Breads - a little review

It was not the Memorial Day weekend when I noticed this but actually right after I switched to gluten free, but I like bread.  I really like bread.  And now for the most part I can't eat it.  Yes, everyone gluten free has encountered this.  I have been trying to find some good alternatives, and I am sure that there are many people out there who have actually found them.  Tips in the right direction are always welcome, yet in the meantime here are thoughts on some products I have encountered so far.

First, I just want to say that Legal Seafoods does a good job with gluten free.  They have a lot of options that can be prepared that way, including a good fish and chips.  On a warm Summer day sitting at the outdoor tables feasting on fish and chips just says Summer.  Legal could work on expanding gluten free options in their drinks menu, but that is a problem most restaurants have.  The biggest compliment to Legal Seafoods is they will serve gluten free bread.  They have gluten free rolls they bring to your table as you order that taste really good.  There is a bit of a cornbread taste to it, so the dough must be heavy in the mix with corn flour, but when it comes out hot it is nice.  It is a good alternative to the focaccia type bread other places offer in that it is more light and airy, similar to gluten riddled dinner rolls.

Restaurant shout-out aside, a good bread is hard to nail down.  So far two brands seem to do alright - Udi's and Rudi's.  Now for the most part all the gluten free bread products I find are frozen.  I cannot recall finding anything fresh.  Actually that is not true - Schar puts out non-frozen bread products.

I did not like these at all.  They tasted bland, dry, and had an odd consistency.  If I can talk about food this way, it seemed more functional than good.  Schar does have some Entertainment Crackers that can serve in a pinch for snacking but otherwise I avoid this bread based on what I got in a sandwich roll.

Udi's and Rudi's are frozen.  Preservatives must not react well with non-wheat flour doughs.  Once thawed out these manufacturers make a good product.  The bread gets to a decent size.  I have noticed that since the gluten holds in the gases released by yeast allowing bread to get big and fluffy the lack of gluten limits how big a load of bread will get.  Rudi's bread has a hearty rye bread feel and texture to it.  That's good for substantial sandwiches, but for kids it's a big change from the WonderBread type bread.  Rudi's can get a little dry, perhaps that was just thawing it out too fast.

I prefer Rudi's bread to Udi's.  They are both very similar, but Rudi's seems lightly less dry.  And dryness has become a big factor in what makes good bread for me.  Something too dry just feels crumbly as well as falling apart when eaten.  Udi's does make good bagels though.  These toast up well and have a good amount of chew without having to really work at it.

Udi's also makes hamburger and hot dog rolls.  Memorial Day made the bread problem all the more poignant.  Cheeseburgers and hot dogs on the grill are necessary for Summer.  I think it's a law or something.  The gluten free complications are felt most for these rolls.  They are just plain more dense and dry than the hamburger and hot dog rolls I remember as a kid.  Hot dogs rolls especially had a light fluffy texture that worked well, both steaming like at a ball game or toasted on the grill.  Gluten free rolls just do not have that moist texture.  I will spare the tirade on how they are not made split top New England style, hot dog rolls that is - it would be pretty stupid to have split top hamburger rolls.  Udi's hamburger rolls are good.  The dryness is noticeable but is not as egregious as the hot dog rolls.  That's mostly just due to the nature of the types of rolls.

Now there are a couple of other bread stuffs that I should mention.  Baguettes.  Nice crusty outside, soft tasty inside.  Remember when I said gluten free bread just doesn't get as large as regular bread?  That's more true of things like baguettes.  I had some in a restaurant in New York, and they seemed like really fat bread sticks, not proper baguettes.  

Against the Grain makes a proper baguette.  It is a decent size and tastes good.  I thawed a loaf out and eventually made a good garlic bread out of it.  Again it is frozen so there is some planning involved to eat it, but there's a bit of planning involved for gluten free anyway so it really isn't bad.  

Lastly, doughnuts.  I desperately miss doughnuts.  Easing that pain, I like Kinnikinnick's frozen (again?) donuts.  I found two flavors, cinnamon and sugar, and chocolate covered.  If you remember the DunkinDonuts brand Ol' Fashioned flavor doughnuts then you know how these feel to eat.  They are good, and I didn't read it on the box but a few seconds in the microwave will thaw them out fast.  

My bugaboo about the frozen is that once thawed the breads do not seem to last as long as regular breads, and since I am not sure I will go through a whole loaf of bread or box of donuts (who am I kidding, I will go through a whole box). I hate to thaw out a whole package just to risk wasting any.  But so far all these products work out well.  And I found all of them at my local super market, or at Whole Foods.  If more stuff like this hits the shelves of non-specialty stores then gluten free eating at home will get even easier, and tastier.

Memorial Day Weekend

First, to all the families of all the service personnel who gave their lives for our freedoms, thank you. The debt citizens owe them cannot be paid.  This weekend is more than just the unofficial kick off to Summer.  The day is for acknowledging and remembering all those men and women who gave their lives because their country asked them to go and risk it all.

Despite the solemnity of the holiday, the long weekend is a time to get together with family and friends.  It is a time to relax and fire up the grill.  Like so many other families that's what mine did.  We drove down to Cape Cod, right to a really nice cottage next to the sea, and joined family for a bar-b-que.  This almost didn't happen.  Grilling has its pitfalls for the gluten intolerant, or any food sensitivity.  Unless you read labels carefully you can't be too sure what goes into your hamburger or hot dog.  Then, of course, there are the buns.  I will probably do a product review posting of bread very soon, yet on this occasion it was not a worry. The extended family went out of their way to be gluten free.

Some of the guys didn't notice, even though I'm sure there would have been some grumbles had gluten free been common knowledge.  As an aside, lots of hot dogs, sausages, and BubbaBurgers are gluten free.  It's the bread that kills you.  But I digress, steak tips and chicken grill very well.  The marinades were selected to be dietarily compliant.  Another digression - sauces and marinades can have gluten related stuff in them.  Read the labels.  Soy sauce, for example, is made from wheat and is often used to give a little salty tang to sauces.  The same goes for salad dressings.  Simple oil and vinegar gets boring.  Ken's Steakhouse brands are almost all gluten free, but again, remember to check the labels.

Back to the story, we had a great time hanging out by the water, eating lots of good food.  The adult beverages were fine.  Stella Artois is basically gluten free thanks to the brewing process (it's not labeled as such so if you are very sensitive or have Celiac's stick to stuff specifically labeled gluten free) and some flavors of Mike's Hard Lemonade is processed to be gluten free.  It was hard to go wrong with steak, chicken and roasted asparagus.  The kids tossed the Nerf football around, and I never knew nine year olds would enjoy croquet so much.

I am very grateful to my girlfriend's family for making an amazing bar-b-que that really accommodated our diets.  It was very thoughtful, and was not hard to do.  We brought down a dessert that went over very well, an apple pie from The Maine Pie Co that is gluten free.  And if they didn't tell you it was gluten free you would never guess it.  It's great.

Hope everyones' Summer started off just as well.  Looking forward to a wonderful Summer with all the good food I want and expect, but still in a way that will keep me healthy.

trying to get some coffee

I tweeted this but think it is funny and astonishing.  I used to love Dunkin Donuts.  I'm not a huge coffee drinker - I can take decaf but that's about it.  And Dunkins has a thing where it's just give me a medium regular, or I'll take a large decaf ice regular.  That's how you order.  No foreign terms, and they add cream and sugar (the 'regular' means a set amount of cream and sugar depending on the size, for the coffee ignorant like me).  And it's great.  Given a no gluten diet I have not indulged in doughnuts much. (I have found gluten free doughnuts that are good but that's another story)

Making a long story short, I order an ice coffee and then ask if they have anything that is gluten free. It was admittedly a long shot but I was hungry. The answer I got stunned me for a second.  The woman looked at me like I had three heads and replied, "No.  No free.  You have to pay."  When asked again she just looked to a coworker.  I didn't press the point and just got my coffee.

The Boston area is getting rather good for eating out and being gluten intolerant, but it apparently has a long way to go for fast food.  It doesn't do the public much good making establishments put up the signs saying, "Please inform your server if any of your party has food allergies." when the staff doesn't know what that means.

Senza Gluten NYC - Restaurant Review

As a food capital I expected New York City to be on the leading edge of culinary trends.  It usually is.  I imagine the city was practically paved in bricks of Himalayan rock salt back when that was the trend, but it seems rather slow in adaptation to food allergies/sensitivities.  I only spend a couple days there so did not have the chance to look around and explore that much.  Yet it was difficult for me to find restaurants that provided gluten free fare. And that is what I need to eat.

The good places, like Geoffrey Zakarian’s or Marc Murphy’s, did not seem to have anything I could eat to avoid gluten.  Frankly, I am sick of salads, and even then there could be issues with the dressing.  Don’t even bring up the issue of croutons.  Looking at the menus there was a lot I really wanted to eat, and I am sure it was all amazing, but I really would have paid for it physically.

So when on a business trip to the Big Apple, after all the meetings and tourist must do’s, it was a god send to come across Senza Gluten.  This small restaurant opened back in January apparently and has a completely gluten free menu, as well as dedicated gluten free kitchen.  It is Italian, senza is Italian for ‘without’, hence the restaurant’s name. Despite the without, the menu was with lots of pasta.  That fact alone had me as a fan.  

We showed up early for our reservation.  This was not a problem for the young and charming hostess, appearing to the daughter of the manager, who was equally gracious.  The place was busy but not packed.  They were able to seat us immediately and gave us a table for four, even though there were only two of us, as all the two tops were occupied.  With dim lighting and basic rustic decor it was a romantic setting.  Large windows could have been opened had it been a little warmer outside, and it looked like there was space for outside dining.

To start we had each cesar insalata and shared an order of bruschetta al funghi.  I know I said I am sick of salads but this was a lovely thing.  My companion told me it was the best caesar salad she had ever eaten, even with the anchovies which she normally avoids like the plague.  The mushrooms on the bruschetta were flavorful and were generally enhanced with the drizzle of truffle oil.  I’m generally not a fan of the truffle oil trend but it did punch up the earthiness.  

A special that night was gnocchi.  Our very attentive waitress described it with the light, pillowy adjectives you expect with gnocchi.  My companion ordered that, and after stealing a few just to make sure I can give an accurate review, can state without hesitation that they were everything you would want out of gnocchi.  I ordered the lasagna.  I was mostly interested to see how that would work since most gluten free pastas are reserved for spaghetti.  It was a good, traditional lasagna.  It came to the table a little cold, I imagine having waited for the gnocchi.  The lasagna was meaty and rustic, without any odd sort of taste I would have expected from a gluten free pasta like corn or rice flour. (I don’t know the flour used for the pasta but none of it had any after taste)  If the lasagna had been hot it would have been perfect.  The very small, one person kitchen visible from the dining room put out great food but I can see how timing could be an odd issue with the chef.  Needless to say it was a very good mean overall, and the gluten free pasta did not produce any stuffed or bloated sensation that can result from a pasta dinner.

For dessert, and there are not pictures as I was too busy eating it, we had a Tiramisu for her and a chocolate lava cake with almond vanilla ice cream for me.  This course did take some time.  It was not due to our having been handed over to another server, but I imagine from the baking my cake to order, a necessity for chocolate lava cake.  The lava bit did solve the problem of how to get a full, light, fluffy cake without the gluten to give structure to the cake.  Once it cooled a little so it was no longer almost literal lava, it was a very satisfying chocolate dessert.  The Tiramisu was excellent.  I had tried a gluten free tiramisu at a different italian restaurant the night before (It was good, and was really the only other place that could adapt most of its menu to gluten free, but was not dedicated) and this was far superior.  Whereas the other was more of a custard parfait without the distinguishing cake-like soaked lady fingers, Senza Gluten’s version was as a near perfect replica of traditional tiramisu as possible.  Light, with all the flavors and textures expected, it was an excellent dessert.  It took great restraint not to eat my companion’s portion.

With such a great meal we were a little surprised the place was not packed on a Saturday night.  It was busy but I would have expected a line waiting at the door.  I can only attribute this to its being new and the word not spreading yet.  If you are gluten sensitive and either in or visiting New York City I heartily recommend visiting Senza Gluten on Sullivan Street.  Even if you are not gluten sensitive go there.  It is well worth it.  The charming and hospitable people there will make sure you have an excellent dining experience with great food.  Or just check out their site, senzaglutennyc.com

(previously published on my Tumblr blog - curioushumanist)

New Beginnings

There are many gluten free blogs out there.  Sharing recipes, finding good places to eat, and sharing stories have all been covered.  So what about one more?  That's this blog.  I'm a writer, analyst, and now blogger who went completely gluten free as a lifestyle starting in 2015.

Writers always want to write everything down.  We take note of things and try to observe.  It's where great ideas for new stories are found.  Changing lifestyles provides a lot of fodder for new stories, hence I'm going to write it down.  This will be a new project for me.  Eventually I will incorporate more Twitter or something to round it out, but for now I hope to reach out to people dealing with similar issues as we change lives to ones without gluten.   I decided to change how I eat for my health.  Apparently I had gluten sensitivity for years without knowing it.  That was just how people were supposed to feel.  Now a new life offers hope to not only feeling better but being better.

Like everything else in life, this blog will evolve and change.  For now it is just starting out, and looks that way.  I'll learn the ropes as I share more, and learn more from you.  Since you can't finish without starting this is the first post.  Thanks to any who read and looking forward to sharing much more with you.

Oh, and my name is Doug, by the way.