I’m planning my Thanksgiving menu now and going through my recipes to see where I can tweak things to make them work for friends and family who have different food intolerances.
One of our friends avoids gluten. My recipe for gravy involves a roux as a thickener. Last year, I didn’t think about it and made it as usual and needed to scramble to put together drippings thickened with cornstarch for him which was not up to my usual feast standards. This year, if I can make the roux with gluten-free flour, well, huzzah! One problem solved.
So, is it possible? Have you done it yourself? Was there a difference in flavor or texture?
I’m afraid the people with dairy issues are just going to have to suck it; there’s no way I’m changing my mashed potatoes recipe. I still have PTSD going back to the childhood year in which we tried to have a fat-free Thanksgiving and made the potatoes with skim milk and fat-free butter. ::shudder:: Never again, my friends. Never again.
You’re not wrong! This was at the height of the fat-free craze in the States and in retrospect, I’m horrified at the idea of it. What kind of muck could we possibly have been subjecting our poor bodies to, thinking we were being health-minded? And the results were appalling. The entire Thanksgiving dinner was completely tasteless and wrong. After that, we asked ourselves what the hell we were thinking; it’s one meal a year! Nothing bad is going to happen as the results of one meal! And it’s special, so it’s worth going all the way.
Of course, that doesn’t apply to intolerances. I want everyone to enjoy themselves, which includes not poisoning them. That’s just the kind of hostess I am.
The gluten-free flour I have is, lessee, Glutano brand universal flour, made from rice flour, potato starch, sugar, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, carob bean flour, salt, mono- and diglyceride. Mmmm! It’s just what I have on hand from the last time I made something that needed to be gluten-free.
Alternative - I just grab the pan drippings and some of the veggies that were in the roast pan, and put them in a blender. It’s not thickthickthick, but it’s not watery. And you can probably boil it down if you want.
Gluten free shouldn’t be an issue because the thickening power comes from the starch granules in the flour and not the protein. I have not done any experiments to find out, but from what I learned in my Science of Food course, it should be fine depending on the type of starch in it. Let us know.
Yes, you can, but don’t expect it to brown the same way wheat flour does, 'cause it won’t. Just cook it a minute or two, cross your fingers and go.
Or you can do a corn starch slurry. I prefer those, because I have much better control over the final gravy thickness. Just mix a couple of spoonfuls of cornstarch with cold water in a small bowl or cup and add to the simmering gravy while whisking. As long as you’ve got it at a simmer or boil, it thickens in a matter of a few seconds, and then you know if you need to add more or not.
You could buy some wheat starch and use that. It’s flour with the gluten proteins taken out so it should respond roughly identically in a roux but without the worry about gluten.
I agree that the basic science is that it should work, as it’s the starch not the gluten doing the thickening.
But gluten-free flour is basically corn/rice/potato -starch plus guar gum and what not. So if you’re going to avoid regular flour, you may as well just go with the cheaper and easier to control cornstarch, rather than taking chances that the guar gum will behave.
You can substitute rice flour for wheat flour in virtually any recipe. Rice flour roux is pretty much indistinguishable from ordinary flour roux. Don’t worry about the color, it comes from the milk solids in the butter. So long as you use butter it will brown up fine.
…or mushy pasta that goes from crunchy to mush in 0.3 seconds…
Potato starch is my “in stuff” wheat flour replacement of choice - it works in roughly the same amount by volume, and makes great breading. For baking, there really is no single ingredient replacement. Rather than keep a dozen bags of gums and flours and starches and ground nuts on hand, I go for the premixed stuff, often with the leavening already in it.
I’m falling deeply and madly in love with Chebe. Still a mix, technically, but it’s mostly manioc (tapioca) with some salt and leavening. Makes rolls and breads and pizza crusts and cinnamon rolls and this past summer my Chebe wrapped hot dog experiment made the Facebook rounds. Anywhere you want a chewy bread texture, Chebe’s your friend. Don’t think I’d try a pie crust with it, but I’m sure someone has.
Yeah, it works just fine with pretty much any commercially available gluten-free flour, save maybe the organic ones that are just pure one type. But I agree that corn starch does an even better job.
Also, the problem with wheat starch is not that it’s wheat starch, but that it’s waste product from refining wheat gluten, and thus is not inherently gluten free. It must be tested to make sure the gluten content is low enough (15-20 ppm or less). And, unfortunately, the FDA rules for what you can label as gluten-free are still not quite in effect, so even such a label is not enough assurance for some, particularly those who are most sensitive.
Even for someone like me who is not super-sensitive, the fastidiousness involved in a proper, medically-guided gluten free diet is ridiculous. It almost makes me feel like I’m going backwards in my OCD at times.
I “avoid gluten” - which means please don’t serve me a big ole sandwich on regular bread with a big slice of cake for dessert - I’ll end up in gastric distress if I eat it. But I’ll have a gravy thickened with roux without an issue, or a pie with a flour crust (I usually pick around it, but I don’t worry about cross contamination), or even a bite of my husband’s chocolate cake. So if they merely “avoid gluten”- ask. If they are gluten free, you can also ask - I have friends who are gluten free who need to be very strict, and friends who are far more to my end of the spectrum, but present as GF to avoid getting served that big ole sandwich.
And there are foods that I’d rather everyone eat rather than have someone try and miss with the gluten free version. GF cornbread stuffing is OK, but its not my mother’s stuffing and my family is entitled to my mother’s stuffing - I just won’t have it. If I’m eating pasta, I expect only the gluten free to want to very expensive and frankly sub par GF pasta - everyone else should get real noodles. If you asked me, I’d say “make the gravy - if I feel up for it, I’ll have it, if not, I’ll make due gravy-less” (it isn’t a big deal for me, I’m not a gravy person to start with so gravy is something I’ll skip without regret).
Excellent point, Dangerosa. Last year, I was talking with his wife the day before we celebrated Thanksgiving and going over what was in each dish so he knew what he should avoid. I had already prepared the gravy (I have a kickass recipe for gravy prepared in advance that is about as involved as my method for turning the turkey carcass into the glorious turkey soup that is my hands-down favorite food of the entire year) and she said he wouldn’t be able to have it because of the flour. I know that he’s very careful to avoid everything that is made with wheat. I figured that if I could take it out of the couple of recipes and replace with something that would work for him without affecting the taste for everyone, well, why not?
Actually, the only other recipe that I would need to change is the stuffing. I’m inclined to use the gluten-free rolls that he uses as the base of it and make the cornbread that is the other main part with gluten-free flour, and then Bob’s his uncle, so to speak. I don’t know how that would affect the stuffing, but honestly, I’ve spent decades futilely pursuing the stuffing of my childhood, and I’ve about given up hope of replicating it, so why not try something new?
In any case, much gratitude to all for your input! I wasn’t sure if what I was contemplating was a scientific impossibility; if the thickening property of a roux came from gluten, I’d have felt pretty dopey for trying to achieve it with something that simply couldn’t do that. I am mightily relieved!
I’ve never tried thickening a sauce or a gravy with a cornstarch slurry. The recipe I use for turkey gravy calls for roasting turkey legs, using the bones to make turkey stock, and then using the turkey fat skimmed from the top of said stock as the fat in the roux. I’ve never had a better gravy in my life, and this recipe creates so much that we actually have some left for the day after Thanksgiving, which is a delightful thing. Could a cornstarch slurry provide the same depth of flavor as a roux?
Of course, a large reason I’m so committed to making a roux here is that it makes me feel like a real cook and it’s just a fun word to say. Roux. Roux, roux, roux. Try it!
I will be the big meanie. If they are just avoiding gluten they probably do not have an allergy, if they did you should know as they are your friend. Make them suck it up just like the dairy folk.
Gluten free stuffing sucks. Period. Full stop. I’ve tried every combination of gluten free ingredients possible, rolls, gf bread cubes, gf bread, gf cornbread (I’m not a fan of cornbread stuffing, but I was getting desperate) and good gluten free stuffing is a scientific impossibility. It always comes out with a disconcerting mushy mess of too-wet there and too-grainy here. Really. Trust me. Don’t waste your time.
If you’re dedicated to attempting a gluten free stuffing, step away from the bread based stuffing in your mind, and do something interesting with quinoa or rice instead.
Well, no and yes. No, it doesn’t give you the flavor that a roux does, from the caramelization as you brown it. But honestly, I don’t think you’re getting as much flavor from your roux as you think you are. Two reasons: one, that’s a *wonderfully *flavorful stock you’re making there. At least 98% of your flavor is coming from that. And two: roux that thickens isn’t cooked long enough to have a lot of flavor. The darker the roux, the more the flavor, but the less the thickening capability. The brown color shows you that you’ve broken the complex starch bonds and made a bunch of sugars out of them, and those sugars are what browns and give flavor - but once you’ve turned them into sugars, they’re no good as starches for thickening.
So assuming you’re not using a dark or brick roux, I don’t think your flavor is coming from the roux. And if you are using a dark or brick roux, I haven’t been able to make that with gluten free flour, as mentioned above. Maybe it will work with your particular blend, but maybe not, and maybe not isn’t something you want to be messing up your wonderful gravy with. If you’re worried about the flavor, I’d suggest heating the same amount of fat you usually do and add to the stock, then go the corn starch slurry route.
It is a great word, isn’t it? But a real cook sometimes uses a slurry, sometimes uses a roux.
This attitude is absurd. Why would anyone bother to prepare a meal for others to endure eating? The OP is trying to make delicious food to please guests with a variety of diet restrictions and should be commended for being thoughtful and considerate of others. It’s not a prison cafeteria staffed by forced laborers, it’s a festive holiday meal. Why on earth would the host want to disrespect people’s dietary restrictions and eat food they don’t feel comfortable eating regardless of the reason?
The non-dairy people can easily be accommodated by removing a portion of the cooked potatoes and mashing them separately sans dairy. Mash them before the main batch and you won’t even have to dirty an extra masher.
Whether someone has an allergy, celiac, religious restrictions, a dislike of an ingredient, or whatever is their own business. If accommodations are onerous, they may prefer to bring their own food, and no one should be expected to custom-prepare a separate meal for each guest, but as a host, I’d want everyone to enjoy the food I’ve prepared, not choke it down out of social obligation and possibly suffer gastric distress later.
It always comes out with a disconcerting mushy mess of too-wet there and too-grainy here. Really. Trust me. Don’t waste your time.
But a real cook sometimes uses a slurry, sometimes uses a roux.