So far, so good
The bread chronicles continue. I’m not quite there yet, but today was a major improvement. The recipe actually made dough! So much for batter, I’m moving up in the gluten-free food-chain!
Once again, the bread barely rose. I happened to look at the expiry date on my yeast today and it’s next month. I’m pretty sure that means my yeast is barely working. Now I blame the yeast.
Gotta have something to blame right?
Note to self : Buy better yeast.
When I took the bread out of the oven I was pretty sure I had accomplished the baking of yet another brick. Go me!
Looks like bread...
Imagine my surprise when I sliced through the (hard as a rock) crust and discovered delicious, moist, bouncy, doughy BREAD.
Tastes like….bread. Just like bread. Does everyone who goes gluten-free experience this obsession with bread, carbs and desserts? I’m certain I wasn’t near as obsessed with bread prior to this experiment.
A classic example of wanting what you can’t have I suppose.
As further example of my bread worship, I purchased my first loaf of store bought gluten-free bread today. It was on sale at Natural Food Pantry (where I was buying secret ingredients for my chocolate-free chocolate baking adventure as per request) and I figured I should probably see what I’m up against.
Smells like bread...
For some reason I have chosen to ignore what everyone has told me and assume store bought gluten-free bread would be expensive, but somehow good. Well, let me just say. Everyone was not lying. In fact, I feel much better about my first couple of tries baking bread because mine looked (and tasted) pretty much the same.
Good thing my new bread is a major win.
Grilled Cheese with Aged Country Ham
Fletch cooked us up some adorable (due to the tiny slices of bread) grilled cheese sandwiches (with cheese on the inside and the outside). So far the flax bread is OK, but I’m pretty sure if you fried cardboard in that much delicious cheese I would be happy….so I may not be the best judge.
Pulled-Pork Pasta (I know, amazing right?)
And of course, no day would be complete without Fletch and I cooking up some sort of elaborate meal or dessert, or both (no, baking bread is not enough!). So we had our friend Catherine over for some pulled-pork pasta and apple-berry crisp with whipped cream (whipped by hand, obviously, it’s much less impressive if you use the mixer!).
Apple-Berry Crisp
Once again, thank goodness there is no gluten in wine!!
Can I move you guys to MTL to cook for us :) Looks amazing
Soon enough! When we do move there we promise to have you over for dinner as often as you would like :)
uasully so we don’t over-eat I sprinkle the pan generously with cornmeal and place a log of artisan dough on it. If there is time I let it come up to room temp before flouring the top and slashing. Preheat
OK, so here is my gluten free bread experience.
a) mine also never rose. i tried bread machines, i tried hand baking, i tried everything. did you add xantham gum? apparently that’s what really gives it the bread-like deliciousness. i don’t know though.
b) if you’re looking for amazing store bought GF bread, the best place i found was Wild Oat bakery in the Glebe. they sell an amazing loaf of gluten free bread, it costs about 5 dollars, and they bake it then freeze it, and sell it. it comes pre-sliced, it’s so freaking good. it was my life saver when i was GF (i thought i was gluten intolerant, turns out i have no idea, really, what i’m allergic to. tomatoes? we don’t know.)
my main issue with storebought and handmade GF bread was that the slices were small and the bread didn’t stay together as well as regular bread. i find the bread from the wild oat is awesome, though. it’s bread sized (whatever that means) and also stays together. it’s so, so good.
Kelly, I am about to throw in the gf bread towel. My third attempt today was marginally more successful than the other two, but SOOOOOO dense. I’m pretty sure eating one slice is the equivalent of eating an entire bagel.
Fortunately(ish) I am not in the habit of just eating bread on its own, usually only as a sandwich or toast, and of all the GF bread I’ve tried, even the ones I consider the worst, are OK slathered with PB :)
i use the bdemraan. i use pamelas bread mix or bob’s cinamon raison mix. first i did the dough only and then bake . both breads came out great.
before i got my bread maker 2 weeks ago i only ate 1 slice of shop bought bread and had to toast that as it was awful as a sandwhich,i have now put on half a stone in 2 weeks as i make bread every 3 days and just eat bread and butter,so may have to go back to shop bought and only make homemade as a treat lol
Gail, I know! I thought I would lose weight not eating bread, instead I became obsessed!