Use rice flour for gluten-free cooking and baking
Those who suffer with Celiac's disease or are otherwise sensetive to gluten must avoid wheat, rye, barley and cross-contaminated oatmeal. Finding an alternative to those products has become easier and easier as leading retailers have recognized the importance of providing them. Rice flour, made from polished white rice, is one of those alternatives. Though it doesn't offer much taste on it's own, it can play a role in many gluten-free recipes. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
Rice Flour as a Breading Alternative
1. Use for breading. Sometimes it's the little things that matter--the crispy coating outside of fried chicken, the layer on the outside of veal parmesan--without them, the taste and presentation can be inferior. Rice flour is just one option for replacing those things in a gluten free diet.
2. Dip chicken or veal first in rice flour, then in a well-beaten egg, then in cornflakes before frying or baking. The successful restauranter Michael Chiarello relys on rice flour regularly for his fried chicken.
3. Marinate the chicken in rosemary and balsamic vinegar overnight. Then, add buttermilk to the marinade and dips chicken in that mixture.
4. Alternate dipping the chicken in buttermilk and then in seasoned rice flour before frying for a thin and crispy coating on delectable onion rings. As a side dish, try thickly sliced onions.
Rice Flour in Sauces
5. Use for sauces. Creamy sauces, gravies and cheese sauces are often started with a on a rue, a mixture of flour and fat meant to thicken the mixture. Alfredo sauces and the creamy cheese sauces in Macaroni and Cheese are two examples of recipes that benefit from the thickening properties of a rue.
6. Make a rice flour roux by combining a ratio of 1:1 oil and rice flour in a medium saucepan on a stovetop.
7. Heat slowly to brown the rue, stirring constantly.
8. Add liquid and remaining sauce ingredients such as milk, cheese and spices.
Rice Flour in Baking
9. Favorite baked goods can be made gluten-free
Use for baking. Usually, flour has a vital role in baking to provide protein and starch-any ideal gluten-free substitution should do the same.
10. Substitute 3/4 cup of rice flour for 1 cup of wheat flour. The texture of the final product may be chewier, but is gluten-free.
11. One writer who specializes in gluten free baking provides a flour recipe to be used for versatile recipes. Mix 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 1-2 tsp. of zanthan gum together. The tapioca flour adds some sweetness and added starch, while the zanthan gum works to add volume and thickness to recipes.
Tags: rice flour, before frying, cheese sauces, crispy coating, fried chicken