Gluten Free Bread Baking & The Xanthan Gum Trials

The Quest for Gluten Free Bread with, with less and without Xanthan Gum: First things first, What is Xanthan Gum? To many it is simply the god of gluten free baking, helping to pump up, keep moist, and create binding for gluten-less creations. It is in loads of packaged gluten free foods and it is an ingredient in almost every bread recipe I read in cookbooks dedicated to gluten free baking. It certainly aids a good photograph but I tend to think that taste and texture are more important than appearance. In addition, it just doesn’t sit right in my stomach. I hate the rubbery texture, the strange, raw moisture and the digestion process of this ‘binder’. It feels artificial to me and it always leaves me a bit queezy when I use it in my own gluten free baking.
My mom and I have been debating the use of Xanthan Gum lately and have decided that perhaps it is just being over-used (quantity-wise)? Her exact thoughts on the topic are closer to positive hatred towards the rubbery texture and the artificial moisture highlighted with derisive remarks at how it ‘blows up’ the bread. (Unlike me, who only refrains from excessive gluten in consumption, my mom is completely wheat and gluten free). So I decided to put our thoughts to action...

After a few loaves of Gluten Free Bread with varying quantities of Xanthan Gum, I found that:

100% of the recommended quantity of Xanthan Gum blew up the bread so much that I had to raise the oven rack! It made a lovely looking loaf (although a bit honeycombed on top) but on cutting it was so rubbery and moist that it almost seemed under cooked. It also made my stomach queezy after eating.

Above: I sprinkled chopped seeds on top to aid the appearance, as recommended in my recipe (millet or buckwheat flakes were the actual recommendation, but I didn't have any on hand).

Above: the honeycombed top which I didn't really like.

Above: I think that the loaf looked nice enough but it had a very rubbery and moist inside, despite the thick crust.

25% of the recommended quantity of Xanthan Gum held the bread together without having overkill of rubbery moisture. It was a bit crumblier than desired but not to a point of contention and the rubbery-ness was still present but not to a point of derision. The bread was ‘heavy’ to eat and I still felt slightly queezy after eating but not as bad as with the 100% loaf.

In the pictures above the 25% Xanthan Gum is on the left and the 0% Xanthan Gum is on the right. You can see that although both loaves raised, the 25% Xanthan loaf is higher/plumper.

0% of the recommended quantity of Xanthan Gum was a disaster. The bread was too crumbly, having no real binder (as expected) and it was really dense (like a brick!) making it cakey in texture and way too heavy.

Above: you can see the difference of density. The 25% loaf is on the left and the 0% loaf is on the right. (Note: Part of the crust fell off the top of the 0% loaf just after cutting! lol!)

Big Note: For the above Xanthan Gum Trails I used a modified recipe for Gluten Free White Bread from How to Cook for Food Allergies by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne. Her Gluten Free ‘Genius’ bread is meant to be one of the best so I thought that it would be a good base to start from.
My modification was relating to the corn flour. I substituted the required 4oz Corn flour for 2oz Gram flour and equal parts Rice, Tapioca and Potato flours to make up the remaining 2oz.
I did this because I wanted to make the bread corn-free and then much to my (aghast!) discovery, I read that Xanthan Gum is derived from corn!? ...damn. So finally I started to question exactly what is Xanthan Gum, beyond just our opinions and found...

In the words of Wikipedia:
‘Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide, derived from the bacterial coat of Xanthomonas campestris, used as a food additive and rheology modifier,[2] commonly used as a food thickening agent (in salad dressings, for example) and a stabilizer (in cosmetic products, for example, to prevent ingredients from separating). It is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum.’

Elsewhere on the www. I found references stating that:
- although Xanthan Gum is derived from or grown off of corn but that ‘all corn sugars are removed in the processing’ and therefore it is considered corn-free
- Xanthan is usually derived from corn in the States but can sometimes be made from soy or other plants
- either way, supposedly ‘the least amount of corn we can currently test for is 50 parts per million, whereas people seem to react to less than that if they are very sensitive’
- and whether it is corn containing or not, Xanthan Gum is a somewhat common allergen all on it’s own - yay! right?

...ugh...

So is Xanthan Gum Corn free? I think not, but it is probably one that you will have to decide for yourself, according to your own food allergies & digestion.

Then at the very end of my trials I saw on Gluten Free Girl's blog that she too was having trouble with Xanthan Gum and she was recommending ground flax seeds or chia seeds instead of Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum. Soooo, I though why not give it one last go and opted for Psyllium Husks...

3 generous teaspoons of psyllium husks instead of Xanthan Gum later gave me this:
It's still not really suitable for something like a closed sandwich but the consistency was moist and sufficiently elastic without seeming rubbery.The loaf was still a bit too cake-y and the crust was still on the crumbly side when slicing but overall, it is definitely my favourite of the four.

Above: Although the cross-section still looks quite dense, the texture was softer and perfectly moist. But you can also see at the top where the crust is still a bit fragile

Above: you can still see the a bit of the honeycomb exterior but it doesn't seem as 'pulled'

I image that the corn flour would make a notable difference but I would love to try it all again another day with a substitute for the potato flour. I just hate the smell when I go in for a bite... but maybe I’m being too picky on that one... maybe

Gluten Free Girl’s Pickling Party: Pickled Peaches!

Last month Gluten Free Girl hosted a Pie Party where everybody (1500 people at least) across the internet and beyond made pies on the same day. Some were gluten free, some were other-allergy-free, and some were just plain happy pie! It was such a success that Gluten Free Girl decided to have another party this month called the ‘Pickling Party’. Similar rules to the pie party: you have to pickle something on Wednesday August 10th 2011 between 9am-noon and it has to be yes, well, pickled.. thats it really (I love simple rules!)

I am not supposed to be taking any vinegar at the moment but I really wanted to take part in the pickling party so I got out my trusty Darina Allen ‘Forgotten Skills of Cooking’ cookbook because it was sure to have a pickling section and found a super recipe for Pickled Peaches which pickles them in a sugar syrup. The peaches are intended to complement savoury dishes such as:
- Glazed Ham
- Bacon
- Duck
- Goose

... and I’m sure with a bit of creative thinking there could be happy accompaniments for vegetarian and vegan dishes too!

The great thing is that the recipe is naturally 1) Vinegar free and 2) Free from most all the big food allergens. It is also left wide open for alterations, substitutions and creativity.

Note: If you are allergic or intolerant to vinegar you can pickle particularly moist foods with salt/brine. Umeboshi Plums (pictured above) are a traditional Japanese ‘dessert’ which is free from vinegar, using a salt based solution for the pickling (it also alkalizes your system almost immediately). Also in vinegar and pickling news, I recently came across Clearsping Ume Plum Seasoning (in the Asia Market, Drury St, Dublin 2) which is from the Umeboshi Plum pickling process and is an alternative to Vinegar. Ingredients: Ume plums (83%) Sea Salt, Red Shiso (perilla) leaves.

I seriously can’t wait to try some Ume Plum Seasoning on some chips (the french fried kind) because I was/am/always will be a SERIOUS vinegar lover.. I mean, my mouth is literally salivating just writing this! ... so a substitute for vinegar on my chips would be the next best thing to heaven!

The recipe:
1 pint (600ml) cold stock syrup (1lb sugar boiled for 2 minutes in 1pint water)
1 cinnamon stick
1 chilli, halved & seeded (I used 3 tiny ones for extra pizazz!)
1" piece of fresh ginger sliced
6 cloves
2 slices lemon
10 peaches (peeled and sliced)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
Bring all the ingredients to a boil on the stovetop, cover and put into the preheated oven (usr an oven-proff dish!) for 20 minutes.
Remove the chilli, cinnamon stick and lemon slices
Fill into sterilized jars.

To Sterilize jars submerge the jars, and lids in boiling water for 7-10 minutes. When filling the jars be sure to leave some room at the top and seal with the lid. If the lid does not ‘indent’ the jar is not sealed.

It was SO easy! AND it made me feel like a 1950s domestic goddess-in-training! :D

My biggest problem was finding the jars.. I didn’t have any stocked up ones from jams etc because domestic goddess behaviour is still new to me so I searched the city high and low until I finally resolved that the pricier 'Kitchen Complements' (Chatham Street, Dublin 2) was my only hope. I got a 6 pack of really elegant jars for €14+ ... it was sad but pretty and at least now I have them when I try some of Darina’s other pickling recipes!!
My other faux pas was with the peaches themselves. I had been thoroughly enjoying my cheap and really tasty peaches from Lidl for a few weeks now. They were so fresh and ripe and affordable that a girl couldn’t ask for more fruit-wise but when I was in town jar hunting I happened upon an organic fruit and vegetable stand. They had a peach cut for tasting and it was delicious so I decided to take a seemingly not-so chancy chance and splurge on 10 organic peaches to ensure that my pickling project came up trumps - right.
The peaches cost me over €6 and to my disgust, half of them were resident of yuck-ville! Some were lovely like the one I tasted but I had to throw 3 or 4 of them away because of that horrible yuck texture that peaches can so often have. Perhaps it wouldn’t have made a huge impact since pickling was traditionally reserved for the falloff but I was thoroughly disappointed and so ended up with only two jars of pickled peaches in the end.

Anywho, it was still so much fun and I can’t wait to make presents of the results!

The cookbook I used was this one:
Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

‘How to Cook for Food Allergies’ by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne – Much More than Just Recipes

How to Cook for Food Allergies goes far beyond the expected. Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne is a professionally trained chef, a culinary teacher and owner of a catering business. She is also the mother of two food allergic children and a third who can eat anything which means that she is an expert in cross-contamination and substitution… Not to mention being the creator of the infamous ‘Genius Fresh Gluten Free Bread’.

I have had the book out on loan from the library for months and months, with renewal after renewal. This is not because it’s massive or because I’ve been pouring over it every evening and just can’t give it up… it’s because I haven’t had a proper chance to look at it yet. I mean, I’ve flipped through it from time to time but have never tried making anything out of it and in general have always gotten just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information and all of the substitution alternatives. I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to cast the book aside because at first glance it doesn’t wow your socks off or because the recipes seem a bit ordinary and the substitution alternatives aren’t clearly dedicated to your own specific food allergies and diet.

I am the queen of first impressions. I love pretty things and I like perfection in every way. However, I am also VERY open to re-evaluating my first impressions and am willing to dig deeper into the not-so-instantaneously-pretty to find its worth. When I finally gave ‘How to Cook for Food Allergies’ the time it deserved I found that it contains a fountain of information! It has a lot of staple recipes (which is oh-so-important for anyone with food allergies) and it also makes substitutions for these recipes accessible to a range of food allergy combinations:

- Dairy free / milk free
- Egg free
- Wheat free
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Soya free

The way the recipes work is:
1st the ingredient list is supplied for the ‘normal’ recipe
2nd there are tags in the left margin with possible substitutions underneath for i.e. gluten, dairy, egg, etc so you can choose how allergy friendly you wish to make the dish.
3rd there are often variations after the recipe for slightly similar dishes but with different flavours or different shapes such as Focaccia Bread or Pizza Bases based on the Gluten Free White Bread or Rhubarb Crumble instead of the Apple & Blackberry Crumble.

At first, the system seemed confusing but once I adjusted to it I found it to be one of the best systems ever! Some allergy friendly cookbooks and recipes can be frustrating if you are, for example, dairy free and egg free but not gluten free and you’re trying to make a Victoria Sponge Cake (pg. 172!) because you don’t need to lose out on the gluten aspect but you still need an allergy-friendly recipe to help you! Likewise, many free-from recipes weigh heavily on another common allergen to pump up the taste. For instance, I regularly find that many gluten free recipes have loads of dairy products which can make substitution very difficult to navigate for a dairy free and gluten free diet. SO, like I said, best system ever! If only every allergy-friendly cookbook was written like this! –or just every recipe book ever... one can dream, no?

But the recipes are really only half of the book! The other half is an indispensible guide to

- Living with food allergies
- Cooking for food allergies
- Travelling with food allergies
- Staying Healthy on a restricted food-allergy diet

And when I say essential, I mean essential. I think you’ll agree that ALL the bases are covered with chapters like:

1. Avoiding Problem Foods in Day-to-Day Life
2. Eating Out and Travelling
3. Eating A Balanced Diet on a Restricted Diet
4. Substituting for Eggs
5. Substituting for Wheat and Other Gluten-Rich Grains
6. Substituting for Dairy Products
7. Substituting for Nuts and
8. Substituting for Soya

Not to mention the recipe chapters on 'Stock, Soups & Sauces', 'Frying', 'Grilling' 'Roasting & Oven-Baking', 'Poaching & Stewing', 'Potatoes', 'Grains, Rice & Pasta', 'Home Baking', 'Puddings & Sweet Sauces', 'Baby Foods' and 'Children's Party Foods'.
Each chapter goes into wonderfully helpful detail on topics like how to deal with Visiting Friends and Family, Choosing from a Menu, Travelling on Planes, What your Food Allergens are Used For in Different Recipes, and Substitution Ideas for each use. There are loads of information boxes throughout the recipe section and there is also a wonderfully in-depth chapter on balancing your diet and maintaining nutrition, vitamins and minerals if you cut out dairy, egg, wholegrain wheat, white wheat flour, soya and/or nuts. It tells you what you might be missing, what the missing vitamin, etc, does for you (why you need it) and where else you can get it.

I genuinely believe that ‘How to Cook for Food Allergies’ does what it says on the tin: it helps you to ‘Understand Ingredients, Adapt Recipes with Confidence and Cook for an Exciting Allergy-Free Diet’.
Whether you like the recipes inside or not, it is an essential guide for your food substitution journey. It will help you adapt all of your favourite family recipes from years gone by and it is an amazing aid to creating and developing your own original recipes.

I’m being so positive about this book I almost feel like I’ve been paid to promote it, but I promise you I haven’t. All of my reviews are my own personal opinions and if that ever changes I will let you know loud and clear!

Eating an Allergen Free, Wholefood Diet at Home – The Blazing Salads Cookbook

Blazing Salads' primary concern is making wholefood living accessible. All of their recipes are 100% vegetarian and refrain from using ‘sugar’ (refined, beet or cane) or artificial sweeteners. All of their famous salads and breads are revealed in the pages and they even list which recipes are suitable for freezing which can really help the day-to-day logistics of a healthy food/work/life balance.
In my opinion, The Blazing Salads Cookbook has a lot to offer and would be a major aid for anyone struggling to eat a wholefood AND allergy friendly diet 7 days a week instead of just a ‘weekend only’ diet.

Each recipe is listed as being one or all of the following:

- Sugar free
- Wheat free
- Dairy free
- Vegetarian

But I can vouch that there are many more ‘free-froms’ if you read between the lines such as:

- Yeast free
- Egg free
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Nut free

Blazing Salads have got mixed reviews on forums in the past and I’m not 100% sure why. Yes, their prices can be a bit high and I do feel that there can sometimes be more oil than necessary on the food but overall the ability to buy food ‘out’ which is food allergy friendly and predominately ‘healthy’ is not something that I can easily dismiss. I think that when a restaurant/café, etc. produces a cookbook people can easily be surprised to read what they previously ate without thought but and as one forum reviewer said: “Just don’t eat the foods which contain maple syrup if it’s a problem for you!”… Likewise, when you are cooking at home it is very easy to reduce oil and sweeteners to suit your own preferences.

The cookbook is broken into eight categories, covering all bases of a wholefood lifestyle at home:

- Spreads & dips
- Soups
- Salads
- Savouries
- Main courses
- Bean casseroles
- Cakes & desserts
- Breads

My family have made of few of the recipes at this stage and have been very pleased with the outcomes. Namely: the Almond Fruit Pies (pictured above) which are a family favourite from the deli. You can imagine my Mom’s happiness at being able to have her favourite wheat free & dairy free pies at home in the midlands whenever she wants them, and not have to wait for her infrequent trips to Dublin for a bit of indulgence! Another major success in my mind are the Spinach & Almond Cannelloni. I have made them a couple of times now and have been taken aback with the flavour and appearance of this wonderful main course recipe.

A personal favourite from the deli are the Brown Rice Balls with Aduki Bean & Vegetable Filling served with soy sauce…and yes, the recipe for these delicious savoury treats are neatly tucked into the pages of the Blazing Salads Cookbook as well so I’m definitely looking forward to trying my hand at them!

The Blazing Salads Cookbook

Cornucopia at Home - The Cookbook

As you know, I am always searching Dublin for new places to eat out and where to find quick bites on the run to ward off hunger while keeping to your food allergy diets. As you can imagine, sometimes the food you get out is just so good that you want to have it at home too! Luckily for the food allergy population the trend of ‘restaurant cookbooks’ found its way to Dublin's ever popular vegetarian restaurant 'Cornucopia'. The book has been out since 2008 (reprinted in 2009) and finally found its way to my kitchen this Christmas (only two years late I might add!). There are so many great things about ‘Cornucopia at Home'. To start off it has a bounty of tried and tested vegetarian recipes for:

- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Wheat free
- Yeast free
- Dairy free
- Egg free
- Sugar free
- Nut free
- and Low Fat diets

Not to mention a guide to each diet and their symptoms. In addition to all of this, the book was written, photographed, designed and illustrated entirely by restaurant staff!

It has wonderful background stories for the different recipes throughout the life of the restaurant, great tips and best method practices to help you perfect the recipes and a wonderful and heartfelt ode to life through the story of Cornucopia. Each recipe has a dedicated space to scribble and make the book genuinely part of your own home and personal recipe chest and great lists of pantry supplies and allergy substitutes. But the best feature of all is the greatest page divider ever with diet symbols & liquid, weight & temperature conversions! Oh yeah, there’s some pretty good recipes too ;)

I know that the recipes are good, I indulge in them regularly at the mothership (can soup get better than the soup from Cornucopia?!). I also have a few friends with the book who have made them (and served them to my mouth-watering delight) and last weekend the wonderful 'F' and I collected all of the required ingredients from the Organic market in the Dublin Co-op and proceeded to dance and sing our way through the Leek, Spinach and Lentil Nut Roast and for dessert made the Blueberry and Almond squares (photographed above - although mine are made with spelt & rice flour)… During the collection process I was cringing at the growing price tot but was very happy to note that I now have dinner for a week!! I love when things average out on the tasty side. But not to worry – it cost a bit above average because we chose a 'nut' roast with no less than 6 leeks and a blueberry, date and almond based dessert, none of which are the cheapest to ingredients on the market! … But don't let that put you off because there are a load of recipes with a nice range of ingredients (and prices) and always remember, you’re not just cooking for one day so it’s actually more of an investment in your week!

...and if you need even more persuasion try out the restaurant itself if you haven't done so already. For review - see August 4th 2010 log 'Cornucopia Whole-Food & Vegetarian Restaurant'

Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids - Cookbook

The picture on the left is my rendition of the 'Millet Molasses Muffins' recipe found in the Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids cookbook. I have found them to be tasty enough to share as well as have for breakfast everyday this week!
The search for good allergy free recipes is a tough one. You might find a few that meet one or maybe two of your food allergy requirements but if you're like me and have multiple allergies and/or intolerances then the search can begin to feel next to impossible... I frequently go through books and sites getting depressed with an egg here, creme fraiche there, or onions onions onions in what seems like every savoury recipe in the world! Sometimes I even allow myself to fantasize about only being allergic to something like gluten and how 'easy' life would be then! ... HA!
Fact is that once you have food allergies and/or intolerances life is no longer 'easy' in the traditional sense. However, it can be made easier than a lot of people are aware and a big part of my job is to pave that path ... but fact is is that the majority of recipes won't automatically suit your needs and you have to learn to put on your substitute glasses and become a keen searcher.
The unfortunate thing, for me at least, is that dedicated cookbooks to i.e: wheat free recipes seem to weigh heavily on other common allergens like milk and eggs in order to get the best taste. I don't blame them of course but it can make substituting difficult when the emphasis is on the substituted ingredient! These books serve well for education around the best product substitutes and quantities but they're not really suitable company for direct reference. In my opinion, the best book for people with multiple food allergies, is obviously those which cater to multiple food allergies.
Recently I fell upon a wonderful, and relatively new, book in our local library which specializes in recipes for children without a wide range of food allergens: Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger. The great thing about a book designed around cooking for kids is that a lot of healthy and 'treat-type' foods will be covered in the aim of providing a healthy diet while not denying the child - a perfect balance for adults too, me thinks! Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids is a wonderful little find because all the recipes inside are:

- wheat free
- gluten free
- dairy free
- peanut free
- free from tree nuts
- egg free
- soy free
- fish free
- shellfish free

and many more are vegetarian and vegan too. There are a couple of curious or awkward things about the recipes,as always. The book is advertised as 'Low in Sugar' which I sincerely doubt. You could easily halve the sugar content in most of the recipes (esp. in the 'Chewy Granola Bars', 'Vanilla White Cake' and the 'Awesome Fluffy Lemon Blueberry Muffins' which are truly awesome but more suitable for a dessert if sugar levels are being retained). Outside of the sugar curiosity the primary awkwardness is that the book is American and things like arrowroot starch or soya free chocolate chips are not as readily available in Ireland, or at least not at overly affordable prices and sadly, the ice cream or yoghurt dishes are a bit out of reach as well because to date I have not been able to source Rice Dream ice cream in our emerald isle. I remember from my Canadian upbringing that Rice Dream ice cream is quite a tasty substitute. It's not as creamy as its soya cousins but its SO much more refreshing and obviously its soya free!
Outside of these minor quibbles Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids is a great find and an ideal option for purchase if you are in the market for a new cookbook. With a few alterations, if sugar is a concern for you, the sweets in this book are spot on and regarding savoury there are many options and ideas. I particularly like the 'Mixed Veggie Hash' with leeks instead of onions (only because I have to), and for the mix I chose butternut squash, zucchini and sweet potato to hit that hankering spot - although I do put in a bit more oil than is required, or indeed recommended, but that is only because I'm bold when it comes to fat content...
Something that i didn't say earlier that also deserves an honourable mention is that in the margins of Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids is a fountain of information about hidden allergens like corn in icing sugar, or great substitution ideas like flax instead of eggs! As I said, I loaned the book from my local public library with the intention of copying out one or two recipes but I have found that I will have to purchase my own copy because there are just too many recipes that I want and so much reference ideas and information that I would like on hand as a food-allergy home-cook.