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The holidays can be a source of stress for
many Celiacs and for others on a gluten-free diet for a multitude
of reasons, not the least of which is the concern regarding
cross-contamination, the prospect of entertaining and serving
gluten-free food to the gluten tolerant, and the anticipated
disappointment of not being able to enjoy the traditional
holiday meals you grew up with.
One of these missed and mourned favorites
is usually stuffing. To many, Thanksgiving is just not Thanksgiving
without stuffing. If you’ve tried making gluten-free
stuffing in the past with gluten-free bread, you’ve probably
found that the gluten-free bread does not hold up to the task.
Gluten-free bread tends to fall apart when moistened, let’s
face it, it tends to fall apart when dry too!
So what’s the solution? Is stuffing
no longer a part of your Thanksgiving meal? Absolutely not!
Our solution is to think outside the box. You can create fabulous
stuffings with wild rice and our new favorite, gluten-free
cornbread.
Here are a few tips that will help you prepare
sensational stuffings that you will be proud to serve for
your Thanksgiving feast.
*Unstuffed Stuffing
Obviously, the concept of stuffing is to
fill a bird before roasting with a seasoned, largely bread
mixture that will become moistened with the bird’s juices
as it cooks. We prefer to roast our poultry unstuffed and
to serve stuffing as a side dish, cooked separately for a
couple of good reasons. First, there is a debatable health
concern with the possibility of bacteria forming in the stuffing
because the bird will spend a significant period of time at
an unsafe temperature, between 45 and 140 degrees. Secondly,
it is more difficult to control the amount of moisture. This
can be critical in gluten-free bread stuffings because too
much moisture will produce a wet mass of soggy stuffing instead
of a light stuffing that has shape and texture. And last,
baking your stuffing separately will cut down on the cooking
time of the turkey and give you more flexibility in your game
plan as stuffing can be made ahead and will take only 30 minutes
to bake.
An important tip to remember is when baking
bread based stuffing separately, add melted butter and additional
gf turkey or chicken stock. This will compensate for the liquid
and fat that the bird would have added.
*Cornbread Stuffings
Cornbread stuffings are a great answer to
gluten-free bread stuffings because the addition of cornmeal
adds texture and density, which will holds up well when moistened
and baked. We have two tips for cornbread stuffing that will
ensure fantastic results:
Begin by making our ‘Perfect Cornbread’
recipe. This recipe is written for muffins but can be made
into bread as well. Simply pour the batter into a buttered
baking dish and bake for about 5-7 minutes longer. Test for
doneness by inserting a toothpick. The bread is done when
the toothpick comes out clean. *We used The Gluten-Free Pantry’s
Country French Bread Mix Flour as a straight substitution
for flour in this recipe.
Perfect Cornbread Muffins
- 1 cup gf flour*
- 1 cup corn meal
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/4 cups whole milk
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl,
combine gf flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs and canola oil. Pour
liquid ingredients into dry and mix until just combined.
Fill paper lined muffin tins with prepared
batter until they are about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 minutes
or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let
cool for 5 minutes before serving.
For stuffing, you should make the cornbread
one or even two days before. Just as traditional stuffing
calls for stale bread, stale cornbread will hold up better
than fresh.
If you want to speed up the drying process,
you can crisp the cornbread by cutting it into cubes and placing
the cubes on a baking sheet under a broiler. You will need
to watch it very closely and toss frequently to ensure that
it doesn’t burn.
Now that you have the perfect cornbread
for your stuffing, here are some fantastic recipes!
Sausage
Pecan & Raisin Stuffing
Pear
and Pine Nut Stuffing
Pumpkin
& Pancetta Stuffing
Wild
Rice, Italian Sausage & Shitake Stuffing
Wild
Rice Stuffing w/Hazelnuts & Cranberries
-Glutenfreeda
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