From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I’ve made various gluten-free French breads, bought gluten-free French breads, but none of them came close to regular wheat French bread. I have found a trick that uses gluten-free bagels to make crostini. Here’s how:

1. If frozen, let gluten-free bagel thaw, then cut down through bread to make slices in whatever thickness you desire.

2. Bake the slices in a single layer at 350 degrees until they are as crisp.

3. Top with fresh Bean Salsa or your favorite dip.

Tips and Alternatives:

Don‘t let them get too brown or they shatter when you try to bite into them.

You do need them to be hard if you are going to put toppings on in advance of party as bread will soften under toppings.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

So this is tweaking my gluten-free soda bread recipe even more. Remember that it is very difficult to reproduce the tastes of these original dishes since they were prepared at a time when all food was extremely fresh. In Ireland, we had our own butter and milk, the flour came from a local mill, and your meat and vegetables were from your own land, particularly in the country.

I keep playing with the recipe for Irish soda bread, trying to get a taste even closer to what I grew up with. Both my parents were born in Southern Ireland, so soda bread was almost a daily bread growing up, even in London, England. I like a crusty outside, but my mother’s was always softer. This is a stronger flour blend, so it needs more liquid.

Makes 7-8 large scones. A #40, 2 Tbsp. scoop makes 20 mini scones for 20-25 minutes of cooking. I mixed Kerrygold shredded Irish cheddar with some Kerrygold butter to make a spread for scones. Kerrygold is genuine made in Ireland butter and cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (5+3/4 oz., 160 g) brown rice, potato starch, tapioca starch mix (Some suggestions include King Arthur, Annalise Roberts, Authentic Foods. Always be sure to double check the label to ensure it is gluten-free)
• ½ cup teff flour (2+1/2 oz., 70 g)
• ½ cup millet flour (2 oz., 60 g)
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) baking powder (I use Rumford’s labeled gluten-free)
• ½ tsp. salt (Some people might like more salt if they are heavy salt eaters.)
• ½ tsp. xanthan gum
• 1 Tbsp. (15ml) sugar
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1+1/4 cup (10 fl. oz.) buttermilk
• 1+1/4 tsp. baking soda (Also known as bicarbonate of soda in the UK)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*.
2. In a wide shallow bowl mix flours, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum and sugar.
3. Rub butter into flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Stir baking soda into buttermilk. Many older English recipes have you stir baking soda into liquid ingredients so it dissolves. Otherwise, you can taste an unpleasant metallic flavor in your mouth from too much baking soda or baking soda left in lumps. That metallic taste is why so many people don’t like soda bread.
5. Stir buttermilk mix into dry mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until mix resembles quite a sticky dough, not a dry dough. Depending on how carefully you measured ingredients and brands used, the flour mix might suck up liquid and be quite dry, needing more of the buttermilk. Weather conditions, like humidity, make a difference to the dryness of flours. If you think mix is too wet, wait a moment or two. I find that baking powder and xanthan gum almost immediately thicken dough so it is scoopable. You do want it to be sticky, so it is not dry on baking. This dough is dark colored so it is difficult to see if it needs more liquid. Stir to the very bottom of the mixing bowl.
6. Scoop dough onto lined cookie sheet using roughly a quarter cup scoop.
7. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Even though bread might look cooked, if you break off a piece and it still tastes a bit grainy and bitter soda, it needs more cooking. When thoroughly cooked there shouldn’t be a soda aftertaste. Cook until bread is well risen, hard on top to the touch and sounds hollow if you tap the bottom of the breads.
8. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Rub with butter if you want. Wrap in clean cloth to soften crust if you want. I love the crunchy, nutty crust so I prefer it crisp.
9. Serve with egg and smoked salmon torte or toast for breakfast with marmelade, or straight from the oven hot with butter melting. We had soda bread and smoked salmon for our wedding and our son’s Christening.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

Chef Oonagh Williams has just been chosen as one of New Hampshire’s WZID’s Outstanding Women for 2015. See her at the WZID Women’s Expo Saturday, March 7 and watch her on WMUR’s Cooks Corner on Friday, March 13 with St. Patrick’s Day recipes. Like her at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook. Chef Oonagh will be at Concord Co-Op on Thursday, March 12, Atkinson Library on Tuesday, March 24 and Westford MA on Thursday, March 26 – programs on the power of food – best medicine or worse poison. Chef Oonagh also does Corporate Lunch ‘n Learns and speaks at various celiac disease conferences. Check the newsletter archives for more of Chef Oonagh’s St. Patricks Day recipes, beef in gluten-free beer, Irish Chicken Rolls, Sticky Toffee puddings and more.

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I just wing the ingredients quantities depending on what I’m feeling and have available.

Ingredients:

• Roasted garlic in olive oil
• Butter
• Mozzarella cheese or 4-5 cheese Italian blend
• Parmesan cheese
• Green of green onion
• Chopped fresh parsley or basil
• Your choice of gluten-free bread product

Directions:

1. Roasted garlic has become the next “in-thing,” but I can’t stand roasting a whole head and then having to laboriously squeeze out the garlic to use it. So I buy peeled garlic (from Gilford CA, called ‘the Garlic Capital of the world, from Costco) put the garlic in a small pan, cover with olive oil and leave the garlic to cook as slowly as possible on top of the stove or in the oven stirring it occasionally so it cooks evenly. The garlic is done when it is a very light golden brown and soft and squishy, 15-20 minutes.
2. Leave to cool, then drain off most of the olive oil into a container to use up in cooking. Put the roasted garlic and remaining oil in a food processor and purée. Add more of the oil if it is too stiff. I then squish it really flat in a ziploc bag and freeze it so I can cut/break off pieces for garlic mashed potatoes, dips, dressings, etc. If you only make a small quantity, then decant it into a clean glass jar and keep in the fridge.
3. I had seen a post somewhere of making garlic bread with roasted garlic instead of raw garlic. That recipe cooked the raw garlic in butter. I’ve always roasted garlic in olive oil as I say above – please not canola oil. I did add some butter to the mix for the garlic bread. I like about 50/50 mix of mozzarella and parmesan, plus the fresh herbs. Use enough oil or butter in the mix to be wet when you spread it on bread so the bread is oozingly oily and buttery with melted cheese on top.

I’ve spread this mix on toasted/broiled gluten-free bread, English muffins, bagels, then finished under the broiler. Really yummy on all, but definitely messy from the butter/oil dripping down your fingers – who cares!

About Chef Oonagh Williams

‘Like’ Chef Oonagh on Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook. Keep up with her television appearances, radio, talks to both celiac disease groups and non-gluten-free diet groups. Consult with her by Skype.

Come Meet Chef Oonagh when she speaks at the GFAF expo in Worcester MA on July 25 and at the GIG Conference in North Dakota on November 7. Chef Oonagh also does Corporate Lunch ‘n’ Learns and speaks at celiac disease conferences. Read her article on visiting Atlanta GA, tourism and gluten free options in the current issue of New England Celiac Organisation magazine.

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Enjoy these with your favorite soup or chili. Microwave or toast to bring back the “just-cooked” taste and texture. For variation, substitute a jalapeno cheese and cilantro, some bits of ham or spicy gluten-free sausage, basil and some chopped artichokes.

Make and freeze in advance for your Super Bowl party.

Makes 6 muffin tops (mini focaccia size)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• ½ cup almond meal
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp xanthan gum
• ½ c fresh, shredded parmesan cheese
• ½ c shredded Swiss or mozzarella cheese. Using parmesan and mozzarella gives a lovely, gooey interior, using parmesan and Swiss gives a moist but not gooey, stronger cheese-flavored bread.
• 2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk, ordinary milk or yogurt
• ¼ cup green part of green onions, finely scissored.
• Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin top pan with spray.

2. Stir together flour mix, almond meal, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum and cheeses in a large bowl.

3. Stir together eggs, oil or butter and milk.

4. Stir wet mix into dry mix and stir well until no dry bits remain. The mix will seem very wet. Wait a few minutes and the mix will thicken.

5. Spray a ¼ cup measure with gluten-free cooking spray and use it to scoop batter into pans. Smooth batter with wet fingers. Sprinkle sesame seeds and poppy seeds on top for a bit of crunch and interest. You can also sprinkle Italian seasoning on top (or even top with caramelized onions).

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Muffin tops will rise, but won’t really dome like a regular muffin. They should be deep golden brown underneath and light gold on top. Rotate pan after 10 minutes for even baking. Once cooked, remove muffins from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then remove to a cooling rack. If you leave muffin tops in the pan for too long, the bases will retain steam and go soft. The bottom crust will have a nice crispy edge if you remove it and let them cool.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (4 oz.) of soft butter
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened (I use “lite”)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. almond extract
• Grated zest/rind of 2 medium- to large-sized oranges
• 2 cups almond meal or almond flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. finely grated fresh nutmeg – in with almond meal
• 1 tsp. ground cardamon – in with almond meal
• ½ tsp. salt
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup golden raisins soaked in 2 Tbsp. orange liqueur or brandy or rum (add at end of step 4)
• ¼ cup finely chopped sliced almonds (No skin on. Add at the end of step 4.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put soft butter and cream cheese in a 6-cup mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in sugar, almond meal, baking powder, nutmeg, cardamom and salt. Depending on when you stop beating, mix will either appear as crumbs or thick dough.

3. Add vanilla and almond extract and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once all eggs are added, beat well for 2 minutes and mix will become very fluffy.

4. Stir in orange zest, raisins with liquid, and almonds.

5. Scoop batter into greased and gluten-free floured 10” Bundt pan and level the top. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Cake will be a golden brown across the top, no cracks, softly firm and flat (not domed).

6. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes, loosen sides with thin spatula and then turn out onto cooling rack to finish cooling. Don’t let it go cold in Bundt pan as sugar content will make cake stick to pan.

Tips and Alternatives:

If you use almond meal (almonds ground with skins left on) then the cake will have a speckly appearance. If you use almond flour, (skinless almonds ground), then the cake will be white.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Makes about 1 1/2 lbs. total weight cooked.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour mix
• 1/2 cup almond meal (or just add another 1/2 cup of gluten-free flour mix)
• ¾ cup cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 Tbsp potato flour (not potato starch; optional – makes moister bread)
• 6 Tbsp sugar (you can reduce this amount if you find it too sweet)
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional – add for sweet muffins and leave out for corn bread stuffing)
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup milk (fat-free is okay; can also use buttermilk, lactose-free milk or almond milk)
• 1 stick of butter (4 oz.) melted or ½ cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, butter or oil and vanilla together.

4. Pour wet mix over dry mix and gently stir together. Don’t over work; you can use an electric mixer, but make sure to mix in all the dry bits. They don’t disappear on baking. Mix will look very wet, so let batter rest for about 2 minutes until it thickens from the baking powder and xanthan gum.

5. Pour batter into greased muffin top pans, muffin pans or 8 x 8” square pan. If you use muffin top pans, fill only halfway, then wet your fingers and spread the mix out to the edges.

6. For muffin tops and muffins: Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown but the tops are barely colored. The muffin tops won’t mound above the pan, but will rise evenly. Each oven is different, so start checking at 12 minutes and cook longer than 15 minutes if needed.

For 8 x 8” pan: Bake for about 35 minutes until golden brown. Insert a fork or toothpick in the center to make sure the bread is cooked through.

7. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes before removing from pans.

Tips & Alternatives:

The dairy-free versionof this tends to look very pale. It also lacks the buttery flavor. I used Earth Balance butter substitute and plain almond milk.

For egg-free: Half the recipe (to make 6 toaster muffins), then add 2+1/4 Tbsp water, 2+1/4 Tbsp extra oil and 1 Tbsp extra baking powder. You can also use egg replacer or flax seed meal to substitute the eggs.

I cut corn bread pan into 3 inch squares, cut each square in half and then toasted each side. Spread with mayo, then top with turkey and tomato for an open face sandwich. My son also approves of serving cooked bacon on top of warm cornbread as a breakfast.

To restore the ‘just out of the oven’ taste and softness, microwave or toast the bread.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¾ cup buttermilk (plus more as needed)
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon potato flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a wide shallow bowl, mix together gluten-free flour mix, brown rice flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum and sugar.
3. Rub butter into flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Stir baking soda and potato flour into buttermilk.
5. Stir buttermilk mix into dry mix until it resembles a sticky dough—almost a paste, not a dry dough.*
6. Gather dough together and pat with wet hands into a roughly 6-7” round on a lined cookie sheet. Use a spatula to mark the dough into four quarters.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45–60 minutes. Cook until bread is well risen, hard on top and sounds hollow if you tap the bottom of the bread.
8. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Tips and Alternatives:

This recipe can also be scooped into scones. The scones are great with soups and portable for school or work.

*Depending on the flour brands you use, the flour mix might suck up liquid and be quite dry, needing more of the buttermilk. Start at ¾ cup and add more. I normally have to use ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp. for this mix.