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Recipe: Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

With the cold days not going away anytime soon, I have been putting comfort foods on our menu. One of our favorites is Baked Macaroni & Cheese.

The kids love this meal and it is relatively easy to prepare and then reheat. It can even be frozen in individual portions to heat up on those crazy busy nights. I know we seem to be having a lot of those around here lately.  Maybe I’ll dedicate some time in the next week to stock up on some freezer meals.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

  • 2.5 – 3 cups uncooked pasta (I used Goldbaum’s)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup gluten-free flour (Jules gluten-free Flour)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground mustard
  • ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin’s is GF)
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 – 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 – 16 ounces, depending on how cheesy you want your macaroni & cheese; I use
  • 2% milk fat cheese from Kraft)
  • Bread Crumbs

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.  You many want to undercook slightly as baking the macaroni will cook it more.
  3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat; Stir in Milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
  4. Drain Macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into greased (I use Pam) 2-quart casserole. Top with gluten-free breadcrumbs and spray top with Pam. Bake uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (1 cup servings).

Goldbaum’s gluten-free pasta is new to me, so I was excited to sample it.  It ranks right up there with some of the other great gluten-free pastas on the market and is very reasonably priced. Goldbaum’s pasta can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Bread Pudding with Katz Challah Bread

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Recently, Katz generously sent me some items to sample, which thrilled me, because I am a huge fan of their challah bread and rolls. Their bread it soft and slightly sweet and is one of my standbys when buying gluten-free bread.  Unfortunately, since I moved from Chicago to Atlanta, I have not had as much luck finding Katz products, so it made this package even more of a treat.

All of Katz products are kosher, and made in a dedicated gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free facility.

From the lovely box of samples sent to me, my favorite is the challah bread.  I figured I could do something simple with it like make sandwiches for my daughter, but instead I really wanted to highlight the flavor of the bread and fully enjoy it. I decided to use it for a bread pudding and test it on guests at a dinner party we were hosting.

This is an extremely simple recipe, but tastes elegant, and no one would be able to guess the gluten was missing.  The deliciousness is in the custard and the bread.  Please note the custard uses egg yolks, but do not discard the egg whites as they will be used in the final pudding.

We first start with the custard, which takes some attention so that you don’t end up with scrambled eggs for your dessert, but it is pretty easy and quick. Our dinner guests, who were gluten-able, quickly had seconds and gave it an immediate thumbs up!

Gluten-free bread pudding

Custard

2 cups half-and-half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

Pudding

1 loaf of Katz challah bread, or a 3/4 pound of your favorite gluten-free bread, cut into bite-size cubes

4 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 425’F;

2. Set a bowl next to the stove, set in a pan or larger bowl of ice cold water.  Be sure it is steady and will not tip over. You need this bowl to be ice cold to stop the custard from cooking once it is off the stove;

3. In a saucepan, combine the half-and-half with the vanilla over medium-low heat until bubbles start to form around the edges, about 5 min;

4. Meanwhile, in a another bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar until just combined;

5. Slowly whisk in half of the hot mixture into the yolks, and then pour that into the saucepan with the remaining hot liquid and stir constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes, over medium heat with wooden spoon or silicon scrapper.  Immediately place in the bowl, which is in the cold water bath, to chill and stop cooking.

6. In a separate, large bowl, whisk the egg whites until they start to stiffen, and fold the custard into the whites;

7. Add the bite-size challah, stirring and mashing until the bread is completely soaked, let sit for 5 minutes;

8. Pour mixture into baking dish, and bake for about 15 minutes, until firm and slightly browned.

This tastes great served with fresh fruit to balance the richness of the bread pudding. Ice cream can also be served on the side for an even more decadent treat.

For more on Katz, read more reviews from celiac-disease.com here and here.

Best Gluten-Free Pasta Value in the Atlanta Area

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Mirko Pasta is a small regional chain that serves budget priced Italian food. We finally made our way up to the Buford, GA location to try out their gluten-free offerings. There is no gluten-free menu, but they offer gluten-free penne pasta and all of their sauces are gluten-free as well.

We arrived at the restaurant for an early dinner as we always try to do when visiting a new place. Until you try a place out, there is no way to know what level of gluten-free service they offer. Ordering during peak hours somewhere you’ve never been before is not the best idea so I avoid doing it when possible.

Our server was knowledgeable about the gluten-free options on the menu, but did have to double check the dressings for me. Since there is no gluten-free menu, I had to ask all the usual questions and mention that my pasta had to be cooked in clean water. Making assumptions about what the staff members know about gluten-free service is one of the best ways to get sick when dining out.

We ordered two half salads – the Caesar (sans croutons) and the baby spinach. The Caesar salad was very good though the dressing wasn’t stellar. The cheese on the salad was some of the best I’ve had in Atlanta. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the almost buttery tasting Parmesan cheese. The spinach salad was absolutely incredible. The quality of the goat cheese was stellar and the golden raisins were a surprising, yet wonderful, addition to the salad. My husband and I agreed that the walnut honey balsamic vinaigrette on the spinach salad was simply divine!

For my entrée, I ordered the gluten-free pasta with carbonara sauce. When the dish was served I knew I’d have left overs because it was a very generous portion. The cream sauce with egg and pancetta was very good and was in fact, the first gluten-free version of the sauce I’ve had. I’m not sure I’d order it again because other sauces look worth trying, but the dish overall was quite tasty.

My only complaint was that some of the pasta was stuck together and as you can imagine, it was not cooked thoroughly. I usually mention that I want the pasta to be very done because very few gluten-free pastas can be prepared al dente. There is done or not done – no in-between. I didn’t mention this to our helpful server, but I will on future visits. The Heartland Pasta the restaurant uses needs to be stirred when cooking or it sticks pretty badly like some of what I was served did. Please note that that brand of pasta is made in a shared facility that processes wheat.

I ended up eating over half my meal (pushing the not cooked enough pasta pieces aside) and took the rest home to enjoy later. Most of the time when you get gluten-free pasta out that is not quite cooked through, heating it in the microwave helps it finish cooking. If you are heating pasta with a cream sauce, heat it up slowly (in twenty second increments, stirring between them) in order to keep the cream for breaking.

We didn’t ask about dessert at Mirko Pasta, but only one item looked like it might be gluten-free. It wasn’t something that appealed to me and I usually don’t care about dessert when eating a heavy meal like pasta anyway. When our bill arrived, my husband almost turned white and quickly summoned the server back to the table. He asked why it said ‘whole wheat penne’ on the check with no mention of gluten-free anything. We were assured that the pasta I’d had was gluten-free though I knew from the taste that it was.

We had two half salads and two entrees and our bill (with tax) was only $24. My pasta was only $7.98 which is less than any other place in or around Atlanta that offers gluten-free pasta. There was no upcharge for the gluten-free pasta. Considering that Wal-Mart sells Heartland gluten-free pasta for $1.99, this is somewhat understandable. Every other place here charges extra for gluten-free pasta with upcharges ranging from $1.50-$4 per dish.

Below is a listing of all Mirko Pasta locations which are all in GA. The restaurant offers a great value and at least in Buford, GA, the staff currently seems to know what they are doing when it comes to serving gluten-free customers. As always, things can change at any venue so we all have to be advocates for ourselves when dining out. The directions and phone numbers of each location can be found here. It’s advisable to call the location near you to make sure they have gluten-free pasta as there is no gluten-free information on the company’s website.

  • Athens
  • East Athens
  • Buford
  • Macon
  • Monroe
  • Peachtree City
  • Watkinsville

Recipe: Surprise Gluten-Free Cupcakes

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 3 Comments

My son came home from school the other day and informed me that he had an idea for a dessert in his head and he wanted to make it. He described it as being like a Twinkie, but not quite and of course gluten-free. He browsed through the pantry and pulled out a yellow cake mix and chocolate frosting.

After brainstorming for a few minutes, we decided to make cupcakes and then use an apple corer to make a hole to stuff the frosting in. This recipe is simple, but a touch time consuming. My son wouldn’t know that because he abandoned the process after completing one cupcake and promptly inhaling it.  Aaron finished up the work.

Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix – Betty Crocker gluten-free worked great
  • 1 can of chocolate frosting – Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate was what we had on hand
  • eggs
  • butter (softened)
  • vanilla
  • water

Directions

ccFollow the directions on the back of the cake mix box for the cupcakes.  Do not use cupcake liners, but make sure to spray your pan with cooking spray.  Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before attempting to fill them.

Once they are cool, gently use the apple corer (or another suitable tool) to remove a portion of the cupcake. My son’s first attempt went in through the bottom; Aaron found that the side worked better and allowed for better dispersion of the frosting.  Once you have extracted the “core” of the cake, don’t be so quick to eat it – save a tiny bit to plug up the hole after the frosting is inserted into the cupcake.  See the process in the pictures below.

Finish off the cupcakes by frosting the tops.

The kids could not get enough of these cupcakes! My son had 3 and we had to cut him off!  Hannah loved them as well.  These are the perfect treat to WOW your inner child or your actual child.

Gluten-Free Options from CHI-CHI’S and La Victoria

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During one of my recent grocery store gluten-free sleuthing trips, I came across a corn cake mix that looked gluten-free, but since I was not aware of the company’s labeling allergen policy, I did not buy it. CHI-CHI’S makes the mix and the company is owned by Hormel whose policy is to list all major allergens including wheat (as required by law). However, the company does not list all forms of gluten on product labels. After checking the extensive Hormel gluten-free product list online, I found out that the CHI-CHI’S Sweet Corn Cake Mix is indeed gluten-free.

Many items in the CHI’CHI’S line are gluten-free and so are many from La Victoria which is also owned by Hormel. I’ve been using La Victoria enchilada sauce for several years now. La Victoria is actually cheaper at our Whole Foods than at Publix. Many ready-made enchilada sauces and sauce mixes still contain gluten. In most product lines that make such items, the gluten ingredient used is wheat which is easy to spot on the label.

Since I was intrigued by the corn cake mix at Publix, I kept checking the labels of various items and was surprised to find that wheat is no longer listed in the enchilada sauce from Old El Paso. However, General Mills owns that product line and presently none of the Old El Paso items are on the Live gluten-freely website which lists all items that the company deems gluten-free. It would be terrific if the sauce eventually made it to the gluten-free product list, but that might not be feasible due to the way the item is processed.

Below is a list of the CHI’CHI’S and La Victoria items that are currently on the Hormel gluten-free product list:

  • CHI-CHI’S® Chips – all varieties
  • CHI-CHI’S® Con Queso
  • CHI-CHI’S® Corn Tortillas
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Plates™ Creamy Chipotle Chicken
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Plates™ Salsa Chicken
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Plates™ Savory Garlic Chicken
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Restaurant Seasoning Mix
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Sweet Corn Cake Mix
  • CHI-CHI’S® Green Chilies
  • CHI-CHI’S® Nacho Cheese Snackers
  • CHI-CHI’S® Taco Sauce
  • CHI-CHI’S® Fiesta Salsa
  • CHI-CHI’S® Garden Salsa
  • CHI-CHI’S® Natural Salsa
  • CHI-CHI’S® Original Salsa
  • CHI-CHI’S® Picante
  • CHI-CHI’S® Red Jalapenos
  • La Victoria® Cilantro, Mild
  • La Victoria® Cilantro, Medium
  • La Victoria® Green Chiles, Diced & Whole
  • La Victoria® Jalapeno Peppers, Diced
  • La Victoria® Thick ‘N Chunky Verde, Mild
  • La Victoria® Thick ‘N Chunky Verde, Medium
  • La Victoria® Green Enchilada Sauce, Mild
  • La Victoria® Green Taco Sauce, Mild
  • La Victoria® Green Taco Sauce, Medium
  • La Victoria® Green Salsa Jalapeno, Extra Hot
  • La Victoria® Jalapeno Hot Sauce
  • La Victoria® Jalapeno Peppers, Sliced
  • La Victoria® Red Chili Sauce
  • La Victoria® Red Enchilada Sauce, Mild
  • La Victoria® Red Enchilada Sauce, Hot
  • La Victoria® Red Salsa Jalapeno, Extra Hot
  • La Victoria® Red Taco Sauce, Mild
  • La Victoria® Red Taco Sauce, Medium
  • La Victoria® Salsa Brava Hot Sauce
  • La Victoria® Salsa Ranchera, Hot
  • La Victoria® Salsa Suprema, M.ild
  • La Victoria® Salsa Suprema, Medium
  • La Victoria® Salsa Victoria, Hot
  • La Victoria® Thick ‘N Chunky, Mild
  • La Victoria® Thick ‘N Chunky, Hot

More information about gluten-free products from Hormel can be found on the complete listing here.