HOW TO MAKE A 100% GLUTEN FREE THANKSGIVING MEAL THAT IS DELICIOUS!
(ANY HOLLIDAY MEAL CAN BE 100% GLUTEN FREE)
GLUTEN FREE OR NOT
Our Thanksgiving feast of 2013 was lovely!
The meal, the company, the table, the conversation, it could all have only been better with Nicholas and his wife Jacquie were with us. And I did not have to worry that I was eating something that would make me ill. As a bonus I only cooked two things!
We had Thanksgiving at our son Alexi’s home. This was Alexi and his wife Amber’s first Thanksgiving. Peter and I, our daughter Catharine and her honey Willy along with the children’s God father, their “Uncle Arnie” were there. Nicholas and Jacquie are out of the country this year.
Even though I am the only person at the table who is gluten intolerant, the Thanksgiving meal was totally 100% gluten free. My children did not want there to be any accidents that could make me ill, so they wanted everything on the table to be gluten free. That’s the kind of nice people they are :) Most of the dishes were cooked by Alexi and Catharine using gluten free recipes taken from my blog ‘Mrs. Gabby’s Kitchen’.
The table was graced with:
Roasted Turkey
Turkey Gravy
Dressing
Cranberry sauce
Brussels sprouts
Green beans
Sweet potato latke
Kasha varnishka
Challa
Pecan pie
Pumpkin pie
The turkey was a Murray’s gluten free turkey; as my gluten intolerance extends to poultry and eggs. Alexi chopped up the vegetables to stuff into the turkey in a food processor; normally these are rough cut by hand, his method would give the turkey more flavor.
The gravy was made with the turkey neck, giblets, vegetables and herbs made into a broth which was then strained and added to a Roux made with olive oil and garbanzo bean flour from Bob’s Red Mill. A little broth was added to the bottom of the turkey pan to get the browned bits to make the sauce brown and to add more flavor.
(Accidentally the Reynolds's turkey bag used to cook the turkey, touched the top of the oven and burned and the turkey had to be roasted without a bag, it was fine, unfortunately no gravy was produced, only browned flavorful bits.)
The dressing was made with one of the previous efforts of Challa I had made, instead of cornbread and using some of the broth made with turkey neck etc. and Murray's chicken liver. If we had to have made cornbread, we would have used Bob’s Red Mill gluten freecornbread mix.
Cranberry sauce Alexi made a little different than my usual, I think he forgot it was on the stove but the flavor was super, he let most of the juices cook down and caramelize. A good adjustment. Good things in kitchens happen accidentally.
Brussels sprouts were cooked and then baked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350F to warm up as well as get lightly roasted. Lightly roasting was another good adjustment.
Green beans were steamed, then sautéed with a little olive oil and garlic.
The sweet potato latke was mixed with garbanzo bean flour. About a ¼ to ½ cup of flour was added to the 2 lbs of sweet potato and red skin potato mixture. The amount of flour added vary according to how much liquid could be removed from the shredded potato mixture. The Eggland’s Best eggs, flour and garlic were added after the squeezing.
Kasha varnishka was cooked by toasting 1½ c whole kasha in 2 t of olive oil. Instead of 3 c liquid as called for on the kasha bag, 2 ½ c liquid was used. The gluten free bow ties, yes, for those of you who were not able to find gluten free bow ties, an Italian company called Le Veneziane makes corn based three dimensional bow ties called ‘farfalle’ that can be ordered online.
The Challa recipe is good. But it still needs adjustments and I will be doing that during the next several weeks. Gluten Free Pantry sandwich bread mix, Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour/starch, Manischewitz potato starch, Eggland Best eggs, Red Star yeast was used in this recipe along with NOW guar gum, Clabber Girl baking powder and Arm & Hammer baking soda.
The two pies were made with Pillsbury gluten free pie dough found in the refrigerator section. I was going to make my usual pie dough using Gluten Free Pantry pie crust mix, but Amber took me to her local supermarket that carried the Pillsbury stuff and we decided to try that. This crust was good. I would use it again when I don’t have time to make my usual, if I can find it! Lactaid milk was used because I am lactose intolerant.
This pie crust needs to be rolled between two sheets of parchment paper. Follow the directions on the side of the tub.
And…roll the dough out gently from the middle to top and middle to the bottom, turn 1/8th turn of the parchment papers and dough, make another roll, make another turn, until you get back to the beginning. Slowly release the parchment paper, lay it back down on the dough. Turn over the whole thing so the bottom piece of parchment is now on top. Do the rolling thing again. Release the parchment paper and lay it back down. Do this until the dough is about 3/16th” thick and about 1 ½” larger than the pie plate. Any thinner and the dough will break up. Release the parchment paper from the dough on both sides so that the paper is not sticking to the dough on either side. Remove the paper from the top. Place the dough on the pie plate; remove the already released paper that is now covering the dough. Gently ease the dough onto the pie plate, cut the excess off (save to gather up to make more pie crust or decorations to add to your pies) and flute the edges using fingers and thumb. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before proceeding with the pie recipe.
I had to roll out each crust at least twice, sometimes more! They kept breaking up. I think I kept forgetting that gluten free dough is fragile.
8” disposable plates were used and two crusts were made out of each tub of the Pillsbury dough, if Pyrex pie plates, which are bigger had been used, two tubs of dough would have been needed for three crusts.
The night before Thanksgiving Alexi made meatballs using my recipe and using some of the Challa to make crumbs. This was the first time I had eaten food made with my recipes by someone else. The food was yummy everyone had seconds and thirds. The Thanksgiving meal was the same, everyone loved the meal.
In conclusion, it is entirely possible to make a meal totally gluten free and lactose free, that can be enjoyed even by those who are not gluten or lactose intolerant. Unless you tell them, no one will even know!
And the gluten intolerant person will not have to worry, and they will not have to feel excluded because they had to eat food that was different from everyone else. Think of it, if it is a child that is gluten intolerant, will he or she not feel excluded and deprived by having things they can’t have on the table? Will the parents not worry that the child might ingest something that could make them ill? Especially at a large meal, at a large gathering where everyone is catching up and busy visiting it would be so easy for a child to have something they shouldn't and end up ill. As you can see there is absolutely no reason for that to happen at YOUR table!
All you had to go out of your way to buy was:
A container of 2% Lactaid milk, ($5 per half gallon).
A bag of Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo bean flour, ($4 per bag).
A box of Le Veneziane bow ties (about $ 5 per box). If you can’t get bow ties, use some other shape, like penne, gluten free pasta which is easily found).
A couple of tubs of Pillsbury pie dough($5 per tub) to make this meal.
If you exclude the Murray’s turkey (most gluten intolerant people don’t have a poultry problem as far as I know), the Challa was made because it was the second day of Chanukah, or you can just make plain Gluten Free Pantry favorite sandwich bread ($5 per box) from the mix.
If there is a poultry problem and you can’t get gluten free poultry products, skip the chicken liver from the dressing. The turkey will be the only problem for the gluten intolerant person, unfortunately in this instance; your gluten intolerant person will have to have something other than turkey.
Otherwise, you have a totally gluten free meal on your table and no one has to feel left out and most importantly, GET ILL.
If you didn’t get to have a 100% Gluten Free thanksgiving in 2013, here’s hoping that you will do so in 2014 and thereafter. Or use some of these recipes for other holiday functions.
Best wishes,
Mrs. Gabby
P.S. The brand names of the gluten free products used in my recipes are written in bold type. These are product brands are easily available in my area and I use consistently. Please feel free to use the gluten free products available in your area that you normally use.
