Dairy free mushroom soup saves the day.

If you are like me and most mornings start with the  slamming of drawers and the incredibly loud rumble that little feet can make on the stairs, you will understand my love for coffee and will have experienced the daily cry,

“What ELSE is there to eat MOM!?”

Yesterday we went twenty-four hours without water and this morning when I woke to those galloping bare feet I crammed the pillow over my head and tried to sneak fifteen more minutes of sleep.  When Bubba flung open my bedroom door and started shouting something about Thing Two being mean, I knew my beauty rest was over and I prayed,

“Lord, please let there be coffee!” 

Without water I would be unable to have my daily cup o’ joe.  Thank goodness God cares about the little things too

Water flowed freely.

Pee Wee decided to enter into the pantry raid and my day starts three steps behind!

 

Besides coffee I tend to have an unhealthy attachment to the dreaded housewife casserole.  🙂  The problem is most of my recipes have been converted to gluten free.  That’s great right, but when I discovered Bubba can’t have soy or milk either I was doomed!  The housewife casserole  goes out the window without “cream of something”!

Thank goodness for waterless days and dinners that sneak up on me, I can make my casserole un-recipe again and have one waiting happily in my freezer for just such an occasion using this dairy free mushroom soup recipe, I’m home free! 

Even if you don’t have multiple allergies this soup was delicious and  very gourmet tasting (I’m sure due to the white wine).  A little wine doesn’t hurt matters eh? 😉  It was not too rich and yet still very flavorful even without all the different mushroom varieties suggested.  Remember in my little town there aren’t a whole lot of options and I didnt’ expect to find “special mushrooms” at Wal-Mart, though who knows I’m sure I could find some variety  around the corner but that too is a different story!

A couple loaves of frozen bread would be nice as well. Check out my new pictures on last week’s contribution to the carnival, Alice’s Tapioca Loaf.

Please visit Linda’s new and improved “What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free” and don’t forget to check out the other great recipes this week!

Tips for making gluten free bread

It took me almost a year and at least twenty terrible loaves (probably closer to 100), nearly as many that were edible but looked horrible and finally a successful gluten free bread recipe.  Another few months to make it into something reproducible.  Just because the stars all line up for that one wonderful loaf of bread doesn’t mean it can be done again and again!

I’ve been told that mine is the best gluten free bread ever!  One of my customers reports that her husband has given up wheat bread in favor of my gluten free version.

Here are my tips:

Mill your own rice (and other grains) to save considerable expense.

Using a favorite recipe, mix the dry ingredients in advance to make a “big batch” version.  I make a 4 loaf mix put that in a gallon zip loc bag in the refrigerator then every couple of days I make the loaves one at a time in my bread machine.  Or you can save in gallon canning jars.

It is also possible to bake gluten free bread the conventional way but the best results require a 400 degree oven, an hour to rise and an hour to bake so I rarely have that kind of time or want to heat the kitchen like a … well an oven! 

To make a gluten free loaf in a bread machine…

1. Place wet ingredients in the bread machine first.
2. Cover the liquids with dry ingredients.
3. Make a depression in the dry ingredients and put the yeast in that (don’t let it touch the liquid)
4. With gluten free bread choose the bread machine setting with the longest rise time.
5. You will need to mix the ingredients at least once with a spatula during the mix cycle. Resist the urge to add flour.
6. When possible remove the paddle (mixer in the bottom) after the mix cycle but BEFORE the first rise.
7. At this point you should be able to leave it alone and wait for yummy, hot bread!

 

Whether you have a GF setting or not your best loaf will result if you do at least these two things… (mentioned above and expanded on here).

1. Give your dough a little attention in the mixing stage.  During the first 10 min most bread machines are warming and the next 20min or so is the mixing stage.  During the mixing stage it will serve you well to take a spatula and scrape the sides once or twice.  Gluten free dough is very sticky and wet it will never “clean the sides” like regular dough so you have to help it along.  The dough should be the consistency of thick pancake batter.  If it seems lumpy or if it does not stick to your spatula it most likely needs a tablespoon or two more water.  If it is quite runny and falls right off the spatula when mixed you may need to sprinkle in more rice flour. But in general you should resist the urge to add flour.
2. Remove the paddle:  Bread machines have several cycles. One of the first cycles is mix, next is rise, then they go into a “knock down” cycle before the final bake stage.  Since gluten free bread will only rise once you will want to remove the paddle before the knock down stage or the result will be a dense loaf.  Once it is finished mixing you can remove the paddle by wetting a spatula and your hand, scrape most the dough away from the mixing paddle and then slip it off.  Wet the spatula again (or your hand) and smooth the dough back into a recognizable shape 🙂 then allow your bread machine to complete your gluten free wonder undisturbed!

This is the dough as it mixes…

Here is what the dough should look like when it has finished mixing…

If you choose to bake your loaf you can spoon it into prepared loaf pans like this…

Spread the dough with a spatula until smooth like this…

Next allow to rise…

Then bake.  Cover the bread with tin foil. Bake until the internal temp is around 180 or a toothpick comes out clean.  To get a darker crisper crust brush with olive oil and remove the cover for the last 5 min.

Remove from the pan within 15min-20min of baking to avoid a soggy crust (even if you use a bread machine).  Allow to cool, slice and serve.

Gluten free bread will usually only keep a couple days left out on a bread board covered with a towel.  If you keep it in an airtight container it will last up to 1wk.