Sunday, April 27, 2008

Product reviews!!

Ok. I've found a few new gluten-free products so here they are, and where to find them:

The wonder of Ikea...they have a gluten-free almond cake in the cafeteria, which you can also buy in their food shop. I also picked up the most addictive marshmallow confection there..the chocolate isn't great, but the marshmallow is everything marshmallow should be. It would make a great addition (almost typed addiction, which it is too) to a 'romantic' evening.... so get the Krusboll Swedisch Marshmallow Confection too. I also found a blueberry 'cake' that looks to be gluten-free. So definitely hit your Ikea Food Shop.

Whole Foods has come out with two new breads: Gluten-free oat bread and Sourdough. They are very similar at first glance on the shelves, both being round. The Oat Bread was fabulous, good flavor, moisture, etc. The Sourdough I am less thrilled with. Its got a tang to it, yes, but its somewhat dry and crumbly. I couldn't find a loaf with an intact top, and it shattered when I sliced it. But if you like sourdough, it is a reasonable approximation.

Lastly, Trader Joes. Ahhh Trader Joes, I love thee, except when you discontinue the stuff I actually like. Now, you all need to go out and buy this so that they never, ever discontinue it. They have made a brown rice tortilla that actually folds. It doesn't shatter, it doesn't fragment, or do strange things. It folds over, and you can actually eat it without having to hold a bowl under your chin for bits of tortilla. Their gluten-free peanut butter cookies are tasty too (in the frozen section)

So what new, strange, gluten-free items have you discovered? Tell me about them!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

Yes, I know. I'm a horrible, horrible person for not updating sooner. I'd flagellate myself, but life is doing that to me enough, right now.

So I was playing with ideas about a week or so ago... I decided to grind up some wild rice in my wonderful grain mill... and I made a breakfast porridge with it and some frozen blueberries. That was pretty good, but then I thought, hmmm... wild rice cookies. With blueberries, flaxseed and white chocolate.

So I took the leftover porridge (there was a ton...it was one of those days). I added some cornmeal, cooking it on top of the stove... thickening it up. I added an egg, some flaxseed, sugar...stir, stir... added a bunch of dried blueberries. hmmmmmm.... tasty, but it needs something...

*rummage through cabinets, having ingredents falling on my head*
Oh! Look! White chocolate chips! (ps, be careful and always check ingredients...I used to love the butterscotch chips, but they have gluten. Pity, I thought of a few recipes where those or the cinnamon chips would be good. You can find g-f versions of white chocolate and regular chocolate)

I added those in. Popped the cookies into a 350 degree oven.

Took them to choir practice. People actually liked them, and I got compliments. Even though they were definitely purple (thanks to the frozen blueberries).

I would definitely tweak a couple of things about this (including having actual measurements, next time). I'd add some cinnamon, just a dash, or nutmeg, as it needed a little more of a flavor component. I'd use some tapioca starch to thicken them up, and dry them out a little... they were a little too soft. I might do a variation with cashews or pecans, to accent the nuttiness of the rice a little more...maybe pine nuts???