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Showing posts from March, 2012

Homemade Pizza Dough

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So, if you haven't figured it out - I like pizza.  Who doesn't? I have tried a few pizza dough recipes.  Still haven't found the taste or texture. The CIA (Culinary Institute of America) has a new book out but their pizza dough recipe requires you to pipe it out from a pastry bag.  I have come to the realization that I won't be able to hand toss pies anymore but that sounds a bit far off.  (Maybe i'll try to make it one day - just to taste it) I have to give kudos to Peter Bronski's pizza dough recipe.  It is a bit different from his book but definitely better. You can find it  here And you can see it here /\. It was delicious.  It was raining (yes, it does rain in San Diego), so I put the pizza stone in the oven.  I found that after par baking it, if I flipped it over and put the toppings on the crisper side the crust turned out crispier. At least Sunday pizza night is back - the kids ate it up. Thanks Peter, The Un-Gluten Guy

More Udi's

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So, if you haven't seen my post on making cinnamon rolls from scratch go back and look.  They were delicious but they took a bit of work. Well Udi's has its pre-made frozen cinnamon rolls and we checked them out. First of all - there are no directions on the box.  If you look online many people offer their cooking options and the Udi's website offers theirs. Basically leave out overnight if you are going to eat them in the morning or defrost them for 10 -15 seconds in the microwave.  Then into the over 350 to 375 for about 10 minutes. It comes with a packet of sauce to pour over it.  It was really good and super easy to make.  The kids want this now as a weekend treat. Now for my shameless plug.  Udi's is having a contest for a GF recipe using one of their products.  I put in my recipe for BBQ Pizza.  If you feel like helping me out, please vote.  The winner gets to go to a GF cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu You can see the recipe and vote  here . T

Always on Guard

So we went out last night.  Early dinner and out to see a show - Mixed Tape.  If you haven't seen it, you should - it was great. We went to Saltbox where I had a great experience if you read my other post about the restaurant.  Since I have been there the produced a GF menu (they also have a vegan / vegetarian menu). I ordered the roasted nuts with espelette pepper and they were tasty.  I love espelette pepper, a nice smokey, spicy seasoning. For dinner I ordered what I had last time: the roasted sprout salad and Devil's chicken. Remember I was here before with a great GF experience and we had the same waitress and she put in the order as GF.  Out came the runner with my food.  In retrospect she didn't offer it to me as GF, but it was a salad, right?  We were having a good time, talking, and I was hungry. I took a few bites and then got a crunch.  Oh no! There were a few bits of fried parsley on the salad.  I didn't remember that from last time.  I found the w

Udi's

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So i've blogged about them before but  Udi's  has become my favorite GF bread. Now we have it at our local Trader Joe's fresh, not frozen. My morning routine lately has been their cinnamon raisin bread toasted with butter. We really like their frozen GF Pizza Crusts.  They are always in our freezer. They are having a cooking competition on their facebook page for the best GF recipe using one of their products.  I entered my BBQ Pizza. (You can see the recipe below) The Un-Gluten Guy Ingredients Udi’s GF Pizza Crust Favorite GF  BBQ  Sauce Red Onion Cilantro Gouda Cheese Shrimp or Chicken (Optional) Directions We used to have Sunday Pizza night. The dough would be made in the morning along with homemade sauce. Come dinner time the pizza stone was hot on the grill and the smell of homemade pizza brought everyone to dinner. After being diagnosed I have tried many recipes and still have not been able to duplicate “real” pizza. Udi’s frozen crus

Ribs

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Ribs are great.  Tasty, sweet, smokey and delicious.  It reminds me of summer bbq's.  Ribs always take a while to make.  It is usually an all day affair.  You can smoke em, grill em, or boil em. When you want a quick way to make ribs you pull out the pressure cooker. My kids like ribs so its a great way to get in some protein.  I use pork baby backs. I cut them into four rib pieces each and dry rub with salt, onion powder and paprika.  You can even do this the night before and let it sit in the fridge. Sear the meat side of each section then into the pressure cooker. I add a bottle of GF beer, 1/2 Cup GF BBQ Sauce (we like bone suckin sauce), 2 Tablespoons of ketcup and 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes. Finish on the grill on high heat and brush on the BBQ sauce, just be sure to not let it burn.  Or you can finish in the oven under the broiler to caramelize the sauce. This is great meal with baked beans and some homemade potato chips.

Thai Kitchen

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This stuff is great to put together a thai dinner at home. Thai Kitchen  offers up a ton of Gluten Free products.  Red and Green Curry paste, Pad Thai sauce, Peanut Sauce, Fish Sauce and Red Chili sauce to name a few. If you have some coconut milk, brown sugar, curry paste and fish sauce you can whip up a quick meal anytime. Tonight was one of those nights.  It's dinner time, we're hungry and nothing is planned for dinner. Out comes the can of coconut milk into a pot to simmer and add red curry paste.  It calls for 1/2 to 1 tablespoon, but we like spice so it usually is 1 tablespoon plus a few teaspoons.  Add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and simmer.  This is the recipe right off the bottle, so I can not take the credit. Add in whatever you have.  Tonight we added some peas, carrots, and a few leftover asparagus spears.  I cooked up some chicken, my wife cooked up some shrimp and we threw rice in the rice cooker. With only a few min

2 Good 2 B

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If have been following me you know that I have blogged about this place before. 2 Good 2 B  is my favorite Bakery around.  It is located in Encinitas, California and is a Gluten Free Bakery and Cafe. They just finished a remodel and their website was updated too.  The have new tables and chairs, a new front prep station and cooking area, and another oven.  They added a flat-screen menu board with new items like soups, pasta and salads in addition to their sandwiches and pizza.  You can also find great bread and baked goods. Today I stopped in for lunch.  I had never tried their pizza (I usually have a sandwich) but I ordered the margarita pizza. They make their own dough, it was thin and delicious.  I almost forgot to take a photo (sorry for the crust bits and the napkin) but I remembered with one slice remaining on my plate, snapped a picture and then promptly downed it. Being that it is St. Patrick's day tomorrow they had some cupcakes for the occasion. Their cu

Evol

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So, if you haven't seen some of my other posts - I like to cook.  But sometimes I am just too tired or there is nothing left to cook with and my back up frozen foods are gone or just not what I want to eat. So, I'm always looking for something to keep in the house for just those instances. I'm walking through Bristol Farms the other day and these bowls by  Evol Foods  caught my eye. They are located in Boulder, Colorado and make some tasty stuff. I picked up three of their bowls:  Bean & Cheese Enchilada, Chicken Enchilada and Teriyaki Chicken.  All of these bowls are Gluten Free.  There is also a Fire Grilled Steak Bowl on their website but I did not see it at the store. Once home I needed to taste test one of them so into the microwave it goes.  And........... It was good, much better than I expected and way better than you would think for a microwave meal.  It obviously didn't look as appealing as the photo on the box, but looks aside it tasted g

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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So i've been on this chocolate chip cookie binge. If you look back to my cookie post on November 20, 2011 you'll see that I made Thomas Keller's GF Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They were a bit pricey, tasted good, but flat and crunchy. I also made Bob's Redmill Chocolate Chip Cookies and didn't care for the flavor. So it was back to the drawing board for something I can make at home, from scratch, that tastes good. I took the Tollhouse recipe right off the back of the package and made it substituting my own GF flour mixture.  It was okay.  I think tweaking the combination of flours can make it better but there are a lot of combinations.  Well, off to try some others. Enter Alton Browns Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe Here are the ingredients.  I find cooking so much easier when you take the time to get everything ready before you start. How were they?  They were a hit.  The kids liked them; I took them to work and everyone enjoyed them.  They have

That Girl

I am going to vent, it's my blog, so I can do whatever I want - right? I am glad that the world is becoming more aware of Celiac Disease but the idea of the GF Fad Diet is so counterproductive. What happened?  Did someone see some underweight person just after they were diagnosed with Celiac Disease (I lost 15 lbs) and ask them what they ate. "I have to avoid anything with gluten," would have been the reply, sadly of any newly diagnosed Celiac. They then had some great idea that eating Gluten Free meant they could lose weight. Don't get me wrong, I am all for those that want to go GF for health reasons.  Avoiding processed foods, cooking raw vegetables and eating good protein is definitely a healthy choice. But the GF fad diet makes it difficult to eat out.  How many times have you been asked, "Oh, you're that sensitive?" I figure there are three groups 1.  Us, those with Celiac Disease 2.  Those that are gluten sensitive, do not have Cel

What is Celiac Disease

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Many of you reading this blog have Celiac Disease just like me.  Some of you are here for recipes, or because you found this by accident, or I told you to check out my blog. Well, don't worry if you don't know much about celiac disease.  I am a physician myself and I didn't know much about it.  I'm an Orthopedic Surgeon and all I could remember was a mention of Tropical Sprue during GI classes in medical school.  But I know a lot about it now.  Here is an explanation (I'm not an expert and the blog wasn't meant to be a forum for symptoms and diagnosis) if you have more questions I would recommend you followup with your physician. First of all it is an inherited disease, so if you want to blame someone blame mom or dad - they passed on the gene to you.  You can't 'catch' it and it is not contagious.  It is more common in caucasians and those of European descent.  And it is more common in women than men (lucky me). What is strange is that even

New GF Book

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So I received a copy of Elisabeth Hasselbecks' book Deliciously G-Free.  She must have been on a promo tour because my wife, mom and other women have commented to me about it.  She is on The View and is married to quarterback Tim Hasselbeck. The book starts with a little history of her family and the cooking that went on within the family up to her diagnosis and the fight to re-do family recipes.  She has chapters on breakfast, appetizers, entrees and desserts. I tried the Swedish Meatballs.  These are made with onions, pork, turkey and seasonings.  The dipping sauce is orange marmalade and beef broth.  They were easy to make and cook.  I liked them.  They would make a simple appetizer.  I would probably substitute ground chuck or veal for the turkey because even with dark turkey meat they were a bit dry. Next, onto pot-stickers.  I admit I miss dumplings, pot stickers, gyoza, wantons so I was pretty excited about this one.  The dough calls for tapioca starch, potato st

Beer vs. Beer

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You can see my previous beer post, where in the name of science I tried every GF beer I could find.  The winner New Planet's  Off Grid Pale Ale I have to confess I like darker beers, always have and always will (miss them).  In the tasting of the GF beers (Bards, Red Bridge, New Grist, Green's and St. Peters) I found them to be light, fruity and well, just not very beer-like. I was happy to hear that  Dogfish  came out with their first GF beer - Tweason'ale I thought coming from a great beer company that this would be a great GF beer.  It pours light and honey colored.  The beer drinks the same - light.  The taste of strawberry and honey definitely come out. I personally didn't care for it.  For a summer ale or for women or for men who like a lighter, fruiter beer this may be right up your alley. For me, the winner is still New Planet's Off Grid.  I am looking forward to another challenger.   Epic Brewing  from Utah is said to be coming out with &q