Gluten-Free Recipe Review

Sizzling Surf and Turf Pasta

2010-04-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Recipe Title: Sizzling Surf and Turf Pasta
Recipe Link: http://quickiesonthedinnertable.yolasite.com/recipes/sizzling-surf-and-turf-pasta
Status: Approved
Rating: 8/10

Jen's Notes: This recipe is not specifically gluten-free, but it's easily made that way by substituting gluten-free pasta. The prep for this is pretty simple - just slice up the chicken and dice the garlic. If you start the pasta at the same time as the chicken and shrimp concoction, it should all be ready at about the same time. You can have this on the table in twenty minutes, no sweat. Always a nice thing on week night!

If you can't find chili paste, you can also substitute garlic chili sauce, found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. If you go this route, and you aren't a garlic fanatic like me, you'll probably want to cut back on the amount of diced garlic. Also, if you don't like spicy food, cut the chili paste back to 1 or 2 tablespoons. I used the full three tablespoons, and the result was extremely spicy.

We really enjoyed this dish - the combination of shrimp and chicken is unusual but tasty. The recipe recommends adding some salt to the final dish, but I think this could be cut. I added about a teaspoon of kosher salt, and found the mixture to be a little on the salty side. I also would have liked for some veggies to be mixed in there, so I think next time I'll add some spinach so that this is a complete meal.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 25 minutes

This Week's Menu - 4/12/2010

2010-04-12T10:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick look at what I'll be cooking up next week. Check back later for my reviews!

Sizzling Surf and Turf Pasta

Guiltess Gluten-Free Pizza

Chicken and Artichoke Enchilada Bake

Product Review: Pamel's Bread Mix and Flour Blend

2010-04-09T11:01:00.002-05:00

Recipe Title: Pamela's Amazing Bread
Recipe Link: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipes/amazingbread.html
Product Link: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/ProductsMIXES.html#BREAD
Status: Approved
Rating: 10/10

Jen's Notes: One of these days, I'm going to start taking my own food pictures. Soon, my lovelies, soon.

In the mean time, you can occupy yourself with another product review from your favorite reviewer (right? right??). As you know, I've been trying to find a great bread recipe so that my adoring husband can have a sandwich for lunch. So far, it hasn't gone too well. So this week, I did the unthinkable.

I bought a mix.

I know, I know. It's shocking. I've always been a from-scratch kind of baker, and here I am buying a mix. It broke my heart to do it, but what kind of wife would I be if I let the hubby eat plain old meat cheese for lunch? See, you couldn't do it either. But enough chatter. On to the review!

Short summary: Awesome. It was easy-peezy to make, especially if you have a bread machine. I would recommend whisking your eggs together first, as always. Then it's just dump liquids + mix + yeast into the bread machine pan, set to desired cycle and go do something else for three hours. Really, the hardest part about making this recipe was hauling out the bread machine and getting the pan snapped back into place.

The flavor, you ask? Incredible. This was, much to my chagrin, the best gluten-free bread I've had so far. With last week's pudding catastrophe still fresh in my mind, you can only imagine the joy I felt when I watched the dough start to come together in the bread machine, and it actually looked like dough! Real, honest-to-goodness dough. And it tastes like bread too. Yes, it even works for sandwiches. Hubby has been happily having real sandwiches all week with this bread. This bread is still a bit dense, so he only uses one slice of bread folded over. I'm going to try adding an extra egg to see if that lightens things up a bit.

My only complaint is the price. The mix (at my grocery store, anyways) is about $6 per small bag, and that bag only makes one loaf. So the quest for the perfect bread recipe will continue, but I've promised hubby to keep making this bread until I can find a suitable from-scratch alternative. I'm planning to do some fiddling in the kitchen this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled!

Also, I'll throw in a little side review today. If you're like me, and have problems slicing bread evenly, you might want to consider getting a slicer. I spent an hour or two searching online, and I believe I've found the most bang for your buck in Rival's Fold-Up Food Slicer. It's only $40, and it allows you to set the slicer to your desired thickness. It folds up too, so that makes it a little easier to store. Hang on to the instruction book for awhile, though, or you might forget how to put it back together (I did). I didn't have any problem using it, and one nice feature is that you have to hold down two buttons together to get the blade to turn -- definitely a plus if you have a little one running around, and you don't want them to sever their limbs. I can't speak to its durability just yet, since we've only had it for a week, but I like it quite a bit so far. You will need to order it online, though, because Wal-Mart doesn't carry it in the store.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3.5 hours
Start to Finish: 3.5 hours + 5 minutes

White Bread for Bread Machines

2010-04-07T11:04:00.000-05:00

Recipe Title: Gluten-Free White Bread for Bread Machines
Recipe Link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gluten-Free-White-Bread-for-Bread-Machines/Detail.aspx

Status: Needs Work
Rating: 1/10

Jen's Notes: This recipe was pretty easy to make. Based on the reviews that I read ahead of time, I decided to pre-mix the ingredients before putting it into the bread machine. I also chose to substitute tapioca flour for the soy flour since I didn't have any soy flour on hand. The mixture came out extremely liquidy - more like pudding then anything resembling bread. So I added another cup of white rice flour, based on the advice of another reviewer. That definitely thickened the mixture up somewhat, but it was still on the thin side. I decided to let it ride, however, and see how it turned out.

One note I will make is that, if your buttermilk is not at room temperature, you can probably nuke it in the microwave but only for a very short time period. I nuked it for a minute, and the milk curdled. So I ended up letting it sit for awhile anyway.

After nearly four hours in the bread machine, I pulled out my loaf of bread. Epic fail. The top of it looked like someone punched it. The sides were very tall, but the middle was sunken in quite a bit. We decided to hang onto it for the next day anyway, just in case it tasted good but didn't look pretty. Unfortunately, it tasted horrible. I didn't actually get to eat any of it because my husband threw away the entire loaf after taking one bite.

Now you might wonder why this hasn't been moved over to the VETOED category. Mostly, it is because I am determined to find a good recipe for bread without using a mix. I refuse to spend $6/loaf on cardboard pre-made loaves, and the $6/bag of baking mix doesn't leave me feeling too happy either. So I think I want to play with the recipe a bit before giving up on it completely. I don't recommend making this recipe according to the directions linked above - you'll only be throwing away money.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours, 50 minutes
Start to Finish: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Product Review: Pamela's Chocolate Brownie Mix

2010-04-07T10:46:00.001-05:00

Recipe Title: Pamela's Irresistible Chocolate Brownies
Recipe Link: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipes/pamirrebrownies.html
Product Link: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/ProductsMIXES.html#CBM
Status: Vetoed
Rating: 3/10

Jen's Notes: On Easter Sunday, I decided to try out the gluten-free brownie mix that's been sitting in my pantry for a few weeks now. We were going over to my mom's for Easter lunch, and I knew there would be at least one dessert there that was just chock full of gluten. So it seemed like a good idea to have a (hopefully) tasty alternative for my husband.

The brownies were pretty simple to make. One nice thing about this mix is that there are a variety of recipes on the bag, so you should be able to make them with whatever ingredients you have on hand. There's a recipe using butter, another using only oil, etc. The cook time, however, was quite a bit longer than the 18 minutes prescribed by the recipes on the bag. Mine ended up cooking for about 30 minutes before the toothpick came out clean.

When it was all said and done, though, the flavor was just not there. The texture was grainy, but I could have lived with that if that was the only problem. The brownies also had a strange metallic aftertaste. I felt a bit like I was munching on aluminum foil. Chocolately aluminum foil, at least. According to my brutally honest little brother, this was the "worst thing you've ever made." These brownies turned out to be QUITE resistable, contrary to the recipe title. Only four of us were brave enough to try one, and none of us liked them. The other half of the brownies went into the trash.

Another complaint I had was the amount of brownies produced. This didn't end up being an issue for us, but considering that the mix was $6, I would like to get more than eight normal-sized brownies out of it. Imagine if we had actually liked them -- it wouldn't have made enough brownies to feed everyone, and our holiday crew is only 8 people (in my family, feeding everyone requires 2x per item per person).

If you are feeling creative, you might be able to make this edible by adding some sugar or honey to the mix, or maybe adding a cream cheese frosting. If you're going to use this mix, you'll need to do something to cover up that metallic flavor. As for us ... well, you know you'll be the first to know when I find some tasty brownies!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 35 minutes

Chicken Breasts with Wild Mushrooms, Marjoram & Marsala

2010-03-30T12:48:00.001-05:00

Recipe Title: Chicken Breasts with Wild Mushrooms, Marjoram & Marsala
Recipe Link: http://www.celiac.com/articles/1092/1/Chicken-Breasts-with-Wild-Mushrooms-Marjoram-and-Marsala-Gluten-Free/Page1.html

Status: Approved
Rating: 9/10

Jen's Notes: Another great-tasting, easy-to-make recipe today! I made this for dinner last night, along with some green beans and homemade mashed potatoes. Picky husband took one bite and said he loved it.

There were very few bumps in the kitchen while making this. I only have a few recommendations for this recipe:

If you have thick chicken breasts (which seems to be the trend these days), cover them while they are cooking so they don't take forever to cook completely.
You may want to add some potato or corn starch to the sauce to get it to thicken properly. I followed the instructions in the original recipe exactly, but I ended up adding some potato starch to get it to thicken up the way I wanted. Keep in mind that it will thicken up a little more when you remove it from the heat, but not a tremendous amount.
To save a little cooking time, start the sauce in a separate skillet after you get the chicken going. Then, once the chicken is done, transfer the sauce to the chicken skillet so it can absorb all the chicken goodness.
Homemade mashed potatoes work really well with this - just pour a little of the sauce on top of the potatoes before serving.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Chewy Granola Bars

2010-03-29T11:41:00.001-05:00

Recipe Title: Chewy Granola Bars
Recipe Link:http://www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com/help-kids-cancer-granola-bar/
Status: Approved
Rating: 9/10

Jen's Notes: I brought these granola bars with me to work today so that I could have a healthy snack instead of raiding the vending machine. There were a few substitutions made:

Subbed sorghum flour for teff flour
Subbed dried cranberries for mission figs
Subbed cashews for walnuts

I tried two different grocery stores, but I was unable to find any teff flour and Whole Foods was closed. So, I decided to sub sorghum flour instead. I have no idea if this was the best substitute I could have used, since I am still pretty new to this gluten-free baking stuff. However, it did work and the outcome was very tasty. I really wanted to make this recipe verbatim, but fate was against me yesterday. First, I couldn't find teff flour and then the store was out of dried figs. I happened to have cashews on hand, so I used those instead of spending money on walnuts.

This recipe seems like one of those wonderfully versatile recipes. I plan to try Whole Foods this weekend to get some teff flour and make these again - I suspect that will make a significant difference in the flavor, and probably bump it up into the 10/10 category. But I think it's also nice to know that you can sub another kind of flour if you need to, since sometimes these whacky GF flours can be hard to find.

This is a great recipe to be creative with! Use whatever combination of dried fruits and nuts that you like - change it up from time to time so it doesn't get boring. I personally love dried cranberries and cashews, so that was a great combo for me. Preparation was pretty easy, but I skipped the food processor step and I don't think it made much or any of a difference.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Broiled Grapefruit

2010-03-29T10:16:00.002-05:00

Recipe Title: Broiled Grapefruit
Recipe Link: http://www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com/broiled-grapefruit-recipe/

Status: Approved
Rating: 7/10

Jen's Notes: First off, I want to preface this review by saying that I don't generally like grapefruit. My mother used to eat a lot whenever she'd go on a diet, and I could never understand how she could eat it. It was just too bitter for me.

Recently, I saw an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown demonstrated how sprinkling some salt over a grapefruit half and then broiling it would take that edge off. And then I came across Amy's recipe. So I decided to give it a whirl, in the spirit of eating in a more balanced way.

As a person who hates grapefruit, I have to say that this wasn't bad. I wouldn't say that it was awesomely terrific or that I will lay awake nights craving this. But I will probably eat it for breakfast again tomorrow. Most of the bitter flavor that I can't stand was neutralized, but it wasn't sweet. It was very easy to make - the recipe does a pretty good job of detailing what you need to do. And it was quick. Oh how I love quick, especially first thing in the morning.

I did sprinkle some kosher salt on top before I added the agave, thanks to the aforementioned episode of Good Eats. I also let it broil for about 10 minutes (instead of the three called for in the recipe), but I also didn't give the oven much time to heat up. I want to try making this ahead of time, and then nuking it in the microwave. Even though this was pretty quick to make, I am eternally running late so if I can have breakfast and save myself ten minutes in the morning, that would be a good thing.

Edit: Eat this the same day that you make it. I never got around to eating yesterday's grapefruit, so I thought I'd save it for today. Bad idea. It's in the trash now.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes
Start to Finish: 15 minutes

Ricotta & Pesto Meat Loaf

2010-03-25T09:33:00.002-05:00

Recipe Title: Ricotta & Pesto Meat Loaf
Recipe Link: http://www.celiac.com/articles/859/1/Ricotta--Pesto-Meat-Loaf-Gluten-Free/Page1.html

Status: Vetoed

Jen's Notes: From the cooking side of things, this was a pretty simple recipe. I made the pesto first, using this recipe. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, then dump turkey, pesto, ricotta and egg together.

Problem #1: The mixture felt very wet to me. I've made a lot of meatloaves in my time, so I have a pretty good idea for the consistency that you need. I remedied this problem by adding about a half cup of brown rice breadcrumbs to the mixture. You could also add some gluten-free oats, if you prefer.

Problem #2: The meat mixture came out green. When you add a strong color like green to turkey (white) and ricotta (white), there's not much there to tone down the green color. Admittedly, this is just a visual complaint. But I found it a bit disconcerting to eat green meat. When I pulled it out of the oven, the green effect had toned down some but the final product was still a light green.

Problem #3: This one is the deal breaker. In spite of having ingredients like basil and ricotta, which are very flavorful ingredients, this turned out very bland. I think the parmesan/romano toned down the flavor of the basil enough that it didn't get to really stand out like it should have. You could try using a different cheese (mozzarella, maybe?) or cutting the parmesan.

However, I think this recipe has seen its last day in my kitchen. I'm all for "fixing" a recipe, but there's gotta be something worth working with in the first place. Unfortunately, I cannot say that about this recipe. Normally, we save the leftovers to eat the next day for dinner so that I don't have to cook every day. These leftovers went down the garbage disposal.

After the relative kitchen failures we've had this week, I've decided to give poor hubby's taste buds a break and make quiche for dinner tonight, so the chicken that was originally on the menu for this week is getting bumped to next week. I'm thinking of trying some GF baking this weekend, though, so be sure and check back for that.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 hour, 30 minutes

The Gluten-Free Weight Loss Challenge

2010-03-23T21:02:00.001-05:00

This gluten-free blogger has a confession to make: I'm not gluten-free. Certainly, my husband is and I've been eating gluten-free with him and cooking gluten-free for him. But when he's not around? Why, just today, I had a whole wheat turkey sandwich for lunch. After all, he's the one with the kidney problems, right?

Yes, but I'm the one with the weight problem. Weight that I've struggled to lose for more than a decade now. I eat healthy, at least the current perception of healthy. For the past five years, I've chalked up my inability to lose weight to my inability to maintain an exercise regime.

Is it that, though? While I really suck at maintaining an exercise regime, I'm still a fairly active person. I do the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning. I hike half a mile from my bus stop to my office every day. I go on all-day shopping marathons with my mother. I go on all-day shopping trips with my husband, too. I even have periods where I manage to maintain an exercise regime - sometimes for months at a time. But I never see any results.

Why? It's a question that's plagued me for years. And now I'm wondering if I've finally found the answer. Today, while surfing the web looking for new recipes for this blog, I came across another blog. The author of the blog has been sugar and gluten-free for six years. Like me, she'd always struggled with her weight. The solution for her was to eliminate flour, sugar and white potatoes. I spent the evening reading through her blog, and her eight-part series about finding balance with food.

It has inspired me to try an experiment: eliminate gluten and refined sugars completely for one month. I want to see what will happen. Would you like to experiment with me? Below, I'm listing the rules that I am going to follow for the next month. Weight loss and food are both deeply personal (and intertwined) things, so feel free to change the rules to suit your own life.

No gluten or refined sugars, whatsoever.
Increase my daily water intake by at least three glasses per day.
Increase my weekly workout frequency to three times per week.
On weekends, I won't worry about fat content. Rule #1 still applies, though.
No more than one weigh-in per week.

Do you want to play? The more the merrier! Reply to this thread with your current height and weight, the day you will start, and rules you intend to follow (if different). Yes, I know you don't want to post your weight on the internet. If you really don't want to, you don't have to. But it won't hurt a bit, I promise. If anyone makes fun of you, makes a snide comment or a derogatory remark, just let me know and Auntie Jen will take care of it in her very own, deeply personal way.

I'll even start the ball. Here we go:

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 180 pounds
Starting Date: March 29

And one more time, if you want to read the blog that inspired me to do this, just go here.

This Week's Menu - 3/22/2010

2010-03-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick look at GFRR's menu for the week. Be sure to check back later in the week to read my reviews!

Gluten-Free Pasta with Pototoes, Zucchini and Shrimp

Chicken Breasts with Wild Mushrooms, Marjoram and Marsala

Ricotta & Pesto Meat Loaf

Gluten-Free Pasta with Potatoes, Zucchini and Shrimp

2010-03-23T10:12:00.003-05:00

Recipe Title: Gluten-Free Pasta with Potatoes, Zucchini and Shrimp
Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/08/honeymoon-approaches.html
Status: Needs Work
Rating: 7/10

Jen's Notes: Shrimp on a Monday. Oh, don't we feel decadent. Shrimp is one of those things that is so, so tasty, and not really THAT expensive (ok, it is a little expensive), and yet I never make shrimp for dinner. Well, not so last night!

So the first thing I'll tell you about this recipe is that it really is quite tasty. Even with the goat cheese (that's the chevre, in case you wondered), it's really low in fat. Basically the only fat in the whole thing is from the goat cheese. Now the next thing I'll tell you is that I wasn't very organized last night. First, I made out my grocery list for the week while I was at work. Then I left the list at work. So I decided to try to buy the ingredients for this recipe from memory. That almost worked out. Almost. I remembered everything except the zucchini.

Then I was in a rush to get the potatoes started, and I didn't read the part where it said to julienne them. I just diced them into large chunks and tossed them in the water. Then I forgot to cook the garlic before I threw in the shrimp. I actually think this worked out for the best, because the shrimp ended up still being a bit watery when I cooked it. It was frozen solid at the grocery store, and I defrosted it partially by soaking the shrimp in hot water but clearly, it was not completely thawed out.

So once the potatoes and the pasta and the shrimp were all cooked, I tossed it all into a colander to drain it all and mix it together. So now it was time for that goat cheese I mentioned earlier. You'll notice that the recipe called for dabs of goat cheese, and the picture even shows little tiny chunks of goat cheese mixed in with the pasta. I tried that for approximately two minutes. Tearing the goat cheese pretty much just managed to make a mess on my fingers, so I sliced it up a little, tossed it into my still-warm colander of stuff and mixed it all together until the goat cheese melted and coated everything. Basically, like a goat cheese sauce. I haven't used goat cheese much before (ok, ever). If you want the dab effect shown in the picture, try leaving your goat cheese in the fridge right up until you need it. Mine was fresh from the store, and just never went into the fridge so my problem might have been that the cheese had gotten too warm. No promises there, but something you may want to keep in mind. If not, the goat cheese sauce method works just fine.

But here come the reason for the ratings ding. When I first tasted the pasta, it was very bland. I had to add quite a bit of salt and pepper to get it to have any flavor. When you have a husband with a kidney disease, adding salt makes you nervous. I'm hoping that remembering the garlic next time will alleviate this problem. I'm also thinking of adding some fresh basil into the mix somewhere. Other changes: I doubled the shrimp (it came in a two pound bag anyway) and the goat cheese (hey, it came in a 4 oz package).

Potatoes paired with pasta: this seemed strange but interesting to me. The verdict? Meh. It didn't do much for the flavor in my opinion, and I didn't like the fact that I was basically getting double servings of carbs. Even gluten-free, a girl still has to watch her thighs, you know? So I think that next time, I'll cut the potatoes and double the zucchini (assuming, of course, that I can remember to buy it).

In summary, here's a list of things you can learn from my kitchen bumblings last night:

When making a grocery list, it helps to take it to the store.
Don't make this recipe the same day that you go to the grocery store. The shrimp needs time to thaw out completely.
Double the shrimp and goat cheese = WIN!
Skip the potatoes and go for more zucchini.

Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus time for the shrimp to thaw
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 40 minutes

Gluten-Free Shepherd's Pie

2010-03-22T12:28:00.002-05:00

Recipe Title: Gluten-Free Shepherd's Pie
Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/03/irish-cottage-pie-recipe.html
Status: Approved!
Rating: 9/10

Jen's Notes: This recipe was pretty simple to make, but a bit time consuming. That seems to be an ongoing theme lately. Fortunately, I decided to make this one ahead of time so I only had to pop it in the oven the day I wanted to serve it.

One tip I would give is to get the potatoes started right away. Peeled and diced, they took about 45 minutes to cook in boiling water. If you want to save a little time, skip the peeling but make sure you wash the skins thoroughly.

While the potatoes are cooking, I would recommend doing a full prep. You've got quite a few things to get chopped up, and you don't want anything to burn while you're chopping the next round of ingredients. You're going to be pretty busy stirring things, so just go ahead and get the leeks, garlic and carrots chopped up before you start the meat. Never chopped up a leek before? It's pretty simple - just think of it as a giant green onion - slice the white part and throw out the green part. I would recommend that you take a second to break up the leek slices before you throw them on the meat. Otherwise, you end up with giant chunks of leek. Also, make sure you wash the leeks very thoroughly. If you've ever seen Alton Brown talk about leeks, then you already know what I'm going to say. Because leeks grow up out of the ground in layers, there WILL be dirt between the layers. If you want to save a few bucks (cause leeks aren't cheap), you could probably substitute green onions or regular white onions. I didn't honestly notice much of a difference in the taste, so I'll probably try that next time. If you are going to sub white onions, I would suggest using about 1 1/2 - 2 whole chopped onions.

Other than that, this recipe is pretty straightforward. I loved the taste, but I knocked it one point because hubby felt the need to put ketchup on it. However, he still liked it and said we can add it to the "make again" list. My picky little brother also joined us for dinner that night, and he scarfed it down with no ketchup at all.

Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Start to Finish:

Lasagna Vegetariana

2010-03-18T11:55:00.004-05:00

Recipe Title: Lasagna Vegetariana
Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/04/lasagna-vegetariana.html
Status: Approved!!!
Rating: 10/10

Jen's Notes: I made this night before last, with a friend of mine helping me out in the kitchen. Whether you are a vegetarian or not, you need to try this recipe. It was so insanely good. My husband polished off his plate in about two minutes (he's a fast eater), and my friend said that it was good enough to order from a restaurant. We will definitely be making this one again.

That said, this is a very time consuming recipe. There's a lot of ingredients, and a lot of them have to be chopped up or measured. It took me a little over an hour to get this in the oven, and that was with my friend helping me out. Part of this is probably because I kept having to stop and read the recipe in between doing stuff. Even so, I can't imagine the prep time being any less than 30 or 45 minutes, even if you have the recipe memorized. If you work full-time like I do, you might want to get this prepped the night before so that you can just stick it in the oven when you get home. I didn't get to start dinner until almost 6:30 this particular night, so it was almost 9pm by the time we ate.

The other adjustment you can make is the cook time. This was an accident, but it worked out. I was in a rush trying to get this thing in the oven, and I just skimmed through the cook time instructions and totally missed the fact that it was supposed to go in the oven covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 50 to 60. I only saw the second part of that, so I stuck it in the oven uncovered and set the timer for 55 minutes. I did realize my mistake before it finished cooking, but I decided to just let it ride - and everything turned out just fine. I really can't imagine that it would have turned out better (seriously, I don't think that's possible) if I had followed the cook time, but I may try it next time just to see. So, watch this space for updates!

What are you waiting for? Go make this lasagna!

Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Start to Finish: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Chipotle Orange Chicken

2010-03-14T23:43:00.003-05:00

Recipe Title: Chipotle Orange Chicken
Recipe Link: http://www.elanaspantry.com/chipotle-orange-chicken/
Status: Vetoed by hubby
Rating: 3/10

Jen's Notes: I made this recipe almost exactly as specified, except that I substituted chicken breasts for the whole chicken, and there were no chipotles because they didn't make it home from the grocery store somehow.

It was a very easy to make recipe. The marinade took maybe fifteen minutes to prepare, including chopping garlic and squeezing oranges. I let it marinade overnight, then tossed it in the oven when I got home from work. Because I used chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken, the bake time was only 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the flavor. The orange flavor is very overpowering. None of the flavor of the garlic or the herbs de provence came through. For the same effect, I could have just marinated hte chicken breasts in orange juice. I imagine the chipotles, had they made it home from the grocery store, probably would have come through because chipotles have such strong flavor. However, I don't think I'll making this one again. Making this with a whole chicken might make a difference, but I prefer to use chicken breasts because of the fat factor. So, for me, this recipe is failed out.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 45 minutes

Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread

2010-03-11T01:09:00.014-06:00

Recipe Title: Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread

Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/03/gluten-free-multi-grain-sandwich-bread.html

Status: Approved!
Rating: 7/10

Jen's Notes: I have a bread machine now, and it was free, courtesy of a friend at work (apprently, she doesn't use it)! This attempt at bread went much better than the last one. I did decide to skip the sesame seed topping, but I don't think that effects the flavor much.

The only snag I hit this time was that, when I took the bread out, the top was sunk in a bit and there was this weird layered look to the loaf. I'm not sure what caused this, but I think the yeast might not have proofed quite right. It didn't get all that foamy but I used it anyway. I'm fairly sure that explains the sunken top, but I don't know about the layered look.

In spite of layered weirdness, the taste is still yummy. It tastes basically just like plain white bread that you buy from the store, minus all that icky gluten. The only reason it lost a point in the rating is that it didn't make much bread. When I sliced it up, I only ended up with about six slices (admittedly, I slice bread crooked as hell). This could be due to the possible yeast issues, so I'll change the rating if I get a bigger loaf the next time.

Edit: After making this recipe a couple of times now, I've decided to drop the rating down a bit. While it does taste good, it doesn't work as sandwich bread very well. After about a day, the texture becomes too crumbly and falls apart easily. It would make a good bread to serve on the side of a meal, or a snack perhaps. But since this was called a "sandwich bread" specifically, I'm dropping the rating.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Start to Finish: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Onion and Mushroom Pizza

2010-03-11T00:54:00.007-06:00

Recipe Title: Onion and Mushroom Pizza

Recipe Link: http://delectablyfree.com/2010/02/caramelized-onion-and-shitake-pizza/

Status: Needs some work, but has potential

Rating: 4/10

Jen's Notes: This is one of those cases where I probably should have stuck to the recipe. Instead, I embellished and it didn't turn out to be an improvement. But, I have hope that this can be saved so keep on reading to learn from my mistakes.

First off, for the pizza dough, I substituted Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust mix. I didn't have any pizza pans, so I decided to use one of my big cookie sheets (ala Bigfoot style). I wasn't sure how much of the dough to use, so I used all of it. I think that 3/4 or 1/2 of the dough would have worked out better, but it really depends on how you like your crust. Using the whole bag made it soft and chewy, and we usually like our pizza crust crispier. Next time, I'm going to take it out of the pan after the dough is in the oven the first time and cook the pizza directly on the oven rack. This will either make the pizza crispy, or make a huge mess in the oven, or both. Keep your eyes peeled to find out!

Another dough issue is that it ended up being very uneven when I pulled it out of the oven the first time. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get the dough even next time (it certainly looked even when I finished shaping the dough), but I might try breaking out the old rolling pin.

TIP: Make the dough first, so that it can rise while you work on getting the toppings ready.

Next, the toppings. Because I am too cheap to buy shiitake mushrooms (you'll find this is a recurring theme for me), I bought a bag of regular baby bellas. I also decided to add some lean ground beef because the hubby gets cranky if there is not meat in his dinner. And because I love garlic, I tossed in a couple cloves of diced garlic. Then I decided to add in some pizza sauce (Chef Boyardee) - and I think this was my biggest mistake of the meal. After I tossed the toppings in a little olive oil and the dough had gone through round one in the oven, I covered the dough in sauce and toppings and popped it in the oven for the recommended time (which was plenty, for once).

The end result? Well, the toppings tasted very yummy together, so I plan to use the same combination next time. However, as I talked about up top, the dough was softer than we like. Second, I believe because of the added pizza sauce, there was way too much liquid on the pizza. In places, the dough was soggy. I suspect this was due in part to the unevenness of the dough. I think the pizza sauce pooled and then soaked through the low spots in the crust. In spite of all of this, the pizza was pretty tasty but definitely needs some work. Sure, we had to use a fork to eat the pizza but it was still good.

Moral of the story? Sometimes it's a good idea to resist the impulse to embellish.

Prep Time: 50 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Start to Finish: 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Ham, Broccoli, Cheese and Onion Quiche (with a Gluten-Free Crust)

2010-03-11T00:15:00.005-06:00

Recipe Title: Ham, Broccoli, Cheese and Onion Quiche (with a Gluten-Free Crust)

Recipe Link: Quiche Filling and Gluten-Free Pie Crust

Status: Tested and heartily approved

Rating: 10/10

Jen's Notes: The hubby really loved this one (quote: "This is the first thing you've made that I actually liked since we started this whole gluten-free thing"). Seriously, I was trying to ask him how it was but he was too busy shovelling it into his mouth to answer. And even better, it was really easy.

First, the pie crust. I picked up the Pamela's mix at the store, and made it exactly according to the recipe (with the exception of using a food processor to mix the dough). Be sure to note that this recipe makes TWO pie crusts, so if you only need one, just half the recipe. The dough is much more likely to rip than a regular pie crust dough, but don't stress too much if it rips. It's a little easier to repair rips and tears with this crust than normal crust. I was a little concerned about making a from-scratch pie crust on a weeknight, but it only took about 15 minutes, including rolling out the dough.

The filling was pretty low-stress too. I decided to add some broccoli to the recipe, so I just sauteed about 1 cup or so of chopped frozen broccoli at the same time that I sauteed the onions. Then just dump all the ingredients into a bowl, mix and pour into the pie crust. I should also note that instead of using eggs as called for in the main recipe, I used a 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters. If you have egg allergies, you can probably use the Ener-G egg replacement (though I don't know how that works).

One more note - if you've never bought cubed ham before and don't know where to find it, check the regular meat section of your supermarket, in with the ground beef, chicken, etc. NOT with the deli meat. The variety I bought was 95% lean, so this was still a pretty healthy meal.

The cook time for my quiche ended up being about 10 minutes longer than the quiche recipe said. I checked it at 40 minutes and the top wasn't browned yet so I kicked up the temp to 375 and cooked for another ten minutes. Again, this may very well be my oven's fault (too cheap to go buy an oven thermometer to find out).

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Start to Finish: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Gluten-Free Ryeless Rye Bread

2010-03-05T13:33:00.003-06:00

Recipe Title: Gluten-Free Ryeless Rye Bread

Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/02/gluten-free-rye-bread-recipe-seriously.html

Status: Tested, and approved

Rating: 7 out of 10 (due to snags, not taste)

Jen's Notes: We bought our first loaf of gluten-free bread on Monday ($6 for a half loaf), and threw it out on Tuesday. Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it. So I found some bread recipes online, and decided to try out this one. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the result. If you don't have a breadmaker, don't worry. I went the mixer-and-oven route, and it turned out just fine.

I did hit a couple of snags. The first one was with the yeast. Not being a bread baker, yeast is something I've only used once or twice. This recipe requires you to proof the yeast. The first attempt, nothing happened so I tossed it out and tried again. I recommend that you let your tap water get really good and hot. Lukewarm is not going to cut it for this step. If your tap water doesn't get very hot, you might want to heat on the stove (I wouldn't let it boil though, I suspect that's too hot). So what I did was take a cereal bowl and dump my tablespoon of yeast in the bowl. Then, after the tap water was good and hot, I measured out a cup, poured it into the bowl and immediately whisked it together until the yeast was dissolved. Then I drizzled in some honey and whisked a little more. Let it sit for about ten minutes, and it had a nice, foamy head on it (like beer).

The next snag came the first time I tried to take it of the oven. I thumped the top of the loaf (the only exposed part), and it sounded hollow so I thought it was done. So I tried to take out of the pan. Problem? The loaf split in half, with the bottom still clinging to the pan and the middle was clearly NOT cooked as it was still semi-liquidy. So I smooshed the loaf back together and put it back in the oven. It ended up baking for about an hour, with me testing it every now and then with a knife for stickiness. Sadly, the rip I created when I pulled it out of the oven the first time didn't fix itself so using this loaf for sandwich bread (as planned) isn't happening this time around.

I think part of my problem with the undercooked middle might have been my oven. I live in an apartment, and we all know how they only use top quality appliances (eyeroll). I do a lot of baking in this oven without any problems, but most of my recipes cook at 375 (versus the 350 prescribed in this one). So, I think I'll try it at 375 next time and see if that works out better. I would say that if you usually bake things at hotter temperature than 350, you might want to consider adjusting the temp you use for this bread as well.

Another snag? This one is entirely my fault, but I should have lined the loaf pan with parchment paper, or at least some non-stick spray (I'm not sure if that's gluten-free, so check before you use it). Getting the loaf out of the pan was a pain, even after it was cooked.

In the end, the bread was terrific. I'm not even the one who has to eat gluten-free, and I was still snacking on it. It's very yummy, and tasted just like rye bread. I think that this will be very easy to make once I get past the learning curve.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours

Start to Finish: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Gluten-Free Recipe Review Request

2010-03-05T12:30:00.001-06:00

Have a fabulous gluten-free recipe that you want me to review? Or do you have one that you think might be great, but you're not willing to try it out on the fam until you're sure? Post the link to the recipe in the comments, and I'll add it to my list of recipes to try out.

Penne Arrabiata with Brown Rice Pasta

2010-03-05T12:03:00.003-06:00

Recipe Title: Penne Arrabiata with Brown Rice Pasta

Recipe Link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-penne.html
Status: Approved!
Rating: 9/10

Jen's Notes: I used chipotles instead of chiles on the first run – very tasty, but very very spicy. If you don’t like spicy (and I mean really spicy), don’t use chipotles. I also added some lean ground beef to it – I think it made it a much more satisfying meal. I used some of the sauce from the canned chipotles too - I'm sure this didn't help the spice factor but I think maybe it helped the YUM factor.

I also just used about six fresh Roma tomatoes, instead of fire roasted ones. I was a little worried about this recipe because I hate fresh tomatoes (it’s a texture thing), so I was afraid the tomatoes would be too much for me. I just let them cook for a good long time, and it was all good in the hood, baby. I've met a lot of people with the same tomato issue as me - if you are one of those people, do not shy away from this recipe. If I like it, so will you. I've been refusing to eat tomatoes since I was five, so trust me, I hate tomatoes just as much as you do ;)

Kitchen snags? Not much on this one. It was also my first time using Tinkyada pasta (try Whole Foods if you haven't been able to find it - much better than the DeBole's stuff I bought the first time around), and the penne tended to clump together worse than I am used to, so just make sure to give the noodles a quick stir here and there.

Prep Time: 20 minutes to chop up the onion, garlic and tomatoes. Also, if you are using canned chiles, you might need to chop those up too (I did).

Cook Time: 30 minutes, but this could probably be slimmed down a bit since I am not always the most effecient cook.

Start to Finish: 50 minutes, but you can reduce this if you let the onions and garlic cook while you chop up the tomatoes.