‘The Warm Kitchen’ has 150 recipes for gluten-free cooks
The cover of Amy Fothergill’s new cookbook, “The Warm Kitchen,” barely hints at what’s inside. There are photos of pasta, bagels, a cupcake and a brownie. It’s the subtitle that gives it away: This is a book for people who eat gluten-free.
Fothergill is an enthusiastic guide to making gluten-free foods that mimic their with-gluten versions, recipes she devised, she writes, with persistence and with the help of family and friend tasters.
It’s a journey that began in 2007, when her daughter, at 13 months, developed the skin ailment eczema and the family learned she had many food sensitivities, including to gluten -- a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.
Fothergill, a cooking instructor and consultant, provides more than recipes. She has a pantry guide with lists of foods to keep and those to toss to maintain a gluten-free diet. She also discusses the properties of more than a dozen other starches, used in place of those with gluten. Brown rice flour, she says, is a staple, and she uses it in her flour blends.
There are a number of gluten-free all-purpose blends on the market, but chefs are starting to create their own. Fothergill has one she says can substitute for all-purpose flour in almost any recipe. She also writes about substitutes for eggs, dairy and sugar. She also includes basics such as knife skills and lots of information on ingredients and techniques.
The recipes are wide-ranging, including muffins, meatballs and mac and cheese, along with some less common dishes such as polenta lasagna. There are holiday menus too.
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Mary.MacVean@latimes.com
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