Recipe Experimentation, Part One

Kayleigh here. This week's post is going to be about experimenting with unusual foods, since I grew up trying new recipes and cuisines on pretty much a weekly basis. Chicken Mole Enchiladas one night could lead to Mediterranean style pasta the next, and Peanut Turkey Sliders on Friday.

With this level of variety going through the kitchen, sometimes our only knowledge of the dish was through the recipe, or through a friend’s description of how it should turn out. So when we were suddenly slammed with that Gluten Free barrier, there came a question- How can we try different cuisines, if we have to go and modify the recipes to eat them?

The first option, of course, is to look up blogs and recipes that are already gluten free. Find an authentic cook, read their story behind the recipe, and know that they can compare it to the original dish through their own experience. You'll still be getting exactly what you crave, and you won't have to fret about it being 'different' from how it is supposed to come out.

Of course, sometimes your desire for that dish may be from a gluten-full recipe that caught your eye, and you do not really want to try a different chef's take. If you have just been DYING to try Cooking With Dog's Okonomiyaki recipe, or you were handed a recipe for Nutella Crepes by a good friend, you may be able to find a gluten free recipe with a similar serving size, and substitute the flour blend and xanthan/guar gum for the flour in the original recipe.

Once you have gotten a pretty good hang of how each flour and component reacts to each other in gluten free baking, you may just find yourself able to concoct those substitutions on your own. Knowing in advanced if the bread is supposed to be light and fluffy or a heavy batter to deep-fry with can provide some excellent clues for what to use. Besides, the end product will usually still be delicious, so why not just give that a shot!

Jason here, with some examples. Our third post was all about our Buffalo Seafood which we created by guessing which flours would work together well to create a nice batter for deep-frying. That recipe is still one of my all-time favorites. We also tried creating a gluten free toaster strudel. It made a terrible toaster strudel, but pretty good pop-tart. We are slowly perfecting our bread recipe, making it better with each iteration.

And, of course, there is one other way of making gluten free ethnic foods, but why don't we save that for another post, hmmm?