingredients. Yesterday I took one of my all time favorite recipes and made it gf/cf/sf! The original recipe came from a book about spices, I think it was called "creative cooking with spices" or something like that, but I have modified it over the years and feel it's my own by now!

Note: This recipe takes very little effort, but should be cooked for many hours to get the taste right, so don't be tempted to rush this. Make a big batch when you have time and freeze it ready to serve.

Hungarian Goulash.

Ingredients

1 lb diced lamb pieces
1 organic onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tin tomatoes (I used whole plum ones, but diced are fine)
1 tin tomato puree
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (make sure it's gf/cf/sf)
1 green pepper cut into rings.
1 tin coconut milk
1/2 pint stock (make sure it's gluten free)
3 tbsps paprika

Method

Fry the onion and garlic gently for a few minutes until the onions begin to brown.
Add the diced lamb and cook fully
Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, tinned tomatoes and tomato puree all at once & bring to simmer.
Reduce the heat and cook partially covered for a long time. 5 hours or more. Seriously. Do this properly and the meat will be soooo good. Keep an eye on the liquid to make sure it does not reduce too much.
About 20 minutes before you want to serve the goulash add the coconut milk, lemon juice and paprika. Turn up the heat so the coconut milk heats and the sauce rethickens. - Note: Paprika has a very mild flavour, so you need to add a lot to register in the recipe.
With about 10 to go add the green pepper.

Serve with white rice.

This recipe can be made in large batches and frozen. If you're going to freeze it then don't add the pepper first.

Enjoy!

P.S. There are no photos as this recipe doesn't last long enough in my house :-)

Irish Soda Bread

2009-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yeast Free Soda Bread

Ok, so now that we have found a decent recipe for bread for Conor we now need to cut out the yeast.

So...options? There are not many, but luckily Irish Soda Bread is naturally yeast free. The question was could I make a soda bread that was gf/cf/sf and which still tasted good?

I took an old fashioned traditional recipe and substituted my standard gf/cf/sf substitutes.

Ingredients

16oz gf/cf flour mix (see below)
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate or soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons bextartar or cream of tartar
2 tablespoons Xylitol
12 fluid ozs non dairy, non soy milk (I use hemp milk)
1 Free Range Egg beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 230 degrees (hot!)
Sift all the dry ingredients together
Sift again a few times to capture air in the mix
Mix milk and egg together
Make a well in centre of flour and most of the wet mix.
Using your hands, quickly and lightly form the mix into a ball. Add a bit more of the liquid mix if needs be.
When the ingredients are mixed roll the dough lightly on a floured surface.
Form into a Round 2" high
Cut a deep X across the top
Place on a floured baking tray
Bake for 5 minutes
Reduce temp to 180 degrees
Bake for a further 30-35 minutes

Flour Mix

2 1/2 cups of rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch flour

The verdict?

Very very good.

Especially toasted with jam on top.

Enjoy.

Gram Bread for Machine Baking

2009-05-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

Gram Flour Bread Machine Flour.

So...I'm no expert on this stuff, but I think it's lower GI and contains more protein.

I found the recipe somewhere on the internet and emailed the text of it to myself, so sorry to the author who I can't credit.

This is not my work, but it's light and fluffy and toasts really well.

It makes a 1.5 lb loaf.

Ingredients

1 1/8 cup Chickpea Flour (Weird measure, eh? 1/8 of a cup is 2 tablespoons) or 160g
1 cup cornstarch or 130g
1 cup + 1 Tbs.Tapioca Flour (Another weird measure, go figure) 150g
3 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gumor or Guar Gum (I used Xanthan Gum) 10g
1 1/2 tsp. salt - 6g
3 Tbs. brown sugar - 45g
1/4 tsp. Ascorbic Acid (I had none :-(, but I'll try it with it next time)
1 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cup warm water
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Method

Combine first seven ingredients.
Mix together, eggs, water, and oil.
In a large capacity bread machine add dry ingredients, liquids and yeast in order recommended by manufacturer.
Bake using white bread setting and medium crust or your specific gluten-free program. (I used medium crust setting and found it a bit hard, I'll try light next)

By Hand (I never succeed by hand, haven't tried this). Beat together, dry ingredients, liquids and yeast. Transfer to a lightly oiled 9-x-5-inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise to the top of the pan. Bake 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Shep!

Bread Sticks!

2009-05-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

These are GF/CF and yeast free too

The recipe is adapted form one I found here.

These turned out really nice.

Incredible in fact.

Definitely try this recipe!

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk - I used hemp milk
3/4 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1/4 cup shelled organic hemp
1/2 cup rice flour (or gf/cf flour)
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 eggs - split into yokes and whites
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil (plus 1/2 teaspoon for the baggie)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Herbs to taste (I used dried chives)

Method

Preheat oven to 22 degrees centigrade
Mix the dry ingredients and herbs
Add all the wet ingredients except the egg yokes at once
Beat with a mixer for 2-3 minutes
Put some oil on a non stick baking sheet
Put some oil in a plastic bag and spoon the batter in
Cut the corner off the bag and working quickly pipe the batter onto the baking sheet
Bake for 13-14 minutes
Beat the left over egg yokes
Remove from oven and glaze with the egg yoke you saved from earlier
Sprinkle with sea salt
Return to oven for another 4-5 minutes

Enjoy!

I'm not telling porkies...on the contrary, I'm eating them!

2009-05-20T15:56:00.001-07:00

Great Gluten Free Sausages and Nitrate Free Rashers

If, like me (and my whole family!), you love rashers and sausages, then fear not brave GF/CF dieter. There is a fantastic brand of sausages which have a gluten free bratwurst that is just divine.

You can find them online here: http://www.straightsausages.com/Straight%20Sausages/Varieties%20Bratwurst.html

I contacted them and they said that the bratwurst is the only one they guarantee gluten free as all the rest have oats in them.

They also do a nitrate free rasher, the only one produced in Ireland (to the best of my knowledge). I haven't tried these yet, but I'm heading up there to buy some real soon! The rasher product page is here: http://www.straightsausages.com/Straight%20Sausages/Varieties%20Rashers.html

Their products are available in farmers markets and many outlets. Check out their web site for more details. http://www.straightsausages.com/Straight%20Sausages/Home.html

Stephen!

Yeast of Eden

2009-05-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

Edible Bread!

If you've been following this blog at all you'll already know about my pursuit of a decent sliced loaf that doesn't break the bank.

Thus far my many efforts have lead to mostly inedible lumps that would be more at home jamming a door open then they would be in a lunchbox.

That was until....dun dun duh...the breadmaker!

My boss in work loaned me his and I tried out a recipe last night. Thanks Martin!

The results? Instant success; well it took 3hours and 18minutes to cook and I kicked off the process at 9.15pm, so between waiting for the bread to cook and cool I didn't get to bed until after 2am.

The recipe I used is from the excellent "Diet Intervention and Autism" by Marilyn Le Breton.

Ingredients:

Dry Mix

2 1/2 cups of rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch flour
1 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 sachet (2.25 tsps) yeast

Wet Mix

3 eggs, at room temp, beaten
1/4 cup sunflour oil
1/2 cup non-dairy, non-soy milk (I use hemp)
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp white wine vinegar (optional)

Method

Mix all dry ingredients bar yeast
Mix all wet ingredients
Put wet ingredients into bread maker
Put dry ingredients into bread maker
Sprinkle yeast on top
Set to cook a 1.5 lb (750g) loaf.
Pick your crust colour
Hit start
(Don't use start delay function as the milk could curdle)
Wait 3 hours 18 minutes (or whatever)
Remove immediately onto a wire rack
Don't carve into slices until fully cooled.

This makes a wonderful soft fluffy white loaf that cuts really well and makes super sandwiches or toast.

I had a tow truck on hand in case the bread turned out like it's predecessors, but luckily it wasn't needed!

Enjoy!

Spreadable Nirvana

2009-05-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

The Holy Grail of Spreads.

Well I've been searching shops since we started the diet a few weeks ago and all the non-butter spreads either seemed to have buttermilk or soya in them!

Well today, while looking for butter in Marks and Spencer, I came across their own brand Non-Dairy spread...and guess what? It has no soy either! So there we have it, a non-dairy spread that is also non soy. Horrah for M&S.

Now...let's see if Conor likes it!

Shep.

Donuts, Is there anything they can't do?

2009-05-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

GF/CF Donuts!

If you though GF/CF meant all dry tasteless health food then think again. These beauties are lovely. Rise beautifully and actually taste a bit more like choux pastry then donuts.

They are topped with icing sugar...but what else would you do with donuts?

This recipe comes straight out of the excellent "The Kid Friendly ADHA & Autism Cookbook" by Compart and Laake...I got my copy at the DAN! conference and is nicely dedicated to Conor by the author Dana Laake :-)

Recipe:

1/2 cup (80g ) white rice flour
2/3 cup (80 g) tapioca flour
1/3 cup (50 g) potato starch or (40 g) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons guar or xanthan gum
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup (80 g) oil
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1/3 cup (80 ml) club soda or sparkling water

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients and mix together.
Combine all the beaten egg, oil and milk.
Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingretients and mix well.
Add the sparkling water slowly and beat well.
Flour a board and your hands - use LOADS of flour.
Pull small lumps about the size of the plumbs and roll them quickly into ring shapes.
Deep fry for a minute or less - if you don't have a deep fryer then fry in an inch of oil in a pan.
Let donuts rise in a warm oven (80 degrees centigrade) for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and heat oven to 180 degrees.
Brush top of donuts with melted ghee
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Scone?

2009-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Another Scone Recipe, probably the best.

Well I won't be trying any further variations on scones in any case.

I know I'm kinda obsessing on scones, but Conor loves them! These scone are light and fluffy. Perfect toasted with jam. The secret ingredient is carrot!

Ingredients:

2 cups of GF/CF flour mix (see below)
2 tsp Xantan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup or 2 ozs Margarine (I used Stork)
1/4 cup veg oil
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg
A few tbsp of CF milk for glazing (I use hemp milk, but any should do)
1 carrot finely grated or juiced

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade
Mix all the dry ingredients
Beat the egg
Add oil and marg and work until the mix resembles breadcrumbs
Mix in the egg and carrot (or carrot juice)
Work into a smooth dough
Knead the dough until all the carrot is mixed through evenly
Roll out dough on floured board until it's about 3/4 to 1 inch thick
Cut out and transfer to a floured baking sheet
Mix the milk with any left over egg and brush the top of each scone
Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown on top

GF/CF Flour Mix

4 Cups Rice Flour
1 Cup Potato Flour
1 Cup Tapioca Flour

These are great split and topped with jam.

Enjoy!

Flour Power

2009-05-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Where can you buy all this weird flour in Ireland???

When I started researching this diet I couldn't figure out what flour could be bought where. unfortunately we're not in a place yet where you can just walk into a supermarket and pick up rice, gram, maize, sorghum etc.

So here's what I have found so far.

The most common GF flour in Ireland is from Odlumns and is called Tritamyl. Unfortunately this flour IS NOT soy free.
Health stores carry a lot of these flours, but in small quantities and at a hefty price.
Ethnic stores carry many of them at a great price.
Many of these flours can be known by different names. And depending on your cookbook you might need to know all of the synonyms.
Flour & Starch seems to be used interchangeably, but I'm pretty sure they're different things.

Stores
In Dublin city there are several Oriental Supermarkets (There is one virtually on each side of the Deorges Street arcade and there one opposite the Jervis street centre at the Luas stop) which carry:

Rice flour (* see flour mix below)
Potoato flour (* see flour mix below)
Tapioca flour (* see flour mix below)
Gram flour
Cornflour (really a thickener, the flour of corn seems to be called maize flour)
Gelatinous Rice Flour

In Afro Caribbean stores you can get

Sorghum flour
Yam Flour (I have no idea what you can use this for, I just saw it there)
Bean Flour (Likewise I have no idea what you can use this for, I just saw it there)
Maize Flour
Tapioca Flour

In Health Stores you can get

Rice flour
Potato Flour
Maize Flour (I haven't found maize anywhere else)

In Tesco and Superquinn you can get Doves Rice Flour.

Flour Mix

The easiest and most universal Wheat Flour replacement I have found so for is from Marilyn Le Breton's excellent Diet Intervention and Autism. You can cook every recipe in her book with just this mix:

4 parts rice flour
1 part potato flour
1 part tapioca flour

Synonyms

Gram Flour aka Garbanzo Bean, Chickpea or Besan Flour
Tapioca Flour aka Cassava, Manioc or Gari Flour
Potato Flour aka Farina
Corn Flour as sold in Ireland is a thickener, not a flour
Maize flour is corn flour (I think)
Gelatinous Rice Flour aka Sweet Rice Flour

Don't be afraid to go into those ethnic shops! The folks in there are really nice and they'll really help you if you ask.

Don't Try This at Home (Really!)

2009-05-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Bad Ideas...

Well, the idea of this blog was to share our journey on the GFCF diet. There are going to be good and bad days I guess.

Tonight, while mixing a batch of gingerbread I had the stunning idea of adding peas. Yes, you heard it peas. The theory was sound. I got frozen peas and ground them in the coffee grinder until I had frozen pea powder. Then I added them to the mix where they seemingly disappeared.

Indeed they had not disappeared. The magical green powder absorbed moisture while cooking, and although the tops of the gingerbread men look perfect, thet behinds look distinctly soggy.

Chalk that one up the experience!

Shep

Juice Me Up!

2009-05-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Making Fresh Juice

We got our hands on a fantastic Anthony Worrall Thompson/Breville juicer (thanks mam). If you're reading this Anthony please feel free to send us on other kitchen appliances in payment for that excellent plug. A chest freezer would be nice.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into details on this, but suffice it to say that stuff goes in the top, and juice comes out the side. pretty straightforward!

I will say that I'm super impressed with the machine.

One word of warning...if you intend juicing any celery don't bring it round our house. Nasty stuff!

I would have a picture of the juice, but it was so good we just drank it!

Shep.

Milk for Old Rope

2009-05-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hemp Milk

OK, so you might have read about my failed attempts to make milk from rice...look here. My subsequent attempts were better, but either turned out too thin or too thick.

Anyway...I have moved on to hemp now and with much better results. It's not as illegal as it sounds. Hemp seeds are readily available in many health stores. I got a small pack for 1 euro and 50 cent ... but you don't need much. The small bag was enough to to make 4 liters of milk.

And the best thing?Everyone loves it. It tastes pretty much like cows milk.

Actually that's not the best thing, the best thing is that naturally contains omega oils and protein.

Oh, and it's really easy to make!

Ingredients:
Hemp seeds
Water
SoyMilkQuick Milk making machine
Salt
Honey

Method:
You can probably do this without the milk making machine, but I don't have one, so I can't say.

Measure out a cup of hemp seeds using the supplied measuring cup (which is about the size of 1/2 an American cup )
Soak in 4 measuring cups of water
Soak the hemp seeds for 8 hours
Put them in the SoyMilkQuick machine
Press go
When the cycle finished (after about 15 minutes) add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of honey.

Enjoy

You gotta fight...for your right...to parrrrrrrtty!

2009-05-04T14:35:00.001-07:00

Oscars 2nd Birthday.

Well we thought this would be a major hurdle, but with a bit of prep work this passed off ultra-successfully!

Several people asked us if we had caved in and purchased wheat or dairy products, but nope, it was all GF/CF/SF.

So, the main event was the cake. Once again an Orgran one. (Why mess with perfection?).

It was loved by all.

We also cooked apple scone rounds, gingerbread men and another surprise favorite with all the guests...

Vegetable chips (parsnip, carrot and sweet potato).

Shep

It's Your Round.

2009-05-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Another Delicious Variant on the Classic Scone

This recipe comes courtesy of my fabulous wife Irene's childhood. She made this today and it was so good she had to make a second batch. Thanks Irene! You're the best :-)

Ingredients

200g rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
50g Marg (we used stork)
50 g Caster Sugar (we used xylitol instead)
1 medium peeled cooking apple or 2 eating apples grated (eating apples are sweeter)
3 x 15 ml tbsp milk (we used hemp milk)
milk and 1 more tbsp milk to glaze

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Centigrade
Sift flour, salt and baking powder together
Rub in margarine
Add sugar and then the grated apple
Add the milk a bit at a time until you achieve a soft dough that is not sticky
Turn onto floured board and knead lightly

To make one big scone round:

Form into an 8" circle
Transfer onto a floured or greased baking sheet
Score into 8 pieces
Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar
Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown

To make individual scones

Cut out scones
Transfer onto a floured or greased baking sheet
Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar
Bake for 15-18 minutes until risen and golden brown

Enjoy!

It's a wrap!

2009-05-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Homemade Wraps

In my bid to find GF/CF alternatives I went looking for a replacement for wraps for lunchtime goodness.

Firstly I tried to make corn wraps just using corn flour, but either Irish corn flour is waaaaay different from the Mexican stuff or else I just made a complete hames of it. In either case I only managed to make a gloopy mess.

Then I tried to make wraps from gram flour. I had more success with this (100g gram flour to 110 ml water plus a pinch of salt. Mix and let stand for 10 minutes, then fry in oil like a pancake), but my mix was too think and didn't spread out right on the pan. I think if a bit diluted that this recipe could work.

Anyway, I next came across a recipe from the Irish Coeliac website and it works great. I'm not claiming credit for this at all, but I will share it (original post here).

Recipe for Corn & Gram Flour Wraps

Ingredients:

100g of Cornflour/starch
25g of Gram Flour ………. (aka Chickpea, Dhal or Garbanzo)
5g of Tapioca Flour /starch
½ tsp of salt
2 eggs
150 - 200ml of water (>150 ml gives a thinner wrap / tortilla)
A little vegetable oil for coating the frying pan.

Method:

Place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and sift 3 times to mix thoroughly.
Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, beat slowly using a hand-held electric mixer.
The mixture should be a little thick but smooth.
Add the water a little at a time mixing well between additions. The mixture will become very runny, that's OK...don't panic.
When mixed thoroughly, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Remove from fridge and whisk slightly using a hand whisk (to re-mix)
Transfer batter to a jug (makes pouring easier)
Heat clean frying pan until very hot (not quite smoking)
Oil base of frying pan slightly, pour enough batter to cover base thinly.
Return to high heat, cook until the underside is slightly browned and the sides begin to curl.
Flip over and cook for ONLY 20 SECONDS (actually I did mine for a bit longer) (the wrap is so hot it continues to cook after it is removed from pan). If left longer than 20 secs the wrap would be cooked right through and with the residual heat start to dry out.
Remove the wrap and transfer to a plate, Place sheets of greaseproof paper (Baking Paper) on bottom and between layers. (this avoids wraps becoming stuck together while cooling)

The Wraps / Tortillas are ready for use or can be refrigerated or frozen until required.

Will keep in the fridge for about 2 - 3 days.
(stand at room temp for about 5 mins before warming)

Will keep in the Freezer for 1 - 2 Months
(defrost fully to room temp before warming under the grill)

Thanks to the original poster of this recipe. Easy to make and great tasting!

Cheap as Chips

2009-04-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Parsnip and Carrot Crisps

I made something a bit different tonight...vegetable crisps (or chips if you're in the USA).

Easiest thing ever.

Ingredients:

1 parsnip
1 carrot

Preparation

Peel the parsnip and carrot.

Using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler shave the carrot and parsnip into wafer thin lengths.
Heat some oil for deep fat frying and add the veg pieces carefully (there's a lot of water in the veg and they can spit).
Let them cook until brown and crispy (don't worry if they're not entirely crispy when you life them out, they should harden in a few seconds).
Sprinkle on salt.

Enjoy!

oh, and I also tried to make corn flour wraps (FAIL!).

Shep

Follow up 02nd May 2009: The proof of the pudding is in the eating ... and Conor loves these!!!

I Don't Want Your Money Honey (Well not all of it)

2009-04-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

Great Value Honey From Lidl

I was bemoaning the price of shop bought honey and cursing the mystery honey bee killing disease when someone in work mentioned that Lidl do honey cheap.

Boy do they! 2 euro and 39 cent for a 500 ml jar.

Super stuff!

Better Scones?

2009-04-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

New Scone Recipe

A simple twist on the original classic (from last week)
This is a definite success.

100 g Garam Flour
200 g Corn flour
1 tsp salt
150 ml Milk (I used both almond and rice milk in different batches with equal success)
6 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp oil (I used omega 3 oil)
4 tbsp protien (see below)

To cook

Preheat oven to 180 Centigrade
Sift the flours, salt baking powder together and add in the protien from step 3 if desired
This is an excellent recipe for disguisiung other foods you want to be included in the diet. So far I have made this with chicken, sausage (GF of course!) and bacon. Simply get a few tablespoons of the meat (not the sausage!) and grind it down to a smooth consistency. I've been using a coffee grinder for this as it's quicker and easier to clean then the full mixer.
Add oil and milk all at once and mix to a firm consistency (slightly sticky is fine too)
Turn out onto a floured board and roll (I just use my hands) to about 1/2 inch thick
Cut out scones and place on a floured baking tray
Cook for 10-12 minutes ... the tops may not brown as much as you'd expect so check them!

Milking it.

2009-04-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

Making My Own Milk.

OK, so my milk making machine arrived yesterday. It came from www.soymilkquick.com and I couldn't recommend them more highly as an organisation, they have been really helpful.

Anyhoo...first attempts at making rice milk have failed. I tried with 2 measures of rice then 1 measure, then a 1/2 measure.

The first 2 were too thick and the 1/2 measure was too watery.

Guess I'll try 3/4 measure tonight!

I contacted soymilkquick and they helpfully told me:

Hi Stephen,

Not to worry, you're no bother! I'd be happy to give you some tips with making rice milk.

From my experience, rice milk is the hardest milk to perfect. There are so many types and variations in results from type to type and even crop to crop. For instance, when I use American grown brown jasmine rice vs Thai grown brown jasmine rice, I get different results. Even organic vs non-organic rices can yeild differently. I've not really experienced this with other types of milks I've made, such as nuts, hemp, flax, quinoa, etc.

The best tip I can give if you're interested in working with rice milks, is to visit a local shop that sells bulk food items, and purchase small quantities of different varieties of rice. This way you can experiment with them and find one that works well for you.

Another tip I can give is to use brown rice exclusively. I find brown over white rice will yeild a much nicer product. Rinsing will help, but be careful not to soak it too long. What some people will do is actually roast their rice in the oven slightly, and they claim this helps alot. I can't speak to this myself, as I haven't tried this trick.

I also prefer to use slightly less than one cup of rice, as I like a thinner consistency too. Just out of curiousity, what measuring cup did you use? Make sure you're using the little clear plastic cup that came with your machine rather than a standard kitchen measuring cup. They are actually quite different in volume, so that would alter your results greatly. Your other alternative is to dilute, or thin out your milk as soon as the milk is complete.

One of my team members swears that when she adds some salt to the rice milk, it prevents it from thickening up too much. She adds it to her transfer jug prior to diluting her milk slightly. Again, I have yet to try this tip for myself, but she says it works great.

The other thing I'd suggest, is to try a mixture of brown rice and other ingredients, such as quinoa, flax and hulled hempseeds.

I have a pdf file with a recipe and tips for rice milk which I will attach. You might find it helpful as well.

Best of luck in trying out these suggestions Stephen. I know how important it is for you to make a milk that your son can enjoy.

Yeast is the Word

2009-04-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

In Search of Good Bread.
Well so far I've tried making my own bread with limited (no) success. Thusly the recipe for stuffing and croutons!

I've tried shop bought rice bread and while Conor ate some of it it cost €8.50 for a small loaf!

Yesterday I tried the Orgran white bread mix. Results? Super. Highly recommended. Really easy to make (water and oil), and it makes a lovely risen fluffy white pan. The mix was still pricy at €4, but the results were great and it was still twice the size of the rice bread.

Still in search of a good recipe for home made bread, but this will do for now!

Shep.

Every Little Helps...

2009-04-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Finding Good Value Ingedients

Heath Food Stores
I started off buying all my baking ingredients in health food stores. They carry a wide variety of quality products and mixes BUT and I have a BIG BUT they are expensive.

Ethnic Food Stores
After my trip to the Health Food Store today I wandered into the Oriental Emporium across the street. The stuff here was way cheaper...for example a small jar of Ghee was 12 euro in the Health Food Shop and a large one was 4 euro in the Chinese Store. All kinds of flours were cheaper too...corn, rice and potato flour were all on offer and all at much lower prices than even at the supermarket. They also had stuff like rice noodles, rice crackers etc at great price.

A note of caution to this tale...check the ingredients carefully. If in doubt leave it out.

Every Little Helps!

Run run run, as fast as you can...

2009-04-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Gingerbread Recipe

Seemed to get this one right 1st time! Of course Conor hasn't tasted it yet, so can't tell for sure.

Ingredients

1 and 1/3 (200 g) cups of corn flour (or other gf/cf flour)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup black strap mollasses plus
1/4 cup agave
or
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water

Cooking

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Centigrade
Mix all the stuff together all at once
If it's not binding then add some more oil a little at a time (I used some Ghee)
Form into a ball and roll flat until it's about an inch thick.
Cut into fun shapes and put on a baking tray.
Bake for about 15 minutes

Enjoy!

Gimme Some Sugar Baby!

2009-04-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sugar Replacement

So...for this GF/CF/Soy Free diet to be effective we also need to drastically reduce the sugar content of the daily food intake.

A note on "fake" sugar. Do not use artificial sweetener (like the stuff you get in diet drinks) they contain BAD stuff...the problems with using them are well documented elsewhere, but to name a few they can:

Make kids (more) hyper
Increase the chance of weight gain (in studies the people who drank non-diet drinks had a smaller chance of becoming obese)
It acts as the reverse isotonic drink!
More stuff

OK, so on to sugar substitutes that are not "fake".

Natural Sugar Substitutes

Agave
Nectar from cactus plants, comes in a syrupy form that looks (and tastes) like honey. Pretty easy to find in health food shops (I got mine in the health food shop in Georges Street Arcade - €4.20 for a medium sized jar).

I've only used it in cooking once...and the results were not great...but it was a new recipe so I can't really blame agave.

Honey
Natural and sweet. Easy to find, but Bloody expensive!

Xylitol
Extracted from veg as I understand. Can be bought in granulated form and used as a one for one substitute for sugar in baking etc. I got it in the health food shop on Georges Street.

Pretty good results with this so far. But it is pretty expensive.

Stevia
This is a very concentrated liquid sweetener. One drop is like 40 spoons of sugar or something like that I imagine.

I still haven't found a supplier that carries this in Ireland...I've been told to try up north?

Ok, well that's that for now.

I'll add more as I learn!

Shep.

Starting The Adventure

2009-04-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Starting off the GF/CF/SF journey.

So...we got back to Ireland from the DAN! conference in Atlanta last Monday. Fired up to start our son (who turned nine this weekend (happy birthday!)) on the Gluten (wheat), Caesin (Dairy) and Soy Free diet. Oh, yes and we want to cut the sugars out too.

Challenges:

Replace his current diet with a healthier one. his diet mostly of:
1. Toast & crusty bread rolls
2. Scones and cheesy scones
3. Cheesy crackers
4. Cheese
5. Crackers
6. Apple juice
7. Sweets

Find an alternative to butter that has neither dairy nor soy in it.
Find an alternative to milk in baking
Find out how to bake 1-5 above.
Celebrate his birthday with a cake.

Ingredients

Flour
The first challenge was to find alternatives to wheat in baking. There are lots of good natural alternatives out there. Unfortunately there's no magic bullet 1 for 1 replacement. Odlums have a product (Trytamil) which is excellent, but sadly contains soy flour (Odlumns, if you read this please try and reformulate without the soy).

So...we have found in various places various flours you can buy. Tesco in Naas have a small gluten free section and Superquinn have a bigger one. Sadly these don't have many products that are also caesin free and soy free too. Health food shops (which I'm now enjoying for the first time in a long and unhealthy life) have better selections. We have bought many types this week and the key (from what I've read) is to mix certain ones to get a good base. So far we have bought Buckwheat, Corn (maize), Rice and Trytamil along with a flour mix (Dove Farms) and a brown bread mix.

The flour verdict (so far)....we'll I haven't been able to recreate all the things I need to cook using the ingredients yet, but the white flour mix seems pretty good so far as does the rice flour. The brown bread (also from Dove Farms) smelled great while cooking, but tasted so-so (noone here would eat it!)....I did find a great use for it though (see recipes below)

Butter
Butter has been more of a challenge. In baking I'm trying to substitute with veg oil, nut butter or coconut oil...but with varying degrees of success.

I'm still no closer to a butter as a spread on toast solution...ghee (clarified butter from Indian stores) has been suggested in the books as the clarification process removes the caesin, but I haven't tried that yet. Another choice is to make my own GF/CF/SF mayo...which may work out fine for me I can't see Conor going for that.

Verdict: For cooking plain old veg oil often works, for spreading on bread...watch this space...

Milk
This has been slightly easier. We got Rice Dream from Tesco. There is some debate about whether Rice Dream is actually totally gluten free. (Apparently) There is no gluten in the ingredients, but there is some in the production process which can contaminate the milk (1 part per 20 million). I'm willing to accept those odds for now, but there are people who have noticed a difference when they replaced Rice Dream with another totally gluten free brand.

I also got some Almond Milk from the health food store.

Both are pretty good.

Anyway, the shop bought milks are just a stepping stone as I've ordered my milk making machine (www.soymilkquick.com) and it should arrive this week.

Cooking

Recipe 1: Scones
This is a definite success.

150 g White Flour Mix (I used Dove Farms one)
150 g Rice flour
1 tsp salt
230 ml Milk (I used both almond and rice milk in different batches with equal success)
6 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp oil (I used omega 3 oil)
2 tbsp protien (see below)

To cook

Preheat oven to 180 Centigrade
Sift the flours, salt baking powder together and add in the protien from step 3 if desired
This is an excellent recipe for disguisiung other foods you want to be included in the diet. So far I have made this with chicken, sausage (GF of course!) and bacon. Simply get a few tablespoons of the meat (not the sausage!) and grind it down to a smooth consistency. I've been using a coffee grinder for this as it's quicker and easier to clean then the full mixer.
Add oil and milk all at once and mix to a firm consistency (slightly sticky is fine too)
Turn out onto a floured board and roll (I just use my hands) to about 1/2 inch thick
Cut out scones and place on a floured baking tray
Cook for 10-12 minutes ... the tops may not brown as much as you'd expect so check them!

Recipe 2: GF/CF Stuffing

Strange, but true...you can make such a thing and it can taste great! The following recipe was created by my wife and I. It's a byproduct of the brown bread I made that noone wanted to eat.
Simple to make and an excellent accompanient to any meal.

4-5 slices of gf/cf bread made into breadcrumbs
2 onions diced
4 tbsp sage
1 egg
flax seeds
Gogi berries

To cook

Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade
Fry the onions in some veg oil. I added some almond butter, but this was probably not necessary. Make sure you use plenty of oil ad the breadcrumbs tend to be on the dry side.
Add onions and sage to the breadcrumbs and mix.
Whisk an egg and add as a binder.
Optionally add flax seeds and gogi berries to taste.
Judge yourself how moist the mix is ... if it looks dry add another egg, or some oil or some almond butter.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 60 minutes.

Recipe 3: Croutons

Another bread that noone wanted recipe.

Still not perfected...but close I think.

Oil
Tomato puree
Bread
Herbs (to taste)

To cook

Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade (seems to be my favourite temperature!)
Marinate the oil and tomato for some time
Seive the oil from the paste...you should now have a tomato oil!
Cut the bread into crouton sized pieces (leave the crusts on ... these help keep the croutons together)
Heat a small amout of the oil in a non stick pan
Roll individual pieces of bread in the oil and then add to pan
Flash fry on on sides
Remove from pan and transfer to an oven proof dish and bake for about 10 minutes.

Viola! Croutons.

Now sprinkle with basil or whatever you like.

Enjoy.

Recipe 4: Chocolate Birthday Cake.

I have to admit I cheated and bought a shop mix. It was excellent...from a company called Orgran (please send me free stuff for the name drop!). I'm going to buy more this week!

Ok, well that's all from me for tonight....it's very late and I'm tired.

My objectives would be to find recipes for the following:

Scones (done!)
Cookies/biscuits
Breadsticks
Bread

I guess I've a ways to go...but I'll get there.

Shep.