Genius has landed, but.......

...there's a catch, read on...

Having friends and family in England, I hear lots about what gluten-free goodies they get to indulge in, and it can sometimes make me extremely envious (mince pies, people!!). I kept hearing about this gluten-free Genius bread, and how delicious it was, and how even the Starbucks across the pond was providing gluten-free sandwiches with it in their shops. Why doesn't our Starbucks carry gluten-free sandwiches????? (ok, that is a whole other topic which I won't get started on right now.)

When my mother-in-law came to visit in May, I begged her to bring me a loaf of this hyped-up bread, and it definitely lived up to its name. Before my mother-in-law had her bags unpacked, I was scarfing down a slice..and another, and....

So, when I found out shortly after that, Genius was coming to grace us yankees with their fabulousness, I was ecstatic!

The Genius people over here were nice enough to send me a loaf to try out, and as soon as that sucker arrived on my door-step, I was knocking out sandwiches for a pool picnic that afternoon.

I happened to also have a loaf of Udi's on hand, so let's compare....

Hmm......

And... (Genius is on the right)

I loved how Genius was bigger, and fluffier, and there was more bread per loaf than my current love, Udi's. I hate to admit, but Udi's had been disappointing me lately with bread that just seems dry. I still buy it, but I have felt the need to try other breads for the past few months. Though, I am still a very loyal fan of their bagels and pizza crusts!

I loved that with Genius, I could have a normal size sandwich! Making sandwiches with Udi's sometimes feels like I am eating a mini sandwich...and if you cut the crusts off for a little one...well, then they are really mini.

But....look what happens when I spread the Nutella on my bread (see below)....the bread came off with the Nutella! Total disappointment. The bread would not stay together. It was light and fluffy, but I think it was actually too light and fluffy. It is as if it was too airy. I guess too much of a good thing, can be a not so good thing. M and I also tried to make grilled cheese and egg sandwiches with it, thinking maybe if it is toasted it will work better. Well, that didn't really help either. It still fell apart when we tried to flip it.

My excitement over the US launch of Genius bread has been brought down a bit. I have contacted their people and will let you know when their people get back to me. Let's hope it is just a glitch in the system that needs to be worked out. The US Genius is being made, and distributed, on this side of the pond by Glutino.

I really wished it was the same as the UK version. That one did not fall apart, and made perfect grilled cheese sandwiches.

Genius bread will be available nationwide in the freezer section in August. For a more complete breakdown of the new US Genius bread, and how it compares to Udi's, see my review here.

Ringing in the holiday season with eggnog French toast

With Thanksgiving over and done, it is now officially the start of the holiday season, and what better way to start than with a post-Thanksgiving day breakfast of eggnog French toast, and it couldn't get any easier.

Now that I discovered I can easily find Udi's bread at my local Trader Joe's, I don't feel like I have to hoard it as much until I make a special trip out again for more. I felt like I could use my bread stock more freely. Funny, the things we do when we are gluten-free. I also happened to be well-stocked with eggnog, and had leftovers cranberries which go perfect with french toast or pancakes.

Eggnog French Toast

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup of eggnog

1 t. of cinnamon

10 slices of gluten-free bread (I used Udi's)

butter, or oil for greasing pan

Melt butter (or oil) in a pan or skillet over medium heat, and warm the oven to 200';

Meanwhile, mix the eggs, eggnog and cinnamon in a bowl;

Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture for 5 seconds to allow to soak and place in the warmed heated pan/skillet, or a plate until you have room on your pan for the next batch;

Cook and flip until each side is slightly browned and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet or large baking pan to keep warm until you are finished with the 10 slices.

You can avoid that last step if you plan on eating them straight out of the pan.

For my french toast, I served it with a side of leftover cranberries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, but they would also be tasty with maple syrup, a side of fresh, sliced fruit, or just on their own.

For another delicious eggnog breakfast, try my eggnog oatmeal pancakes.

Happy breakfast!

I spy Udi's at........

Trader Joe's!!

How fantastic...to be walking by the fresh bread section, which I usually ignore and see shelves full of Udi's gluten-free bagels and bread. That made me one happy girl!

So nice that I can now just stop by TJs and not make a special trip to other stores where it is even more expensive...yeah for Udi's!! It is so nice to find all I need in one place.

More gluten-free deliciousness from Udi's!

I have it on good authority that Udi's is going to release more gluten-free deliciousness in the near future. As many people already know, Udi's is one of the top gluten-free brands out there. Their bread is outstanding, and even the pickiest gluten-able eater would inhale a peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese on Udi's gluten-free bread before they could refuse it. The day I discovered their bread, I never looked back and have been a faithful fan. You can take it right out of the package and eat it straight away with no heating. My daughter's daily school lunch sandwiches are made with Udi's and she can eat gluten!

Sometimes just for fun, when I have gluten-able friends over, I will just hand them a slice of bread out of the package to see their reaction, and they have all been amazed.

Not only does Udi's create fabulous gluten-free bread, but they also sell other equally amazing gluten-free products such as four different varieties of granola, blueberry muffins, lemon streusel muffins, double chocolate muffins, pizza crusts, bagels and cinnamon rolls.

And the best part, they are coming out with more! On their list, these are some of the new items we will see:

• Hamburger buns, hot dog buns, dinner rolls
• New muffins, including bran muffins
• Cinnamon raisin and whole grain bagels
• A new bread

To hear more about their new releases and Udi's as a company, check out this video by Gluten Free Angel, with Udi's founder, Etai Bar-on and marketing director, Heather Collins.

They have not announced a launch date, but I have a feeling it will be worth the wait!

Yorkshire Pudding = result!

Being married to an Brit, I have had many roast dinners and many, many Yorkshire puddings. Before discovering I had celiac, M would usually cook Sunday dinner, and we would have all the traditional dishes, but with fish instead of beef or chicken. This meant he would also make the Yorkshire pudding. I love cooking and I love baking even more, and I am pretty picky, but I let him have this one. Therefore, I may have eaten enough Yorkshire puddings to feed a small country, but I had no idea how to make them myself. When M would cook, I wouldn't even go anywhere near the kitchen, it was such a treat.

I have not had Yorkshire pudding in a year and I know M doesn't want to have to deal with figuring out all the gluten-free flours and the proportions, etc... so his baking speciality has sort of disappeared, but dammit, I wanted them!! I decided I would learn and making it myself. If i I can bake all that I make, I can make Yorkshire pudding.

I sent out an email to the celiac listserv to see if anyone had any good recipes, and viola...one was a total winner! Thank you Vidalia Patterson who forwarded me a recipe from Amy Roberts, you are stars in our house tonight.

The recipe seemed easy enough...no metric conversion needed, so I thought this was the one to try, and I am so glad I did. It worked wonderfully with our dinner of roast salmon, parsnip fries, green beans and herb gravy. I could have eaten all dozen of the puddings myself, they were that good! The insides were soft just as they should be and melted in my mouth.

The ingredients are so simple, it is likely you will have everything on hand if you do any GF baking. I can't wait to make these again!

The following is Amy Robert's recipe, with my notes in italics.

2/3 cup of gluten-free flour mix (I have used Whole Food's 365 all purpose gluten-free flour mix and King Arthur gluten-free multi-purpose flour, both with excellent results)

1/3 cup of corn starch or potato starch (I used potato starch)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2-3 eggs (I used 2)
1 cup milk or half & half (I used 2% milk)
Drippings from roast beef (I used grapeseed oil)
(I added a tablespoon of melted butter.....just because..maybe to make up for the 2% milk)

Preheat oven to 425'

Combine all dry ingredients well.

Beat eggs separately, add to dry ingredients and mix well with an electric hand mixer. Next, add the milk or cream and beat for a couple of minutes (should be the consistency of thick cream).

Pour a little beef drippings or oil into each muffin cup. You really just need to line the bottom of each cup for this to work. Then put the muffin tin into the oven and heat until the oil is VERY hot.

Distribute the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups and bake at 425' for 15 minutes. If the puddings are well risen by then, turn the oven down to 375' and finish cooking them (should be about 5-10 minutes) You can tell by looking at them how moist they are. Just cook until they look right to you.

Yum!!

Review: Udi's sandwich bread

I kept hearing numerous accolades about Udi's Bakery in Denver, CO and their gluten-free foods. I would hear of people placing large orders with them and claiming their bread was the best of the gluten-free breads. So, I had to try this myself to see if the bread lived up to the hype.

Thankfully, I recently discovered they carry Udi's at Woodman's, who have an extremely large gluten-free section, and decided to try a loaf. Udi's bread is handcrafted in their dedicated gluten-free facility in Denver, CO, their gluten-free foods are also dairy-, soy-, and nut-free.

When I arrived home, I could barely wait to unload groceries and try a slice. It was almost total disbelief when I took a slice from the defrosted loaf and took a bite...I didn't even need to heat it up, it was instantly delicious! I have not had a piece of ready-to-eat bread, from the grocery store since before going gluten-free. My daughter, who is a gluten-eater and not that crazy about eating, in general, at two slices instantly.

The texture, even straight out of the package, is light and airy, it was perfect! There is no chewiness in this bread that some of gluten-free breads have. The crust actually made me want to eat the crust, of which I have never really been a fan. The crust tastes more like the crust of French bread. Overall, it was a delicious flavor.

I used the white sandwich bread to make tuna melts and it really enhanced the sandwich and the whole experience. Next, I made baked grilled cheese sandwiches using Udi's whole grain bread with cheddar and tomato. My husband, also a gluten-eater, couldn't get enough. Again, my daughter, who is a very small eater, ate 2 entire grilled cheese sandwiches on her own, I was completely speechless.

Previously, I was never a big fan of sandwich bread, because I always felt it was like tasteless styrofoam, but after having Udi's bread I have been converted. I realize that I just wasn't eating the right bread. It is hard to imagine something without so many things found in typical bread can be so delicious, but I kid you not, it is.

Udi's bakes sandwich breads, pizza crust, lemon streusel, blueberry muffins, granola and more. Udi's is available in selected stores nationally, including Whole Foods, and also available to order online. Products are shipped Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays and ship overnight or 2nd-day air.

Pumpkin bread

This time of year we see the image of pumpkins everywhere, on most doorsteps, Halloween decorations, and as the main ingredient to many fall and holiday recipes. Pie or sugar pumpkins are smaller than the common jack-o-lantern carving pumpkin and the best type to use when baking and cooking. With Halloween behind us, these small pumpkins will be more difficult to find, so buy them now so you can enjoy using fresh pumpkin in your holiday dishes. Canned pumpkin will always do the trick and is quite tasty, but nothing beats the flavor of fresh pumpkin!

The best way to get the "meat" out of the pumpkin is to roast it. Pre-heat the oven to 375'F, cut a sugar or pie pumpkin in half or large chunks, scoop out the guts and seeds. Save the seeds so that you can roast those for a snack or to sprinkle on a salad. Place the pumpkin halves skin side up on a foil-lined shallow baking dish, add a small amount of water, approximately 3/4 cup, and bake for 40 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool completely, remove to the skin and discard, and mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. Now you have pumpkin to create all kinds of yummy dishes.

One of my favorite pumpkin recipes is pumpkin bread, which I love anytime of year, however having access to real pumpkin makes it a real treat. It results is a super moist, fluffy, flavorful and fragrant snack or dessert. I love the smell of the kitchen when the bread is ready to come out of the oven. Kids love this bread too!

As a bonus, I don't believe this recipe tastes any differently than the gluten version. I blended in a bit of buckwheat flour to give the bread a touch of whole grain fiber. If you don't have buckwheat you can use 2 cups of your regular gluten-free flour instead of 1 1/2. Buckwheat is not wheat and is gluten-free, to learn more about buckwheat and its benefits read here.

1 1/2 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used Whole Food's 365 brand gluten-free all-purpose baking mix)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (I use Arrowhead Mills)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
---------------------------------
1 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
2 cups fresh pumpkin (or canned if fresh is unavailable)

Preheat the oven to 350'F

Mix the first set of ingredients in a bowl.

Combine the sugar and the melted butter, add the eggs and pumpkin in a second bowl.

Fold the dry ingredients into the second bowl, and blend.

Pour into an 8x8 baking dish, and bake for 40 min, or a bread pan for about an hour, or until a knife comes out clean from the middle.

Banana bread

This recipe was super easy and tastes exactly the same as when I made it with "regular" flour.

I basically used the original Fannie Farmer recipe, tweaked for gluten-freeness :)

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups of flour (I used Pamela's baking & pancake mix, and was able to substitute 1:1, however this uses almond flour, so if you can't use nuts, Whole Foods has a gluten-free flour that also works amazingly. Pamela's can be found at most grocery stores in their organic or gluten-free section)
1/2 cup sugar (I used raw sugar)
1 t baking soda

Mix the 3 bananas in a bowl, mash well, and add the eggs and beat until light.

Sift together the flour, sugar and baking soda, and add to the first mixture.

Stir Well.

Pour into a buttered bread pan, 9 x 5.

Bake for one hour at 350'F.