GF BBQ Sauces & Rubs

What separates a good barbecue from a fabulous barbecue? Delicious sauces and rubs! The flavor of any meat, fish or vegetables can be greatly enhanced by marinating, using a rub and or basting with a sauce towards the end of the cooking process.

The terrific news is that all homemade marinades, rubs and sauces are easy to make and easy to make gluten-free.

Barbecue sauces can be made with a limitless combination of ingredients to produce traditional to very uncommon flavors. Although there are probably a million different formulas, there are five different groups of ingredients that combined together will produce delicious barbecue sauces; tomato ingredients, sweet ingredients, sour ingredients, liquids or flavorings and spices. We have a simple formula that you can use to experiment an develop your own signature sauces:

• 4 cups of tomato ingredients
• 1 cup of sweet ingredients
• Up to 1 cup of sour ingredients, add a little at a time to taste
• Up to 1/4 cup liquid or flavoring ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon black pepper
• Up to 4 teaspoons spice ingredients

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes; stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

Ideas for Ingredients:

Tomato ingredients

• Gf Catsup, tomato paste, tomato sauce

Sweet ingredients

• Gf brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup

Sour ingredients

• Vinegars, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, wine

Liquids and flavors

• Fruit juices, jellies, gf hot sauce, mustard, soft drinks, gf soy sauce, gf chicken and beef stock, water, Worcestershire sauce

Spices

• Allspice, basil, cayenne, celery, chervil, chili powder, chipotle powder chives, cilantro, coriander, cumin, dill, dry mustard, fennel, garlic, ginger, lemon, lime and orange zest, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, onion, oregano, paprika, parsley, tarragon, rosemary, sage, savory, salt, thyme, etc.

Be sure you right down your formulas so you can recreate your favorites!

Rubs are a combination of sugars, salts and dried spices and peppers. The prepared rub mix is ‘rubbed’ all over the meat you are going to grill or BBQ prior to cooking. For meats, we like to apply the rub generously about 4-6 hours before cooking. For fish, we apply the rub sparingly and just before cooking. Sauces can be basted on over rubbed foods or the rub can provide the flavoring by itself with terrific results!

The formula:

• 1 cup sugar ingredients
• 1 cup salt ingredients
• 1/3-1/2 cup paprika
• 2-4 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1-2 Tablespoons pepper
• 3-4 spice ingredients, up to 1 teaspoon each

Directions:

Blend all ingredients well.

Ideas for Ingredients:

Sugars

• Brown sugar
• Maple sugar
• White sugar

Salts

• Kosher salt
• Garlic salt
• Onion salt
• Celery salt

Spices

• Same as for sauces

You can’t go wrong by following the general formulas and you’ll come up with special sauces and rubs of your own!

Delicious Summer Pies

Enjoying a slice of pie is the perfect ending to a delightful summer meal. Many people with Celiac think this is a forbidden pastime…well, think again. Making delicious gluten-free pies your whole family will enjoy is just within your reach.

The obvious challenge is the crust. Our solution to this problem is turn to the people who already have developed a great pie crust…The Gluten Free Pantry. The Gluten Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust is absolutely delicious and virtually indistinguishable from the gluten variety. It is very simple to prepare – a little difficult to transfer to the pie crust, however if you are making a single crust pie, it is not critical if it doesn’t lay in the pie pan perfectly the first time. If it happens to rip, just piece in the dough until it forms an even layer along the bottom of the pan (no one will even know!). Poke holes in the bottom of the crust and bake at 400 °F for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Let cool before filling.

If you prefer not to use a traditional pie crust you can also use a cookie crust with great results as well. Try our Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies as a great base for a cookie crust. We have also had great results with Pamela’s Shortbread Cookies. Just simply place the cookies in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add about 1 tablespoon of canola oil and pulse until blended. Press cookie mixture into a greased pie pan and fill with your favorite filling.

Make your summer dessert menu complete with one of these delicious pies:

Fresh Strawberry Pie
Mixed Berry Pie
Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie
Peach Pie
Blackberry Sour Cream Pie
Blackberry Crisp Pie
Chocolate Velvet Pie
Banana, Chocolate & Coconut Cream Pie

Gourmet Pizzas

Over the years, Glutenfreeda has spent many hours in the kitchen trying to perfect gluten-free pizza. Part of the difficulty with pizza is that everyone has their own idea of what perfect pizza is. Some like thin, crisp crusts and some like thick crusts. But the one thing that all pizza lovers have in common is that they want a pizza crust that doesn’t taste gluten-free!

Making Pizza dough:

Through hours of experimentation we have developed a pizza crust recipe that tastes like the real thing. It has a wonderful "non-gluten" free taste and comes out with a crust that is neither thin or thick…but rather right in the middle. Here is our basic pizza crust recipe:

Pizza crust:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup warm water (105-115°F)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 cups gf flour*
• 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Extra olive oil for forming dough

Directions:

In a small bowl combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Stir and proof for about 5 minutes or until foamy.

Mix gf flour and salt in work-bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a paddle.

Add 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil to proofed yeast. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and mix on medium speed for 6-7 minutes. The dough should be soft enough that it somewhat adheres to the sides of the bowl. If the dough appears to be too stiff, add more warm water, about 2 tablespoons at a time until it softens up.

Turn dough out onto a greased pizza pan. Drizzle dough with olive oil and rub your hands with a little olive oil. Press dough into an even layered circle, creating a little lip around outer edges. If it starts to stick to your hands rub your hands with a little more olive oil.

Cover pizza crust with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake pizza crust for 7 minutes. Remove from oven (keep oven on). Top with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese (if using) has melted and is lightly browned in spots.

*We used The Gluten Free Pantry's Country French Bread flour mix for the gf flour in this recipe. To purchase this product please click here.

If you would rather create your own flour mix we have tested the following gf flour combination with great results:

Pizza gluten-free flour mix:

• 1-1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1-1/2 cups white rice flour
• 2/3 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup corn starch
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum

The Toppings:

After your crust has baked for the original 7 minutes, it is now time to get creative. Sure you can opt for the American favorites such as Hawaiian or Pepperoni, however some of the best pizzas are those that are topped with great foods that compliment each other or perhaps even contrast each other (for example, sweet & spicy, or salty & sweet). My favorite thing to do with pizza is raid the fridge for leftovers. One of the best pizza’s I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying was made from leftover filet mignon, ricotta cheese, basil and fresh tomatoes. You can also look outside of the "pizza box" and experiment with different sauces…you don’t always have to use a red pizza sauce. You can use a white sauce, pesto, or you can eliminate the sauce altogether as we did with our Mesclun Pizza and have the highlight of your pizza be the toppings!

It’s OK to take off the Domino’s hat and discover some new and exciting flavors that could turn a safe standby meal into a gourmet meal you’ll treasure.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are some wonderful pizza recipes developed by Glutenfreeda:

Pizza with Beef Tenderloin, Ricotta, Basil & Tomatoes

Mixed Pepper Pizza with Feta

Pizza with Pancetta, Onions, & Red Pepper

Mesclun Pizza

Ricotta, Sun-Dried Tomato & Artichoke Pizza

Sausage, Pizza with Caramelized Onions & Fontina

Pizza with Beef Tenderloin, Ricotta, Basil & Tomatoes

Enjoy!

Perfect Picnics

Outdoor dining can be a challenge on a gluten-free diet because many of the foods associated with picnics are typically gluten oriented. Gluten-free foods generally do not keep as long and can suffer quality if made too far in advance of your outing. The trick to great gluten-free picnics is to choose the right foods that will keep and travel well.

Here are a few ideas:

Snacks:

• Gluten-free corn chips with Bean & Cheese Dip: Dip should be warm
• Robert’s Snack Foods: Many flavors and varieties, most are gluten-free
• Ener-G Foods Pretzels
• Barbara’s Natural Potato Chips: Arguably the best gf potato chip on the market!
• Fresh vegetables
• Fresh fruit

Breads and baked goods:

• Chili & Fresh Cornbread Muffins: Bake the morning of your picnic
• Strawberry Bread: Bake the morning of or the night before
• Carrot Spiced Muffins: Bake the night before

Salads:

• Cherry Tomato and Fresh Corn Salad
• Tropical Fruit Salad
• Chicken Pasta Salad w/Tomatoes & Kalamata Olives
• Fresh Corn & Black Bean Salad
• Summer Coleslaw
• Pasta Salad w/Corn & Chipotle Dressing

Main Dishes:

• Grilled Half Chicken with Abodo Recado
• Grilled Brats with Onion Marmalade: Marmalade can be made the day before
• Barbecued Pork Ribs with Blackberry BBQ Sauce: Make the day before and rewarm
• Chicken Burgers with Pesto: These are great if you can grill on your picnic
• Fried Chicken

Desserts:

• Blueberry Sour Cream Pie: Make the day before
• Lime Cheesecake Pie: Make the day before
• Decadent Brownies: Make the day before
• Cookies Make the day before
• Lemon Squares: Make the day before

We hope these ideas have enticed your taste buds and have you looking forward to your first summer picnic.

Have a great summer!

Perfecting GF Coffee Cakes

The secret to a great, moist gluten-free coffee cake is in following a few simple tips that you can apply to any ‘gluten’ coffee cake with terrific results.

A great coffee cake recipe is wonderful to have in your repertoire. Coffee cakes are easy to make and perfect to serve for breakfast, as a snack or for dessert.

Tips for a perfect gluten-free coffee cake:

1. Use no more than 2 cups of gluten-free flour.
2. We use the Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French Bread Mix as a straight substitution for flour with great results.
3. Use 1 teaspoon baking powder AND 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to give your cake lift.
4. Use 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of butter.
5. Use 3 large eggs
6. Use 1 cup gf yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk

For Crumb Topping:

1. Use no more than 2 Tablespoons gf flour in the mixture
2. Sprinkle the topping over the top of the cake after 40 minutes of baking, then continue to bake for the remainder of specified time.

Try one of our favorite recipes this month, ‘Cranberry Nut Coffee Cake’ . This coffee cake is truly delicious and will hold its moist texture the next day.