Network Sponsors are restaurants, and bakerys that cook gluten free, professional educators, ingredients suppliers, and natural food stores who help promote the GFCN. Some restaurants also have vegan menus. I am currently working with all these sponsors to create an internet show on gluten free cooking called, "Eating Out Gluten Free". The first one is an interview with John and Lynda Rafferty of Raffertys Restaurant and Pub located in North Conway NH. Shown at the top of this page. If anyone else would like to get involved please just send an email. This is a free service for GFCN sponsors. Such videos can be linked directly to sponsors' websites and facebook pages as a powerful marketing tool. These videos will also be interspersed with interviews of professionals to help educate us all about the full spectrum of gluten sensitivity, intollerance, and allergies. We hope you find all videos highly educational and entertaining. The GFCN has also produced a tutorial DVD on Cooking Gluten Free. Which is being made available through the sponsors at a very reasonable price. The first one is called, "Sherry Pork Medallions". Some of the pictures from it are shown at the bottom of this blog. It is about 22 minutes in length.
Sponsors have also agreed to help promote the GFCN News. Which is an online newsletter designed with the general public in mind. It is available free by email. Restaurants, GF bakeries, health food/natural food stores, and ingredients suppliers which are members of the network will all have a full color copy of the GFCN News on display. This is an 'insiders eletter' that is available by email only. Please know that your email will never be given out or sold to anyone else. Not even to our sponsors.
Henry Grover Jr.
The Gluten Free Cooking Network
glutenfreecookingnetwork@gmail.com
For a free pdf copy of the GFCN News just send a request to the above email address.
This is a red letter report. When I talk to restaurant owners about offering GF pizza they always tell me that its not profitable. It doesn't work. That is simply not the truth. I can site one store that sells 25 GF pizzas a week. And they could easily quadruple that figure if they marketed correctly.
The secret lies in buying the crust prewrapped from a GF bakery. Make sure the wrap is air tight. One bakery I know double wraps their crust. Buy it fresh and then freeze immediately. It will last for a full month when frozen. Wrapping also eliminates the problem of cross contamination. A plain crust makes it possible to offer many different GF pizza varieties. It is only necessary to make sure that the toppings, sauce, and cheese are all GF. Also, the pizza should be cooked on its own dedicated metal plate. Then delivered to the table on this same plate.
Next, the restaurant can order enough pizzas a week ahead. Then freeze them for the next several days. Start with only a few pies. Then increase gradually as the demand increases. Also rotate into the next week.
At first your growth will be slow. But if you market correctly by collecting emails, using social networking, and advertising on your outside sign that people can see as they drive by;...I guarantee you will attract a special group. Which will give you notoriety, and grow your biz. Further, you could always become a sponsor of the GFCN and take advantage of the totally free benefits offered.
Henry Grover Jr.
The Gluten Free Cooking Network
glutenfreecookingnetwork@gmail.com
For a free pdf copy of the GFCN News just send a request to the above email address.
Here is one site that lists some different flour combinations. It really is the exact blending of the different flours that yeilds the different textures and tastes in the different products created. In other words you would want to use a different blend for bagels rather than a pizza. It all depends on your own personal likes too. So you might think one blend was perfect for pizza, but someone else wouldn't. Here is one page that I pulled up real quick that has a list of different flour blends. http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/rec/mixes.html#f
Another concern is finding these different flours. Again a quick search on the net should pull up some good sources. Here is just one that I found. http://www.nutsonline.com/gluten-free/cookingbaking/flours/ You will notice that the prices range from three to eleven bux. Somewhat pricey. Although you can get them down if you were to buy in bulk. It would pay to set up or find a coop for just this purpose.
Xanthan gum is a chemical colloid used as a thickener in many different GF cooking recipes. There are also many others such as guar gum, and locust bean gum. Here is a company I pulled up real quick that specializes in these. http://www.chemcolloids.com/Xanthan.html Again the idea would be to get on the phone and negotiate a bulk rate that a coop would work with. This company is in the UK which would complicate things somewhat and increase the cost of shipping. But here is another one in the States. http://www.ticgums.com/products.html Just for cooks! It looks like they have a lot of tech support too. But remember to ask about testing.
There are other ingredients that are common to GF cooking recipes. Some of which can be purchased at the supermarket or a natural health food store. Just remember that the products sold have been tested for cross contamination by a reputable testing company.
Another thing to always consider is that some of the ingredients might contain what is called hidden gluten. There are ingredients in the ingredients that can be contaminated by gluten. So again you will want to read, read, read. Know what you are buying, and make sure it has been tested by a reputable testing company. When frozen vegetables and toothpaste can be cross contaminated;...nothing is absolute. Even the tests available only go down to 5 ppms gliadin and 10 ppms gluten. Nothing goes down to a cool zero. This is a concern for you if you have celiac. If you just want to make a lifestyle change for whatever reason, that is quite another matter.
Henry Grover Jr.
The Gluten Free Cooking Network
glutenfreecookingnetwork@gmail.com
For a free pdf copy of the GFCN News just send a request to the above email address.
Trust
When frozen vegies can be cross contaminated the question of trust is always on the mind of the celiac. The consequences can be quite unpleasant so it becomes imperative to ask this question and expect a reasonably accurate answer. Enter the GFCO, the AOAC, and ELISA.
GFCO stands for the Gluten Free Certification Organization. Their address is http://www.gfco.org/ This is a program of the Gluten Free Intolerance Group or GIG. On this site you will find much information on gluten free testing and which companies use the GFCO to test their products. The tests they use go all the way down to 5 ppms gliadin, and 10 ppms gluten. I think you will be impressed.
AOAC stands for the Association Of Analytical Communities. Their address is http://www.aoac.org/ This is a nonprofit organization that is focused on various analytical techniques for determining the quantity and quality of supplements, herbs, plants, and food. Which includes discovering ways of figuring out exactly how much gluten is in a food or supplement.
ELISA stands for Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The purpose of this test is to serve as a diagnostic device to locate the specific quantity of an antibody in blood. Simply put however it looks for proteins. Enzymes are proteins. Food allergens such as gliadin (the chief allergen in the gluten complex) are proteins too. Here is their official site http://www.elisaassay.com/ Also, here is where you can buy ELISA tests to check for gluten cross contamination of your food. http://www.ezgluten.com/
Remember. The issue here is TRUST. Tested and Reliable User Supplier Team.
Henry Grover Jr.
The Gluten Free Cooking Network
glutenfreecookingnetwork@gmail.com
For a free pdf copy of the GFCN News just send a request to the above email address.
