Beer, stout, Guinness and ale are not gluten-free. However, wine, cider, liqueur, sherry, port, brandy, champagne and distilled spirits are gluten-free.
Gluten-free varieties of beer are available.
If gluten-free baking powder is hard to find, make your own by sifting together 4 teaspoons cream of tartar with 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda.
You can easily make your own breadcrumbs from gluten-free bread and use them for coating and stuffing or as a binding agent (in meatballs and the like). If at all possible and you have no allergy to yeast, you may wish to avoid using the gluten-free/yeast-free varieties of bread for breadcrumbs as to me they seem to have an overpowering and not altogether pleasant flavour.
For fresh breadcrumbs, process slices of day-old gluten-free bread in a food processor to the desired texture. For dried breadcrumbs, place fresh gluten-free breadcrumbs in an oven at 100°C to dry out completely. This will take about 30 minutes.
Polenta can be used instead of breadcrumbs. My personal favourite is crushed gluten-free cornflakes.
A little grated parmesan cheese and/or some chopped herbs added to the breadcrumbs, polenta or crushed cornflakes are very acceptable.
Dairy-free note: Make sure breadcrumbs are made from dairy-free and gluten-free bread, and do not add any cheese to breadcrumb mix.
Margarine (but not the light varieties) can be substituted for butter, if preferred. Any exceptions to this will be indicated in individual recipes. My daughter Stephanie tells me that a nut-type margarine spread works well in baking as a substitute for butter. For dairy-free, check the label to ensure that the butter substitute does not contain any dairy ingredients, as many margarines do.
Be a little wary of packaged grated cheeses—check the labels to ensure that no product containing gluten has been added to keep the cheese from clumping. It is far better and tastier to grate your own cheese as needed.
While most chocolate is gluten-free, some may contain barley malt or other traces of gluten. Always check the labels.
Gluten-free cornflakes can be found at supermarkets but check the labels. Many brands of cornflakes do contain malt, but there are some brands that do not. It is well worth keeping a stock of these on hand for use in cooking.
Be sure to always buy maize cornflour. Mixed to a paste with a little cold liquid, cornflour can be used to thicken sweet and savoury sauces, casseroles and chutneys and pickles. Similarly, arrowroot can be used, but if boiled for just a little too long it may begin to break down.
When cooking gluten-free bakery products, such as bread, pastries, biscuits, cakes and pancakes, it is best not to double recipes. I’ve tried to do this, but for the most part was not successful. You are better to make two separate batches.
These days most supermarkets stock gluten-free plain flour and gluten-free self-raising flour. To make your own gluten-free plain flour, combine:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup potato flour
1 cup soy flour
and store in an airtight container.
To make your own self-raising flour, add 1½ tablespoons gluten-free baking powder to the plain flour mixture. Sift all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
Use pure icing sugar. Avoid buying icing sugar mixture as this may contain wheat, although some brands now contain tapioca starch instead. As always, check the labels carefully.
A range of gluten-free pastas is now available. It is important to remember not to overcook gluten-free pasta or it will become a little stodgy. When making lasagne, rather than using gluten-free lasagne sheets, I use homemade pancakes, as these tolerate the cooking time well, and are always nice and tender but do not go soggy.
Some smallgoods, such as sausages, salami, ham, bacon, and pressed meat or even vegetable products, may contain gluten. The number of gluten-free products in this area is increasing.
In this book dairy-free options are provided for many recipes, but be aware that some soy milks are not gluten-free; for instance, some contain barley malt. Use soy milk that is clearly labelled gluten-free or check the list of ingredients to ensure that no gluten is present.
Vinegars are derived from fermented foods, mainly fruit, where they undergo a distillation process which removes all gluten from the end product. However, this being said, malt vinegar is the exception, it still contains gluten and is therefore not acceptable for use in a gluten-free diet. Some vinegar may list caramel colour (code 150) as an ingredient, however, the Coeliac Society of Australia Inc confirms that this ingredient, is always gluten-free, even if derived from wheat.
I use cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar.
Xanthum gum is often found in gluten-free baking recipes. I was told by many people with coeliac disease that they dislike its flavour, and perhaps this is the ingredient that leaves an unpleasant taste in some bakery products. For this reason the recipes in this book do not call for its use, or for guar gum. The savoury and sweet shortcrust pastry recipes in the Basics chapter include the optional use of powdered gelatine (recommended to me by a pastry chef), but this is not at all necessary and its addition I have found makes little, if any, difference in the rolling out of the pastry.
Baker’s yeast is generally gluten-free, as are many dried yeasts. However, some of the rapid-rise dried yeast preparations may contain gluten. Always check the ingredients list on the label unless the yeast is clearly marked as gluten-free.
Most yoghurts are gluten-free. However, some of the flavoured varieties may contain gluten. Check the labels to be sure.