I had the Wholesome bread slice and the White bread slice toasted with breakfast this morning. The white bread is like all of the others... pretty boring. The wholesome bread was better. I may, at some point, actually buy a loaf of that.
A couple of days ago I ate the chocolate cupcake, and it was pretty yummy! But then, chocolate can cover a multitude of sins - or flavors, in this case.
Oh, btw, I never made the pecan pie. I decided that I really didn't like the GF pie crust I'd made well enough to bother - and I certainly didn't need yet more pie! We have lots of apples in the fridge, so I think I'll pull out the Paula Reds and make a crisp with oatmeal on top. Much more to my taste - and better for my waistlne!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
More about Katz GF and several kinds of Pie!
Today for lunch I made a sandwich of the Katz multigrain bread and the Challah bread slices from the trial pkg. Both were toasted lightly and I nibbled a corner before adding mayo & half a lamb patty left from Wednesday night dinner. I found both to be disappointingly bland. Do we detect a common thread here when it comes to GF breads??? It's called BLAND!
The chocolate cupcake was, on the other hand, delicious! Not grainy! I could not have distinguished between it and a regular chocolate cupcake made with wheat flour.
On another note, I baked a mincemeat pie yeasterdy with crust made from a recipe in this cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Every-Day-Cookbook/dp/0740778137/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291405114&sr=1-1. I doubled the flaky single piecrust recipe to make a two crust pie. The dough was too dry (my fault; probably should have added few drops more milk) to roll well, and impossible to get thin. I'm not a fan of thick piecrust, so was disappointed. It rolls out rather crumbly so it's difficult to handle, but I succeeded in getting the pie together. The filling was yummy. Of course it came out of a jar, so I already knew it would be. But the crust was thick, and quite grainy from the white rice flour. Oh! And I ended up with enough dough left over to fill another pie tin! So tomorrow I'll either make that up as a pre-baked crust and fill it with pudding, or fill it with apples and a crumb crust of some description. I think I like the apple pie idea best.... Oooooh! Or pecans! Oh yum! I looooove pecan pie!!!! Yup, that's it! Gluten free Pecan pie!
The chocolate cupcake was, on the other hand, delicious! Not grainy! I could not have distinguished between it and a regular chocolate cupcake made with wheat flour.
On another note, I baked a mincemeat pie yeasterdy with crust made from a recipe in this cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Every-Day-Cookbook/dp/0740778137/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291405114&sr=1-1. I doubled the flaky single piecrust recipe to make a two crust pie. The dough was too dry (my fault; probably should have added few drops more milk) to roll well, and impossible to get thin. I'm not a fan of thick piecrust, so was disappointed. It rolls out rather crumbly so it's difficult to handle, but I succeeded in getting the pie together. The filling was yummy. Of course it came out of a jar, so I already knew it would be. But the crust was thick, and quite grainy from the white rice flour. Oh! And I ended up with enough dough left over to fill another pie tin! So tomorrow I'll either make that up as a pre-baked crust and fill it with pudding, or fill it with apples and a crumb crust of some description. I think I like the apple pie idea best.... Oooooh! Or pecans! Oh yum! I looooove pecan pie!!!! Yup, that's it! Gluten free Pecan pie!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Katz Gluten Free and musings on baked goods and cravings...
Some time back I heard of another mailorder Gluten Free source. Katz: http://www.katzglutenfree.com/?gclid=CJfd_rOqzKUCFQS7KgodbCGJmA. They offer a free sample pack, which, of course, isn't really free since you have to pay for FedX shipping. But there's quite a lot in the sample pack. Several kinds of bread, a couple of muffins, Rugeleh, a dinner roll, a 3 pack of other rolls and a slice of marble cake.
I sampled the marble cake, which was a trifle bland, but ok. I had the dinner roll for dinner ;-), and it was also a trifle bland, but the texture was excellent. Very 'real bread' like, which seems to be quite rare in GF yeast breads. I ate the chocolate chip cookie, which was ok - but tiny, and the cinnamon & chocolate rugeleh samples. They were ok, but still a bit bland and grainy.
So, am I being too picky? I've had all of these years to become a fan of really GOOD bread and bakery. I think the thing I am most disappointed with Gluten free baked goods is a) lack of flavor, b) graininess and c) texture - often too moist. The graininess is from the rice flour I guess, which is not as smooth as wheat flour. The moistness is because GF bakery requires far more liquid and eggs than gluten containing bakery. But what happened to the flavor? So many of the commercially available things seem far too sweet, and often that's the only flavor that really comes through. Whole grain gluten flours taste better after baking, and definitely smell better while baking, but am I really asking too much of the GF baked goods? This is truly frustrating me.
I have all of my life had the problem that if I crave 'something', often not sure what that 'something' is; I will eat quantities of things trying to satisfy that craving. If the craving is not satisfied, I will continue to try different things attempting to find the 'right' thing. This has been one of the greatest contributors to my overweight. I am unfortunately finding myself in that craving mode for really GOOD GF bread and not finding it! Since I know what it is I crave, I have some control, but it still is very frustrating!
I sampled the marble cake, which was a trifle bland, but ok. I had the dinner roll for dinner ;-), and it was also a trifle bland, but the texture was excellent. Very 'real bread' like, which seems to be quite rare in GF yeast breads. I ate the chocolate chip cookie, which was ok - but tiny, and the cinnamon & chocolate rugeleh samples. They were ok, but still a bit bland and grainy.
So, am I being too picky? I've had all of these years to become a fan of really GOOD bread and bakery. I think the thing I am most disappointed with Gluten free baked goods is a) lack of flavor, b) graininess and c) texture - often too moist. The graininess is from the rice flour I guess, which is not as smooth as wheat flour. The moistness is because GF bakery requires far more liquid and eggs than gluten containing bakery. But what happened to the flavor? So many of the commercially available things seem far too sweet, and often that's the only flavor that really comes through. Whole grain gluten flours taste better after baking, and definitely smell better while baking, but am I really asking too much of the GF baked goods? This is truly frustrating me.
I have all of my life had the problem that if I crave 'something', often not sure what that 'something' is; I will eat quantities of things trying to satisfy that craving. If the craving is not satisfied, I will continue to try different things attempting to find the 'right' thing. This has been one of the greatest contributors to my overweight. I am unfortunately finding myself in that craving mode for really GOOD GF bread and not finding it! Since I know what it is I crave, I have some control, but it still is very frustrating!
Restaurants NOT to bother with!
There's a place on Randall Rd. called The Nest Cafe. According to their website, I expected decent food. They had absolutely nothing Gluten Free. Even the kitchen couldn't tell the waitress what had no flour in it! I had hoped for soup & a salad. She brought me the salad - which was mostly head lettuce (booooooring!) and came back when I was half finished to say that the soups had flour in them. So I ordered an omelet. Sides offered were toast or pancakes... duh! I asked if I could get fruit and was told there was no fruit. So I got the pancakes for Jonathan (good thing he was with me).
If I had ordered an entree' it would have included soup and dessert for $11 and change. My bill for a lousy salad and an omelet with greasy, tasteless hash browns (no dessert) was $11 and change!
If I had ordered an entree' it would have included soup and dessert for $11 and change. My bill for a lousy salad and an omelet with greasy, tasteless hash browns (no dessert) was $11 and change!
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