Lenten Bread

Making a gluten free bread for our little church's Communion Eucharist is something that I have wanted to do for my congregation for a long while. I have tried three different gluten-free bread recipes, but none have a nice loft and a flavour that non-gluten intolerant folks will accept. I have finally found a couple ready made flour blends made by Bob's Red Mill that are very good ... Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix and Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix. The key is to eat these breads when they're very fresh ... so I am making bread this afternoon for this evening's Lenten service.

There are a few things to remember when cooking or baking for the gluten-intolerant. Some of these folks are incredibly sensitive to even the most minute exposure to glutens. Consequently, your cook space must be impeccably clean and free from any wheat or other gluten bearing grains or products. This means airborne wheat/flour dust ... I always bake GF when I haven't done any conventional baking beforehand. In addition, the bowls and bake pans must be spotless. I know ... why wouldn't they be in all cases? But ... in this case it's pretty crucial ... no spots, no residue, nothing! For this reason, I use stainless steel bowls that have been run through the dishwasher and a smooth ceramic baking dish or dedicated bread pan that has had the same treatment. There must be no contamination of the bread, cake, whatever.

The ingredients list on this particular recipe calls for water, yeast, oil or butter, eggs, and cider vinegar. Those ingredients must be confirmed as having no additives (oil and vinegar). No add-ins here. It's funny but sometimes items that seem as if they should be gluten free can harbor hidden glutens in enzymes or chemical preservatives or flavour enhancers ... or so I'm told. So ... I am extra careful. If in doubt, talk to your GF friend or consult a resource from one of the area GF group's websites or publications... like this one that a friend recommended.

Triumph Dining Website ... where you can get this handy dandy booklet

So ... that's my rant, now that I have you totally intimidated! Actually, it's just a matter of paying attention and consulting a few good sources. Really? No big deal.

Voila! Communion bread!