Red Lobster Introduces Gluten Free Menu

In response to a letter from our past president, Mary Wikle, Red Lobster restaurants are introducing a gluten-free menu.  Here is the letter:

Dear Mrs. Wikle,

Thank you once again for requesting that we develop a menu for people with food allergies. In response, we are introducing a new allergen menu that specifies whether each menu item contains any of the following ingredients:

• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts
• Shellfish
• Fish
• Soy
• Dairy
• Wheat / Gluten
• Eggs

As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and choice in helping you meet your nutritional goals, we are also making available a downloadable and printable version of this menu at http://www.redlobster.com/health/allergy/ . While visiting our restaurants; you may obtain this menu from your server.

Since recipes sometimes change, we will update the allergen menu regularly. Please note the effective date printed on each menu, and visit your local Red Lobster or redlobster.com any time you want a current copy.

The allergen menu is now available in our restaurants in the U.S. only. We anticipate having an allergen menu ready for our Red Lobster restaurants in Canada in Spring 2011.

We hope you find this information useful. We appreciate having you as a valued guest at Red Lobster and invite you and your family to use this coupon the next time you dine with us. https://www.redlobster.com/promo/special_offer/

Sincerely,

Kim Lopdrup
President, Red Lobster

Recipe Conversion idea

How to Convert a Traditional Recipe to Gluten and/or Dairy Free from Jean Duane, Alternative Cook.

 1. Start with a combination of flours in these ratios: 50% grain flour (brown rice or sorghum), 25% starch (cornstarch, tapioca or potato starch) and 25% protein flour (navy, fava, garbanzo, soy, gafava flour) or a different grain flour.  One cup of wheat flour translates into 1/4 cup of grain flour, 1/4 cup of bean flour and 1/4 cup of starch. 

2. Add 25-50% more leavening (baking powder, baking soda or yeast).

3. Add 1/2 to 1 tsp. acid (vinegar, citric acid, ascorbic acid dough enhancer, cream of tartar or citrus juice).

4. Add 1/2 tsp. of either xanthan gum to the dry ingredients or guar gum to the wet ingredients for every cup of flour, or 1/4 tsp. of each.  For smaller baked items, gums can be omitted.

5. Substitute butter with oil or ghee, cow’s milk with nut or rice milk (ideally with the same fat content).

6. Let the batter sit for a few minutes to absorb liquids before baking.  

 You can find one of Jean's recipes in the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies 2010 edition.  With these notes, you can convert the rest to be gluten-free, dairy-free!

For more of Jean's creations and to see a conversion of a brownie recipe visit www.askjeanblog.com

Portland’s Gluten-Free Crave Bake Shop to Compete on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars Tuesday Night

Local gourmet gluten-free baker Kyra Bussanich is getting some sweet national TV face time this week.

The Portland woman, owner of the custom order operation Crave Bake Shop, will compete on the holiday-themed season premiere of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars 9 pm Tuesday, Dec. 7.

The former Clarklewis pastry chef says she switched to a gluten-free diet after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder more than a decade ago. She’s the first gluten-free baker to ever compete on the show. She can’t reveal details on how she tempted the judges, but she does hint that she was “inspired by some of [her] favorite holiday party drinks.”

Want to taste test yourself? Come hang out with the Crave crew at Champions Sports Bar for a Cupcake Wars viewing party Tuesday night (see details below) or place an order at cravebakeshop.com. You may have more options come next year. Bussanich is looking at possible retail spaces and even thinking of launching Crave grocery store dry mixes in 2011.

Here are the details:

The Cupcake Wars episode, titled “Tree-Lighting,” will air on the Food Network at 9 pm PST, December 7, 2010. To celebrate, Crave Bake Shop will be having a viewing party at Champions Sports Bar located at 1401 Southwest Naito Parkway, Portland, OR 97201 from 8:30 to 10:30.

Stop by, watch the show, and try free samples of gluten-free cupcakes.

Source: Willamette Week

December holiday meeting/social

Instead of our December meeting, the Portland-metro GIG will have a holiday party at Pastini Pastaria at Bridgeport Village.
The lunch will be Saturday December 11 from 12 noon to 2pm. 

Cash will be helpful so that we won't have to split the check so many ways.
Reservations are not necessary but would be helpful so we can have an idea of the space we will need. 

Please comment or email Kristina at kristina.squires@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

The address for Pastini Pastaria is: 7307 SW Bridgeport Rd, Tigard OR, 97224. They are located across from Crate & Barrel in the Bridgeport Village shopping center.
You can check out their website here: http://www.pastini.com/index.php
They cook a gluten-free pasta which is available on most of their menu options.  They also have a gluten-free desert option (Tarimisu), so come hungry!

Please note that this lunch is in place of our regular meeting. We will NOT be meeting at Legacy Emanuel this month.