Contemporary Cooking

Paula Deen: Poster Girl for Diet Related Disease

2012-01-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Unhealthy foods, such as the fat-and-sugar-filled dishes brought to you by the oh-so-southern Paula Deen, contribute to diet related diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. It came as no real surprise to the foodie world that Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes.

One of the instigating factors in this disease is a high level of fats in the body: When you eat a lot of fat, a lot of sugar, and get very little exercise, you are at risk for type 2 diabetes.

Paula Deen was diagnosed with the disease three years ago, and continued to promote the high fat, high sugar style of cooking that earned her her place in the celebrity chef arena.

She claims that she has continually promoted moderation, though frankly, I can't ever remember hearing that word from her mouth as she added yet another stick of butter to the pot.

Paula Deen has built her culinary empire on fat and sugar. And no true capitalist can fault her for protecting that empire. But much like a sports figure caught with cocaine or molesting young women, loudly proclaiming he is no role model for his fans, Paula Deen is proclaiming that she is not to be held accountable for others who indulge in too much fat and sugar.

She's also saying that her moderation mantra gives her leave to continue indulging in fat and sugar - just not as much of it. After all, she did give up sweet tea, and if she just eats smaller slices of pecan pie and a little less of that burger in a donut - and takes her meds for which she is now a spokesperson- everything will be just fine.

Perhaps. But Paula Deen is overweight to the point of border obesity, and so is her husband. It's the obesity that is directly linked to type 2 diabetes, and she's had three years to address that issue. I know it's not easy, and she may not be able to lose much of that weight without more extreme measures, but that for three years she continued to tell her fans that every dish deserves a stick of butter and a cup of sugar - that's on her.

Paula Deen is the poster child for diet related disease. And that's too bad, because she knows her way around a kitchen, but she chooses to use her culinary powers for evil, rather than good.

Cooking for Christmas - NOT

2011-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

I cook all the time. And because of the range of specialty diets in my household, I'm often cooking different meals at the same time. I love to cook. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the challenge and have become a home cook master of specialty diets.

But I don't want to spend my holidays in the kitchen.

On Christmas Eve, we'll have pizza from a local pizzeria. We'll eat off paper plates and use paper napkins and drink from paper cups. I don't want to do the dishes. I want to open presents and play with toys.

For Christmas dinner, it's sandwiches. I'm sort of cooking, but will actually cook on Friday. I'm making Italian beef. It can then be reheated on Christmas evening. We'll have some fruit for a side dish.

There are hundreds of articles on holiday cooking, and you can learn how to cook elaborate meals including prime rib, crown rib roast, turkey, ham, duck, goose and all manner of side dishes and desserts. But try and find an article on not cooking for Christmas.

So I wrote one. It's called "The No Cook Christmas Dinner Menu." If you find yourself so not wanting to cook this holiday, read the article for how to feed everyone without a lot of fuss.

Of course, we will follow one very important Christmas tradition. My husband will make BBQ dip, served up with potato chips. Read my "A Dippy Christmas Tradition" for the story behind this holiday snack.

But besides a few batches of cookies, that's it for me. This holiday, I'm putting my feet up and giving my kitchen the day off.

Wolfgang Puck and Kerry Simon: Celebrity Chefs and Dining in Las Vegas

2011-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

The city of Las Vegas, Nevada is all about indulgences: gambling, entertainment and food. Lots of food. From Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, featuring southwest flavor with a New York twist, at Caesar's Palace to Tom Colicchio's high-end Craftsteak restaurant located in the MGM Grand hotel, anyone visiting Sin City is sure to find just the kind of food they crave.

We recently returned from our annual weekend trip to Las Vegas and this time around we ate at Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grill and at the KGB - Kerry's Gourmet Burgers. Both were culinary experiences to be remembered.

Wolfgang Puck is the master of California cuisine. We're not talking sushi and sprouts, here; Wolfgang Puck is all about comfort food and classic dishes such as pizza, burgers and steak.

We had our Saturday brunch at Wolfgang Puck's located at the MGM Grand hotel. My husband had a meatball pizza (so off his diet!) and I had the Cuban style roast pork sandwich. Our son had an order of French fries.

The French fries were exceptional, served with a rich and tangy ketchup sauce. A simple plate of fries was elevated to a gourmet delight.

The pizza was a perfect combination of bread, sauce, cheese and meat, perfectly flavored with ribbons of fresh basil. The crust was crisp and light, the sauce sweet and tangy and the cheese golden and gooey. The meatballs, cut to just the right bite size, were so beautifully seasoned and textured, they excited the tongue with each encounter.

The Cuban style pork sandwich was served on a toasted bun that boasted grill marks but was still soft and sweet. The shredded pork was infused with spices; each bite was a like a chorus line of smoky spices dancing across my tongue. The melted gruyere cheese complemented the pork perfectly. It was neither too rich nor too wimpy.

Pizza, pork and fries can be a meal of greasy fat that sits on your stomach for days. But Wolfgang Puck's California touch made the meal lighter, fresher and left us feeling sated, rather than sluggish.

The night before, on Friday, we had a late dinner at the KGB. We kind of stumbled across the place as we wondered through the hotel in search of another restaurant, and it was a happy accident indeed.

The KGB -Kerry's Gourmet Burgers- is Kerry Simon's (an Iron Chef winner) casual restaurant located in the Harrah's hotel. He plays the KGB theme up; the decor reflects 1960's KGB idealism in a kind of anime way. But it is the burgers and shakes that makes this place the burger and fry joint to visit in Vegas.

Succulent. Tender. Meaty. Juicy. Both my husband and I had the All American burger and the preceding adjectives are almost insufficient in describing this classic sandwich. It was just the right burger for a late night dinner.

My son had a milkshake that was so rich, so creamy, so decadent, it was practically pornographic.

But that's what Las Vegas is all about: decadence and indulgence. Our forays into celebrity chef dining was a bit expensive, and the food a detour from our low-fat diet (my son did stay pretty much gluten free) but it was well worth every calorie.

Thanksgiving Day Tips for the Contemporary Cook

2011-11-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Feasting is the fun of Thanksgiving Day, but when you and your family members, and some of your guests, have special dietary needs, cooking the feast may be more of a challenge.

Something as simple as turkey gravy is problematic. It's made from animal fat and a wheat flour roux. It's high in fat, includes animal product and gluten, so no one in my family can have the traditional turkey gravy.

Fortunately, neither my son the celiac nor my daughter the vegetarian likes gravy. So I just purchase a small jar of good quality turkey gravy and my husband and I cheat on our diets on Thanksgiving Day.

If you like gravy, though, and can't have gluten, make the gravy with cornstarch slurry instead of roux. Dissolve two tablespoons of cornstarch in one cup of warm water; that's your slurry.

Bring your drippings and approximately one cup of water to a boil, turn the heat back a bit and slowly, slowly stir in the slurry. If it thickens too quickly, add a little plain water to balance it out. It's still high in fat, but at least it's gluten free.

Need a vegetarian gravy? Make the cornstarch slurry. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan. Bring two cups of good vegetable broth to a boil and then turn back the heat a bit. Slowly stir in the slurry. That's it. You have vegetable gravy.

The vegetable gravy works well with mashed potatoes and meat-free stuffing, but you want to include a vegetarian main dish as well. Try stuffed acorn squash. Cut the acorn squash in half and clean out the seedy, stringy centers. Roast until just tender. Fill the centers with meat-free stuffing, sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar and place under the broiler just long enough to give the top a bit of crust.

If the celiac in your family likes stuffing, simply make a loaf of gluten free bread two days before Thanksgiving. Wrap it in a towel after it cools and leave it on the counter. The next day, slice the bread into thick slices and lightly toast the slices in the oven on low heat. Allow the slices to cool and then cut them into cubes. Put the cubes in a plastic bag to store until you're ready to make the stuffing.

Now, about dessert. My family isn't fond of pumpkin pie, but we do like my made-from-scratch gluten free chocolate muffins, which are made using pureed pumpkin. They're not fat free, but the pumpkin provides a better type of fat than butter or oil. It does include an egg, and if you don't eat eggs, you can use egg replacer or a 1/4 cup of rice milk. Watch the video to learn how to make these muffins. They're great for breakfast, for dessert, and for snacks.

Don't let the dietary needs of your family and guests make this Thanksgiving feast a chore rather than a celebration. And if you have any other challenges, let us know, and together we'll find a solution.

Does Serving Dinner at the Table Make You a Better Parent?

2011-10-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

On the CNN site, there's an article entitled "8 reasons to make time for family dinner" by Sarah Klein. As you might expect, the article encourages the tradition of gathering around the kitchen table with spouse and kids and sharing the last meal of the day. The author cites studies and includes expert opinions.

According to this article, if you all sit down to dinner together, your kids will eat more veggies, say no to drugs and do better in school. You'll eat healthier, be less stressed and save money.

Wow.

When I was growing up the family dinner was a no-exceptions rule; attendance was mandatory. It was the time of day when our parents could tell us exactly how crappy their day was, and yell at us for making it crappier.

My husband has equally 'fond' memories of the nightly dinner table. His mom had one recipe: Open. Heat. Serve. A tall glass of whine often accompanied the meal.

When our kids were little, we didn't have a kitchen table, or a dining room table. We didn't have a dining room. We barely had a kitchen. So we ate around the coffee table in the living room.

When the kids were a little older, and we finally bought a house, my husband worked second shift. The kids didn't want to sit at the table unless we were playing games or painting or doing crafts. As my daughter once said to me, "Dinner tastes better with cartoons."

So be it. Throughout their school years, my kids ate healthy foods, said no to drugs and did reasonably well in school. Stress wasn't a problem because I didn't have to enforce a mandatory attendance at the table rule.

My kids are pretty much grown now, and if I do say so myself, my husband and I did a good job. They're good, kind, responsible people. And they're happy.

I've read other articles instructing parents to insist on the mandatory dinner table rule. I'm not against such dinners. We occasionally gather together and share a meal at the table. It's not a miraculous moment, though. It's just dinner.

What I object to is how these so-called experts insist on making ordinary people feel like they're doing it all wrong. The tone of these articles is that if you're not doing this thing, you're not a good parent. Your kids will grow up to be high-school drop-out druggies who don't know the difference between a carrot and a potato. Oh, and they'll be obese.

You'll be a stressed out, bitchy fool of a parent addicted to fast food. Because, you know, if you don't serve your meal at the dinner table, you're probably not cooking.

I have one thing to say to these guys: Bite me.

Can Dessert Bring World Peace?

2011-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, one of the best summer desserts was watermelon. One mom or another always had a watermelon, those big ones that could feed 20 people and had those really big seeds.

As the sun made its way down past the horizon, all us kids would gather on a porch -there were so many of us in that little neighborhood- each with a thick slice of watermelon. We were, all of us, joined together by this sweet and luscious dessert.

Throughout the day, in that little Midwest town where us kids ran wild all summer through the open fields and gravel streets playing the games of children, there were conflicts: border disputes, skirmishes, power struggles and political coup d'états. The little town that was our world was a microcosm of world struggles.

But at the end of the day, sitting on a porch eating watermelon, all the disagreements faded, and we were just a bunch of kids, eating thick wedges of watermelon and spitting seeds out onto the lawn, wondering if any of them would grow, seeing who could spit the farthest. (I was pretty good, but Glenn was better.)

October is National Dessert Month, and that got me to remembering how many times our collective parents served up watermelon, ice cream, hot chocolate or apple pie at the end of the day, and all us kids, no matter our differences, shared in the sweet joy of a shared dessert.

This month is host to National Food Day, today, on October 16th. And on this day, I would make a wish. I would wish that dessert could bring world peace. I would like to see all the world leaders gather together, perhaps on the front steps of the White House, and have dessert together.

Not all dressed up in expensive, politically correct clothes, but in play clothes, and sit on the steps, dirty from playing tag and baseball and from climbing trees and winging rocks. They should eat a whole bunch of desserts, share them all and get sticky and spit watermelon seeds out onto the lawn.

Then, at least for a day, there might be world peace.

Low Fat Stew, Safe at School and Portion Control

2011-10-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

August and September have been tough months. We're undergoing a redecorating project that includes moving the office to another room in the house, so I haven't had much time to actually work.
But I have managed to write a few articles and would like to share these with you.

If your kids have food allergies, you know keeping them safe is challenging. With school back in session, you'll need some cooperation from your child's teachers and the school staff to help you protect him or her against exposure to her allergen.

Read Keeping Kids with Food Allergies Safe at School for tips on working with teachers, administrators and the school's food service employees.

Stew is winter comfort food, even here in Phoenix, AZ where winter temperatures may dip all the way into the 50s. Brrr.

But stew can be high in fat, so when I make these hardy meals I use a few techniques to reduce the fat and sodium content. Read my article, Cooking Tips for Making Low Fat Stew, to make your stews a bit healthier this winter.

Trying to keep your food costs under control? Read How to Use Portion Control to Control Your Food Budget and make your food dollars work more efficiently.

I've also spent a little time in the kitchen, working on a gluten free brownie recipe that's rich in flavor and high in omega-3 oils. But with temperatures hovering around 105 degrees, I haven't done a whole lot of cooking.

But the temperatures are dropping, the house is coming together and I've nearly perfected the brownies, so I'll be posting that recipe real soon.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking: A Review

2011-08-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Alpha Books, The Penguin Group
Copyright: 2011 Donna Diegal

Donna Diegel is no stranger to vegan baking, and her new cookbook, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking" is a testament to her expertise.

Baking vegan means baking without butter and eggs, among other ingredients, and using such items as soy lecithin, flax seed and tofu as substitutes for these baking staples.

Think the cookies, cakes and breads are going to taste dull, flat, or worse, like hippie food? Guess again.

I made Ms. Diegal's Classic Chocolate-Chip Cookies and they taste very close to the cookies made with butter and eggs. And to demonstrate further how solid this recipe really is, I used gluten-free flour.

That's right. I made gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies and they taste really good.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking" is more than a collection of recipes; it's a resource guide to being vegan in the kitchen. Ms. Diegal explains, in easy-to-understand terms, why some ingredients shouldn't be used and why the substitutes will work. After reading the "primer" at the beginning of the book, I had a clearer understanding of how baking vegan works.

But what I like best about this book is the recipes are foods I actually make, like white bread and blueberry muffins and peach cobbler, foods my family will actually eat.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

And now, I can make them vegan. Vegan butter spread and egg substitute means lower cholesterol content, an important part of my husband's and mine dietary needs. And it appears that many of the recipes are adaptable to gluten free flours.

If you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, need to watch your cholesterol, and/or suffer from food sensitivities to dairy, this cookbook is for you. And if you are vegan already, this cookbook is an excellent addition to your cookbook collection.

The only drawback to this book is the absence of photos of the finished foods, but that's not such a problem. Contemporary cooks are familiar with these recipes already, so really, we're just learning how to make them for the vegans in our life.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review. This in no way influenced my review. The book is awesome.

Kid Friendly Meatless Meals

2011-07-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Young children don't often appreciate the tastes and textures of vegetables. Steamed veggies may be too mushy and raw and quick cooked vegetables lack the sweet and creamy tastes young children prefer. If you have young ones that don't yet eat veggies, try a few of these meatless meals.

These meals have been vegetarian tested by my daughter. You can make the mac and cheese gluten free by using gluten free pasta. Use the gluten free Bisquick mix for the pancakes.

Classic Mac and Cheese
Macaroni and cheese qualifies as vegetarian because it doesn't contain meat, but it doesn't contain any vegetables either. For a vegetarian version, add finely chopped zucchini. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off several long strips of zucchini. Slice the strips into small pieces. Boil the pasta and drain when cooked. Add the zucchini into the pasta and toss. Add the cheese to coat the pasta and serve. The steam from the pasta cooks the zucchini just enough to bring out the natural sugars without losing nutrients.

Veggie Burgers
Veggie burgers made from potatoes have a softer texture and a creamy taste. Boil the potatoes for approximately 10 minutes, drain and mash with a potato masher. Heat a small pan and quickly cook shredded carrot and finely chopped mild onion, one to two minutes, and mix the veggies into the potatoes. Shape the potato mixture into round patties and coat with a light dusting of flour. Heat a pan and cook the patties for several minutes, turning to brown both sides. Serve with a slice of cheese, if desired, on a whole wheat bun or gluten free bun.

Zucchini Pancakes
One of the more endearing qualities of zucchini is its compatibility to chocolate. Entice your kids with a bit of breakfast food for dinner with chocolate-zucchini pancakes. Add shredded zucchini and a small amount of mini-chocolate chips to a thick pancake batter. Cook the pancakes on a hot griddle and serve with melted butter. The trick here is to keep the chocolate chips to a minimum, so that when your kids do get one in a bite, it's a treat. They're getting more zucchini than chocolate.

Vegetable Hash
As your kids become accustomed to the taste of vegetables, try this vegetable hash. Par boil a few potatoes and allow to cool slightly. Finely chop a portion of sweet onion. Chop carrot, celery and sweet pepper into 1/4 inch size pieces. Heat a pan and add vegetable oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and cook for two to three minutes. Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces while the onions cook and then add to the pan. Add a pat of butter and toss to coat. Cook for three to four minutes and add the carrots, celery and sweet pepper. Add a bit more butter and cook until the vegetables are just tender. Place the hash into a serving dish and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Brownie Mix

2011-07-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hodgson Mill is a family owned company dedicated to supplying boxed mixes made with whole grain flours, including gluten free products such as pancake mix, apple cinnamon muffin mix, bread mix, cookie mix and a chocolate brownie mix.

Hodgson Mill also has boxed flax meal, a product I've used for several years now, including it in homemade gluten free breads, muffins and cupcakes.

I thought I would give their brownie mix a try, based on my past experience with the flax seed product, and that the brownie mix was on sale.

One other factor played into my decision to spend part of my grocery budget on the mix; it's a low sodium brownie with less fat per serving than other gluten free brownie mixes. That means my husband and I get a little less salt and fat in our diet when we scarf these down.

Gluten free baking, and subsequently pre-packaged gluten free products, is higher in fat, salt and sugar than wheat based baked goods, mostly because the fat, salt and sugar boost the cohesion as well as flavor of the non-gluten flours.

So a boxed brownie mix that is not only gluten free but lower in sodium attracts my attention.

But the important part is taste. It doesn't matter if something is better for you if it doesn't taste good.

Hodgson Mill gluten free brownies taste good. They taste like regular brownies, except they do have a slightly nutty aftertaste that borders on bitter. This did not deter my husband, my son, my daughter or me from finishing off the 8x8 pan of brownies by the next day, however.

The directions offer the option of a larger pan, up to 11x7 inch. The brownie may be less dense and cake like, which could eliminate the slightly bitter taste. In an 8x8 inch pan, these brownies are pretty thick. The primary flour is brown rice flour, which can have a slightly bitter flavor if not cooked for a long time.

In baking, size matters. I'd recommend using the larger pan for these brownies, but if you don't have one, go ahead and use your 8x8 or 9x9 pan.

You can visit the Hodgson Mill website at www.hodgsonmill.com, and take a look at their product line and shop their online store. The company includes non-gluten free products as well, such as organic pasta, whole grain cereals and baking goods.

Disclaimer: I did not receive this item as a promotional gift. I paid for it myself.

Fresh Pineapple

2011-07-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Through the magic of globalization and greenhouses, you may be able to get fresh pineapple any time of year. If you've walked past the big leafed fruit in the produce section an moved onto the canned fruit aisle because you're unsure how to get that damn peel off, take a few minutes to watch the video, "How to Peel and Chop a Fresh Pineapple." After tasting the intensely sweet-sour delight of fresh, canned will taste like a tinny imitation.

What to Do With Pineapple

You can, of course, simply eat the chopped pieces of pineapple; it makes a great snack. Grill the pineapple rings on a grill pan for a side dish to chicken bratwurst sandwiches. Or you can give the pineapple chunks a quick sauté in a hot pan with a bit of oil. Barely brown the outside. This takes two or three minutes tops.
Skewer the pineapple chunks along with chunks of watermelon, drizzle with a bit of oil and cook them on the grill.

But one of my favorite recipes is pineapple sauce.

Pineapple Sauce
Though I've used canned pineapple for this, fresh is still better. In a food processor, pulse one to two cups of chopped pineapple, depending on how much sauce you want, just until the pineapple is broken down. Add one or two chopped jalapeno peppers per cup, depending on how much heat you want. Add a little salt, a bit of honey if you want it sweeter and a teaspoon of olive oil. Pulse again until the sauce is a smooth consistency.

For a chunkier sauce, omit the olive oil and pulse with the chopped peppers just enough to break down the pineapple.

Serve it with roasted pork loin, grilled chicken breast or grilled tofu. Add a bit of chili powder to the tofu before grilling. The combination of heat and sweet is great.

Use the sauce in desserts. Chill it and pour a little over ice cream (low fat, of course) or serve it with berries.

Pineapple Salsa
If you want a little something to freshen up your fish dinners, try a pineapple salsa. Mix together a cup of chopped pineapple, one or two chopped jalapeno peppers, a quarter cup of finely chopped red onion and a tablespoon of cilantro. This salsa is great with fish, chicken and yes, with grilled tofu as well.

So go ahead. Peel a fresh pineapple. It's easy.

Food Sources for Phytosterols

2011-05-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Fruits and Veggies are sources
of phytosterols

Phytosterols are naturally occurring compounds found in plants that resemble the chemical make-up of cholesterol. Plant cholesterol, though, can have a positive effect on cholesterol levels in the human body. Phytosterols help prevent the bad cholesterol from accumulating in the blood stream by blocking absorption of the fatty substance, resulting in less cholesterol entering the bloodstream. Certain foods are naturally high in phytosterols and food manufacturers are fortifying products with phytosterols to make them more heart friendly.

Nuts

Pecans, cashews, walnuts and almonds contain high concentrations of phytosterols. Add these to your diet as snacks and include them in stir fry dinners. Peanuts are also high in phytosterols, but are actually a legume or bean. Include unsalted peanuts in your diet anyway, because they taste good, but do so in moderation.

Whole Grains and Seeds

Cereal grains, such as whole wheat and barley, contain phytosterols. Substitute processed white breads, pastas and baked goods made from refined flour for whole grain products to increase your intake of phytosterols. Seeds such as sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are high in phytosterols. Add these to homemade whole grain quick breads for heart healthy snacking.

Fruits and Veggies

Fruits and vegetables are part of a heart healthy diet, but they contain lower concentrations of phytosterols than nuts, legumes and whole grains. Nonetheless, they should be included as a source of these cholesterol fighting compounds. The positive effects of phytosterols are cumulative, so eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables throughout the day can supplement your intake.

If you are allergic to nuts or unable to eat whole grain foods due to celiac disease or gluten intolerance, fruits and vegetables, along with seeds, may be your primary sources for phytosterols.

Cooking Oils

Cooking oils, such as olive oil and vegetable oil, contain naturally occurring phytosterols by way of their ingredients, though some of the concentration of phytosterols, and other beneficial fats, may be reduced through processing and high cooking temperatures. Some companies are opting to fortify their products with phytosterols to increase the heart-healthy benefits of using their oils. Use sunflower, safflower and canola oils as well in your cooking, as these not only diversify the flavors in your dishes, they offer higher concentrations of phytosterols.

Fortified Dairy Products

Phytosterol fortified milk, cheeses, butters and margarines are available in supermarkets and other food outlets. Just as with cooking oils, companies that produce these products incorporate phytosterols into the production process to make the foods more heart healthy. If you have an allergy or intolerance to dairy, use vegan friendly products, such as Earth Friendly butter substitute, soy or rice milk, and soy-based cheeses.

May is Celiac Awareness Month

2011-05-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

The point of such a thing, of course, is to raise awareness of celiac disease, a condition in which the body does not tolerate gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats, a condition that affects 1 out of every 133 people in the U.S. alone.

May is also Digestive Diseases Awareness Month, Food Allergy Awareness Month, National Arthritis Month, and National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month.

That's a lot of diseases...And a lot of awareness.

All of these conditions are food related, even osteoporosis. Those with celiac disease are at higher risk for developing osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones thin and become brittle. It's not just an old lady disease, as was once thought.

There's a school of thought that certain forms of arthritis are symptomatic of food allergies; the inflammation of the joints is an allergic reaction. Before you dismiss the idea, consider that in celiac disease the small intestines become inflamed when exposed to gluten, and other food allergies result in inflammation of the esophagus, the throat, the face... why not the joints?

A friend of mine's grandson has eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). He is sensitive to corn, dairy, soy, sugar, gluten and fruit, among other foods. Foods you and I would consider good for us -and good for our kids, like applesauce- put this kid's esophagus into inflammation hell.

So many aspects of our health pertain to food. And one man's healthy diet is another man's toxin. My mother lived to be 90 years old. She ate eggs almost every morning of her life. She salted all her food. And fat did not scare this woman.

My husband, at 48, had a triple by-pass and the doctor told us, straight out, that if he continued to eat as he had been (heavy on the fat and salt, light on the fruits and veggies) he would die.

Contemporary cooks need to be more than just meal makers. They need to understand how food affects each member of the family. They need to balance the desire for good tasting foods and the need for foods high in nutritional value. And if they are dealing with food allergies and special dietary needs, these cooks need to master the art of culinary diversity.

My friend with the grandson with EE - his mom learned how to bake without eggs or butter, without wheat flour, corn syrup or granulated sugar. Now that's culinary diversity.

It's May. It's a month for making people aware, aware of how food affects your health and theirs. Do your part. Make something good to eat and share it with your family and friends.

For more information, visit The Celiac Disease Foundation Website

The Low Salt Diet Puts You at Risk for Heart Disease Study

2011-05-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's all over the internet. A study published in the May 4th edition of the "Journal of the American Medical Association" (JAMA) claims that following a low-sodium diet now puts you at risk for heart disease.

It makes for a great headline. All these years the doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, and the medical community at large have warned against foods with high sodium content, telling us that too much salt in the diet may lead to hypertension, a condition associated with fatal heart disease.

Now, in 2011, suddenly a study, published in the respected JAMA magazine, says otherwise.

The Harvard School of Medicine newsletter, "The Nutrition Source", disputes the findings, calling the study flawed. Dr. Walter Willet, who chairs the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, couldn't resist the pun when he is quoted as saying, "Take this study with a huge grain of salt, and then dispose of it properly."

The sampling for the study, titled, "Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion" consisted of only 3,681 participants, none of which could be considered a part of the "at risk" group: over 40 years of age, overweight, and leading a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, the study group was made up of what should have been the control group.

The methodology is also faulty. The researchers didn't monitor the participants' actual salt intake on a daily basis, nor did it account for height and weight differences, among other standards in such studies.

Out of the 3,681 people studied over an 8 year period, 84 people died of heart disease. That's 2 percent. Since all the participants were on a low sodium diet, the researchers concluded that a low-sodium diet leads to heart disease.

And this was published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association".

So who is singing praises to these faulty findings? The Salt Institute, the trade association for the salt production industry. Lori Roman, president of the Salt Institute, in light of this stunning study, calls on the government to "[]stop their population-wide sodium reduction agenda and amend the Dietary Guidelines on sodium[]." She makes this proclamation against the governments War on Salt from the institute's website.

Because, you know, she's not biased or anything.

A low-sodium diet doesn't mean no-salt. It means monitoring your sodium intake, and keeping it below 2400 mg a day, but no lower than 500 mg a day. And if you are over 40, overweight, and tend to be a body at rest for a good part of the day, eating foods high in sodium and salting everything you eat is going to put a lot of pressure on your heart. Plain and simple.

Cookbooks and Blogs

2011-05-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Salads are my favorite summertime go-to meals. Here in Phoenix, summer starts in April and lasts until October, so we eat a lot of salads.

That's why I had to buy "The Everything Salad Book" by Aysha Schurman the first day it hit the market in mid-April. Ms. Schurman's book offers 300 salad recipes, so it's destined to be my go-to cookbook throughout the summer. And since our winters resemble springtime in the Midwest, I'm likely to use this book all year round.

Ms. Schurman divides her salad book into chapters, and chapter 1 details a bit of history, a few techniques, and a few bits about substitutions and storage.

Chapters 2 and 3 focus on salad dressings and starting with chapter 4, the salad recipes are divided by types, including green, fruit, potato, seafood, gourmet and more.

From the crisp simplicity of a Mediterranean Tomato salad to the more complex flavors of the Eggplant Arugula salad, Ms. Schurman's got it covered.

The book is well-organized, the listed ingredients easily found in local supermarkets and each recipe includes nutritional stats. I would have loved to have seen photos of the salads, but the lack of visual aids has not deterred me from loving this cookbook.

Ms. Schurman, in her opening letter to the reader, defines her idea of heaven as "a diverse buffet of fresh salads and fruity desserts." And it is the diversity of her approach to these recipes that encourages readers to achieve diversity in their diet.

Blogger Shaun Bevins, author of the blog, "Fitness for Smart Poeple," shares that philosophy. From her April 6, 2011 post, "Choosing Nutrient Dense Foods - A Diet Revolution," she writes about a more holistic approach to dieting:

"Instead it is a system that rates a food or even your diet on its overall nutrient density, the amount of nutrients it supplies compared to the amount of calories it contains."

This is what the Contemporary Cook strives for: diversity of flavor and texture; nutrient rich foods that offer those flavors and textures; and an array of foods to offer to those with restrictive diets. What we want is good food to feed to our friends and family.

And in these contemporary times, we cooks have books and blogs to help us achieve our culinary goals.

I did not nor do I now receive any compensation for reviews of any books, products or sites.

Gluten Free Cookie Mix Video

2011-04-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

Betty Crocker makes a great gluten-free chocolate chip cookie mix. I made a video demonstrating how to make these cookies to share with you. This is my very first video, and there are flaws, but posted it because I wanted to show how even with a mix, baking gluten free does have its quirks. And I make a tentative promise that forthcoming videos will be better.

Udi's White Sandwich Bread

2011-03-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

One of the basic foods of life is bread, and for those with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance finding bread that tastes as sweet, as soft, as smooth as wheat-flour bread is a challenge. Commercial gluten free breads are often dry, crumbly and the taste resembles cardboard covered in sand.

Udi's White Sandwich Bread has raised the bar for manufacturers of gluten free packaged bread. This bread is light, moist and tastes as close to wheat-flour bread as any gluten free bread I and my son have ever tried- and that includes my homemade bread.

Udi's White Sandwich Bread comes in a 12 ounce loaf and is available for between $5 and $7 a loaf. It is soy free, nut free, gluten free (of course) and dairy free, making it an option for those allergic to soy, nuts and dairy. That's right- no eggs, no soy flour or soy derivatives and it tastes delicious.

It's available online and in some supermarkets and specialty stores such as Sprouts. You'll find it in the frozen foods section.

We keep it in the freezer, and since it's pre-sliced, my son can remove two or three slices from the package and pop them in the microwave for a minute before slathering them with peanut butter or hazelnut spread.

The slices do not get soggy or flat-tasting after being nuked, which means I can buy as many loaves as I can get my hands on and store them in the freezer. My kid loves bread, and he can go through a loaf of Udi's White Bread in a less than a week.

Udi's also offers a Whole Grain Sandwich Bread, which is just as tasty, as well as bagels, pizza crusts, muffins and granola. I use the granola to make gluten free Sorta Rice Krispie Treats- but that's another post.

I did not receive this product as a promotion- I paid for it myself.

Further Reading
The Difference Between Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance

Udi's Website

Crunchy Cookies and Chocolate Muffins

2011-02-08T15:05:00.000-08:00

The featured recipe on justaz.com this month is General Crunch Cookies. This cookie dough offers a lot of opportunity for variety. You can add dried fruits such as apricot to the mix. Use grated orange peel and a 1/2 tsp of nutmeg for a little spicier version. One of our favorites here at home is spreading a bit of hazelnut spread onto the just-out-of-the-oven cookies. So sweet!

It's a basic gluten free cookie dough and my son named it General Crunch- general for its proximity to basic, and crunch because the cookies are crunchy.

It's the kind of gluten free cookie dough that lends itself to experimentation. Try a few variations of your own and let us know which are your favorites.

Notice those chocolaty cupcakey-looking muffins behind the cookies? Those are a take-off the Hungry Girls Guilt Free brownie muffins: cake mix and pureed pumpkin. That's it. Mix a 15 ounce can of pureed pumpkin with a box of cake mix (one that yields an 11x13 inch cake) and pour into a muffin tin. Bake as directed and you have egg-free, oil-free, practically fat-free chocolate muffins.

For a gluten free version, use a gluten free chocolate cake mix (Betty Crocker or Cherrybrook Kitchens both work), 7 to 7.5 ounces of pureed pumpkin, and 4 ounces of applesauce. The gluten free mixes yield 8 inch round cakes, so you need less pumpkin. The applesauce adds moisture and flavor.

Stir together - it takes a few minutes- and pour the mixture into a 12 muffin tin. Bake according to the directions on the box and you'll have chocolate muffins that are at once sweet and savory and perfect for breakfast, a mid-morning snack, and dessert. Gluten free and low in fat - What more could a contemporary cook ask for.

The Health Benefits of Gluten Free Buckwheat Noodles

2011-01-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Buckwheat is a fruit seed harvested from the buckwheat plant, and it does not, as the name may imply, contain wheat or the gluten protein. Buckwheat is a wheat free grain. The seed can be ground into buckwheat flour and used to make buckwheat noodles, sometimes referred to as soba noodles. Buckwheat noodles have numerous health benefits due to its high content of flavonoids, vitamins and minerals, and to its pre-biotic activity.

Nutrients
Buckwheat contains high concentrations of vitamins B1 and B2, along with the minerals manganese, tryptophan and magnesium. Compared to rice, buckwheat noodles contain approximately twice the proteins. None of these proteins, however, are the gluten protein. Buckwheat noodles, made without wheat flour, provide protein, vitamins and minerals in high concentrations to those who suffer from celiac disease or gluten intolerance.

Rutin, a flavanoid compound, is also found in buckwheat. Rutin aids in blood flow, which in turn keeps blood platelets from forming. This results in lower levels of LDL, otherwise known as bad cholesterol.

Bacteria
Omega 3 is a fatty acid that aids in cellular growth and function as well as cognitive function. Buckwheat noodles contain pre-biotics that “spur” probiotic action. These compounds create a friendly environment within your gut so good bacteria can flourish, otherwise known as gut flora. When good bacteria is present in the gut, digestion and liver function improve, bad cholesterol is more easily processed as waste, and valuable fatty acids are formed, such as omega 3. Other wheat-based noodles such as wheat pasta may not stimulate probiotics into producing healthy gut flora and subsequently omega 3 fatty acids.

Fiber
Though fiber is usually associated with wheat products such as bread, wheat-free buckwheat noodles provide fiber without the presence of the gluten protein. The fiber found in buckwheat noodles aids in digestion as well as lowering fat levels in the blood stream. By reducing the amount of fat that enters the blood stream, fiber essentially cleanses the system, thereby reducing cholesterol levels. Buckwheat noodles provide fiber without the fillers found in bread.

Though ideal for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, gluten free buckwheat noodles provide more health benefits than many wheat noodles or pastas. And just as a fun fact- gluten free buckwheat noodles have a high concentration of choline. Choline has the unusual characteristic of neutralizing the negative effects of alchohol; it helps the liver process excess alcohol. So if you over-indulge, a bowl of buckwheat noodles may help that hangover.

The Picky Eater Problem: Is He Fussy, or Is Something Wrong?

2010-11-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

There's a school of thought that some parents adhere to when it comes to meal time: Eat what's served or go without. But without finding out why a child is a picky eater, such a narrow approach is impractical and possibly negligent.

I say this only to impart this bit of advice: If your child is picky about his or her food to the point where you're concerned about his health, don't force him to eat or punish him. Take him to a nutritionist, dietician or forward-thinking pediatrician.

My son was picky as to be difficult when it came to eating and I tried all the tricks, to no avail. I didn't force him or punish him, but did try the "eat this or nothing" approach. He chose not to eat.

I nagged the doctor, insisting there was something strange about his selective approach to eating. The pediatrician merely shrugged it off. If he had been more enlightened, my son's digestive disorder may have been diagnosed much, much earlier. But his "picky eater" status was ignored, until he was an underweight teenager and his endocrinologist tested him for Celiac.

Yes, this one doctor finally conceded that my concerns were valid: My son's body had been trying to tell us something all along.

Now, though his diet is specialized, he is eating, and eating more healthily than before the diagnosis. So I reiterate: If your child is a picky eater, and the food he or she chooses is of specific tastes and textures, investigate the possibility there may be a physiological cause.

Read: Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen's blog, How to Tell If Your Picky Eater Needs Help

Watch: PBS Nova The Science of Picky Eaters

Gluten Free Chicken Dippers

2010-11-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

These chicken dippers make a great snack or serve them with a salad for a tasty meal. Use chicken tenders or slice boneless, skinless chicken breasts into strips. Tenderize them a little bit so they cook up quicker.

Ingredients:
Approximately 1/2 pound of chicken tenders or sliced chicken breasts
1/2 cup or so of gluten free flour mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup of corn meal
1/4 cup of corn flour
2 tbsp. vegetable oil or preferred cooking oil

Directions:
1. Lay the chicken strips or tenders out on a clean cutting board and cut away any visible fat. Pat the chicken dry.
2. Spread the gluten free flour out on a dish and break the egg into a bowl. Beat the egg just enough to mix the yolk and white.
3. Mix the corn meal and corn flour together and spread out on a dish.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
5. Dip the chicken strips or tenders into the flour and shake off the excess. Dip into the egg, then into the corn meal and flour mix. Turn to coat evenly.
6. Drop the chicken into the hot oil and brown. Turn and brown the other side. Remove to a clean plate.

That's it. That's all there is to it. Serve them with a favorite dipping sauce. My son likes ketchup. My husband and I like a Polynesian dipping sauce.

I converted this recipe for my daughter the vegetarian, substituting mozzarella cheese for the chicken. Put the cheese into the freezer for about 10 minutes, then cut into sticks, about 1/4 inch thick. Follow the same process and serve them up with barbeque sauce.

The best thing about this recipe is the versatility. Add chili powder to the corn meal mix, or paprika. Make a little jalepeno sauce and serve it up. Once you have a basic recipe such as this, the possibilities are all up to you.

Creating Gluten Free Baking Recipes

2010-10-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

I recently succeeded in creating a recipe for gluten free cookies. The cookies don't crumble when you pick them up or turn rock hard after an hour or so. I've named these luscious treats "Gluten Free Chocolate Success Cookies."

When creating this recipe, I started with the basic foundation for the standard chocolate chip cookies, taking into account that I would need more fat and sugar than a recipe with wheat flour, and a little more moisture as well.

What I've learned in gluten free baking is that applesauce is a great way to reduce the crumblies- a condition in which the cookie or bread or whatever is overly dry and crumbles when you bite into it. I've also learned that using margarines such as Smart Balance or Earth Balance helps reduce the bad fats that my husband - who enjoys the Chocolate Success cookies- is not supposed to have.

I've also learned that substituting a gluten free flour mix cup for cup rarely works in gluten free baking. When using rice flours, I may been more. When using bean flours, I may need less. That's why finding the right combination of flours is so essential.

The most important thing I've learned is that some recipes take much longer, like my gluten free breakfast bread. I've been working on it for a few months now, but it's still not right. However, I think I've got the cinnamon rolls down, and that recipe will be coming soon. I hope.

Product Review: Gluten Free Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix

2010-09-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Bisquick, the pre-mix packaged product for baking, was introduced by General Mills in 1931. Now, in 2010, General Mills offers Gluten Free Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix, and I decided to test it against my own pancake mix.

Gluten Free Bisquick is available in a 16 oz package, and the cost at my local supermarket was $5.99. On the back of the package, the pancake recipe calls for 1 cup of the mix, 1 cup of milk, 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 egg. That recipe yields 10 pancakes.

I made up a batch of Bisquick pancakes and served them to my son, asking him first if they tasted good, and then if they were better than mine.

Now, he may be biased because I am, after all, his mother, but he said the Bisquick pancakes were good -he gave them an exuberant thumbs up- but he claimed mine were better.

I had tasted the pancakes on trial here and found them to be quite tasty. They were a little denser than those from my own mix and so had a little more texture. But the taste was spot on, equal to that of any pancake house.

The most attractive feature of this mix is the convenience factor. Though I make up my own mixes and store them for use, there are times when I'm caught short. Having a mix on hand, ready to use, that tastes good and isn't expensive is a real boon for those who cook gluten free.

Disclaimer: I did not receive this product as a promotional item or for review from the producing company. I paid for it myself.

Product Review: Pamela's Products Gluten-Free Bread Mix

2010-09-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Each week I make at least one loaf of gluten-free bread from scratch for my son. This week, though, I made bread using Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix. It's a yeast bread, and a packet of yeast is included. All I needed was 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of oil and about 1 3/4 cups of water. Into the stand mixer it goes and then into a prepared 8x4 loaf pan. Let it rest for an hour and then into the oven for 70 minutes.

I was skeptical. I've been disappointed before by bread mixes: the taste is bland, the texture crumbly or the middle collapses during the baking process. But I hadn't tried Pamela's bread mix yet, so I purchased a 19 ounce package for $5.99 and made a loaf of bread.

The final product tastes good, isn't crumbly and rose just like yeast bread should rise, with a nicely browned dome shape. Now, $6 is a bit high for a loaf of bread, plus the cost of additional ingredients, but contemporary cooking is sometimes a bit more costly.

Pamela's Products Gluten-Free Bread Mix, though, is available in bulk through Amazon.com, and it brings the cost down a bit. And you can store the packaged mix in the freezer, so the investment is well worth it.

Considering that I often pay as much as $4.50 for a loaf of whole grain, trans-fat free bread in the supermarket, the cost of Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix isn't too bad.

Disclaimer:

I did not receive this product as a promotional item. I paid for it myself.

Indulgences

2010-09-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while my husband and I indulge ourselves. We enjoy a rich-tasting meal that has just a little too much fat for daily fare. That's okay. It makes the meal special.

On my website, just Az.com, I offer a Featured Recipe. This week it's a tasty pasta dish called Italian Indulgence. It has sweet Italian chicken sausage, lots of pasta, cheese and marinara sauce.

This dish, though, can easily be converted to a vegetarian main dish. Use grilled zucchini in place of the sausage, or eggplant. Add sweet peppers to the dish for crunchy texture, cooking them just a little bit to bring out their sweet taste.

Use eggless pasta and vegan cheese to make this meal vegan friendly. You could even use grilled tofu in this dish to bring in a creamy texture.

Indulging yourself now and again is important. Just take a little care with the ingredients. The chicken sausage is better than the pork sausage. To reduce the fat content even more, and retain that delicious taste of naughtiness, use chicken sausage links. Boil them up for ten minutes to draw out some of the fat and then remove the sausage from the casing and fry it up.

Make this dish your own by trying different vegetables and cheeses. Just take care not to overindulge, and maybe skip dessert - or not.

Not Cooking in August

2010-09-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I haven't posted recently. To any of you readers out there who reside in Arizona's lovely city of Phoenix, you probably understand why. When temperatures soar to 105 degrees on a daily basis, I don't do much cooking or baking.

Meals consist of summer salads and sandwiches, sliced fruits and scrambled eggs. I only turn on the oven if I absolutely, positively have to. Lordy, it is hot here.

But I have managed to accomplish a few things. I've come up with a gluten free flour mix that makes terrific, yeast free sandwich bread that will be included in my upcoming cookbook.

I'm working on a couple of cookie recipes and attempted a gluten free pound cake. Attempted is the operative word here. I felt sure the dense, fat and egg rich cake was perfect for translation to a gluten free version. Turns out the translation is trickier than I thought.

I've also been researching the connection between thyroiditis and celiac disease. My son has both and fortunately, the generic form of synthroid- levothyroxin- produced by the pharmaceutical company Mylan is gluten free. But I'm looking into dietary influences on the endocrine system, which is likely to influence upcoming recipes.

Now that September is here, and the weather is slightly less humid and the nights are almost -but not quite- cool, I'll be posting more.

Look for some vegetarian recipes in the coming months, along with some gluten free snacks. Thanks and "see" you next week.

Tomato Onion Salad

2010-06-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Salads make for great suppers in the summer months. This tomato and onion salad is low in fat and sodium, a vegetarian favorite and of course, gluten free. Serve it with crusty French bread or as a side with fish.

All you need for this salad is fresh spinach, ripe tomato and red onion, and a little vinaigrette. I used tomato and onion from my garden, but spinach is out of season here in Phoenix, where temperatures in June soar to over 100 degrees, so I had to purchase it. If spinach isn't to your liking, try peppery arugula or red lettuce.

Red wine vinegar and olive oil, with a dash of salt and a pinch of sugar, makes your vinaigrette.

Slice the tomato and onion and lay the slices on a bed of spinach. Dress the salad with a teaspoon or so of vinaigrette and squeeze a little lemon juice over the top.

Slice the bread and supper is ready.

White Bean Salad

2010-06-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

My White Bean Salad is great for a light summer supper or a side dish with lean grilled chicken breast. It's low in fat and sodium, gluten free and vegetarian.

2 tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 chopped onion
Two pounds of raw spinach leaves

8 ounces of cooked white beans

6 ounces of cherry tomatoes

Dressing:
1 tablespoon orange juice or lemon juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon dried dill

Olive oil to taste

Topping:

Lemon Pepper spice blend

Sliced almonds

Whisk the orange or lemon juice, white wine vinegar and seasonings in a small bowl and allow to rest.

Heat a large pan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and spinach. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, until the spinach begins to wilt. Add the beans and cherry tomatoes and continue cooking until the spinach is wilted and the beans are heated through.

While the spinach mix is cooking, stream olive oil into the vinegar blend to taste, approximately one teaspoon. If you prefer a tangier taste, use less. If you prefer a smoother blend, add more.

Remove the spinach mix from the heat and pour into a salad serving bowl, preferably one with lower sides and a flat bottom. Slowly pour the dressing over the spinach mix and toss, using salad serving spoons.

Add a few dashes of lemon pepper spice blend and sliced almonds, if desired. The lemon pepper adds kick and the almonds add crunch. Don't have either? Add a pinch of pepper and a few croutons.

Options:

Use other greens if you don't care for spinach, such as baby greens. If you want the tomatoes to pop, add them in with the onions. Don't like cooked onions? Add red onions after the spinach or greens are wilted.

Remember: Use gluten free wine vinegar and gluten free croutons if you need to avoid wheat products.

Note: You can adjust the amount of beans you use in your salad as well as use canned beans. I prefer dried beans I prepare myself as they retain more calcium and protein than the canned.

Products you may enjoy:

*Herbal Salads (Fresh-from-the-Garden Cookbook Series)

*Gluten-Free Cooking For Dummies

The Taylor Digital Nutrition Scale, Model 3833

2010-06-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

The Taylor Digital Nutritional Food Scale not only tells you how much a given portion weighs, but the nutritional information for that portion as well. All you need do is weigh the food, then punch in a code and press a key to specify the information you need. This product is exactly what a health conscious contemporary cook needs.

A booklet comes with the scale that lists the food codes; the booklet is as important as the scale. For example, the code for raw tomatoes is 310. Punch in 310 with your portion of tomatoes on the scale and then press the calorie key and the exact amount of calories in that portion is revealed on the screen.

For example: One pound of tomatoes has 94 calories, 40 milligrams(mg) of sodium, 5.5 grams of fiber, 3.7 grams of protein, and 22 grams of carbohydrates.

I made a basic garden salsa with 1 pound of tomatoes, 6 ounces of chopped onion, and 1 ounce of peppers, which yielded 12 ounces of salsa. The nutritional value of 12 ounces of my salsa is as follows:

168 calories
46.5 mg of sodium
8.9 grams of fiber
5.9 grams of protein
38 grams of carbohydrates
0 grams of fat
0 grams of cholesterol

The Taylor Digital Nutrition Scale, which will weigh up to 8.8 pounds of food at a time, is available at many national retail chains; I bought mine at Targat a cost of $49.99 plus tax.

Disclosure: The author is in no way affiliated with Taylor Precision Products. The author purchased the product reviewed in this blog.

Muffins for Everyone

2010-05-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

While still learning how to bake gluten free, I attempted muffins. They were overly crumbly or undercooked or the centers caved in. I just couldn't get it right. This was a great loss to all of us, as we all loved muffins.

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix came to the rescue. Using the mix along with 1/2 cup of yellow corn meal and a few other ingredients, I made the most delicious strawberry muffins of my entire cooking life.

The recipe, which is actually for blueberry corn muffins, is posted at a site called Live Gluten Freely, a goldmine of information on eating gluten free. I merely substituted strawberries for blueberries, chopping the berries into small pieces and adding it to the batter.

I also used Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix to make carrot cake. That, to, was delicious. That recipe can be found on the Betty Crocker website, courtesy of Live Gluten Freely.

As I collect recipes and tips to meet the diversity of diets in my household, I always have in mind that what I do is more than just cook. For my son, his diet is the only treatment for his celiac disease. There are no medicines available to prevent the damage the gluten protein can do to his body. A gluten free diet is his only option to obtain and maintain good health.

For my husband, a low-fat, low-salt diet is the primary element in maintaining a healthy cholesterol level, along with prescription meds. Because he cannot tolerate statins, the synthetic pharmaceuticals often prescribed to control cholesterol, the right diet is as important to his health as it is to my son.

My daughter, the vegetarian, is a healthy young woman. Her decision to follow a vegetarian diet is as much about her own moral compass as it is about good health. As her parent, I honor and respect her decision.

As more people become aware that their diets are tied to more than just "What's for dinner?" more of us become contemporary cooks, having to diversify our meals to meet everyone's dietary needs.

Thank goodness for Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix. The fat and salt content for prepared muffins is reasonable so my husband can eat them. They're gluten free so my son can eat them. And my daughter isn't vegan, so she can eat them as well. For this chief cook and bottle washer, that's one easy fix.

Disclosure: The author is not affiliated with Betty Crocker or received any compensation or free samples from Betty Crocker.
Further reading:
Live Gluten Freely Muffin Recipe
Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Recipe
How to improve HDL cholesterol levels

Forget the Salt and Add the Herbs

2010-05-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Salt is thought of as the ultimate seasoning and if you watch Food Network, you'll see the chef hosts tossing quantities of salt into their dishes as they cook, and then again when plating them up.

"Good Lord," I mutter, "That much salt would kill us."

The human body requires a certain amount of sodium, about one to two teaspoons a day. That may seem like a very minute amount, but to your kidneys, it's just about right. Your kidneys may eliminate excess sodium, but if you're consuming five to six teaspoons a day, your kidneys won't keep up. Water retention sets in, resulting in high blood pressure. High blood pressure leads to heart and kidney problems.

After my husband's heart surgery, the doctors and nutritionists warned us off salt. I feared the food I served would be bland. My husband salted food even before he tasted it. I would have to wean him off salt.

Well, thank heavens for herbs.

The only salt in my homemade chicken noodle soup is in the broth. That's less than a 1/4 teaspoon because I make my own chicken broth to control the fat and salt content. Instead of salting the soup, I add dried thyme. Thyme enhances the natural flavor of foods, including broth. It's a natural substitute for salt.

Sage, shown in the photo to the left, has a pungent aroma and a strong, earthy flavor to it. Dried sage rubbed into a pork roast before cooking means no salt necessary, during cooking or when it's served.

A dried herb mix of sage, rosemary, oregano, basil and parsley is the perfect seasoning blend for Italian meatballs. Add the herbal mix to the raw ground turkey and bread crumbs, cook the meatballs in the slow cooker in a homemade red sauce and serve up a low sodium plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

I grow a selection of herbs in my garden: rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, sage, parsley, dill and lemon balm. I dry the herbs myself. This not only saves me money, it ensures the food I serve won't be bland.

My husband no longer salts his food, not only because I will nag if he were to do so, but because he no longer wants that salty taste. In his own words, "Salt is too salty. You can't taste the food."

Further Reading:
How to Dry Herbs
How to Preserve Parsley for Cooking
Common Garden Herbs to Use in Your Cooking

Olive Oil Cake and Cereal

2010-05-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Baked goods are usually well received in my household and I like to try new things. I recently tried to bake an olive oil cake, a cake supposedly better for us low-fat dieters because there's no butter in it, just a healthy dose of olive oil.

Well, I made the cake and had a hell of time getting it out of the pan, but did manage, though it was a bit broken up. When my husband, that less-than-tolerant food tester, tried it, he said it was all right but tasted like it needed butter.

I did not consider the cake a success. This is something I've learned over the years, that to be a good cook you need to accept that not all your efforts will result in good stuff to eat. And you just have to let that go.

On the gluten-free front, General Mills is looking to get its share of the food sensitivity market. In stores now, you can find gluten-free Chex cereals. We tried the Cinnamon Chex, made from whole grain rice. It's very good and if you're not a fan of cinnamon, there's gluten free Corn Chex as well.

As the mainstream companies move in on these markets, I noticed that the mainstream supermarkets devote a little less room to the smaller pioneering companies' products, with one exception. Sprouts Farmers Market does not carry Betty Crocker mixes or General Mills cereals.

The convenience of having gluten-free packaged foods in the supermarket is undoubtedly a boon for us contemporary cooks who need to provide specialized diets for our loved ones. But are these giants of the food industry going to hurt the pioneers who so diligently worked to provide convenient mixes that are preservative and additive free?

What happens to these smaller companies, now that the Big Dogs are moving into the marketplace?

Foodus Interruptus

2010-04-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed it's been too long since I last posted. It isn't my intention to neglect this blog, but I have been a bit busy with other concerns that have caused a foodus interruptus in my usual cooking routine.

Just to catch you up though, I will be posting over the next few days. I'm going to attempt an olive oil cake and then I'm going to make it gluten free. I'm also working on a recipe for gluten free soda bread that so far holds great promise.

On the vegetarian front, I'm starting to work with tofu, and my first attempt, a pasta sauce with tofu instead of ground turkey, was aptly described by my husband as "uneventful". The chocolate tofu pudding garnered only a bit more attention, probably because we could put whipped cream on it.

But good things are going to be coming out of my kitchen this week and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you.

A Visit to Lee Lee's Oriental Market

2010-03-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

As the cultures inhabiting this planet migrate toward globalization, the identifying characteristics of a given region as they relate to regional dishes become increasingly intermingled with those from other regions. Globalization is a great big recipe exchange.

In the spirit of adventurous cuisine I journeyed to a supermarket in Peoria, Arizona called Lee Lee's Oriental Market.

It is a sort of United Nations of grocery shopping. My first visit I spent the first hour simply walking through the aisles staring at the products. Most of the labels were printed in languages other than my own native American tongue. I had no idea what most of the stuff was.

Lee Lee’s offers foods from Korea, Viet Nam, Africa, China, Japan, Thailand Brazil, Holland and more. There were jars and jars of sauces and spices and dried foods, boxes and boxes of cookies and candies and cakes, judging from the pictures on the labels. There were fish, both alive and not alive, pigs and ducks still in whole form, and meats of all kinds, including chicken feet. I wouldn’t even know how to cook a chicken foot.

I did get my bearings eventually and began to shop in earnest. I found fresh herbs and vegetables in the produce department. Portions of chicken and pork were negotiated from the smiling Asian fellow behind the meat counter. The labels on the jars and boxes and packages of dried noodles included American translations; I merely had to study the packages to find them.

It is a strange experience, an exhilarating one, for someone like me who has spent her life shopping at supermarkets where the fish don’t have heads and pork is not dangling from the ceiling, and all the labels are printed in English; where the few feet of space devoted to the Spanish foods includes tortillas and salsa and dried chili peppers.

My husband asked me, when I came home from my gathering of foods, if I was the only white lady there. Oh, no, I replied. There are white people and Asian people and Indians. There are Africans and African Americans and everyone is buying foods from all over the world.

And along side all these exotic (to me) foods were boxes of General Mills cereal, cans of Spam, and rock 'n' roll playing over the intercom.

And someday, when I’m a little braver, I may just buy some chicken feet, though I can’t imagine how I’ll convince my family to try them.

The Low Fat Lifestyle

2010-03-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Starting a low fat, low sodium diet wasn’t just a matter of changing the foods we ate. I discovered that it was also a change of lifestyle. I wasn’t just changing out red meat for white chicken breast, or adding extra vegetables to the dinner plate. Food was no longer just meals eaten at various times throughout the day; food was the stuff that could break us down and kill us, or keep us well, healthy and active for many years to come.

Once I started cooking without the fats and salts we had become so accustomed to I discovered that we had more energy, and we actually wanted to do things like go for a walk and exercise. We wanted to play basketball with the kids and putz around with the yard work.

Whoa. We were active adults. With this new-found source of energy, we found that our attitude toward food was changing. For the better.

The thought of eating a Grand Slam breakfast at Dennys or a sausage McMuffin now makes us queasy. A fast food burger would make me gag.

Where once dinner was a thick slab of meat with piles of mashed potatoes and gravy, it’s now a low fat, flavor packed pork and broccoli stir-fry. We eat smaller portions and taste the food. Really taste it. This new attitude toward food is a lifestyle change.

What makes some foods more heart friendly than others? Fat and salt content, and how the food is prepared. Red meat contains more saturated fat than chicken or pork. Shrimp contains more cholesterol than tilapia fish. Salmon has more omega-3 oils than cod.

Mashed potatoes made with 2 percent milk and salt free butter is better than mashed potatoes made with whole milk and salted butter. A baked potato topped with low fat sour cream and chives is a better side dish than fried potatoes.

Stir-fried vegetables seasoned with Chinese Five Spice are better than steamed vegetables smothered in butter. Sliced apples make a better side dish than bread rolls.

Eating low fat, low salt foods isn’t just a change of menu. It’s developing a sense of how food is meant to be eaten, how starting with fresh, raw ingredients means you control what kind of fat goes into your body, how much salt you take in and how the food is prepared.

How you eat makes a difference in how you live. Your diet shouldn’t just be about your weight or your cholesterol levels. It should be about how you connect to food and how it connects to you and your life.

Chicken Stew and a New Attitude

2010-03-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

After my husband had his heart surgery, and the doctor informed us that his diet would need a radical overhaul to avoid death by clogged artery, I visited my local bookstore and bought three cookbooks.

“American Medical Association Healthy Heart Cookbook”
“American Heart Association Low-fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook”
“Better Homes and Gardens New Diabetics Cookbook”

Though neither my husband nor I are diabetic, a friend lent us her copy of the New Diabetics Cookbook because it offered a host of recipes low in fat and directed at controlling cholesterol levels. I liked it so I bought a copy.

Armed with this arsenal of collected culinary know-how, I went to work.

One of the first recipes I tried was from the Healthy Heart Cookbook: Chicken and Vegetable Stew.

The recipe called for baby onions and baby carrots, celery, red peppers and tomatoes. It called for salt free broth, soybeans and pinto beans, Swiss chard, spinach and a sweet potato. It called for dill, basil and pepper. And of course, it called for lean chicken breasts.

There was blanching and draining and simmering and pureeing. There was slipping off skins and trimming away roots and slicing and dicing and cutting.

When I served up this culinary conquest, my husband took a few bites, murmured something about missing beef stew, ate a few more bites and resumed mumbling.

I kind of wanted to hit in the head with my big wooden spoon.

Instead, I offered up this bit of wisdom: “Eat it or die.”

The chicken stew, and subsequent recipes that have since been added to my provisional repertoire, has been modified a bit, but the principles behind making it a heart friendly meal remain the same. In my next post, I’ll talk about what makes a dish heart friendly, and how to flavor foods that are not “fat dependent”.

The chicken stew, by the way, was delicious. My husband’s taste buds, and attitude, just needed adjusting, and we’ll talk a bit about that as well.

The Low Fat Diet Venture

2010-03-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

My husband is prone to high cholesterol and heart disease. His triple bypass at age 48 was the catalyst for my learning how to cook all over again, to cook “fat free”. No more beef stew with rich sauce, no more beef and Yorkshire pudding, or chicken kiev with gravy. No more Indian fry bread. No more biscuits slathered in gravy or mounds of mashed potatoes made with whole milk and butter. No more pound cake, cookies, ice cream sundaes or sweet, sugary cakes dressed in velvety frosting.

I worried about serving up boiled chicken and rabbit food. But I wanted my husband to live, so I learned how to cook all over again.

But “fat free” in an inaccurate label. Your body still needs certain fats. Read “A guide to healthy fats” for some information on which fats are good for you.

I don’t cook fat-free. I cook low-fat. My husband and I follow a low-fat, low-sodium diet.

The point of controlling the fat in our diet is to manage cholesterol, the culprit of heart disease. But, as my husband and I discovered, when you lower your bad cholesterol, you may also lower your good cholesterol. So I had to learn how to make the bad go down and the good go up. Read “How to improve HDL cholesterol levels” for an overview of this aspect of the low-fat diet.

Even if your cholesterol isn’t spiraling out of control, you should control the fats in your diet. In the next few posts, I’ll include some low-fat recipes that don’t taste like boiled chicken and rabbit food. I’ll show you how to adjust your diet so you don’t sacrifice taste for good health.

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Mixes

2010-03-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Gluten free baking mixes have been available on the market for a few years now. Many of the manufacturers were small companies, and the products were marketed in specialty shops or online. And they were, and still are, quite expensive.

Enter Betty Crocker, a leader in the industry and a 900-pound gorilla in the gluten free product market.

Not only are the boxed mixes less expensive, under five dollars, the resulting baked goods taste every bit as good as their wheat-based counterparts.

The brownies I made up from the brownie mix, for example, are rich in flavor and have a moist, airy texture. No bitter aftertaste or dryness. No crumbly texture. No dense “wet spots”. I’ve tried quite a few of the gluten free mixes now, and Betty Crocker outperforms them all but Bob’s Red Mill and Cherrybrook Kitchens.

The 16-ounce box yields an 8x8 pan, which makes the cost a little higher than the mainstream mixes, but compared to other gluten-free mixes, the price is on the low end of the scale.

Betty Crocker produces not only the brownie mix, but also a chocolate chip cookie mix, and two cake mixes: devil’s food and yellow cake.

I find them in my local supermarket and usually pay $3.99 a box. That I can pick them up during my regular shopping trips, and don’t have to make a special trip, is a real boon.

That Betty Crocker is able to get these products onto the shelves of conventional supermarkets demonstrates not only that gluten-free has gone mainstream, but also that large food corporations, such as General Mills, are finally paying attention to the plight of those consumers who deal with food allergies every day of their lives.

Betty Crocker, just as in 1924 when General Mills aired “The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air” on radio for information hungry cooks, is once again turning a niche market into a mass market. Those in the food industry should be watching, because that Betty, she’s one smart cookie.

Note: I have not received any compensation from Betty Crocker or General Mills, nor any other product mentioned in this review.

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

2010-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

Note: I purchased this product, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, in the supermarket. The review has not been influenced by anything other than the quality of the product.

Bob’s Red Mill as a company has been operating for over 25 years, and is considered a leader in gluten free products. The company’s products include several gluten free flours and mixes.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix weighs in at 22 ounces and all that’s required to yield two-dozen cookies is butter, egg and water. A package of the mix can cost, on average, between five and eight dollars.

The mix uses natural ingredients and gluten free flours, and the result is a sweet, crunchy cookie that pleases even the wheat eaters in my family.

You may need to watch your cooking time, though. The package calls for 18 minutes in a 350-degree oven. If you overcook, the cookies get a little hard rather quickly. If you undercook, the taste is a little grainy.

Judging exactly when the cookies are done can be a little tricky. Because there’s no gluten in the flours, the cookies don’t take on that smooth, toasted look of wheat-based chocolate chip cookies. They tend to look a little “wet” and feel too soft to the touch.

Take them out anyways and let them cool on the cookie sheet for one or two minutes before moving them to the cooling rack. The trick with gluten free mixes is to NOT expect the end product to look like those from wheat-based mixes.

The taste and texture, though, of these cookies is very, very close to wheat-based cookies. I try to keep a couple of packages in the pantry so I can bake up a batch quickly. I store the cookies in my cookie jar and they stay fresh for two to three days.

You can also freeze the cookies, or even freeze the dough. Roll it into a cylinder and slice off as much as you need, just as you would a store bought dough.

Gluten Free Daily Bread

2010-02-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

I make gluten free bread from scratch. It’s a rice flour bread and the process is a departure from the usual one used in bread making.

Let’s start with the recipe.

Dry ingredients
3 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup dry milk
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Wet ingredients
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1 1/2 cups water

Butter a 5x9 loaf pan and sprinkle with rice flour to coat.

Mix all your dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl, including the yeast. You don’t proof the yeast with this gluten free bread as you would with wheat-flour bread.

Put the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat lightly with the whisk attachment. Add the vinegar, the canola oil and molasses and beat again to mix. Add half the water to this and mix again.

Change to the dough hook. Add your dry ingredients to the bowl all at once.

Mix the dry ingredients at low speed. Add the remaining water one to two tablespoons at a time.

The trick here is to add the water slowly, keeping the dough moist. The dough will not look anything like wheat-flour dough. You want to add the water slowly and get the bread dough to the consistency of thick cake batter. You may not use all the water. You may need a little more.

Adding the water is the equivalent of adding the flour in traditional, wheat flour bread making.

Once you get the dough right, spoon it into the pan. Spread the dough out evenly and set in a warm place. Cover with a clean towel and allow the bread to rise. Once it reaches the top of the pan, it’s ready for the oven.

Bake the bread at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes, depending on your oven.

Allow the bread to cool completely, at least two hours. Now you have to store it.

Gluten free bread should be frozen. If you leave it on the counter in a plastic bag, it will dry out, crumble and go bad within a couple of days.

I slice the bread, place the slices in plastic sandwich bags (I put in two slices to each bag) and then put all the bags in a larger gallon-size freezer bag. I take out a bag or two at a time, depending on need.

Just set the bag with the slices in it on the counter and allow the bread to defrost. This takes less than an hour. You can also put it in the toaster on low, if you like.

Unlike wheat-flour bread, gluten free bread doesn’t get soggy when frozen.

This bread won’t taste like white bread. It’s denser, hardier, and has an almost nutty taste. It tastes great with homemade jelly, which we’ll talk about in an upcoming post.

Bette Hagman’s Scones, Modified

2010-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

These gluten free scones are based on the recipe found in Bette Hagman’s cookbook, “The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread”. I do modify the recipe somewhat; the recipe lends itself well to tailoring the scones to taste. The flour mix used in this recipe is the author’s Gluten-Free Flour mix. Make up a batch of this mix to have on hand.

For 9 cups of the mix use the following:

Six cups of rice flour
Two cups of potato starch
One cup of tapioca flour

Mix the flours thoroughly and store in a cool place in an airtight container. Label the container so you know what’s in there.

The scones recipe is as follows:
DRY INGREDIENTS
2 cups gluten-free flour mix
1 rounded teaspoon xanthan or guar gum
3 teaspoons egg replacer (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt

WET INGREDIENTS
5 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cold
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk

I skip the dried orange peel, cranberries and sliced almonds and substitute chocolate chips. You can also substitute dried apricots or raisins. I also skip the egg replacer and add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to the wet ingredients instead. It’s cheaper and adds to the flavor.

For the butter, I use a non-hydrogenated, trans-fat free butter blend with no saturated fats. This reduces the high saturated fat content found in so many baked goods.

For the buttermilk, I add 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to vanilla flavored soy milk and stir. Allow it to stand for ten minutes and it’s just like buttermilk, but with fewer calories and no lactose.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk, including the sugar. You can use raw sugar, sugar substitute or white granular sugar. I prefer raw sugar.

Cut the cold butter into chunks and add it to the dry ingredients. Use a fork to break up the butter and mix it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.

NOTE: With pastry, the butter and flour mix will coalesce, that is, come together when you press it with your fingers. This is a pastry mix. With gluten free flours, this happens, but the crumbly mix has larger, looser crumbles.

Stir in about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Nestles chocolate chips are gluten free.

Add the two eggs to the buttermilk or soy milk mix and stir. Add all but two tablespoons of the buttermilk to the newly formed pastry mix and stir until moistened. The pastry mix should now hold together; it becomes dough.

Place half the dough onto a sheet of wax paper and with your hands shape it into a rough disk. Place another piece of wax paper on top and slowly roll it out with a rolling pin to approximately 1/4 inch thick.

Now Ms. Hagman rolls out all her mixture at once to 1/2 inch thick and cuts the disk into eight wedges. I prefer round scones and I prefer working with the smaller amounts.

Once you’ve rolled out the dough, use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out your scones. Place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If I’ve got it on hand, I line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Brush the tops of the round scones with the remaining buttermilk or soy milk mix. This gives the scones a nice shine and helps keep them moist during the baking process.

Set your timer for 18 minutes. Roll out and cut out your second batch and bake. Allow the scones to cool for a few minutes before serving.

The scones are light and sweet, and the taste is close to that of a chocolate chip cookie. Store them in a plastic bag or airtight container.

You can also freeze the scones dough if you want to cook these up in smaller batches. Just allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling it out.

In my next post, we’ll talk about how the process differs when baking gluten free compared to baking with wheat flour.

Gluten Free Flours

2010-02-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have in my pantry several gluten free flours. Unlike wheat flour, which is generally used as a single ingredient, gluten free flours are combined; you make specific mixes of flours to meet specific baking needs.

Cookbook author Bette Hagman includes several flour mixes in her book, "The Gluten0Free Gourmet Bakes Bread". For example, her Gluten-Free Flour Mix is a combination of rice flour, potato starch and tapioca flour. The mix is just right for her scones recipe.

So, for the gluten free foods, I store brown rice flour and white rice flour, potato starch and potato flour, tapioca flour, soy flour, corn flour, buckwheat flour (which does not contain wheat or gluten), and garbanzo bean flour.

I also have cornstarch. Quite a bit of it. Cornstarch, commonly used as a thickener, gives gluten free flours a bit more texture, a bit more adhesion.

Brown rice flour is slightly courser than white rice flour, and does well in bread mixes. Potato flour is very fine and adds a savor, potato taste to breads. It also blends well with tapioca flour, which brings a bit of chewy texture to cakes and cookies.

Soy flour is high in protein and corn flour adds texture to muffins and breakfast rolls. Both buckwheat flour and garbanzo bean flour are high in protein and work well in breads.

This quick overview of gluten free flours will take us to our next blog, where we'll look at Bette Hagman's scones recipe and her Gluten Free Flour Mix. After that, we'll experiment with a recipe using a premix for cornbread and buckwheat flour to make a breakfast bread.

Introductions

2010-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

My kitchen is like a restaurant kitchen. It's a working kitchen. And I'm chief cook and bottle washer.

I need to bake gluten free foods and cook low fat foods and vegetarian dishes. I need to keep it fresh and diversified and avoid cross contamination between wheat flours and non-wheat flours. I need to keep the salt out and the flavor in.

For all you young parents out there who are just starting to raise your kids and need to cook in the 21st century, this blog is for you. For all you older folk who need to pass up the fried chicken to keep your arteries open and lose the salt to lose the pounds, this blog is for you. And for you vegetarians, new and seasoned, this blog is for you.

What this blog isn't is a collection of recipes, though recipes will be included in posts from time to time. But we'll focus on techniques and products for contemporary cooking. We'll focus on food sensitivities and specialized diets and designer diets. We'll explore what it means to feed your family in the 21st century. We'll explore what it means to be a contemporary cook.