Cooking Tips #2 (Gluten-Free)

¾ teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour & one teaspoon of methylcellulose per cup of flour. Clear Gel in place of methylcellulose has the advantage of being much cheaper and more readily available than methylcellulose.
If flour is the only ingredient that contains gluten, then you can convert it to a gluten-free recipe. Just replace the flour with Bette Hagmans gluten-free flour mix:
2 parts white rice flour
2/3 part potato starch flour
1/3 part tapioca flour and a teaspoon of xanthan gum
Beware of spices which contain wheat flour! Many manufacturers use wheat flour to keep spices from clumping.

Xanthan gum can be substituted for guar gum. Rice bran can be substituted for rice polish. Sweet rice is a rice that is low (10 to 18 percent) in the starch compound called amylose. White rice can NOT be substituted for sweet rice (it is not sticky enough ). Tapioca flour works roughly the as tapioca starch. gluten-free breads should be beaten by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula. A whisk doesnt work - the batter should be a bit too thick for this. The mix master over-beats them and they get too fine a texture and tend to fall. I believe this is what happens in bread machines. If you put 1 ½ tsp. of Cream of Tartar and 1 tsp. of baking soda in for two loaves, they do not interfere with the yeast but help the bread to rise and keep it up during baking. Limit the ...

(Gluten & Corn Free)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Baking Soda
2/3 cup Cream of Tartar
2/3 cup Arrowroot (or potato starch)
Mix well. Store in an airtight container.
1-½ teaspoon of this mixture = 1-teaspoon of regular baking power

This recipe comes to us from Lori Nies.
(Dose: 1-2 tablespoons per day for adults)
1 pound prunes
1 pound raisins or pitted dates
1 pound figs
4 ounces Senna tea leaves (found at health food stores)
1 cup gluten-free brown sugar
1 cup lemon juice
Boil 4 cups of water, add to the tea leaves and steep for five minutes. Strain the tea and pour two cups of the tea liquid into a large pot, discard the rest. Add the fruit (except lemon) to this pot and boil for five minutes.
Remove from heat; add the sugar and lemon juice and mix. Allow the mixture to cool.
Use mixer, blender or food processor to turn the fruit mixture into a smooth paste. Spoon it into jars or freezer containers and store in the freezer.
Note: This fruit paste does not freeze solid...