This was not something diagnosed by the doctors, nor was a doctor visited. However, after experiencing quite a few newly developed health problems and unpleasant symptoms, I thought I would see if altering my diet would make any improvements. As sugar, wheat, nuts, and dairy are the four major categories of allergies, I decided to focus on one of these groups. As I am not too big into nuts, that one was easily ruled out. The remaining three were all a toss up, and I decided, that whether than to sacrifice my love of cheese, and my sweet tooth, I would take a break from the wheat family. I had recently quit a job working at a bread bakery, and had my full fill of bread in 2010, so I decided that it wouldn't be too much of a challenge.
Initially, the experiment was supposed to last about 2 weeks, and then I would reassess the situation. After the two weeks, I had found that my symptoms had started to improve. So, I have stuck with it. In all honesty, there are so many resources now, at least here in Bozeman, it has been a fairly easy transition. Especially as I cook all my own food. though step out for a night on the town or travel across country and the options become limited or non-existant. It reminds me of the early years of growing up vegetarian, before vegetarian diets were trendy.
I don't know if it was in fact the wheat that was the culprit of what was going on, but I figured if I was feeling better without it, why not keep going? I'm planning on reintroducing wheat back into my diet again soon, to see if the problems being to show again, but for now, I am having fun exploring the new world of baking and cooking gluten free!
My job at the Nova Cafe, oddly enough, only makes gluten free baked goods. One of the only places in Bozeman to do so. It's pretty rad. When the opportunity presented itself that they were looking for another baker to fill in, I pounced on the chance like a leopard after its prey. And so I began my formally informal training as to how to convert recipes and bake gluten free delights. Though the flour combination may be different, I have found it to be relatively straightforward, at least with basic pastries. I have yet to venture into the world of more complex recipes. All in due time. In my own kitchen, where I can limit how much sugar goes into what I make, I have begun to play!
Already, I have made two successful batches of muffins. The first, though great when they came out of the oven, dried out after a day, which had to do with liquid combinations. But the second, chocolate-banana muffins...divine. The recipe will soon follow, once I am able to remember what I did...
Now, I am onto perfecting the art of making a good gluten free pizza dough. Pizza is by far one of my top food choices, and perhaps has been the most difficult to ignore. Sure there's the ole 'corn-tortilla-pizza' but sometimes you just want your crust to have substance. So today's first attempt is Tapioca flour dough.
Of course, one little unknown fact about me, is that though I love reading, I don't always love to read directions. Instead, I err on the side of just taking the plunge. Well, let me tell you what I have learnt about Tapioca flour. It a) absorbs liquids very quickly b) can clump and become something similar to cement c) is probably extremely redundant to mix it with corn starch as they function pretty much the same. This and more was all learnt in less than five minutes. Phew!
For next time, I'm going to take the time to research the flours I'm using before using them. Remedy for cement-like dough? Over-watering the brick until it looked like a gooey mass. But did I give up then? Nay. I plowed on through, took my gooey mass and patted it down onto the pizza pan. It kind of looked like it would shape up....it was holding. I was optimistic and also a firm believer that you can pretty much cook anything even if it is doomed. Decisions were made to then pop it into the oven to start the cooking process. Something told me this dough was going to need a lot of cooking time. Ten minutes later, I pull it out....actual time it had to do any cooking....zilch. At this point, I was too excited about the final results, namely eating pizza to cook it any longer. Lesson no. 2: Take time while cooking, as it is going to alter results of a fine meal into one of questionable means. DON'T RUSH, do it right! Where's the craftsmanship? If you are following the dots here, you will begin to see that my expectations of attempt number 1 on the pizza making front is taking a significant dive. At this point if it come out resembling a pizza, then my time would be worthwhile.
I successfully cooked the top of the pizza, it actually looks pretty amazing. Now, time to cut into it, and taste the sweet wabi-sabi of a pizza. First cut. Dough appears relatively undercooked. But then I think about tapioca. It's translucent, maybe then it was a good sign? I take a slice, pop the pizza back in the oven and begin to test the results. Definitely undercooked, but...there is promise. Round two of cooking, top growing darker, insides, just as gooey and undercooked, if not more so. Is this even possible? I'm not sure how I can go about getting the inside cooked this time around, but I shall eat it anyway. It's edible.
In short, this first go around, though not unsuccessful, wasn't exactly what I would call a success. There is hope, yes indeed, and I come out feeling a little wiser on the matter.
Learning curve:1. Tapioca flour does not need to be mixed with cornstarch. This is just redundant.
2. Do not just treat the recipe like it is wheat. Slow down, don't rush the process, even if hunger and excitement are the backbone of the operation. Learn to tame those impatient beasts.
3. Pre-cooking the dough for longer than 10 minutes, in all likelihood, will fare well. Trust me...
4. Read and research flours before jumping in. GF flours do not run cheap, and really, why waste good food, when one could take a few extra moments and learn some potentially vital information. Otherwise, start getting used to experimenting with fate and eating undercooked pizza.
Things to do differently next time:
1. Mix rice flour with the tapioca flour....this combination feeling is the winning ticket.
2. Measure out all dried goods in a separate bowl FIRST then add them to the wet ingredients and mix.
3. 3" of toppings is maybe a bit over the top....this may also have something to do with the dough not cooking...
Basic Gluten Free Pizza Dough
2 cups rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour (or corn starch)
3 tsp guar gum
1tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp honey
1(1/4oz) package yeast
1 cup warm water
Preheat oven to 350F, grease and flour pizza pan. In a large bowl, add yeast, honey, oil and warm water. Give a gentle stir and set aside for yeast to do its thing. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, guar gum, and salt. Mix together, ensuring that all the dried ingredients are thoroughly combined. Once it looks like the yeast has had time to bubble up, begin adding in the dried ingredients to the wet, one cup at a time, making sure that there are no clumps of four left about. (this is where it gets tricky until round two of pizza dough). If the mixture is looking dry, begin adding more water, until it is looking more like dough. Add the water slowly, rather than in a panicked manner, as then you will over water it. Oil your hands, as the dough is pretty sticky, and begin patting it out onto a greased pan (unlike traditional doughs, until further experiments reveal differently, you don't need to knead). Par-bake dough for 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on its progress from time to time. When it looks partially cooked, bring it out, and dress it up in all your fine pizza fixings, then return to oven. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until toppings have met your expectations. Slice 'er up because it's ready for eatin'!
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