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Wild Rice Stuffing With Mushrooms and Cranberries

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Stuffing is usually the hardest Thanksgiving side to make gluten-free, because the classic version is mostly bread. This one has none. Wild rice takes the place of the bread cubes, browned mushrooms and celery give it the savory base people expect, and dried cranberries and pecans add the sweet and crunchy bits. With the bread gone, the labels left to read are short: the rice blend, the broth, the cranberries and the nuts. Cook the rice in broth, and start checking early The gfcooking.food recipe simmers 1 1/2 cups of wild rice blend in 4 cups of broth, covered, over low heat. It is done when the grains are tender and some have split open, which takes 45 to 55 minutes depending on the blend. Cooking times vary a lot by brand, so start checking at 40 minutes, and drain off any broth left in the pan. Because the rice drinks up all that broth, the carton is the biggest label in this dish. Many cartons and bouillon cubes use yeast extract or flavorings that can come from barley, so...
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Gluten-Free Turkey Gravy Thickened With Cornstarch

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Gravy is the Thanksgiving dish most likely to bring wheat to a gluten-free table, because the classic version is thickened with flour and the shortcut version comes from a packet. Cornstarch fixes both problems. It thickens drippings and broth into a smooth, glossy gravy, and it is one ingredient you can read on a single label. Start with drippings you trust Pan drippings give gravy its flavor, but they are only as gluten-free as the turkey they came from. Some turkeys are injected with a basting solution, and brines, rubs and stuffing cooked inside the bird can all carry wheat into the pan. Check the turkey's label before it goes in the oven. If you are unsure about the drippings, 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter make a fine base on their own. Cornstarch into hot fat, then broth The gfcooking.food recipe warms 3 tablespoons of drippings in a saucepan, whisks in 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a smooth paste, and cooks it for a minute while whisking. It looks pale and...
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Loaded Baked Potato Soup That Needs No Flour

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Most loaded potato soups start with a roux: butter and wheat flour cooked together to thicken the pot. This one skips it. Russet potatoes are starchy enough to thicken soup on their own once you mash some of them, so the gluten-free version needs no flour swap at all. You only have to watch three labels. Why russets Russet potatoes break down as they simmer, and the starch they release turns the broth thick and creamy. The gfcooking.food recipe uses 3 pounds, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes. Yukon Golds hold their shape better, which sounds good but gives you a waxier, chunkier soup that never quite gets the same body. If you want a mix, use mostly russets with a few Yukon Golds for texture. Bacon first, then everything in its fat Cook 6 slices of chopped bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. The onion cooks in that fat for 5 minutes, then the garlic for 30 seconds,...
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Make-Ahead Cranberry Orange Sauce in 20 Minutes

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Cranberry sauce is one of the few Thanksgiving dishes that is gluten-free by nature and better made early. Fresh cranberries, sugar, orange juice, a little water, orange zest, a cinnamon stick and a pinch of salt cook down into a glossy sauce in about 20 minutes. It sets up in the fridge, and the recipe says you can make it up to 7 days ahead, which frees up a burner when the stove is at its most crowded. Fresh or frozen both work A standard 12-ounce bag of cranberries is the whole recipe. Rinse fresh berries in a colander and pick out any soft or shriveled ones. Frozen berries go straight into the pot with no thawing, so it is worth tucking a bag into the freezer while they are in stores. The sauce tastes the same either way. Dissolve the sugar first Put the sugar, orange juice, water and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar disappears. That takes about 2 minutes. Starting with a syrup means the berries cook ...
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Gluten-Free Chicken Noodle Soup With Rice Noodles

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Chicken noodle soup turns gluten-free with one swap: rice noodles instead of egg noodles made with wheat. The rest of the pot is chicken, vegetables and broth. Rice noodles behave differently from wheat noodles, though, and that difference is why gluten-free chicken soup so often ends up thick and mushy on day two. Start with the right broth Six cups of stock make up most of this soup, so read that carton first. Many broths and bouillon products list yeast extract or flavorings that can come from barley. Pick a chicken or vegetable stock labeled gluten-free. If you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for the meat, check how it was seasoned. Some come with rubs or injected solutions that list wheat or a vague "natural flavor." Build the base in 15 minutes Soften the onion and garlic in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the carrots and celery for a few more. Potatoes are optional and make the soup heartier. Pour in the stock, add a can of diced tomatoes if you ...
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Hasselback Butternut Squash With Sage Brown Butter

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Hasselback butternut squash is the side dish that makes people ask what it is. The neck of the squash is sliced into thin accordion folds, roasted until the edges caramelize, and basted with brown butter, sage and a spoonful of honey. Every ingredient is gluten-free by nature, so there are no flour swaps to think about. The work is all in the knife. Use the neck, save the bulb A butternut squash has a long solid neck and a round bulb full of seeds. Only the neck slices into even folds, so cut it away from the bulb and halve it lengthwise. Save the bulb for soup or roasting in cubes later in the week. Peel the neck before you slice it, and scoop out any seeds at the top. Soften it before you slice Raw butternut squash is hard, and hard squash under a knife is how fingers get cut. The gfcooking.food recipe microwaves the two halves, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes first. That softens the outside enough for the knife to glide through, but leaves the center firm so the slices hold th...
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars With an Almond Flour Crust

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Pumpkin cheesecake bars solve two Thanksgiving problems at once. They need no pie crust to roll out, and the crust they do have is gluten-free by nature: almond flour, chopped pecans, a little sugar and melted butter pressed into a pan. No flour blend, no xanthan gum, nothing to go crumbly. Why almond flour works here A cheesecake crust only needs to hold together and taste toasty. Almond flour and pecans do both, because the fat in the nuts binds the crumbs once the butter goes in. Stir the mix until it looks like wet sand, press it firmly into an 8-inch square pan lined with parchment, and bake it for 12 minutes at 325F until it turns light gold. Let it cool for 10 minutes before the filling goes in. Almond flour is made from almonds, but it is often milled in plants that also handle wheat. Buy a bag that says gluten-free, and check the pecans for the same reason. Mix the filling slowly Cracks in the top of a cheesecake usually come from air. A mixer on high whips bubbles...
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