<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Don't Loaf Around: A Primer on Making GF Bread in Your Bread Maker ------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998, 1:00 PM, Concurrent Session, Beth Hillson, Elizabeth Reed, Judy Vale, The Gluten-Free Pantry In food chemistry, very little applies to gluten free baking. We are working with a bowl of rice which will be dry with too little liquid and mushy with too much liquid. Bread needs a smooth silky consistency. Salt adds flavor but too much will kill yeast. Yeast needs a very warm environment. Turn on oven to 200, turn off and put product inside to rise. Judy has put it on an electric dryer or on a car hood. If bread mushroomed over the top of the bread machine or sank, there was too much water, it rose too quickly and there was no structure to hold it up. This varies from day to day with humidity, etc. Sneak up on amount of water, adding one-half amount, then little by little adding more. [Ed. note: This principal (sneaking up) is used in microwave cooking, as well.] The V20 Zojirushi ($199.00) makes a horizontal loaf, is flexible, has two paddles, is top-of-the-line machine. Kitchen Pro manufactures Regal ($99.00). The S-15 Zojirushi did not knead as well. Special tools of the trade include sheets of plastic wrap, spraying with cooking spray and using a scooper. Beth smoothes the top of the loaf with her hands over the top of a sheet of sprayed plastic wrap, Sometimes she even forms a bagel with the french bread and pizza mix between two sheets of sprayed plastic wrap. She freezes individual pizzas between sprayed plastic wrap. The cold does not hurt yeast. Beth puts flat bread on foil sprayed with olive oil on a grill for 3 min. one side and 2 min. the other. Oil the grill before baking or it can be baked in a 450 oven. Products that have a lot of dairy and butter (fat) are softer in texture. Country Bread is stiffer. Stir to the bottom or the result could be a wet top and crumbly bottom. Gluten Free Breads only require one rise as it takes 1/3 the time that developing gluten takes in regular bread. If it is punched down for a second rise it does not rise fully the second time. Tips for making bagels include: a long time to rise, a silky consistency and forming between two sheets of sprayed plastic wrap held in the hands. You can steam them by heating water in the microwave and then putting the bagel in. Breads from the Gluten-Free Pantry are lactose-free if there is no milk in them, e.g., Country French Bread Mix. Egg Replacers include: 1 egg=2 egg whites; 1 egg=1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal soaked in 3 Tbsp. warm water. Flaxseed contains omega oils, is healthy but may be laxative. (Beth sometimes adds a second egg equivalent.) Soy lecithin adds texture to bread. Carol Fenster says it is the great emulsifier. Beth uses an electric knife to slice bread after it is cool. For more hints contact the company at 800-291-8386 to get their sheet, "The Bread Doctor Is In". Basics for the Gluten-Free Diet: A Question and Answer Review Session ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998, 1:00 PM, Concurrent Session, Leon Rottmann, Executive Director and Mary Schluckebier, President Elect The goal of the GF diet is to make a celiac a whole person through nutrition and by learning to substitute. Dr. Rottmann noted that a new term, "clinical diet", is beginning to be used when referring to the GF diet. It was noted as a term used in the licensing of clinical nutrition specialists. Ten years ago the preponderance of medications contained gluten. Putting the Taste of India in Gluten-Free Cooking ------------------------------------------------- Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998, 2:00 PM, Concurrent Session, Hushad M. Pareth, President, The Tamarind Tree Spices are used in Indian cooking for 3 reasons: to improve the taste of the food; to utilize the healing properties of the spices; and to increase the shelf life of the product. Any particular spice has two components: taste and "hotness". To remove the "hotness" from a dish, add yogurt or sour cream. Because Indian foods are usually quite fatty, salty and spicy, The Tamarind Tree has reduced the fat by 1/2; the salt by 2/3; and the spice by 1/2 to better fit the American taste. The packaging process for each product is the same as that used for the US military field rations, vacuum pack and seal fully cooked. This means the products have an extended shelf life, are useful for travel or office lunches and can be eaten either right from the package or heated. Mr. Pareth does NOT recommend ordering lentil chips in an Indian restaurant because they are probably fried in the same oil as the bread. New Developments in Gluten-Free Foods ------------------------------------- Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998, 2:00 PM, Concurrent Session, Sam Wylde, III, President, ENER-G Foods, Inc. New Products will include: #4720 Pretzels (from Israel), #4152 Bread Sticks, #4060 Sour Dough Baguette, #4721 Gourmet Crackers (Plain, Sesame, Garlic) Pizza Shells will be available to health food stores in a fancy box (2) or from the company in a plain box (3) + shipping. Regarding ingredients used in gluten-free foods (to hold things together): Xanthan gum is going up in price, because less food grade xanthan gum is being produced. Most guar gum comes from India. Alternatives include: Ener G potato flour, which is pre-gelatinized (cooked), or using twice as much gelatin. Regarding the use of guar gum, the CFR 21 (Code of Federal Regulations) restricts the amount to 5/10 of 1 % by weight. The scare about Guar Gum was caused by people taking straight doses to induce diarrhea which resulted in anorexia or bulimia. The package wrap for the two-slice package of bread is polyester coated with glass. If it gets wrinkled, then the glass can be broken and oxygen can get in. Any bread that is frozen will be drier. His bread will spoil in about a week after opening. Most flours keep three years except those with oil. He suggests adding 1/2 cup apple fiber for 1/2 cup brown rice flour. You can add fiber with rice bran, rice polish, apple fiber, bean fiber, or methylcellulose. Sunday, Nov. 1, 1998, Concurrent Sessions: Is the Diet Managing Me or Am I Managing the Diet?, Mary McLaughlin, RD, New England Medical Center Eating Out With the Hotel Chef, Serge Wechseler, Executive Chef Packing It Up Obtaining Diet and Ingredient Information on Foods and Judging Its Accuracy Reading Labels and Working With Commercial Food Companies Basics on Adapting Favorite Recipes to Gluten-Free Getting Adequate Nutrition and Promoting Growth on the Gluten-Free Diet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday was food day. The general session and the closing session were conducted by Mary McLaughlin. Except for the usual session with the hotel executive chef, the concurrent sessions were conducted by graduate students from Tufts University School of Nutrition. The presentations and handouts were prepared primarily from the CSA/USA educational materials. Several of the students attempted to live on a GF diet for a period of time and/or attempted to eat out as a celiac. Enthusiasm and interest were high on the students part, information presented was basic and offers to research any attendees questions were made. It was an interesting experiment. The audience was not homogenous enough for it to succeed dramatically but it was a good effort. With long range planning, attendee participation with advance knowledge of the type of session and advance questions, it could be an interesting educational tool for everybody involved on a periodic basis. (NOTE: The students were in a serious accident on the way to the hotel. Car demolished. Nobody hurt but everybody shook up and nervous.)