REAL pizza. Yep – YUM!

Ok – so one of the big things lamented in our household (outside pasta) was a good pizza. Yes, you can get GF pizza a number of locations (our local one is Garlic Jim’s), and there are a number of frozen pizzas and pizza crusts available.

However, they all lack that yummy chewy yet crunchy thing that a good pizza has. Pizza crust should hold it’s own, and not be second fiddle to the toppings. It needs to have good flavor, and not wimp out under sauce and toppings. It should not need a fork to eat.

We’ve found pizzas that taste starchy. We’ve found crusts that are just crunchy, but with no chewy. We found savory nut-based crusts that are almost impossible to come by – they taste fantastic, but don’t have the chewy thing. And we’ve found some pretty funky tasting pizzas.

Making a pizza at home is a great family affair. Each kid has a favorite (mushroom and bacon seems to be the theme). It’s been a bit of a bummer to not be able to engage in this activity.

Until last night.

An acquaintance shared his GF pizza dough recipe and we gave it a try this weekend. WOW. Chewy, yet crispy, with a nice doughy flavor. Held up to our (hubby and mine) gourmet pepperoni/green olive/shallot/mushroom/mozzarella/goat cheese concoction.

The kids demolished their pizza. Then they went about eating the leftovers today for lunch. Yep – it reheats great!

This is someone else’s recipe, so I cannot post it in it’s entirety here. However, it’s based on the pizza crust recipe on side of a box of Schar white bread mix:

The additions are a bottle of GF beer, and enough corn starch to make it not-sticky. It was fairly easy, outside finding a local source for the above.

If you cannot find Schar locally, you can obtain online at the Schar online store, or at GlutenFreeMall.com.

Truly yummy – give it a try.

Enjoy!

Easter morn…

Happy Easter out there to those that celebrate it.

About 3 years ago, we started a holiday tradition of having a special breakfast. It’s a wonderful dish, but takes some planning ahead, and takes a bit to cook. That special breakfast item is something we call French Toast casserole.

The tradition pre-dates the gluten issues we’ve been dealing with for the past ~10 months.

So the first holiday post-diagnosis/discovery, (Thanksgiving), we went without (still very much learning the ropes). The result was much sadness in the household, as Thanksgiving and Christmas are eggnog holidays, allowing the production of the much desired Eggnog French Toast casserole.

So we set out to find a gluten free cinnamon or cinnamon-raisin bread with which to make the Eggnog French Toast casserole for Christmas. We tried numerous breads and bread recipes.

We found a great GF cinnamon-raisin mix from Bob’s Red Mill – and it did a great job playing the part in the casserole.

But – there are days you really don’t want to have to bake a loaf of bread just to make a breakfast item.

Whole Foods to the rescue – they have a Whole Food Bakery GF Cinnamon Raisin bread in the freezer section (or in the GF freezer section, if your local Whole Foods has a separate GF section). Tastes wonderful, and did a fantastic job this morning in the recipe.

Notes for the below recipe:

• You can substitute the milk for either 1/2 and 1/2 (rich) or eggnog (in season, yummy but very rich).
• This must sit overnight in the fridge – the original, gluten-containing recipe (if I remember correctly) had a shortcut to make and go same day, but GF bread absorbs a bit more slowly – so the overnight soak is a must here.
• This takes a bit to cook – between 40 min and 1 hour. Great for when you have something to do before you eat breakfast, or for a brunch dish.
• The leftovers freeze and reheat great – use a vacuum saver, or wrap with plastic wrap and then wrap again in foil and label. To reheat, use a microwave on medium for ~2 min, checking every min.

GF French Toast Casserole (~ 12 servings)

• 1 Loaf GF cinnamon or cinnamon-raisin bread
• 10 Eggs, beaten with the next ingredient
• 1 Cup milk (or 1/2 and 1/2, or eggnog)
• Optional: 1 Tsp cinnamon
• Optional: Insides of 1 vanilla bean
• Non-stick spray

1. Cut the loaf into ~ 1 inch squares. Spray a 7x11 inch baking dish with the non-stick spray, and put the cubes into the dish.
2. Combine the beaten eggs with the milk, and either of the optional ingredients.
3. Pour over the bread cubes.
4. Push the bread cubes down into the egg/milk mixture.
5. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
6. Just before going to bed, push the cubes again into the egg/milk mixture.
7. In the morning, heat oven to 350 degrees.
8. Bake casserole for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the eggs are set (the casserole will puff a bit like a soufflé).
9. Slice into smallish servings – this is a filling dish!

Enjoy!

School lunches and sandwiches

My eldest (who must eat gluten free – GF) attends a public school.

Have you looked at public school menus lately. I challenge you to find ONE GF meal that would satisfy an almost 11 year old boy.

Yeah.

So – we make his lunch every day. Yep – I know, there are some families out there that do this with no prob. We’re a two earner household – both I and my husband work full time, so making lunch every day put a definite … change… into our schedule.

Finding an acceptable substitute to sandwich bread was a darn right challenge. It took us at least 2 months to settle on a brand/recipe. We tried at least 10 recipes.

We finally, with the approval of eldest son, settled on Orgran Gluten Free Easy bake Bread Mix (not to be confused with an easy bake oven cake mix).

www.orgran.com

We purchase from our local Whole Foods, which has created a whole GF section (more about our first GF shopping outing later).

This loaf bakes up full loaf size, unlike a lot of the frozen GF loaves (but there are frozen GF loaves that fantastic in and of their own right – that’s fodder for, you guessed it, another day).

This stuff, fresh from the oven, tastes sooooooo good. It’s a formulation that can be made without dairy and eggs, thus making it safer for those with multiple allergies. It has no yeast – it uses a combination of ‘raising agents’ to get loft. And – because it’s a GF bread, no need to knead.

Some tips for this bread:

• If your allergies can withstand it, add the milk and/or eggs. The final product will be better for it.
• If you are allergic to corn, this is not the box for you.
• Get a digital scale – this, and many other GF recipes you will find, depend on weights. Your favorite domestic store will have a selection from which to chose…

Anyway- dinner time.

Enjoy!