Cookbooks

[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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 3:36 PM, Razzle Dazzle Brazell said:

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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 4:20 PM, beachbirdie said:

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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 8:25 PM, Adalaide said:

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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 9:14 PM, Adalaide said:

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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 11:45 PM, SmileyKylie said:

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]

  On 7/13/2012 at 12:50 PM, genieb said:

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]

  On 7/12/2012 at 3:36 PM, Razzle Dazzle Brazell said:

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]

  On 7/14/2012 at 12:14 AM, Razzle Dazzle Brazell said:

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.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

  On 7/16/2012 at 5:16 AM, Ghosty said:

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.

That is a good suggestion. Thank you.

[love2travel]

Like someone mentioned upthread I too have seen very few gluten-free cookbooks that offer anything different than regular cookbooks. In fact, so many of them contain naturally gluten-free recipes anyway OR just a simple conversion such as "use gluten-free soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce", that sort of thing. The only one I really like is Gluten Free Asian - it includes many great recipes including scratch potstickers and great sauces. Oh, the Gluten Free Girl and the Chef is pretty good as it includes fresh pasta recipes.

I like the books that have specific flour combos for each recipe in the book rather than just one or two blends at the beginning of the book that are used for everything. But that is more for baking. I have several great gluten-free baking book titles if you are interested. For cooking I simply use what is in my noggin and regular cookbooks that I simply convert. Baking is trickier.

If you are looking for a basic veggie book, I recommend Mark Bittman's vegetarian cookbook. Not gluten free per se but most recipes are naturally gluten free anyway.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

  On 7/17/2012 at 2:01 AM, love2travel said:

Like someone mentioned upthread I too have seen very few gluten-free cookbooks that offer anything different than regular cookbooks. In fact, so many of them contain naturally gluten-free recipes anyway OR just a simple conversion such as "use gluten-free soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce", that sort of thing. The only one I really like is Gluten Free Asian - it includes many great recipes including scratch potstickers and great sauces. Oh, the Gluten Free Girl and the Chef is pretty good as it includes fresh pasta recipes.

I like the books that have specific flour combos for each recipe in the book rather than just one or two blends at the beginning of the book that are used for everything. But that is more for baking. I have several great gluten-free baking book titles if you are interested. For cooking I simply use what is in my noggin and regular cookbooks that I simply convert. Baking is trickier.

If you are looking for a basic veggie book, I recommend Mark Bittman's vegetarian cookbook. Not gluten free per se but most recipes are naturally gluten free anyway.

Omg the other thing i hate is when it says something like: "Use Pamela's all purpose..." blah blah blah. Maybe they don't sell that around where I live and I don't wanna add the extra expense of paying shipping for a specific brand of some processed blends when gluten free flours are already expensive. I hate it when they don't just tell you what flours to measure out. I am just venting here but I think it is unproffessional to tell people to use processed foods in a recipe anyway. It's like....duh....if I wanted a processed dish I would have bought one instead of spending an hour making home cooked meals! That's like looking up how to change the oil in your car and someone telling you to take it to a certain oil change express line. Maybe that is just me haha idk.

Anyway, so where do I find these cookbooks are they mostly online or can I take a look at them at a book store like Barnes and Noble or Books a Million? Thx for ur help.

[JNBunnie1]

MY problem with cookbooks is once I open one I stop cooking! I just wind up paging through the whole thing because the pictures are so engaging and oh look it's dinnertime....

Instead, I go to allrecipes and use the ingredient list function. If I have spaghetti squash, garlic, and tomato basil chicken sausage, you plug that into the recipe finder and off it goes. I love that website! The comments are so helpful too! I've reached the point where I'm about an 8 on a scale of 1-10 (in skill) so I mostly use it for inspiration or as a guide for an unfamiliar cooking technique. Also keeps me from dirtying up a book, as previously mentioned... not gonna say what it does to my laptop.....

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

  On 7/19/2012 at 11:59 AM, JNBunnie1 said:

MY problem with cookbooks is once I open one I stop cooking! I just wind up paging through the whole thing because the pictures are so engaging and oh look it's dinnertime....

Instead, I go to allrecipes and use the ingredient list function. If I have spaghetti squash, garlic, and tomato basil chicken sausage, you plug that into the recipe finder and off it goes. I love that website! The comments are so helpful too! I've reached the point where I'm about an 8 on a scale of 1-10 (in skill) so I mostly use it for inspiration or as a guide for an unfamiliar cooking technique. Also keeps me from dirtying up a book, as previously mentioned... not gonna say what it does to my laptop.....

Oh that"s neat I will hafta check that out.

[love2travel]

I have nearly 500 cookbooks but most are encyclopedic and contain complex recipes such as Thomas Keller's French Laundry, Jean Georges Vongerichten, Grant Achatz' Alinea and so on. As my entire life revolves around food, these books really inspire me to use great and very unusual ingredients and hone skills and techniques. I am also a recipe tester which is awesome. I test recipes I otherwise may not make. Plus I teach cooking classes so I am in the kitchen a LOT. And I would not have it any other way. However, I do have a repetoire of excellent basic books so if interested let me know.

[ker0pi]

My favorites so far have been The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook: Spicing Up Life with Italian, Asian, and Mexican Recipes by Vanessa Maltin I have found these to be the tastiest and simplest recipes so far, very easy to adapt and it's about 10 to 12 bucks so not to spendy and my really good friend sent me The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well without Wheat, Revised Edition by Bette Hagman bit more complex but absolutely everything I have made from it is amazing and leaves me feeling like I'm not missing out on anything. Good luck.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

  On 7/20/2012 at 7:54 PM, ker0pi said:

My favorites so far have been The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook: Spicing Up Life with Italian, Asian, and Mexican Recipes by Vanessa Maltin I have found these to be the tastiest and simplest recipes so far, very easy to adapt and it's about 10 to 12 bucks so not to spendy and my really good friend sent me The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well without Wheat, Revised Edition by Bette Hagman bit more complex but absolutely everything I have made from it is amazing and leaves me feeling like I'm not missing out on anything. Good luck.

I love Italian and Mexican! sounds delish