About

The idea behind this blog was to have a place, specially dedicated to gluten, grain, soy, dairy and sugar free recipes. I have developed several recipes with specific dietary limitations for our family friend. The list of these limitations is available on ingredients page. I ended up completely fascinated by the opportunity to cook and bake within quite narrow variety of ingredients, compared to already limited range of gluten free ingredients. When I am told that there is something that just can’t be done, I am ready to jump in, and try my absolute best to prove it wrong. I find the task of creating these recipes very stimulating. Cooking, simply gluten free, was not motivation enough for me.

I will admit that it was and is a great challenge,  to have to exclude all grains, not only those containing gluten. Dairy products are not allowed as well. I never use soy products in my cooking, so soy exclusion did not pose any difficulties. None of the sugars were allowed, but I had an option to use honey. I had very limited experience using honey instead of sugar in baking, and I was not certain how it will change ratios of dry and wet ingredients in batters. I was also apprehensive about the sweetness and consistency of batters, based on eggs and honey. To my relief, using honey did not change the process of beating whole eggs, or egg whites too much.

It was reasonably easy to adapt almond cake recipes, as well as using other intense flavoured fruit purees for cakes. The most difficult task was to make grain free bread, and grain and nut free bread, which did not have the appearances and taste of a cake without sweetness component. The other issue with grain and nut free bread was to completely mask coconut taste. I am truly satisfied to say that I have now 2 base bread recipes – one grain free with almond meal, and another one, grain and nut free, which I have made in different versions. Among beetroot, carrot and pumpkin, cauliflower, and mixed vegetable breads, the first and the last are my favourites. Base recipe for beetroot bread is published in my original blog CookingWithoutGluten, and is reblogged here. I plan to publish all recipes which are fully developed and already proven to be working, fully mastered without any of my help by our friend.

In all recipes, specially written for this blog, I am going to expose any problems and even minor intricacies in detail with photos, to make sure that the result can be achieved in different kitchen, with different ingredient brands. I will also discuss any variations of fresh produce and their effects on the final product.

Many of readers might have different dietary limitations for medical, religious, ethical and lifestyle reasons. Some might be lucky to be able to tolerate wider range of ingredients, some might have even more limitations. I will be very glad if my recipes, created for one person, can be of help to other people to enjoy their food, notwithstanding any restrictions.

The last point I want to make is about nutritional value of the food in my recipes. Taste and nutritional balance are the two most significant attributes in the food I make. It will always be nourishing, tasty and good for you.

I am happy if those of you, who are interested in gluten free cooking, can find something valuable in my original blog, here.

Good luck in finding better ways to enjoy your food and making it!