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GF Convenience -- Gluten Free Pantry Muffin & Scone Mix, and Blu Moon in Ludington, MI
It occurs to me that I've tried a bunch of these products, although not as many as a lot of you, because these products all contain potato starch.
And I really try to lean macrobiotic in all my purchases. Plus, the Lyme arthritis thing. Nightshades and arthritis are NOT friends.
[So -- I've had a white potato once in the past six years. Mashed, at a classy restaurant, with cheese, and it was awesome -- perfectly cooked, a master's hand had touched it. It was at the Blu Moon in Ludington, Michigan. The chef there in late July-early August had a lovely touch with veggies. I was able to eat safely and with some flair, and for gluten-free that's always a struggle in a touristy area. They had not one but two awesome GF desserts, a pot au chocolate and a slightly warm creme brulee that sang. Overpriced, but my experiences were good, properly cooked food. The non-GF offerings included some nicely priced dishes like meatloaf, BBQ ribs with their own sauce, etc. My companion tried the BBQ ribs (they were already out of the meatloaf -- on a weeknight!) and said they were excellent.
But their web site is a terrible FAIL, with moving parts. Considering that the restaurant decor is modified loft with black and white photos, interesting and even attractive, the website is frightening. But then I'm a Jakob Nielsen acolyte; I hate cutesy web sites So that link is to Urban Spoon. You can find the restaurant from there.
But the food? I loved the food. I'll go back next year, if they survive the winter.]
But I digress. I avoid potato starch, so I do not have these mixes on the shelf. I make my own, a la Gluten-free Girl's suggestions for how you make your own GF mix, by weight and texture. Sometimes, however, they are a great time saver. Because it's not baking season I don't have a mix made up, I just have jars of each individual grain and starch I use. That's a bunch of measuring, since baking is a science, not an art. (Other cooking is an art.)
Gluten Free Pantry's gluten free mix is white rice flour, potato starch, and corn starch, with the usual additives like sugar, baking powder (corn), salt, and xanthan gum. They note that the mix may contain traces of soy. It's low sugar (7 gr) per serving, and only 1 gr of protein, but average for carbs (24 gr.) This mix is recommended for muffins, scones and quick pancakes. I've tried making muffins and scones with it. Pancakes and I don't meet often anymore -- it's just too much carb at one time, with no whole grains to even out the blood sugar.
The manufacturer (Glutino) recommends butter and eggs with this mix, but says you may substitute. I use butter when needed, and also eggs (in moderation) so both muffins and scones had butter and eggs. I diverged with the milk. I made the scones with real milk, zapped into buttermilk with the addition of apple cider vinegar. I also added the zest of a tangerine I had in the fridge, and dried cranberries. The goal was GF but not DF/CF. With careful dolloping I got fifteen scones squeezed onto a tray, and they baked just fine for slightly longer than the package recommendation. But I have an apartment stove, so who knows?
The group at the party pronounced them excellent. In fact, we had to beat off the non-GF people with whatever was handy, to make sure the GF folk got to try one. The scones had a good moisture content, and were still browned at the tips.
I made the muffins last week for a little boy's birthday present, so he could have a bunch frozen for himself. He eats mostly GF and religiously (in the old sense) DF/CF. M can have butter and small amounts of real cream, but dairy proteins are a toxin for him. So -- I used almond milk in the recipe, and added a mixed 3/4 cup of dried cranberries and chopped pecans. I baked them in tiny muffin tins (24 to a pan) greased with that Spectrum spray sunflower oil, which is great, by the way.
Most of these mixes do not brown well. This was no exception. To get the muffins to brown, I pushed them to 18 minutes in my stove. The flavor was fine, but they were a little dry for me. I took half of the 36 the box made to the birthday boy, and half to a gathering that evening. I don't have a report from M yet on them, although I recommended them with jam, butter or fruit butter. But folk at the gathering enjoyed them, the hostess eating them straight without the wild blueberry preserves I brought along.
Verdict: This box mix makes a tasty GF with dairy scone, and the muffins were well-received by people who have given up gluten. No reports on DF muffins from people who can have dairy and gluten. If you're going to make muffins, I recommend using a regular-sized muffin tin for more moisture. Save the little muffin tin for that awesome Mochi brownie recipe I love.
And now, some fiction before I start chopping up veggies and making soup. I am trusting that winter is coming, and a creamy butternut soup and a miso, carrot and daikon soup for the freezer are just the ticket! I'm going to try Pacific's vegetable broth if I need stock (it has tomatoes, but an occasional tomato or pepper doesn't cause the reaction of a potato or cigarette smoke.) I'd still like a flavorful, GF nightshade-free stock, though. Anybody know of one?
And I really try to lean macrobiotic in all my purchases. Plus, the Lyme arthritis thing. Nightshades and arthritis are NOT friends.
[So -- I've had a white potato once in the past six years. Mashed, at a classy restaurant, with cheese, and it was awesome -- perfectly cooked, a master's hand had touched it. It was at the Blu Moon in Ludington, Michigan. The chef there in late July-early August had a lovely touch with veggies. I was able to eat safely and with some flair, and for gluten-free that's always a struggle in a touristy area. They had not one but two awesome GF desserts, a pot au chocolate and a slightly warm creme brulee that sang. Overpriced, but my experiences were good, properly cooked food. The non-GF offerings included some nicely priced dishes like meatloaf, BBQ ribs with their own sauce, etc. My companion tried the BBQ ribs (they were already out of the meatloaf -- on a weeknight!) and said they were excellent.
But their web site is a terrible FAIL, with moving parts. Considering that the restaurant decor is modified loft with black and white photos, interesting and even attractive, the website is frightening. But then I'm a Jakob Nielsen acolyte; I hate cutesy web sites So that link is to Urban Spoon. You can find the restaurant from there.
But the food? I loved the food. I'll go back next year, if they survive the winter.]
But I digress. I avoid potato starch, so I do not have these mixes on the shelf. I make my own, a la Gluten-free Girl's suggestions for how you make your own GF mix, by weight and texture. Sometimes, however, they are a great time saver. Because it's not baking season I don't have a mix made up, I just have jars of each individual grain and starch I use. That's a bunch of measuring, since baking is a science, not an art. (Other cooking is an art.)
Gluten Free Pantry's gluten free mix is white rice flour, potato starch, and corn starch, with the usual additives like sugar, baking powder (corn), salt, and xanthan gum. They note that the mix may contain traces of soy. It's low sugar (7 gr) per serving, and only 1 gr of protein, but average for carbs (24 gr.) This mix is recommended for muffins, scones and quick pancakes. I've tried making muffins and scones with it. Pancakes and I don't meet often anymore -- it's just too much carb at one time, with no whole grains to even out the blood sugar.
The manufacturer (Glutino) recommends butter and eggs with this mix, but says you may substitute. I use butter when needed, and also eggs (in moderation) so both muffins and scones had butter and eggs. I diverged with the milk. I made the scones with real milk, zapped into buttermilk with the addition of apple cider vinegar. I also added the zest of a tangerine I had in the fridge, and dried cranberries. The goal was GF but not DF/CF. With careful dolloping I got fifteen scones squeezed onto a tray, and they baked just fine for slightly longer than the package recommendation. But I have an apartment stove, so who knows?
The group at the party pronounced them excellent. In fact, we had to beat off the non-GF people with whatever was handy, to make sure the GF folk got to try one. The scones had a good moisture content, and were still browned at the tips.
I made the muffins last week for a little boy's birthday present, so he could have a bunch frozen for himself. He eats mostly GF and religiously (in the old sense) DF/CF. M can have butter and small amounts of real cream, but dairy proteins are a toxin for him. So -- I used almond milk in the recipe, and added a mixed 3/4 cup of dried cranberries and chopped pecans. I baked them in tiny muffin tins (24 to a pan) greased with that Spectrum spray sunflower oil, which is great, by the way.
Most of these mixes do not brown well. This was no exception. To get the muffins to brown, I pushed them to 18 minutes in my stove. The flavor was fine, but they were a little dry for me. I took half of the 36 the box made to the birthday boy, and half to a gathering that evening. I don't have a report from M yet on them, although I recommended them with jam, butter or fruit butter. But folk at the gathering enjoyed them, the hostess eating them straight without the wild blueberry preserves I brought along.
Verdict: This box mix makes a tasty GF with dairy scone, and the muffins were well-received by people who have given up gluten. No reports on DF muffins from people who can have dairy and gluten. If you're going to make muffins, I recommend using a regular-sized muffin tin for more moisture. Save the little muffin tin for that awesome Mochi brownie recipe I love.
And now, some fiction before I start chopping up veggies and making soup. I am trusting that winter is coming, and a creamy butternut soup and a miso, carrot and daikon soup for the freezer are just the ticket! I'm going to try Pacific's vegetable broth if I need stock (it has tomatoes, but an occasional tomato or pepper doesn't cause the reaction of a potato or cigarette smoke.) I'd still like a flavorful, GF nightshade-free stock, though. Anybody know of one?