I made bread today. Gluten-free bread from this recipe.
I’ve been reading Gluten-Free Girl, a blog by a lady in Seattle with celiac disease who happens to have a new book out at the moment. I think one of my readers here suggested it, and it’s a pretty
good blog sometimes, although occasionally (and I hope she’ll forgive me if she reads this) a little too high on life for my taste, a little too flowery. Don’t get me wrong – she’s in a good place in her life, and she’s enjoying it, so more power to her. It’s just not always what I want to read, but I’ve been sticking with her because she writes these gluten (and therefore wheat)-free recipes that Julie could eat as long as they don’t happen to contain soy.
Anyway, I read that post about the bread when she wrote it and thought to myself that I really should try it since she made it sound so amazingly good, and poor Julie is mostly stuck eating store-bought rice-based bread that leaves quite a bit to be desired. As in, if we were out of wheat bread, I would choose to have just meat and cheese instead of putting it in a sandwich of her bread. But it’s edible toasted, and it’s all she knows, so it’s not the end of the world. Except anyone who has ever experienced fresh-baked bread warm from the oven would want that experience for their child, too.
I should note that I do bake for Julie sometimes, and some of what I bake for her is good enough to pass for the whole family and even for company. There are cookies, cakes, brownies, really good corn bread, even pizza and pie. The trouble with most of it is that you pretty much have to eat it the same day, or the texture goes all wonky, and the inside dries out and the outside gets soggy in the blink of an eye. But that’s okay. We deal with that. If I could bake passable bread that would be good for only one sitting, I’d do it on a regular basis.
So that was my motivation with the bread. I had high hopes. The recipe declared itself fabulous, and I’m quite good at following recipes, especially when it comes to baking. Julie and I had fun mixing it up while Sophie was napping, and the excitement was palpable as it rose, then went into the oven. I was hungry for homemade bread.
It came out, and it looked mostly like the picture on the recipe:
I couldn’t wait the ten minutes I was supposed to let it cool. I made it to five, then I had to slice into the sucker. I made an exception to the diet rules and slathered it in butter.
Then I topped that with some of my homemade grape jelly. I did tell y’all about the grape jelly, right? This is the very last jar that is left, and it’s too bad because the neighbor kids loved it and were hinting around for more.
Anyway, this little snack should have been awesome. I was so excited to try it. The girls were excited to try it, too. So we all hung out in the kitchen and ate the bread. They chowed it down, but then again, they will chow on anything that full of carbs. I ate my slice too, but it was a disheartening experience. It was incredibly dry and dense, with none of the chewy bread mouthfeel one hopes for. I know I got the ingredients right, I know I added enough liquid – about twice what the recipe calls for – I just think maybe…oh, and it hurts to suggest this – maybe the recipe just wasn’t that good.
I’m going to check out some gluten-free cookbooks from the library and try again. In the mean time, the bread went well enough with the soup I made for dinner, at least as far as the girls were concerned. But Joe pointed out to me that the lid of our Le Crueset dutch oven is now a brownish color that won’t scrub off. Totally not worth it. meh.
I’m off to watch Heroes Season 1 on Netflix and knit on the little leggings. I’m trying so hard to keep my blinders on and get these finished. There are so many projects in the list of “must finish this NOW,” yet today I ran into this pattern on Ravelry and am oh-so-tempted to cast on a pair.
That’s an amazing sock pattern! I haven’t actually knitted my first sock yet, but I’ve added it to my Ravelry Queue anyway.
And goo dluck with the baking. I’m sure the right recipe is out there somewhere.
Sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you! Making gluten-free bread is a tricky business. The problem is – it will never taste the way that regular bread does. And that recipe is fickle. The weather, the humidity – it shifts the bread.
With that one, I was particularly happy with the crunchy crust. Gluten-free bread just never develops that. That’s all reliant on following the instructions for heating the oven and cast iron pot. I’ve changed it since I first posted that one, and the recipe in the book is better. But again, it’s best to remember that the recipe is in the context of the limited success of gluten-free bread. (No gluten, you see.)
There are some great mixes now, if you want a more standard sandwich bread. The new Whole Foods mix is actually really great!
Have you tried the gluten free bakery in St. Paul? Cooqi…
Somewhere I heard that they had some really good stuff.
About the LeCreuset. This happens with some things I make from time to time and the best solution is to let it sit with a mild bleach solution in it. Not having seen the stain I can’t say for sure, but start with a 10-15 minutes soak and extend from there as needed. Obviously, you’ll need to wash away the bleach, and sometimes I let the pot air a bit before I put it away, but it has worked amazingly well.
I’ll keep an eye out for good gluten free bread recipes for you!
Got the test pattern, will get to it as soon as the hallowe’en insanity is over!!:D So excited!
We’ve just started Heroes season 1 (okay, “just” – and we’re on disc 6) – it’s really good!
Sorry to hear about the gluten-free bread disappointment! My college roommate is a celiac and she had to eat the same store-bought rice bread whenever she wanted a sandwich–and she always toasted it, too. I hope you find something that works.
nother problem with bread is that the density can change dependent on how much you work the dough, the humidity in the house, the ambient temperature in the house…all of that can change the result. I imagine it’s even trickier with gluten free bread.
try looking at the web site for Bob’s Red Mill in Oregon…they sell good tasting stuff, including the makings for gluten-free foods. Karen
Le Creuset sells a small bottle of stuff just for getting stubborn stains off the enamel. You aren’t supposed to use if very often, but it does the trick.