bread

I have been trying to review Whole Foods Bakehouse Frozen Gluten Free Pie Crusts for a while. My original plan was to review these crusts during Thanksgiving. There is a tradition, started by my grandmother, of making pumpkin pies. Though my wife enjoys them, my daughter goes completely mad for these homemade pies. I wanted to make sure that we have some gluten free pie crusts available. Unfortunately, there was none to be had in the Atlanta area at that time. The demand far exceeded the supply. They're available now, so now is the time to do the review.

The first thing that I noticed about these Bakehouse pie crusts was that they looked like any other frozen pie crust on the market. The package contained two 9” crusts to a package. Each one in their own tin pan.

Since the pumpkins were no longer available, I decided on Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pie. I chose a combination of ham, cheddar, and provolone for the filling. Since the quiche required 45 minutes of baking time, I did not par bake the pie crust.

What came out of the oven was firm crust that has remained firm even after it had remained in the refrigerator for a while. It was not a flaky crust, but it was sturdy. I has a extremely buttery taste, and worked well with the savory flavors of the quiche. Personally I would not recommend it for a sweet pie. I don't believe the strong flavor would work well with something like a lemon margarine pie.

I planning to purchase these crusts again. My oldest that has the problem with gluten loved the crust, but hated the quiche. Like millions of parents before me, I why the kids never want to eat what I cook.

P.S. Since gluten free pie crusts were not available during Thanksgiving, we poured the pumpkin pie filling into muffin tins. These mini-pies turned out to be a hit with all of the kids there.

Like all parents, my wife and I are worried about what the kids will eat, and what they won't. Lately my oldest daughter will eat nothing but meat, and my wife was worried about lack of fiber in that diet. She then found, at a grocery store near us, Glutino's Fiber Bread.

The Fiber Bread is another one of Glutino's baked sandwich breads. Like most of the gluten free, baked, sandwich breads, it is half the height of regular sandwich bread. That means, when using a toaster, you have to put the bread slice in sideways. Otherwise, you will loose the slice in the toaster. The best way to avoid this problem is use a toaster oven.

Before I tried it toasted, I ate a slice right out of the bag, and I feel in love with it. We use to buy whole wheat and multi-grain sandwich breads before my wife and daughter knew they had a problem with wheat. This gluten free Fiber Bread had such a hearty taste and texture that I thought I was eating whole wheat bread again.

I was ready to make a turkey sandwich; however, the packaging recommended toasting the bread before serving. My recommendation is follow those directions. When you toast it, the flavor of the bread becomes ten times better. The bread also develops a nice crunch that is perfect for sandwiches.

My oldest daughter had the final say on whether to buy this gluten free bread again. She liked it, but couldn't tell me exactly why. It's now her favorite, so Fiber Bread will be bought again.

Pancakes can be a quick breakfast item if you make a huge batch one or two nights before.  I've often had a stash of pancakes sitting in the refrigerator, and then popped them into the toaster on school day mornings.  Usually I follow the recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill buckwheat flour, but this time I tried their Gluten Free Pancake Mix. 

Now the instructions for making these pancakes was simple enough to follow: add milk, oil, eggs, and stir vigorously.  It does state to cook this mix at a medium high temperature.  Unlike traditional wheat based or buckwheat pancakes, this potato based pancake mix will burn at the traditional super high temperature while leaving the centers uncooked.  A lower temperature with a slightly longer cooking time will make these gluten free pancakes come out just right.

Now the taste of these pancakes is good, but it is not sweet.  The primary ingredient is potato flour, and it makes these gluten free pancakes taste like potatoes.  I recommend putting aside the maple syrup and getting out the sour cream or gravy.  

My daughter ate a good size stack during the taste test, so they will be bought again.  However if you want something sweet in the morning,  use the recipe on the back of the Bob's Red Mill buckwheat flour box.  

As most people will agree, the most popular school lunch a kid will ask for is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Unfortunately for my oldest daughter, that means finding a good gluten free sandwich bread.  Fortunately for her, there's several new gluten free sandwich breads available.  The latest that I have found is Ener-G Foods' White Rice Loaf.

Ener-G Foods is one of the few gluten free bread manufacturers that you will find on the grocery store shelf.  Most of the other brands are found in the freezer section of the specialty foods.  Their White Rice Loaf is also one of the few gluten free breads that you can toast.   It browns and crisps rather nicely.

The bread itself is denser than a normal white bread.  Its texture, but not its taste, is very much like a dense sour dough.  Like most gluten free breads, it has a spongy texture that crumbles in your mouth, but not to badly. 

Like a good white bread, the White Rice Loaf does not have a strong flavor.  It does leave a taste in your mouth like you've eaten rice, but that only occurs if you eat the bread by itself.  If you use it in a sandwich, you taste what is between the bread slices.  

One warning about this bread.  It dries out extremely fast, so you will want to store in in either your refrigerator or your freezer.

Both Charlotte and I like it, so it will be bought again.

Like so many others, we were visiting relatives during the Thanksgiving holidays.  That also meant that we had to provide some food for my wife and daughter since most of the family does not have a problem with gluten.  I tested Sweet Oven & Company's Cheese Rolls while I was over at my parents. 

Not only did my daughter like them, but almost every one of her cousins also wanted one.  We had to save a few back so that Charlotte had a few with her meals.  I can understand why the kids liked them.  This was the closest any gluten free roll has every gotten towards being a french baguette.   The crust had a hard crunch like bread should.  It did not crumble away like most gluten free breads.  It stood up to my teeth, and cracked from the pressure of my bite. 

The interior was a complete contrast.  While the crust was hard the bread was soft and chewy.  I was even able to roll it into little balls like a standard white bread.  This was unusual for a gluten free roll.  I suspect that the cheese replaced the gluten needed for these structures.

I also suspect the kids like this gluten free roll because it really is a cheese roll.  This wasn't a roll with some cheese flavoring.  This was a roll made out of cheese and made to look like bread.  It is not subtle in its flavor, but it is really good.  It would not replace a traditional dinner roll because the flavor is to strong, but is an excellent addition to a meal.  

As I stated before, we had to keep people out of these.  Once they tasted them, they wanted more.  These are going to be purchased again.