Gluten-Free Doesn't Have to Suck

Going gluten-free and/or diagnosed with celiac? It's not the end of the (good food) world. It is hard to imagine good pizza being gluten free. Or beer. Or any worthwhile baked good. There are some and I've found them. This is my place to share my good finds with some quick reviews.

[glutenless]

New Enzyme Shown to Breakdown Gluten

A friend pointed me to this arcticle on iflscience. Results of a new study were presented at Digestive Disease Week in Chicago that show promising results for those of us that are gluten-intolerant (but sadly not for celiac sufferers). 

An enzyme called aspergillus niger-derived prolyl endoprotease (AN-PEP) has been shown to break down gluten by around 85% before it hits the small intestine and causes trouble.

I read it and thought great, I want to try it. So I found out who makes it and it’s marketed under the name of Tolerase G in the US and is available as a supplement under the brand name GlutnGo by Bricker Labs. And it is available at Amazon. Sweet. 

I ordered some. Will report back with results. Reviews on Amazon are encouraging. 

[glutenless]

Sensitive To Gluten? A Carb In Wheat May Be The Real Culprit

Many people who don't have celiac disease say they feel better on a gluten-free diet. But scientists say some gut troubles may come from eating fructans and other FODMAP carbs rather than gluten.

I don't think I have Celiac and I still do get other foods setting me off to a lesser degree. I wonder if this applies to me. More diet experimentation to pursue...

[glutenless]

This place is a little pricey but really really good. Their burgers are available with their gluten free flat bread. Holy hell it was good. I only have an after shot of the burger because I devoured it right away. As a bonus they serve Bard’s so we got to have beers with our meal. Check out their menu on their website : www.radishsf.com

[glutenless]

Here’s midway through a sampling of the gluten free treats at Dolores Park Cafe at 18th and Dolores in the Mission. Coffee cake: Pretty good but not really up to the standard of real coffee cake. Peanut butter cookie: Very yummy and nice soft chewy texture. Chocolate torte: Practically fudge so small portions are good. Can’t really go wrong with fudge.

[glutenless]

Aftermath of the burger at Radish.

[glutenless]

And to cap off the night, delivery of Patxi's gluten free pizza.

[glutenless]

Ice cream at Smitten

[glutenless]

While not surprisingly gluten free, I wanted to check out the made by the serving, liquid nitrogen ice cream. It’s pretty much a novelty thing. The ice cream is super smooth but I feel they could come up with a better product. I had the chocolate with whipped cream and related walnuts. I would use darker chocolate and maybe more cream. The texture was great but the flavor wasn’t there.

[glutenless]

Gluten free rampage in SF

Currently on a gluten free rampage with my sister around San Francisco… Pics to follow shortly

[glutenless]

Holy shit folks, we have real beer here!! Immediately I noticed the difference on texture. Much thicker, real beer mouth feel. And oh the taste! Brings me back to when I could drink real beer. Yum yum yum. I forgot how much I enjoy a good beer. Wow, finally there's a real beer for us gluten free types. Good job Omission, good job in deed. Other stuff: Bought at Whole Food's for $9.99 for a 6 pack. This is a Pale Ale, also available is a Lager which I'm now eager to try as well.

[glutenless]

Back in the US for a visit and what's waiting for me? A new gluten free beer! This one is especially promising since they say it's made from malted barley but has had the gluten removed. Back later with the tasting results...

[glutenless]

New study points to non-celiac gluten sensitivity and the general health benefit for many people to avoid gluten... but they don't know why. 

Personally I know people who have had really odd conditions get resolved by going gluten free. It seems to be a last resort/I'll try anything solution that ends up working. 

Gluten's doing some weird shit in our bodies... 

[glutenless]

OMFG! Gluten Free Crepes

I finally cracked open the box of gluten free general purpose flour today. It had been sitting around for like 6 months. This one is available here in Chiang Mai at the Big C hypermart (like a supermarket but on crack).

There are some people that say if you have to go gluten free to not try to find substitutes for the food you miss as it will make the change harder. Well.. F that. Gluten free has come a long way and these crepes were as awesome as I remember crepes in Paris. (Although, I do recommend relegating this kind of food to special occasions. Personally I eat a pretty low carb diet daily and keep slim that way. Being gluten free makes that easier. But, you gotta have a treat now and then!)

I used the flour from the pictures and halved this recipe while rounding up to two eggs.

You could argue that anything containing Nutella and bananas is going to be great. And well.. yeah most things are. But, I have had some crepes in France that while stuffed with that good stuff weren't that great. These on the other hand not only don't get in the way of the great stuffing, they complement it quite well. The resulting texture is damn near spot on to the best crepes I've consumed. 

This Orgran brand GF flour is made in Australia so might not be available in the US. I'd imagine Bob's Red Mill gf flour would be decent. I included a picture of the ingredients so you can try to find a similar mix wherever you are. 

One more food you don't have to go without!

[marksthinktank]

50% of App Sales Earnings for October to be donated to Supporting Breast Cancer Research

I just got home after a 10 day stay in the hospital for an unexpected (but luckily) minor surgery. Medicine and disease have unsurprisingly been on my mind. 

I want to contribute to fields that really help people. But, I’m no doctor or medical researcher. I’m an app developer making apps that I hope people find useful but are hardly life changing. So, how to reconcile these things?

To fill the days during my hospital stay, I began to read Walter Isaacson’s excellent Ben Franklin Biography. In it, I was inspired by Franklin’s effort to tie private enterprise with the public good. Creating a win/win situation where both benefited. 

And so, the idea was born to give away half of the proceeds from my app sales. This month being Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a perfect time to start. For the month of October, 50% of my earnings from the sales of my apps (including in app purchases) will be donated to breast cancer research. 

Android Apps: Around Sound, Wave Control, Data Sleep, Sound Asleep

Wave Control for iPhone

I hope this will start a trend and other developers will do similar offers. 

This is an experiment for this month. If it proves successful and I can still afford to eat, then next month can feature a different cause to support. 

I’m excited to finally be able to give back more and make app development have a meaningful impact.  This truly gives me real motivation to keep innovating and working hard. 

Ideas and comments are most welcome,

Mark

[glutenless]

From my other site:

[glutenless]

I was pleasantly surprised on my weekly gf muffin fix trip to Blue Diamond in Chiang Mai, Thailand to see a fresh from the oven pan of gluten free corn bread!

The owner mentioned it uses rice flour as the substitute. I couldn't pass that up. So, in addition to my usual gluten free banana chocolate muffin and wheat-free (uses oats) blueberry muffin order, I took a slice of the corn bread home. 

As you can see in the picture, I went a little overboard with the chunk of butter sitting on top... but you know.. oh well. 

How did it taste? Pretty damn good. I'll admit it's been quite awhile since I've had real corn bread to compare it to but this one is light and has the slightly gritty yet moist texture of corn bread of my memories. 

So if you're ever in Chiang Mai, Thailand here's another gluten free indulgence available.

[glutenless]

Mani - Gourmet Brazilian Snack - Jalapeno Flavor

These were an impulse buy at Whole Foods. They were sampling them.. and they were good. Sold.

These are made with manioc root (tapioca) flour much like.. damn forgot the name.. this other company's cheese filled pizza crust type things... ehh google turned up nothing.. I'll post it if I can remember it. Back in Thailand so I can't just go to the store and check the name. 

Anyways, they have a unique kind of chewy texture and some cheese and jalapeños. As is pictured, we ate them with some prosciutto and salami. YUM. These flavors all go really well together. 

If you're looking for a nice gluten free appetizer, heat some of these up in the oven. 

Recommended.

[glutenless]

Udi's Gluten Free Chocolate Chia Muffin Tops

Man, I really wanted to like these. Udi's regular chocolate chip muffins are pretty decent. So I thought, hey just the top.. that sounds awesome. 

But oh.. why oh why did they put chia seeds in them?! I want chocolatey goodness to have with my coffee. Not some hippie bullshit attempt at adding a sprinkle of health consciousness by using a buzzword ingredient. 

My disappointment stems from expecting a guilty pleasure snack and getting something tainted. Muffin tops are the best part of the muffin without all the rest. It's by definition a treat.  

I know chocolate muffins are bad for me. But on occasion, I want one with my coffee. It's not like adding chia seeds suddenly makes these healthy. They're still terrible for you and now they taste like crap too!

So yeah, I'd skip these and stick to their regular chocolate muffins.

I even like chia seeds, I add them to greek style yogurt with some honey.. really tasty! But good god, don't put them in a chocolate muffin. 

I think this is the first Udi's product that I haven't liked. I guess everyone's gotta put out a dud every once in awhile.