low gluten diet experiment and PIE

[permetaform]

lierdumoa is at my place for a visit and we has embarked in the adventures of PIE; being that I triangulated several "best pie/pie crust evar" recipes I've found online and we kept making the suckers until the pie was Magical.

MAGICAL.

If you've been following lierdumoa's food tags at all, you'd notice that most of her cooking involve alcohol and we were very excited to learn about this pie crust recipe that involved vodka.

Us, being, us, decided that vodka was decidedly inferior to brandy, so we found one with the same alcohol content (because that's the fool-proof recipe's secret). And then we marinated the fruit in brandy before baking. ^_^V

The recipe is alllllmost there, it's already better than lierdumoa's fave restaurant pie, but it could be kicked up a notch to become GLORIOUS; along the way I've figured out some awesome baking tips for newbies. (like why pastry flour make pie more awesome and how to half-ass it from cake flour and all-purpose)

We'll post the final when we get there. =D


On the gluten issue; I've been connecting the dots on some GI symptoms that I've been having that've been stumping my doctors and wonder if I have some sort of gluten intolerance/allergy; especially since I found out that gluten allergy can cause late onset lactose intolerance as well as fatigue.

Since I don't really like most hard/chewy breads much (I lean toward the cake/flaky pastry end of the bread spectrum, if at all) it's not really that hard of a diet for me. What I'm wondering tho, is strange stuff that gluten is in without being on the label, so I thought to ask ya'll if you know of any major culprits that had surprise gluten? I found out there's gluten in ketchup, which makes me sad, are there any other condiments that have it?

Thoughts?

Comments

[tigress35.livejournal.com]

Hi hi! How have you been?

My personal research on gluten indicates that anything processed and/or not explicitely labeled as gluten free may have it. Most grains save for quinoa and I think corn and rice (have to double check) has gluten. Gluten is often used as a binder or filler in processed foods, so something seemingly safe like packaged turkey or chicken may have it.

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

I'm Celiac, which means I have to live on a Gluten-Free diet. Gluten is contained in wheat, rye, oats, barley, and some varieties of wild rice. Anything that contains "modified food starch" must be assumed to contain gluten. Anything made with wheat flour (including pie crust, all pastries, and cake) contains gluten. Processed foods should be assumed to contain at least trace amounts of gluten unless they are labelled "gluten-free" and carry a statement that they are processed in gluten-free or wheat-free environments. This is because there is no single standard for "gluten-free," and some companies will label a product "gluten-free" if it has no gluten in its ingredients, but was made on the same equipment as other products which do contain gluten. This is known as cross-contamination, and is a danger when eating out, as well.

As a single person just starting out on trying a Gluten-Free diet, possibly the best book I can recommend for you is Shreve Stockton's Eating Gluten Free. It contains some very easy recipes for all meals, plus breads and desserts, but more importantly, it includes lists of ingredients in processed food that are "hidden gluten." It also contains advice on noting symptoms that might indicate accidental gluten ingestion, which can be useful if you're not used to connecting certain symptoms to gluten ingestion.

Along with diet, though, you'll want to consider cosmetics, skincare, and bath and body products. These are things that get absorbed through your skin and work their way into your intestinal tract, and these are things that frequently include gluten, often in the form of wheat or oat proteins. I am still on the lookout for bath and body products that meet my other requirements while being gluten-free (I am very, very sensitive to smells, and things like the basic Dove and Ivory scents make me nauseated), but I use Everyday Minerals cosmetics and BeautiControl lipstick (all BC cosmetics and skincare are GF but their lip gloss and lip balm).

It can be pretty overwhelming to be diagnosed with Celiac and suddenly feel like you're surrounded by poison, but California is actually a good place to find a lot of GF options, and a good, basic advice and cookbook (also look for work by Danna Korn) can really help as a guide when you're starting out. There are also Celiac fora online for specific questions and locations. You might Google for one in your area, which could also lead you to a local support group.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Many commercially sold soy sauces!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I don't know much myself-- do you mind if I point another friend who was recently diagnosed with gluten issues this way? You guys could trade notes.