GF recipes in the New York Times

[Guest guest]

First the Wall Street Journal, and now the Times is paying attention to

us this month. I've copied below links to today's story and recipes

(they'll be available for free for a week) and the text of the article.

I love the idea of comparing learning to cook GF to learning a new

language.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/14free.html?emc=eta1

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/141frex.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/142frex.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/143frex.html

For Wheat Watchers, a Chance to Indulge

By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

DURING the holidays, a woman cannot live on poached pears alone - even

if she is allergic to wheat.

It is not known precisely how many people have trouble with wheat

because food allergies are often underdiagnosed. Three million

Americans also are believed to have celiac disease, a hereditary

intolerance to gluten, according to a 2003 study from the Center for

Celiac Research in Baltimore.

Reilly, the author of " Gluten-Free Baking " (Simon & Schuster,

2002), scours health food shops wherever she travels to find new

products she can bring home to her gluten-intolerant children. " When

you're told you can't have something, then it becomes the focus, " said

Ms. Reilly, a chef who teaches at Torte Knox, a cooking school in

Hawley, Pa. " It's like the forbidden fruit. "

A decade ago, bakers who wanted gluten- and wheat-free baked goods had

to hunt down rice, potato and bean flours and concoct substitutes for

wheat flour. Those efforts usually resulted in cakes and cookies that

were either bland, brick-hard or crumbly (baked goods can fall apart

without gluten, which is a protein in wheat that gives kneaded dough

its elasticity).

Gluten-Free Pantry ( glutenfree.com ) and Pamela's Products (

pamelasproducts.com ) have been the standouts with the wheat-free crowd

for years and are widely available. But now they have competition from

hundreds of companies that make wheat- or gluten-free baked goods that

are as moist and flavorful as the real thing.

I've tested many of them and found several that deserve to be singled

out. Chip Rosenberg and his wife, Patsy, who has food allergies,

started Cherrybrook Kitchen less than a year ago. Now the company sells

mixes for chocolate cakes and sugar cookies nationwide at stores like

Whole Foods and SuperTarget. Their light, crisp sugar cookies are

perfect as holiday gifts or to dip in hot chocolate (

cherrybrookkitchen.com ).

The chocolate chunk brownies from a mix from www.123glutenfree.com are

moist but not too gooey.

Those who prefer to bake from scratch can adapt conventional recipes to

be made with alternative flours, like Heron Foods's versatile Organic

Bread and Cake mix, which made delicious cakes that reliably rose and

also browned well ( www.jollygrub.com/OnLineStore ). And Bob's Red

Mill's flour blend from garbanzo and fava beans makes delicious cakes,

if a bit hearty ( www.bobsredmill.com ).

But it helps to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the many

flours now available.

A good place to start is Bette Hagman's book " The Gluten-Free Gourmet

Makes Dessert " (Henry Holt and Co., 2002).

The book is like a decoder ring, clarifying why some cakes don't rise

and others are too bland. Using xanthan gum, she explains, can keep

gluten-free cakes from crumbling. Rice flour tends to be drier than

bean flours, so it helps to add a little more fat. Tapioca flour can

lessen the grittiness of rice flours. To overcome the fact that many

gluten-free flours have less protein than wheat flour does, protein can

be added in the form of eggs, milk, buttermilk or unflavored gelatin.

Learning to bake without wheat and gluten is a bit like learning

another language. There is a steep curve at first, but once you

understand how the elements combine, you no longer need to think

through each step.