22 replies to this topic

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

What do you guys think are the best gluten-free cookbooks? I could really use opinions. I am not looking for a cookbook full of meals with simple meat and veggie dressed up recipes. I am looking for a good cookbook that will offer alternative options for all the commonly gluten filled meals and that adequately explains gluten free cooking techniques. Anybody have recommendations?

[beachbirdie]

What do you guys think are the best gluten-free cookbooks? I could really use opinions. I am not looking for a cookbook full of meals with simple meat and veggie dressed up recipes. I am looking for a good cookbook that will offer alternative options for all the commonly gluten filled meals and that adequately explains gluten free cooking techniques. Anybody have recommendations?

I only have a handfull of gluten free books. I usually just scout the internet.

What specific kinds of food are you looking for? For a lot of meals, it is easy to convert the favorites you might already have.

Are there other ingredients you are trying to avoid? (Such as dairy, nuts, eggs)

Ingredients you don't like? A lot of baking books are built around particular kinds of flours, and I got one book where the recipes are all heavy on bean flour. I found out I DO NOT LIKE a lot of bean flour, so that book is pretty much a dust-catcher now.

I only look for recipes for baked goods as my recipes for those don't convert so well.

I've enjoyed books designed for grain-free living, the "Grain Free Gourmet" books are really good.

I also really like "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet: The Grain-Free, Lactose-Free, Sugar-Free Solution to IBD, Celiac Disease, Autism, Cystic Fibrosis, and Other Health Conditions" by Raman Prasad. Don't let the title put you off, it is full of stuff we like to eat!

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

I only have a handfull of gluten free books. I usually just scout the internet.

What specific kinds of food are you looking for? For a lot of meals, it is easy to convert the favorites you might already have.

Are there other ingredients you are trying to avoid? (Such as dairy, nuts, eggs)

Ingredients you don't like? A lot of baking books are built around particular kinds of flours, and I got one book where the recipes are all heavy on bean flour. I found out I DO NOT LIKE a lot of bean flour, so that book is pretty much a dust-catcher now.

I only look for recipes for baked goods as my recipes for those don't convert so well.

I've enjoyed books designed for grain-free living, the "Grain Free Gourmet" books are really good.

I also really like "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet: The Grain-Free, Lactose-Free, Sugar-Free Solution to IBD, Celiac Disease, Autism, Cystic Fibrosis, and Other Health Conditions" by Raman Prasad. Don't let the title put you off, it is full of stuff we like to eat!

Thanks I will check that out. I am mostly dairy free although I do fine with small amounts of cheddar cheese. Today I made a corn chowder from reduced coconut milk with cheddar cheese in it. I think I may have candida so I am trying to reduce carbs and sugars too

[Adalaide]

I scouted all over for a cookbook that is probably similar to what you are looking for. I gave up pretty quickly and decided that it just doesn't exist. Instead I bought a 3-ring binder and page protectors and found a common format I like for recipes. I try out recipes and when I get one I find online tweaked to just the way I like it I print it out and add it to my binder. You don't really need the page protectors, but I highly recommend them if you're even a fraction as messy as I am in the kitchen.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

I scouted all over for a cookbook that is probably similar to what you are looking for. I gave up pretty quickly and decided that it just doesn't exist. Instead I bought a 3-ring binder and page protectors and found a common format I like for recipes. I try out recipes and when I get one I find online tweaked to just the way I like it I print it out and add it to my binder. You don't really need the page protectors, but I highly recommend them if you're even a fraction as messy as I am in the kitchen.

Lol yeah that sounds like a great idea too. I guess the one thing I'm learning with celiacs is that shortcuts often don't work or are just not the best remedy.

[Adalaide]

I never thought of it, but I could and probably should make a few pages of tips and shortcuts that I could put at the beginning of my cookbook. It's great to have some handy for when you find yourself in a bind and they're one of the most handy reasons to have a cookbook. I really just hate buying a cookbook and finding out it has like 100 crappy recipes I'll never use and 5 awesome ones.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

I never thought of it, but I could and probably should make a few pages of tips and shortcuts that I could put at the beginning of my cookbook. It's great to have some handy for when you find yourself in a bind and they're one of the most handy reasons to have a cookbook. I really just hate buying a cookbook and finding out it has like 100 crappy recipes I'll never use and 5 awesome ones.

Lol I know! That's how I am. Even with music I never buy an album, I only buy the songs I like.

[SmileyKylie]

Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone... I'm a big fan of pictures with the recipes. Also this one is full of every day recipes, I get really sick of just baking cook books, but I'm not a big baker.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone... I'm a big fan of pictures with the recipes. Also this one is full of every day recipes, I get really sick of just baking cook books, but I'm not a big baker.

Thx I will probably use a lot of these suggestions.

[genieb]

I generally prefer to convert my own recipes because IMHO many gluten free cookbooks make things way more difficult than needed. That said I do have one cookbook I use as my gluten free reference kind of like I use my good old Betty Crocker. It's 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster. I've received other gluten-free cookbooks as gifts but they pretty much collect dust.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

I generally prefer to convert my own recipes because IMHO many gluten free cookbooks make things way more difficult than needed. That said I do have one cookbook I use as my gluten free reference kind of like I use my good old Betty Crocker. It's 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster. I've received other gluten-free cookbooks as gifts but they pretty much collect dust.

Lol at least you're honest.

[Kelleybean]

What do you guys think are the best gluten-free cookbooks? I could really use opinions. I am not looking for a cookbook full of meals with simple meat and veggie dressed up recipes. I am looking for a good cookbook that will offer alternative options for all the commonly gluten filled meals and that adequately explains gluten free cooking techniques. Anybody have recommendations?

I really like the cookbooks from the Spunky Coconut (especially the first one - pink and white cover) and Elana's Pantry (the Almond Flour Cookbook). Only thing is that it has more of the baked goods recipes (muffins, quick breads, etc.) than actual dinners but there are some great dinner/lunch recipes in both. Like the others said, I tend to use the internet more for my recipes but I still love my gluten-free cookbooks. There is something about looking through a cookbook that makes me happy.

[genieb]

Lol at least you're honest.

This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine and I'm from the midwest where we aren't afraid to speak our minds. No offense intended to anyone.

Gluten free cookbooks caused me major problems when I was getting started. I had many years of cooking experience and some pretty decent skills, but was overwhelmed by the strange ingredients and difficult techniques. We lived on steamed veggies and stir fry the first six months until I finally out gluten free cooking isn't rocket science and started figuring things out for myself.

To by fair though more and more gluten free cooks are beginning to realize that simple substitutions are possible and the newer recipes are starting to look a lot more "normal." When I first started out talking about this stuff people just told me it wouldn't work.

[kitgordon]

I like The Gluten Free Kitchen and You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free by Roben Ryberg and The Cake Doctor Bakes Gluten Free by Anne Byrn.

If you spring for a really good gluten-free flour (I like Better Batter), it's true many recipes can be successfully converted.

[Ghosty]

Well RDB, since you want to avoid gluten, sugar and most dairy, I recommend Sarah Fragoso's - Everyday Paleo. It has great recipes that have no gluten / dairy / most sugars. Plus, if you're not worried bout a bit of dairy, you could always throw some cheese into some of them.

This book changed things dramatically for me...before it I was cooking food, after it, I was creating great meals I actually looked forward to. If you're not a Paleo proponent, you can still use a lot of the recipes, and add things in.

Just my thoughts...good luck.