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Don't Loaf Around:  A Primer on Making GF Bread in Your Bread Maker
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.)