Minutes and links from December 2, 2017 Meeting
When I started this blog, I first tried to start a Meetup group, but apparently people use that for social gathering, and not so much for serious topics. These are the minutes and links from the first meeting.
The theme for this meeting is Indian traditional cooking that happens to avoid gluten. A sub-theme is Thanksgiving meals and treats.
Minutes:
We met, shared stories, shared knowledge of GF options. We discussed the three official GF grains (wheat, barley and rye) and the Australians and Indians add oats to their official list. One person feels best if they buy only Australian oats, so local conditions seem to be a factor. We discussed this at some length since Australia doesn't count oats to be gluten free and the member has been Celiac for many years.
I shared recipes I had found useful so far, mainly on the Indian Food theme. The advantage there is that if someone wants to be vegetarian, it offers many innovative choices higher in protein and fiber than one might expect.
However, not everyone is vegetarian or likes Indian food, so there were other recipes, such as scones, cookies, and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu/recipes. Concern was expressed about the complexity of some of the recipes. So we turned to discussing simplicity. Some people simplify by ordering prepared meals through a home-chef service, others used Instant Pot, both great ideas. We discussed that there is a lot of interest in trying the local Primal restaurant, and possibly looking at a January visit as a group there.
Unfortunately there isn't a local Indian restaurant I'd feel safe in, and sometimes the ingredients, I have to hope they are GF because labeling may present a language barrier for me. My recommendation is, if a recipe tells you to soak something for 4 hours, it's OK if you just cook it first and drain. I always soak any beans though, because of the risk of gas. If the ingredients are cooked, you can feel free to use a food processor, if they are only soaked, a mixer/grinder will be more helpful.
* Watch her video, she expertly rolls the rice mixture out and it doesn't look any harder than rolling regular wheat pie crust. Packaged food companies add xanthan gum in order to get a "sheeting" dough. But glutinous rice flour automatically creates a stretchy dough that is easily rolled out.
The theme for this meeting is Indian traditional cooking that happens to avoid gluten. A sub-theme is Thanksgiving meals and treats.
Minutes:
We met, shared stories, shared knowledge of GF options. We discussed the three official GF grains (wheat, barley and rye) and the Australians and Indians add oats to their official list. One person feels best if they buy only Australian oats, so local conditions seem to be a factor. We discussed this at some length since Australia doesn't count oats to be gluten free and the member has been Celiac for many years.
I shared recipes I had found useful so far, mainly on the Indian Food theme. The advantage there is that if someone wants to be vegetarian, it offers many innovative choices higher in protein and fiber than one might expect.
However, not everyone is vegetarian or likes Indian food, so there were other recipes, such as scones, cookies, and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu/recipes. Concern was expressed about the complexity of some of the recipes. So we turned to discussing simplicity. Some people simplify by ordering prepared meals through a home-chef service, others used Instant Pot, both great ideas. We discussed that there is a lot of interest in trying the local Primal restaurant, and possibly looking at a January visit as a group there.
Time Savers:
- https://instantpot.com/
- Be aware that the Instant Pot is a pressure cooker and, can explode during use.
- https://greenchef.com/menus/glutenfree
Non-Indian food links:
- Pumpkin Scones https://detoxinista.com/gluten-free-vegan-pumpkin-scones-with-creamy-maple-glaze/
- No eggs Magic Meringues https://altonbrown.com/magical-mystery-meringue-cookies/
- Frosted Sugar Cookies https://detoxinista.com/almond-flour-frosted-sugar-cookies/
- Big crowd at GF Thanksgiving (PDF) https://www.nationalceliac.org/holiday-recipes/delicious-gluten-free-thanksgiving/
- The Butternut Squash soup was my own recipe, I might blog about it at a later time.
Indian food links:
If you look in books written for Americans, you don't always find the GF breads because the focus is on Naan, Chapati, Kulcha, and other breads made with chapati flour (wheat). But with the diaspora of people from India, many authentic recipes are shared online so that far away children can still use mom's recipes.Unfortunately there isn't a local Indian restaurant I'd feel safe in, and sometimes the ingredients, I have to hope they are GF because labeling may present a language barrier for me. My recommendation is, if a recipe tells you to soak something for 4 hours, it's OK if you just cook it first and drain. I always soak any beans though, because of the risk of gas. If the ingredients are cooked, you can feel free to use a food processor, if they are only soaked, a mixer/grinder will be more helpful.
- About 600 Gluten Free vegetarian recipes here: http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/recipe/gluten-free/
- (of course you could add roasted meat to any of it)
- Uttapam (savory pancakes)http://www.veganricha.com/2012/06/uttapam-lentil-and-rice-pancake-with.html
- Vadai (savory doughnut) http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/medu-vada-recipe-medu-vada/
- Kalathappam (sweetened rice cake, might be decorative in small bundt pans) http://www.sreenathrecipes.com/kalathappam-sweetened-version/ (lots of ads on this site)
- Mochi http://allrecipes.com/recipe/193307/easy-mochi/
- Idli, a similar breakfast food: https://simmertoslimmer.com/how-to-make-soft-idlis/
- Rice Roti http://indiaphile.info/rice-flour-flat-bread-chokha-ni-rotli/ *
* Watch her video, she expertly rolls the rice mixture out and it doesn't look any harder than rolling regular wheat pie crust. Packaged food companies add xanthan gum in order to get a "sheeting" dough. But glutinous rice flour automatically creates a stretchy dough that is easily rolled out.
Some Ideas for next time (feedback welcome)
- Meeting place. We briefly discussed other places to meet in case a large group decides to show up. Cary Town Center seems far away for some, though it's a great place to meet for free. I'll check with Southpoint Mall to see if it's a possibility. But the consensus was that for now, Barnes and Noble bookstore is OK.
- Quick and easy meals.
- Pizza made at home.
- Converting the kitchen to GF (how to)
- Places to go socially, perhaps a short easy nature walk, or a movie.
