Get inspired at The Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School!  We have three wonderful classes that will nurture your family and inspire you in the kitchen. Call now to register and reserve your spot: 503-654-3215 x 208. Classes are held at our Whole Grain Store in Milwaukie, Oregon.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie OR 97222
503-607-6455
Directions

Mother’s Day High Tea with Dan Brophy!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $50.00**

Do you have a granola-eating granny? What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than with a Whole Grain High Tea? With Chef Dan Brophy you’ll want to sample and sip with other like-minded whole grainophiles. (Don’t bother checking the dictionary for that word!).  Recipes will be provided for such delights as; Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Quinoa, Whole Grain Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Filling, Finger Sandwiches on Whole Grain and Rye Bread, Smoked Salmon Pinwheels, Polenta with Tomato Tapenade, Whole Grain Shortcake, Oatcakes and Whole Grain Tart Shells with a variety of dessert fillings. Celebrate your “Mum” while enjoying a wonderful array of tasty treats!

Supplies to Bring: enjoy the sampling!

**A special rate of 2 for $80 will be offered for those who register with their mothers or those who are mother figures!

Get Ready To Throw A Pizza Party with Alan Maniscalco!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $50.00

Alan Maniscalco, Chef at Ken’s Artisan Pizza, will show you how to make a pizza that will impress even your toughest critics.  We’ll start with a Pizza Margherita, and then learn a spicy twist on this classic using a dough made from a whole grain starter (Spicy Margherita).  The class will focus on a versatile Whole Wheat Dough, topped with broccoli raab, sausage and chiles, and made into a Skillet Focaccia with peppers and provolone.  Plus we’ll make a Gluten Free Potato Pizza and a take on the French Flat Bread, Pissaladiere.

Hands-0n “Taming The Tamale” with Ivy Manning!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $60.00

Wrapped up like little presents in corn husk wrappers and filled with delicious masa, beans, chicken, and spices, tamales are a treat, but they’re also an art that takes practice. Join cookbook author and Oregonian FoodDay columnist, Chef Ivy Manning for a fun hands-on class as she shows you the secrets to perfect homemade tamales. We’ll make and sample Light Sweet Corn, Black Bean and Poblano Vegan Tamales and Rich Chicken Tamales, plus a delicious Tomatillo Sauce. Bring your apron and get ready to wrap and fold your way to delicious dinners!

Supplies to Bring: Your apron!                                        Class fee $60.00

**This class is limited to 15 students so be sure to sign up quickly!

We’re going to get a little personal up in here. Not too personal, mind you, but perhaps sitting at the same table rather than just eating in the same restaurant. I had a baby (our first) last October and, as any parent can attest to, life got complicated quickly. Gone were my hours to fiddle with this recipe and that. Heck, it was a miracle if I got into the kitchen at all! Luckily, I had planned ahead (thanks to the wonderful mom-friends I have) and had several meals in the freezer. I also stocked my cupboard with a few packages of our Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix for dinners that my husband could prepare in a pinch. I knew money would be tight and ordering out was likely to be out of the question for a while. Additionally, I knew that I didn’t want to spend any unnecessary time kneading or rising pizza dough from scratch.

Let me tell you, we fell in love that first groggy October night when I’d finally convinced myself to put down the baby and enter the kitchen. I have liked our pizza crust mix since we released it in 2008, but this is new, this is love. I don’t eat a gluten free diet, but I happen to find this mix to be a wonderful combination of ingredients for a pizza crust. It’s not for everyone, I’ll give you that, but it sure beats many recipes that I’ve attempted. It has whole grains and so what if those grains happen to exclude wheat?

Here is what I do to make this mix really shine. I’ve even tested these minor adaptations on my husband who managed them and made a delicious pizza from *mostly* scratch.

• Instead of eggs, I use the suggested egg replacer of flaxseed meal and water. I first tried this when we were out of eggs and the store was out of the question. Not only did it work well, we liked it more. Plus, it gets a little extra flax in our lives and, for that, I am grateful.
• I make sure my hands are wet, like really wet, when spreading out the dough. I know it seems kind of gross, but truly, it makes a huge difference. As soon as my hands start to get sticky, I run them under the water again. Making sure to spread the dough out as thin as possible. Don’t worry, with the pre-baking step, the little bit of extra liquid becomes negligible.
• In that vein, I spread the dough out as thin as possible. Thinner = crispier.
• Then, and here is what I think is our coup de grace, I sprinkle a *light* layer of mozzarella cheese over it before pre-baking. I think this makes it a little crispier. You could try this method with a non-dairy cheese such as Daiya.
• I don’t do this every time, but you can add a bit of garlic powder, oregano and red pepper flakes to the dry mix to give it a little extra pizzazz.

From there, I cook according to the package directions. We like pizza pretty simple at our house, so it’s usually just a combination of cheeses. Sometimes we add tomatoes, sometimes we make it a barbecue pizza with pineapple, bell peppers and chicken (“chicken” at our house). It doesn’t really matter what we top it with. It comes out great and it is E-A-S-Y and that’s a four-letter word that I can get behind now that I have a B-A-B-Y.

Do you have a secret to making this mix work for you? Share in the comments. Who knows? I may just kick down some random coupons to those who comment (that’s another word that has a whole new meaning!).

L-M-N-O PIZZA with David Kobos!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $40.00

A perfect crust is the backbone of every pizza.  David Kobos, owner of Kobos Coffee will take you through the steps of making great crusts and producing artisan quality pizzas at a fraction of the cost of those in the fancy pizza shops.  You’ll learn how to make spectacular sauces and where to purchase the freshest and best ingredients for your pizzas.  David’s recipes will include: Chicago Style, Vegetarian, and Traditional Sicilian Style pizzas with variations to please the palate.

A Spring Study in Beans with Cory Schrieber!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $40.00

Chef Cory Schreiber approaches Bob’s Red Mill bean based products and creates new recipes for a late spring menu. From a rustic bean soup with fresh peas, to a classic Spanish chickpea skillet bread with fresh fava bean puree with mint, to black bean cakes finishing with a rendition of a Rustic Fruit Dessert shortcake recipes using soy flour. His recipes include: Cannellini Bean Soup with garlic toast, fresh peas and Parmesan, Garbanzo Bean Flatbread with Fava Bean Puree, Black Bean Cakes with salsa verde and sour cream with roasted asparagus, and Soy Flour Biscuits with Raw Rhubarb Citrus Compote.

Gluten Free Baking with Dr. Jean Layton!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.   
Class fee $45.00

Have you been frustrated that your gluten-free goodies have been less than stellar? Using a simple way of measuring for perfect results every time join Dr. Jean Layton co-author of Gluten-Free Baking for Dummies for  tantalizing and tempting baked treats.  Her recipes include: Crunchy Hazelnut Biscotti- twice baked cookies that are perfect with a cup of tea, Maple Walnut Tea Scones- using no sugar, just pure maple syrup for sweetening, Sweet Potato Biscuits that use sweet potato puree for tenderness and flavor, allowing the biscuits to be lower in fat and higher in antioxidants, Cranberry Orange Muffins, this vegan muffin is the perfect quick breakfast treat, Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes with a sweet lemon glaze, and Perfect Pancakes. Bring your gluten free baking questions, Dr. Jean loves to share her 6 years of experience with gluten-free thriving.

I loved Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, so I was thrilled to hear that Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François were coming out with a book dedicated to making pizza and flatbread in their signature “five minutes a day” style. The theory behind this method is to make a big batch of dough on Sunday (or any day) and use it to bake homemade bread, or in this case pizza, quickly when pressed for time. Having done it myself, I can truly say it’s a lifesaver on a weeknight when you need bread to go with dinner. Sure, you can stop by the bakery and pick up a loaf, but it won’t taste nearly as good as a fresh loaf and it definitely won’t fill your home with the smell of freshly baked bread.

Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day takes the work out of pizza dough. I don’t know about you, but I have yet to find the magical combination of ingredients that yield a delicious homemade pizza. The closest I’ve gotten was using the Healthy Bread in Five recipe, so I was beside myself to learn about this book entirely dedicated to pizza. Just looking at these photos, it’s easy to tell that these recipes will allow you to create chewy, crunchy pizzas with little effort. My proposition? Forget ordering delivery pizza on Friday and plan ahead. Make a batch of dough on Sunday, it only takes a few minutes, and pull it out on Friday. Follow the directions below and you’ll have a tastier pizza in less time than it takes to get a delivery on Friday night (45 minutes in my neck of the woods). Not only that, but you’ll know what went into it (no nasty preservatives) and you can feel proud that you created such a splendid meal for your family.

Oh yeah, and the best part? This book has GLUTEN FREE recipes too!!

To show you just how great this book is, Jeff and Zoë, are sharing this recipe and their signature method with you here. I know, it looks daunting, but try it and then see what you think. I can tell you what I’ll be doing this weekend! They’ve also generously offered up three copies of Artisan Pizza and Flatbread for you to win. In addition to that, we’ll kick in a 5 lb bag of our whole wheat flour (or a gluten free alternative) and an 8 oz package of our active dry yeast so you can get started right away. (If you haven’t tried our yeast, let me just say that I can tell a huge difference between ours and those little yeast-packets.)

Whole Wheat Pizza Margherita (Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil)

Adapted from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day,
by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François Thomas Dunne Books, 2011

Makes enough dough for at least eight ½ -pound pizzas or flatbreads (about 12 inches across).  The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

• 3-¼ cups lukewarm Water
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Active Dry or Instant Yeast (or 1 packet)
• 1 to 1½ Tbsp Coarse Salt
• 2 Tbsp Sugar, Honey, Malt Powder, or Agave Syrup
• 3-½ cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3-½ cups Whole Wheat Flour (“white” whole wheat or traditional)
• ⅓ cup Tomato Sauce
• 3 ounces fresh Mozzarella Cheese (cut into 1/2-inch chunks)
• 4 fresh Basil Leaves (whole, thinly slivered or torn)
• Olive Oil for drizzling over the pizza before baking
• Flour, Cornmeal or Parchment for the pizza peel

Mixing and Storing the Dough

1. Add olive oil, yeast, salt, and sweetener to the water in a 5-quart bowl or in a lidded (not airtight) plastic food container.
2. Measure the flours with the “scoop-and-sweep” method. Then mix with the liquids:  Add both flours and mix with a wooden spoon, dough whisk or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle).  Don’t knead, it isn’t necessary.
3. Allow to rise: Cover with a lid (not airtight), leave it open a crack for the first 48 hours  and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to flatten on the top, approximately 2 hours. Do not punch down the dough!
4. After rising, refrigerate and use over the next 10 days; the dough will develop sourdough characteristics with storage.  Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with.  The first time you try our method, it’s best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before use.  Once refrigerated, the dough will collapse, and it will never rise again in the bucket—that’s normal. 
   

On Pizza Day

1. Prepare and measure toppings in advance:  This will help you top the pizza quickly so you can get it into the oven before it sticks to the pizza peel.
2. Thirty minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat a baking stone at your oven’s highest temperature, with the baking stone placed in the bottom third of the oven.
3. Shape a ball in 20 to 30 seconds.  Prepare a pizza peel with flour, cornmeal or parchement to prevent sticking.  Sprinkle the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour. Cut off a half-pound (orange-sized) piece of dough, using a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Hold the piece of dough and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough a quarter-turn as you go to form a ball.
4. 

   Flatbread recipes, such as this Fougasse, are abundant in this wonderful resource, as well.

   Roll out and stretch a pizza crust:  Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on the counter or directly onto the pizza peel to produce a ⅛-inch-thick round, 12 inches across, dusting with flour to keep the dough from adhering to your work surface.  Use a dough scraper to “un-stick” the dough as needed, and transfer it to the prepared pizza peel if you haven’t stretched the dough directly on one.  When you’re finished, it should have enough flour under it to move easily when you shake the peel.  The pizza should move freely.  If it doesn’t, use the dough scraper and some flour to un-stick.

5. Add the toppings:  Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a half-inch border at the edges, then add the cheese and basil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza.
6. Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone:  Place the tip of the peel near the back
   of the stone, give the peel a few quick forward-and-back jiggles and pull it sharply out from under the pizza.  Check for doneness in 8 to 10 minutes and turn the pizza around
   in the oven if one side is browning too fast.  It may take up to 5 more minutes.  Allow to cool slightly, preferably on a wire cooling rack, so that the cheese sets.

Recipe copyright 2011, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, adapted from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011). Photos courtesy of Mark Luinenburg (MarkLuinenburg.com)

Visit artisanbreadinfive.com for tips, tricks and recipes using all three of these wonderful books.

To enter the contest, please tell us what your favorite pizza topping is in the comments, then be sure to click in the box below to say “I did this.” If you don’t have a facebook account, you can set up an account with an email address. Extra entries can be earned by completing the tasks below.

Totally confused? You’re not alone! Check out this great tutorial for how to enter here: http://blog.rafflecopter.com/2011/07/how-to-enter-rafflecopter-giveaways/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Something about the weather today screams comfort food and, despite my love of hot soup, I can think of nothing better than delicious homemade pizza paired with a green salad for a *relatively* healthy meatless dinner tonight. Pizza is so simple to make and its versatility make it easy to please the pickiest eaters. I love this pizza crust recipe for its wonderful texture and flavor. The whole wheat flour and cornmeal give it a whole grain boost to take the edge off any pizza guilt. Pair with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings or see our suggestions below for inspiration. To further dull the pizza guilt, skip the typical mozzarella and use pungent cheeses (feta, blue cheese, Gorgonzola, etc)  in small quantities to give you a real flavor boost without quite so many calories.

Whole Wheat Cornmeal Pizza Crust

• 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
• 1 Tbsp Honey or Agave Nectar*
• 1 cup Warm Water
• 1/2 cup Medium Grind Cornmeal (if you don’t like too much crunch, try Fine Grind Cornmeal or Corn Flour)
• 1-1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Unbleached White Flour
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Directions

Combine honey and warm water, sprinkle yeast on top. Let stand 5 minutes to proof.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add oil to yeast mixture and pour in dry ingredients. Stir to combine ingredients and scoop onto a flat surface. Knead until elastic, adding more white flour as needed, about 5-8 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let stand until doubled, about 20 minutes.

Split dough into two rounds to make two 12-inch pizzas, or make one 16-inch pizza crust. Spread dough out onto greased pizza pans and cover with desired topping. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 400°F. Makes 16 slices.

To view nutritional information, click here.

*To make this vegan, simply substitute agave nectar for the honey and use your favorite vegan toppings.

Topping Suggestions for Meatless Monday:

• Shitakke mushrooms, roasted red peppers and goat cheese
• Sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and Gorgonzola
• Caramelized onions, roasted beets and feta
• Sun dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella balls (1″ sliced) and dollops of pesto
• Here’s one that’s definitely not on the healthy options list, but one of our favorites: Veggie “chicken” nuggets cooked and chopped into 1″ pieces, caramelized onions and green peppers, pineapple chunks and BBQ sauce (use to coat nuggets) with a regular red sauce base and mozzarella.

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like pizza! It’s certainly convenient to order delivery, and I definitely have a local favorite pizza shop that makes life easy when there is nothing cooking in my kitchen. But when I can, I also like to make my own pizza, from the crust up! A cornmeal pizza crust isn’t standard, but it makes this recipe special.

Use whatever toppings you like for this recipe. Right now the markets are overflowing with zucchini and peppers, so that is what topped this vegetarian pizza. I used prepared tomato sauce, shredded the zucchini, thinly sliced the red pepper and added mozzarella cheese to the top.

For the crust I modified a Martha Stewart recipe, and used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free Cornmeal and Gluten-free All-purpose Baking Flour. If you’re careful about your ingredients, this could easily make a great gluten-free pizza.

The recipe yields the perfect amount of pizza dough for either two, 6-inch personal pies, or one 12-14-inch pizza. You can even make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it to use the following day.

If you’re looking for a thick, sink-your-teeth-into-the-dough pizza, this one isn’t for you. Instead, this is a thin, crisp crust made from cornmeal baked on a pizza stone. I hope you enjoy it!

Veggie Pizza with Cornmeal Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
• Pinch of Sugar
•  2/3 cup warm Water (not hot)
• 1-2/3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free All-purpose Baking Flour, plus extra for the work surface
• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free Cornmeal, plus a bit extra reserved
• 1-1/2 tsp Coarse Salt
• 2 Tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus extra for the bowl

Directions:

- Add the warm water to a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and sugar over it. Let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is dissolved and it’s foamy.

- Add the flour, cornmeal and salt to a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn out the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it for several minutes until it’s smooth.

- If you’re making two personal pizzas, divide the dough into two balls and use two bowls. Add the dough to a shallow oiled bowl and turn it to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature for about an hour. You can also keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. with the pizza stone on the lowest rack. When the dough is ready, stretch it out into either two rounds (for the personal pizzas) or one.

- Sprinkle some cornmeal onto a pizza peel (or use the bottom of a baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza peel). Place the dough on top and cover with sauce and your toppings.

- Slide the dough onto the pizza stone and bake until the crust is crisp and the cheese is bubbly, about 7-10 minutes, checking frequently. Serve warm.

Patricia is an independent writer with a passion for cooking and for food. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that among the subject matter she writes about, food is a regular topic. You can follow her on Twitter at @PatriciaConte. (http://twitter.com/#!/patriciaconte)

We’ve heard from a lot of customers who really enjoy our Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix. This kind of feedback always makes us really happy. We’ve also discovered how versatile the mix can be, thanks in part to our creative customers out there who are willing to experiment with it. We’ve received dozens of successful (and tasty!) recipes ranging from perogies and buns to soda bread and muffins. It’s wonderful to know that our customers are so adventurous in their cooking and baking!!

We’ve done some experimenting of our own here in the test kitchen, and discovered a fantastic Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll recipe. We hope that you try this and enjoy it!!

We also want to say thank you to everyone who has submitted such great recipes. If you have created a new recipe with this or any other Bob’s Red Mill product, please share it with us by submitting a recipe!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs*
Yeast Packet (from package)
1 cup Warm Water
1 – 16 pkg (3 1/4 cups) Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix
Rice Flour for dusting

Filling:
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon

* To replace the eggs, combine 2 Tb Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tb of water; mix and let stand 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Add 1 Tb of the sugar to the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast packet on top of water and let sit 5 minutes. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to blend in completely.

Add the yeast mixture to the butter/egg mixture and blend. Add in the pizza crust mix; blend two minutes. Heavily dust a foot long sheet of wax paper with rice flour. Spread batter over the length of the wax paper, about 19 inches. Using warm water, wet your hands and press the batter outward to fill the sheet. Keep your hands wet. Once the batter evenly covers the wax paper, brush melted butter over the batter from edge to edge.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle mixture over the batter from edge to edge. Pick up the short end of the wax paper and begin carefully rolling the batter over itself like you would a jelly roll. Cut the roll into 1 ½ inch pieces and gently place the disks into the 8 x 8 inch greased pan. It is okay to crowd them.

Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cool until the butter stops bubbling then flip out onto a plate. Makes 8 cinnamon rolls.

My nieces and nephews love two things: finger food and “dip-dips” aka dipping sauces. These stuffed pizza balls work great as a kid-friendly dinner or an adult-friendly party appetizer.

Glutenista’s Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Stuffed Pizza Balls

For Dough:

• 1 Bag Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
• 1½ Cups Warm Water
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Yeast Packet (enclosed)
• 1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning – Optional, skip if your kids do not like green
• ½ tsp. Garlic – Optional

For Filling (using half of pizza crust mix, double for 2 pans):

• 1½ Cups Dairy-Free Mozzarella Cheese such as Daiya
• ½ Pkg Gluten-Free Pepperoni such as Hormel

For Dipping:

Pizza Sauce

To Prepare:

Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees (375 if using a nonstick pan)

Grease a pie pan or 9×9 pan

Follow the Pizza Crust Directions on Bag:

“In a large bowl, combine water and yeast. Let stand a few minutes. Add eggs and oil to mixture and blend briefly. Add GF Pizza Crust Mix and blend about a minute on medium speed, until combined. Leave dough in bowl, split in half, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 20 minutes.”

Note: If doing two Italian pizza balls, mix in Italian Seasoning and Garlic with mix. If doing one savory and one sweet, wait until dough has been divided

Allow adequate time for dough to rise, this will depend on temperature and humidity.  Roll out one dough ball into a rectangle.  Cut rectangle into similar sized squares, around 2-3 inches.

Note: If dough is too sticky to work with, place in fridge for a few minutes.

Layer cheese and pepperoni in middle of square.  Gently fold up corners to meet in middle, fold up sides and twist bottom slightly to create a ball. Triple-check to ensure there are no holes.  Place twist side down in a greased pie pan.  Repeat until all squares have been done.

Brush tops with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning and Garlic (optional). Bake for 17-22 minutes, until fluffy and browned on top. Check on them periodically after the 10 minute mark.  If pizza balls brown too fast, place tinfoil over top until fully cooked.

Serve with a side of your favorite pizza sauce for dipping.  For a super fun finish, serve the pizza balls on sticks for pizza pops!

**important, pizza balls will be hot, allow time to cool before serving to children**

OTHER IDEAS FOR STUFFED BITES WITH BOB’S GF PIZZA MIX:

SWEET (add ½ cup sugar to pizza dough):

• Cinnamon Roll Bites: Brown Sugar + Cinnamon + Icing
• Maple Bacon: Maple Syrup (in dough) + Bacon + Brown Sugar
• Hawaiian: Pineapple + Ham

SAVORY:

• Buffalo Chicken Bites: Chicken + Buffalo Sauce + Cheddar
• Meatball: Mini-Meatballs + Mozzarella + Italian Seasoning
• Chicken Bacon Ranch: Chicken + Ranch Seasoning + Bacon + Cheese

ABOUT GLUTENISTA:

Glutenista, making gluten-free fabulous! Glutenista is an uplifting gluten-free community dedicated to empowering those who live gluten-free. Featuring gluten-free recipes, giveaways, product reviews, menus, the latest gluten-free news and more. Learn more at www.glutenista.com or www.facebook.com/glutenista

 

You know for certain that awareness of Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance is growing when you get the chance to attend an amazing event like the Suffolk County Celiacs Gluten Free Vendor Fair & Fundraiser in Hauppage, NY. This show is one of the oldest and best attended in the country, and continues to grow in popularity year after year. Bob’s Red Mill was there for our third show, and we brought a wide variety of our gluten free products to display. We also brought along an entire palette of Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix and Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix so that we could hand out free full sized samples to every visitor to our booth.

Many people who stopped by during the weekend wanted to know where they could find our newest oat products and other hard to find ingredients. Luckily Peter Kochanowski, one of our east coast sales representatives, was on hand all weekend to answer all lots of questions about which stores in the area usually sell which types of products. It’s not often that you get the chance to talk to someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of most of the stores and products in your area.

Through out both days, Cassidy and I answered questions about everything from how we make and source our products, to how to use some popular ingredient substitutions. We made sure to let everyone who talked to us know that one of the things that really sets us apart as a company is our amazing Customer Support Team. Many visitors were astounded to discover they had someone they could call with questions about how to use our products. It’s hard to overstate how relieved the newly diagnosed, and the parents of newly diagnosed children, were to know that they had someone that they could call when they got stuck trying to prepare a recipe.

Of course, as the knowledge of how to eat with dietary restrictions grows, so do the number of new products to try. We were particularly amazed by how many prepared foods makers stopped by to ask us about buying in bulk because they have developed tasty new products based on our wide variety of products. As the world of gluten free ready to eat foods and restaurant options continues to grow, it’s nice to be able to let food service entrepreneurs know that we have an amazing specialist like Tim Steiner on hand that they can contact to get the ingredients that they need to keep their businesses growing.

We are always happy when people stopped by to tell us that our products are the very best they’ve tried. It’s always great to see people point us out to their friends while they’re walking towards our booth and say “They’re the best!” or “This is my favorite stuff!” It was even better to be able to send everyone off with some free products to try out in the comfort of their own kitchens.

I regret deeply that I do not have any photos to share of the awesome pizza crust I made using the rest of my master dough from last week. The pizza crust was enough to make the whole process worth it. Unlike the bread dough, when you’re making pizza using the HB in 5 method, you simply get out your dough and go to work… no rising or resting period. The crust came out crisp and delightfully light, much better than my personal attempts at pizza dough. Even if you didn’t win the book, I think it’s one worth checking out if you’re looking for a way to bring freshly baked bread into your life.

Now for the winner… Karen Jordan was randomly selected as our winner of the signed edition of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Karen will also receive a bag of our Organic Hard White Whole Wheat Flour (a personal favorite of mine) and Vital Wheat Gluten.

Months ago, when Zoe and I first started talking about her new book she mentioned that many people were not familiar with Vital Wheat Gluten, what it was and where to find it. Vital Wheat Gluten (aka Gluten or Gluten Flour) is a flour that is almost entirely protein. Our vital wheat gluten is approximately 75-80% protein. This protein (found in wheat, rye, barley, among others) is what helps give bread its elasticity and texture. The springy-ness of dough and the air pockets in bread, are both the result of gluten. Gluten acts like a balloon and traps the air bubbles produced by yeast, helping the dough to rise and giving it that delectable texture we all love. To use gluten in your yeast-risen baking, the general rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp per cup of flour. Gluten can also be used to make the meat-substitute seitan, a common food in many vegetarian and vegan diets.

On the flip side, gluten is also the protein that must be avoided by those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Much like casein in milk, gluten causes intestinal discomfort for some and life-threatening intestinal damage in others. The only ‘cure’ for celiac disease is to avoid gluten. Gluten can be found in everything from baked goods to  sauces, ice cream, soups and even shampoo, lotion and make up. While every person’s reaction to gluten can be different, the majority of people avoiding gluten cannot tolerate even the tiniest amount. Thus, the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free product line was born.

Our gluten free products are produced in a completely separate facility with its own ventilation and strict guidelines for what goes in and out of the facility. All gluten free products are tested for gluten contact in our dedicated gluten free lab before they are shipped out. Each product must test lower than 20 parts per million to leave our facility. While no government guidelines have yet been released regulating gluten free labeling, we feel confident that our practices are in line with what will become government-mandated requirements.

Here is what’s on the docket for February: Carol Fenster has kindly sent us 10 copies of 1000 Gluten Free Recipes to be given away to our readers. I’ll have details about this giveaway next week. We are releasing some new products this month (Chia, among others) and I’ll have more information to share this week and some chances to win.

Happy Groundhog Day!

For more information about gluten intolerance and celiac disease, please visit these sites:

University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center
Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (GIG)
Celiac Disease Foundation
Gluten and Autism: The GF/CF Diet