I am starting to feel more confident with my gluten free cooking. Although I like high quality ingredients and flavorful meals, I am also not opposed to using a gluten free mix to save  time and frustration.

Initially, I felt discouraged with gluten free cooking, as everything I made flopped. So, I stuck with naturally gluten free foods and specialty mixes. To me, there is nothing worse than spending a great deal of time and a sizable amount of money on special ingredients, only to have the dish or dessert  make a beeline for my trash can. What a waste!

I have been gluten free for three years now, and I am finally getting the courage to start experimenting with recipes again.  When my copy of Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook arrived in the mail. I felt pretty excited to see what kind of recipes were waiting inside.  To be honest, my initial flip through left me feeling overwhelmed and a little intimidated. Not only did the recipes sound fancy ( hazelnut- encrusted salmon with cilantro-lime creme anyone?) but some of the the ingredient lists were quite long.  However, as I read further, I realized that the recipe directions were short, concise and incredibly easy to follow. Whew! Maybe there was hope after all.

I tried many of the 100 or so recipes in this book- everything from appetizers to desserts.  Almost every recipe turned out incredible, and my gluten eating friends and family raved about how flavorful they were. I must admit, because this is a from-scratch cookbook, the preparation times were pretty long for a intermediate cook like myself.  But I think the extra time and effort was worth it.

* A chapter on gluten free basics: explanations and nutritional values for 25 gluten free flours and starches; nuts & seeds and basic cooking definitions

* A chapter dedicated to eating out from a chef’s perspective

* Well rounded chapters that include soups, entrees, side dishes, pies & cakes, quick bread, biscuits etc, cookies & sweet bars, puddings & mouses & cobblers

* Clear, concise, simple to understand directions

* Flavorful recipes that are great for everything from simple family dinners of  country style chicken pot pie, to extravagant dinner parties featuring African peanut soup, coffee-encrusted beef tenderloin with port wine sauce, smoked gouda polenta with candied banana cream pie.

* Exercise caution when making the pies- they are all incredibly addicting!

* No “junk” recipes to make the cookbook longer- each recipe is tasty and purposeful

* Affordable price – only $11.55 on amazon.com! ( link is below)

* There are no sandwich bread recipes- only quick and sweet breads.  There is a recipe for breadsticks and pizza crust though.

* Recipes use a variety of flours – you will need a well stocked gluten free pantry to make many of the recipes

* Most of the recipes are from multi-step from scratch and may take beginning cooks longer to make

Overall, I really, really like this cookbook. I feel like it helps me create more flavorful dishes that I actually want to make again.

4 Responses to “Cookbook Review:Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook by Robert M. Landolphi”

1. Sam Saltzman
   August 20th, 2009 @ 12:39 pm

   Hey there, Just want to suggest recipe zaar.com, it is a great place to find recipes and great ideas. Also, follow what the people like because some of the recipes are good and some arent.

2. Karen
   August 20th, 2009 @ 5:46 pm

   Thanks for the tip Sam- I love it when people share their opinions of their recipes, too.

3. Rosie Newman
   August 28th, 2009 @ 1:29 am

   I really love your site and all you are sharing here. This is very helpful! I work part-time for the author, Tina Turbin who has a Gluten-free site and Gluten-Free blog. I really think you two should be introduced. I know she recommends other bloggers on her blog page in a special section and I think you would be one she would most definitely be interested in referring. Could you e mail me back please and let me know if you would be interested in referring her link and her referring yours. I will let her know and you two can take it from there. She also reviews products and companies, does interviews and writes numerous Articles. I really think you’d like her! Thanks, Rosie http://www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

4. The Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook Reviews
   September 1st, 2009 @ 5:03 pm

   [...] “I tried many of the 100 or so recipes in this book- everything from appetizers to desserts.  Almost every recipe turned out incredible, and my gluten eating friends and family raved about how flavorful they were.” ––Gluten Free Food Reviews http://glutenfreefoodreviews.com/gluten-free-every-day-cookbook [...]

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