There are currently 200+ gluten free cookbooks listed on amazon.com, so the question is which one is right for you. When I first went gluten free I searched the library for gluten free cookbooks and the only ones they had were by Betty Hagman, so I checked them out. After attempting four or five recipes, two or three times each, and still not getting positive results, I was afraid I would never enjoy food again. Since then I have found that Carol Fenster offers the most promising recipes in terms of expectations verses results.
Here's a list of my current go-to cookbooks:
Gluten Free: Quick & Easy
Author: Carol Fenster
This is a good resource book in addition to being a cookbook, as the first 50 pages are all about how to stock your pantry, and how to save time cooking gluten free. This cookbook is setup more like a weekly menu planner as one meal can lead into the other with the leftovers, etc. It has a chapter for each major protein, as well as some breads and desserts, ending with a nice chapter on spice blends. The only downfall is that there are no pictures.
Best Gluten Free Family Cookbook
Author: Donna Washburn & Heather Butt
The authors of this books' main focus is bread, and have a chapter for breads with each recipe appearing twice, once for a bread mixer, and once for a hand mixer. For each recipe there are several tips and ingredient substitute suggestions, and the recipes themselves have fancy titles but are generally simple to make. Moreover, they offer a chapter of recipes for snacks and appetizers, as well as some suggestions for a few holiday meals.
125 Best Gluten Free Recipes
Author: Donna Washburn & Heather Butt
This cookbook is similar to the above, with a majority of bread and muffin recipes, but there are also several pizza recipes, as well as some soup and salad recipes. In addition this cookbook has more involved, elegant desserts, like a raspberry jelly roll. Lastly, this book offers a full page per chapter with suggestions for traveling with gluten intolerance, baking tips, etc. I like that each recipe is on only one page and that you don't have to flip back and forth, and there are a few nice glossy pictures.
Gluten Free: More than 100 Delicious Recipes your Family will Love
Author: Michael Cox
This cookbook is for the entertainer who wants to impress their guests and there are some great glossy pictures for almost every recipe. To give an example of the fancy meals you could make some of the recipes include: eggplant soup, mussels with salsa, polenta gnocchi, pork loin stuffed with pate, and coffee praline mousse. I pretty much only take this cookbook out when relatives are in town or I have the time to make something really fancy.
Cooking Free
Author: Carol Fenster
This is great overall cookbook, with recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there's even a chapter for ingredients/condiments, like how to make your own baking powder, mayo, and stocks. There are not any pictures but every time I make something I take a picture of it and tape it into the book. In addition, there is nutritional information for each recipe and next to each recipe title is a picture key dictating if the recipe is gluten free, eye free, dairy free, and/or sugar free.
1,000 GF Recipes
Author: Carol Fenster
This is currently my favorite cookbook. Pretty much if you've ever wanted to make something gluten free this cookbook has a recipe for it. There are a few recipes that are repeats from previous cookbooks by this author but they have been refined. Again there are not any pictures but everything I have made thus far out of this cookbook has turned out, so I don't mind the lack of visual aids. Recipes range from simple to complex, offering something for every kind of cook.
In addition to these cookbooks I would also highly suggest The Gluten Free Bible to anyone who is new to the gluten free diet or is just really curious about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment