Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Things to do with Chebe Mix

One of the hardest things to replace on a gluten free diet is bread. Which is no surprise since wheat flour is one of the core ingredients in bread making. For all of our "smaller" breads we've been having a lot of luck with Chebe All Purpose Mix. We order the no-frills pack and it lasts us 3-4 months of fairly heavy use (about 3-5 batches a week). The recipe on the bag is a good place to start so I'll list that here.

1 1/2 Cups of Mix
2 Tbsp Oil
2 Eggs
5 Tbsp of Milk or Water

Directions: I generally mix the wet ingredients in a stand mixer and then add the dry.

The mix will very likely (unless it's REALLY humid) be crumbly and dry and won't quite come together. Add just enough milk or water that the mix comes together into a ball. Too much and it will be sticky, too little and it won't hold together.

Notes: If you want something a little fluffier add a 1 tsp of baking soda. Whether you use milk or water depends on the consistency of the bread you want to finish with. Water tends to be "flatter" in texture and taste.

Variations and Cooking:

Bread Sticks: Divide into eight pieces. Roll each piece in your hands to make snakes about 6 inches long. Bake at 375° for 7 minutes, turn over each and bake for another 7 minutes.

Cheesy Bread Sticks: As above, but instead of "round" sticks, flatten each bread stick with your thumb before baking. While baking the second time, in a microwave melt a little butter or margarine (I find margarine for 6 seconds JUST melts). Add garlic powder to the butter and blend. Brush liberally over the bread sticks. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese liberally over the bread sticks.

Dinner Rolls: Divide into eight pieces. Roll each piece in your palms to make slightly flattened balls. In a round cake tin evenly space the pieces around the edge, but not quite touching the edge. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Turn each roll over and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Cheesy Rolls: When mixing the dough for rolls add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of a shredded aged cheese like Asiago or Parmesan. Grated will work in a pinch but shredded gives a better texture. A sharp shredded cheddar works well too. Shredded Mozzarella doesn't quite work for some reason. Bake as regular rolls.

Flat Bread Wraps: While you are mixing the dough, heat a non-stick skillet over the stove top at a medium-low heat. Divide into eight pieces. Roll each piece just about as thin as you can. Your goal while rolling is to end up with something roughly 6 inches by 4 or 5. Close to square but just a bit longer than wide. Drop the rolled out piece onto the skillet. If the skillet is hot enough and non-stick enough, a moment or two after putting it on you should be able to "swirl" the pan and have the piece slide around. Just before you smell the cooked bread flip it over and cook for a little longer on the other side. I know that "Just before" is an odd measure. It will take a little bit of practice. I find if you can smell baking bread, then you've probably taken it a bit too far. You're looking for slightly browned but not crispy. We layer the wraps with paper towel and store in the fridge in a gallon sized zip lock bag.

Pigs in Blankets: You'll probably want to add the baking soda to this one... Roll out snakes like you do for bread sticks but wrap the dough around a gluten free hot dog. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes, turn over and bake another 10. The dogs tend to slide out when you're done but it works well enough. Next time I do this I'm going to try putting a strip of American Cheese (the individually wrapped sliced kind) in with the Dog to try Cheesy Dogs... It might work... but I can't vouch for it.

Other: For rolls... any leafy herb would probably work. "Italian Seasoning", Oregano, Parsley, etc. We like just cheese but the herbs are okay. For wraps it might be interesting to coordinate spices with what you plan to wrap. For example, a little chili powder for spicy foods... I'm also planning on trying to make "waffle cones" by adding some sugar or cocoa to the dough and finding some way to mold them as they bake. This is based on the flat bread getting a little crunchy / crispy when over cooked. I'm just not sure what to mold it on. Maybe just bowls...

Quick Prep: Prepare as you normally would but put the uncooked dough into the freezer. When frozen, transfer the dough into a zip lock freezer bag. At any point in the future pull out one or two rolls or sticks, and bake as normal and just add 5 to 10 minutes to baking time. We cannot recommend vacuum sealing the dough balls until already frozen it seems to make the dough "weird". Once frozen you should be fine though to vacuum seal.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Gluten Free Taco Seasoning

If you're Celiac then you know that finding anything pre-packaged without added ingredients can be tough. Since it's easy to find Gluten Free taco shells we came up with this Taco Seasoning. It's easy to mix up a batch and store it in sealed container for later. This is actually a quadruple recipe... but keep it around for a couple quick meals.

8 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tsp Powdered Oregano
2 Tsp Paprika
6 Tsp Ground Cumin
4 Tsp Sea Salt
4 Tsp Black Pepper

Directions: Mix and store. That's pretty much it.

Notes: Powdered Oregano will give you a consistency more like store bought but Oregano flakes work just as well.

Serving Suggestions:
Plain Jane Tacos - 1lb of ground beef or turkey browned and drained. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and 1 to 3 teaspoons of mix to taste. Serve with Taco Shells warmed in a 350° oven for three or four minutes and your favorite toppings. We like diced tomatoes and finely shredded cheese. Harry prefers the 'Kraft Mexican Cheese Blend', whereas I prefer a sharp Cheddar. In addition Harry spreads a little melted Velveeta on the shell whereas, I also add shredded lettuce when I have it available.

Cheesy Taco Dip - 1lb of ground beef or turkey browned and drained. 8oz of Velveeta. 1 or 2 teaspoons of mix. Lower the heat from browning and melt the cheese. Once it's melted you can microwave it for 20-30 seconds to avoid burning on the stove top. Serve with tortilla chips, we use scoop style here. If you like cheese, a finely shredded blend on top goes well.