[soshesaid]

I have a gluten intolerance, and lately it's been more difficult to find things I want to eat. If you have this, what are some things you cook? I would also definitely appreciate suggestions of places online to order gluten-free flours, cookies, etc. TIA

[purly]

I have a friend with gluten intolerance and I know he eats a lot of celery, which is supposedly good for fiber.

[Ali-bagpuss]

My nephews were celiac (gluten intolerance) and I think my sister has a book of recipes - I will ask her and see if I can send you some by email or something.

I know in the UK - Boots (the chemist) sell Gluten Free things but I'm afraid I'm not sure about the US. Have you done a google search?

[sea4e]

Here is a link to a site that offers gluten free dip mixes: http://www.dippychick.com/

I just did a quick google search and here are some links:

http://www.glutenfree.com/
http://www.glutenfreemall.com/
http://www.bobsredmill.com/
http://www.glutenfreeflour.com/

[soshesaid]

Thanks for all the suggestions and links :)

I also found a great book yesterday called The Gluten Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman that has some great recipes.

[Zophie]

I found a site a while back when I thought I might have celiac. I cant recall what it was called but if you google celiac you could find it I'm sure. They had a whole section on their message board of recipes and ideas for eating out.

[passerby]

Thanks so much for this thread, I suffer from the same complaint, but didn't realise it until I reacted badly from eating way too much gluten recently.

[caitlin1214]

Alice Sherwood: Cooking for allergies



Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 07/03/2008






Xanthe Clay discovers some remarkable recipes that take the fear - and gluten, nut, dairy and egg - out of cooking


It's a dinner-party nightmare. Among the guests, Ruth is a coeliac, Peter has a nut allergy and now it turns out that Rob's girlfriend is "avoiding dairy".

Many will find this a familiar scenario. According to the World Health Organisation, up to 3 per cent of adults and 6 per cent of children suffer from classic, medically recognised food allergies, with symptoms ranging from rashes to life-threatening breathing difficulties and anaphylactic shock.

Britain's Food Standards Agency calculates that an additional 20 per cent of adults describe themselves as food "intolerant", a less easily defined reaction to some foods. Then there are the estimated 250,000 people with coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten.

Former BBC producer Alice Sherwood has first-hand experience of such problems. Her son, Archie, was two when he went into anaphylactic shock while eating a salmon pie.

"He went blue. We had to get him to hospital pretty quick," she recalls, as she stirs saffron-fragrant quinoa, a gluten-free grain, in her west London kitchen.

Archie was diagnosed with severe egg and nut allergies, and Alice had to rethink the whole family's diet. She found the existing allergy cookery books drab and joyless, and set about developing her own recipes for "real food, not medicinal".

These recipes can be found in The Allergy-Free Cookbook, a remarkable tome that gives versions of recipes that dispense with gluten, nut, dairy and egg.

What makes Alice's book stand out is the fact that the dishes still manage to be enticing and delicious, even to lucky food-tolerant people. It's also an encyclopaedic source of practical advice on how to cope with an allergic family member or guest.

Her advice to allergy sufferers is to focus on the positive: "Try to find every food that you can eat. There's a whole world of food out there."

So here it is. A nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free dinner party. And not a hint of deprivation for anyone at the table.
To order a copy of The Allergy-Free Cookbook by Alice Sherwood (Dorling Kindersley) for £12.99 plus £1.25 p&p, call Telegraph Books on 0870 428 4112 or see books.telegraph.co.uk. xanthe.clay@telegraph.co.uk

GRILLED VEGETABLE SALAD WITH CORIANDER, HONEY & YOGURT DRESSING
Serves 6-8
Choose three or four different seasonal vegetables with contrasting colours and textures for this delicious, not-too-filling starter. Peppers (red, yellow or orange, but not green), baby aubergines, asparagus or green beans, red onions (blanch for two minutes in boiling water first) and fennel all work well in this recipe. Serve it with toasted pitta bread (Waitrose and Tesco both sell gluten-free pitta).
3lb/1.5 kg vegetables, sliced ½in/1cm thick
Olive oil for brushing

For the coriander, honey and yogurt dressing:
8floz/250ml soy yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Small bunch fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1½ tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp runny honey Brush the vegetables with olive oil and grill them on a ridged griddle for about 2-3 minutes on each side, removing them once they are tender. (This can be done the day before.)
Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
Arrange the vegetables attractively on a serving dish, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with some of the dressing.


LAMB TAGINE WITH APRICOTS AND PRUNES
Serves 4-6
This sweet-savoury tagine is fragrant and delicious. If nuts are an option, add 2oz/60g toasted blanched almonds with the prunes and apricots, and serve the tagine garnished with sesame seeds.
4 tbsp olive oil
2lb/900g stewing lamb (shoulder or neck is best) cut into 1in/2.5cm cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
17floz/500ml vegetable or meat stock
1 tbsp clear honey
2 tbsp tomato purée
2in/5cm piece of orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
3oz/85g pitted prunes, halved
3oz/85g dried apricots, halved
2oz/60g blanched almonds, lightly toasted Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large flame-proof casserole dish and brown the lamb pieces a few at a time. Scoop them out and keep to one side.
In the same pan, fry the onion and garlic in the rest of the oil until they are soft but not browned (2 mins). Stir in the ground spices and cook for another minute.
Return the lamb to the casserole dish and mix in the stock, honey, tomato purée, orange peel and cinnamon stick. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1-1¼ hours.
Stir in the prunes and apricots and add the blanched almonds (optional).
Cook for another 15 minutes until the dried fruit has absorbed some of the liquid and softened. Serve the tagine with saffron quinoa (see below) and follow with a green salad.


SAFFRON QUINOA
Quinoa (sold in supermarkets) is a South American grain that has a texture similar to couscous, but without the gluten. It's also much more nutritious.
half tsp saffron threads
11oz/300g quinoa In a large pan, heat 1 pint 8floz/800ml salted water and stir in the saffron. Bring to the boil and add the quinoa. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. The quinoa is cooked when you can see a tiny thread-like tail on each grain.
Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.


THE TRAPS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Stock cubes and stock: they often contain lactose or maltose (which can contain gluten). Marigold gluten-free stock powder or Joubère organic stock are safe bets.
Alcohol: wheat- and barley-based alcohols such as bourbon and some beers can contain traces of gluten.
'Non-dairy' coffee whiteners and margarines: some do contain dairy.
Ready grated cheese: often contains flour to stop clumping.
Soy sauce: make sure it is wheat-free.
Cereals: even puffed rice and cornflakes sometimes contain gluten. Check the label.
DINNER GUEST PRECAUTIONS
Use different spoons for dairy/nut/egg/gluten products.
Use a hot dishwasher cycle for dishes and utensils to eliminate cross-contamination.
Read the ingredients labels on everything - call guests from the supermarket if necessary.
Make it a joint effort. Communicate with your allergic guest and take his or her mobile number in case of queries.
Find out exactly what your guests are allergic to, what the reaction is, how quickly it sets in and whether they carry an Epipen (an adrenalin injector in case of anaphylactic shock).

Make it clear that while you'd like to cook for them, you won't be offended if they prefer to bring their own food.

ALICE'S FAVOURITE SUBSTITUTES
Oatly oat milk (www.oatly.com).
Rice Dream rice milk (www.tastethedream.eu).
Alpro soy milk (thicker than Oatly and Rice Dream, with a woody flavour that's good mixed with other ingredients) and soy "cream" - mix with vanilla and sugar to pour on puddings (www.alprosoya.co.uk).
Doves Farm gluten-free flour and bread mix (www.dovesfarm.co.uk). online extra


(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main...dxanthe107.xml)

[caitlin1214]

And here's one of her recipes for coconut sorbet:

COCONUT SORBET

Coconut powder (available from most supermarkets) gives a better flavour and colour than tins, but check the label first since some brands have a small amount of milk powder added. You could use two 400ml tins of coconut milk instead, which will make a slightly larger quantity. Note that coconuts are not nuts.
6oz/170g coconut powder mixed with 1pint/600ml water
3oz/85g caster sugar
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 tbsp rum or Malibu In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, sugar and desiccated coconut. Stir over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the rum or Malibu. Allow to cool then chill.
Freeze in an ice cream maker. No ice cream maker? Freeze in a plastic box, and when almost solid whiz in a food processor until smooth.
Return to the freezer, repeating the process until the frozen texture is smooth. Scoop into balls and eat with tropical fruit or chocolate sauce.



BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE SAUCE
An intensely chocolate sauce. The coffee could be replaced with brandy, but be sure the alcohol is wheat free if it’s to be eaten by coeliacs.
6 oz/170g unsweetened dark chocolate, gluten, dairy and/or nut-free as required
3 fl oz/90ml water
1 tbsp golden syrup
1-2 tsp strong dark coffee Chop the chocolate, and put in a heatproof bowl with the water and golden syrup. Place the bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water and allow the chocolate to melt, stir occasionally until there are no lumps.
Remove from the heat and stir in coffee. Using a whisk, whisk the sauce until shiny.
Keep warm until ready to serve.

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main...heextra107.xml)

[ck21]

My mom has celiac disease and she has found many gluten free products at trader joe's. They have a gluten free shopping list that you can print from their website. Her favorites are the frozen pancakes and flourless chocolate cake.

[soshesaid]

^ thanks for posting caitlin! that menu sounds so good.

[elle tee]

Do you shop at Whole Foods? They have a good selection of gluten-free items such as pasta made with rice or quinoa flour, etc. Also, try googling for the blog "gluten free girl"- as the name indicates, she maintains a gluten-free diet and shares tips for cooking, etc.

[Serendipity]

I have had this problem for years. This company makes amazing muffins, brownies, coffeecake...

Foods By George 3 King Street Mahwah, NJ 07430 Phone: 201-612-9700 Fax: 201-684-0334 E-mail: info@foodsbygeorge.com www.foodsbygeorge.com