How to Cook Gluten-Free: Over 150 Recipes That Really Work

As a big fan of Barbone's  Easy Gluten-Free Baking , I knew I had to have this book - but when I first opened it, I was surprised by the amount of space devoted to some very basic instructions - how to make bread crumbs, heat oil, chop onions and peppers, etc. That was before I read them carefully. I suspected after laughing through the onion-chopping scene in  Julie & Julia  that there was a right approach to chopping onions, and it probably wasn't mine. Sure enough, Barbone (a CIA - that's Culinary Institute of America - graduate), not only has taught me how to chop a better onion, but how to do a lot of other things better. I've been cooking since I was big enough to handle a mixing spoon - love the white sandwich bread recipe because it tastes just like the bread I used to bake 50 years ago - and still found I had a lot to learn. Surely anyone forced by a gluten-free diet to try to cook seriously for the first time would find the book invaluable. Great information and simple step-by-step instructions (often with pictures).The best thing about the book, though is the recipes. They're just what we're all looking for - dishes that are kid- and non-foodie-husband -friendly, easy-to-find ingredients, clear instructions, great results. Whole sections on pasta, pizzas, burgers & sandwiches, and casseroles, as well as the usual soups, salads, main dishes, sides, and desserts. There's a lot of comfort food here - but also fun recipes for the more adventurous (e.g., Italian wedding soup, smoked mozzarella and roasted vegetable pasta, saltimbocca, rustic pies). The bread recipes have instructions with pictures for anyone who hasn't yet learned that baking really good gluten-free bread is really, really easy (much easier than wheat-based bread - no kneading involved), and there's a recipe for multi-grain bread you won't find in her previous cookbook. Not as many bread recipes, of course, and not as many dessert recipes (cupcakes, 4 cookies, brownies, rustic pies, cheesecake cups, whoopie pies (!), and a couple of fruit cobblers, none found in the same form in her  Easy Gluten-Free Baking . They're enough to get anyone started, while adding new recipes for anyone who has her previous book.Barbone's Easy Gluten-Free Baking book was what I immediately sent a nephew when I heard he'd been put on a gluten-free diet (along with  Chebe Bread Pizza Crust Mix, Gluten Free, 7.5-Ounce Bags (Pack of 8)  and a guide to gluten-free beer, of course). Now I guess I'll have to send him a copy of this book too. I'm certainly not going to send him my copy - I'm keeping it and expect to be using it frequently.

Check the labels on the gluten-free breads on grocery store shelves, and most list tapioca starch, potato starch, or cornstarch (maybe white rice flour) as their first dry ingredient. Until very recently, brown rice flour listed first was probably the best you could find in stores. Starches may have a long shelf life and produce a tall "fluffy" loaf, but are empty calories sadly lacking in nutrition and flavor.And that's exactly what kind of baked goods Elizabeth Barbone's gluten free cookbooks offer you: pure starches, white rice flour, and sweet rice flour, with none of the bran found in brown rice flour or other whole-grain flours. I bought this book along with "Easy Gluten-Free Baking" in 2012 shortly after this one came out, and promptly returned both of them. When you give up wheat, you're giving up a lot of minerals and nutrients that won't be found in most of Elizabeth's recipes for breads, pasta, and baked goods.The two cookbooks I rely on most for gluten-free are Artisanal Gluten Free cooking by Kelli and Peter Bronski (along with their cupcakes book, which I fix without the "toppings" as muffins) and 125 Best Gluten Free Bread Machine Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. Analise Roberts also gets it and uses twice as much whole grain flours as empty starches.Making fluffy loaves and baked goods with rounded tops is relatively easy with empty starches and white flour. What Donna and Heather have done is a much tougher challenge: to make great-tasting nutritious loaves with 25-35% starches and 65-75% whole grain flours. I haven't found anyone who's done it better. Same for Kelli and Peter. Their sweet potato cupcake (in their cupcake cookbook) is hands down the best muffin recipe I've ever tasted, wheat or not. Unlike Elizabeth's recipes, Kelli and Peter's artisanal gluten-free flour blend uses ~70% brown rice and sorghum flour and 30% cornstarch and potato starch, and I've substituted this into conventional wheat recipes for cookies and quick breads and couldn't tell the difference.You CAN have great baked goods without sacrificing nutrition. You won't get it from most of Elizabeth Barbone's baking good recipes, though.

A large portion of this cookbook is dedicated to educating the cook on utensils and cookware that would make your life easier in the kitchen, and "Essential How-to-Lessons". Some examples: Selecting onion size, how to dice an onion, how to caramelize onions, how to make fresh or dried bread crumbs, how to make gravy. Elizabeth assumes nothing of one's skills which makes this the perfect starter cookbook for a cook that needs to learn to cook gluten-free. She explains how to make substitutions when using your favorite family recipe to make it gluten-free. For each dish, she writes a bit about the recipe such as how to freeze meatballs and provides a picture of each dish. While there are some desserts in this cookbook, I also purchased her Easy Gluten-Free Baking cookbook. I can avoid gluten in many meals by my choices, but Elizabeth's How to Cook Gluten-free allows me to eat many more of my favorite foods by learning to adjust the recipes. There are so many gluten-free flours out there that it is hard to know which ones to use when. Both cookbooks will help me to do that. But we have found that some recipes will never be tasty or have an acceptable texture without gluten. I highly recommend this cookbook for novice and cooks just beginning to cook gluten-free.

I used to live in the Yukon and bake my own bread, which was always a day's chore, when baking in quantities. Now that I am having to stick to gluten free, was greatly disappointed how the bought breads texture was after a day out of the freezer.First recipe I tried was Elizabeth's white sandwich bread. It is the easiest bread I have ever made!My hat off to you Elizabeth, because your recipe is greatly appreciated and I will recommend your books whenever the subject of gluten free comes up. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This cookbook isn't worth the money if you do any cooking. It is incredibly basic.

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