Gluten Free Everyday Cookbook Review

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Robert M. Landolphi's Gluten Free Everyday Cookbook. I was very excited as its my first gluten free cookbook, other than the three Bette Hagman books I have.

I opened it immediately and started reading, there was much to choose from. The introduction where you learn what drove him to create the cookbook (his wife), the gluten free basics section where gluten free ingredients and their qualities are listed and then of course the many wonderful recipes. I can truly say its a cookbook I like. It's a nice easy to handle size, with easy to read fonts and wording, there are no pictures which would have been the icing on the cake but that's ok as there is as least color on each page.

One of my favorite features of this cookbook is that at the beginning of each chapter the first couple of pages are tips and tricks for ingredients and methods involved in making the recipes in that chapter. I love that I don't have to look far for a little help if I'm not quite sure how to do something involved in a recipe such as which thickening agent to use or a pie crust tutorial.

Reading through the recipes and deciding which I wanted to make for this post I chose two of my pre-gluten free favorites. Things I hadn't had in a long time, buttermilk biscuits and clam chowder. I wrote down the needed ingredients and headed to the store.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit (pg. 120)

I have to tell you, these were flaky, and buttery and oh so good straight out of the oven. I'll be making these again. In reality they were pretty darn quick to put together, they don't really do much for me the next day (which is typical for this kind of biscuit) but a little jam went a long way to make up for the shortcomings of these biscuits as leftovers.

Hearty New England Clam Chowder (pg. 42)

I love clam chowder, and boy or boy it's near impossible to find a gluten free version. This was very very tasty and I'll be making it again I promise you. I made this up and didn't have to add any salt what-so-ever as the flavor profile was just right for me. I did forget the step where I needed to puree some of the soup in order to make it more chowder-y (thicken it up) this did not change the flavor, just the texture. Didn't bug me at all, I kept on eating.

I'd recommend this book as a gift for a the newly gluten free and even for those of us that have been gluten free for a while. It doesn't take up much room and there are some very tasty recipes to be had within it. The last boon this book has to offer is toward the end there is a couple of pages dedicated to gluten free resources; organizations, distributors, support groups, magazines and newsletters. This book really does have a little bit of everything. Kudos.

(As an aside, I'm going to be missing in action the 18th through the 25th of July. I will have minimum internet access via my iPhone but will not be able to check in regularly. Be well and I'll see you all when I get back.)