If she doesn't need certified gluten free (which she probably doesn't if she's comfortable eating from a non GF kitchen), you can pick up glutinous rice flour or sweet rice flour (mochiko) from an Asian grocery and use that to make a roux. I'm also told on good authority that masa works, but I haven't tested it myself yet.

And (not that you asked, but) baking is a little trickier. If it's something like fudgy brownies where the amount of flour is small, the pan has sides, the gluten is not terribly structurally important, the product doesn't need to rise much, and the recipe contains eggs, you might be able to get away with just using your mochiko or GRF in place of wheat. The densities of all three flours are different, though; you'd only want about .85 cups of mochiko to sub for each cup of wheat flour, but you'd want about 1.3 cups of glutinous rice flour. It is widely believed that GRF and mochiko/sweet rice flour are the same thing, but they're not! They're good substitutes for each other, but only if you take into account the wildly different densities! If it's something like cookies or muffins, by the time you buy the xanthan and a few different flours, you may just be better off buying a premade GF flour blend or a boxed GF cookie or cake mix.

For thickening, I've used corn starch and xanthan gum, but I've read you can also use arrowroot, glucomanan, and kuzu. They do not give exactly the same texture as flour, to be sure, but they are gluten free and get the job done. A little experimentation might be needed to get exactly the texture/results that you want. I've also used mixtures of almond flour and coconut flour as substitutes in baking, and have had pretty good results. I was researching low carb flours, so my requirements were different. I know that are many DIY gluten free flour mixes out there on the web as well.

I did a quick Google search on "ingredients in Cup4Cup" and found a list of ingredients plus at least one recipe. If you're the type that doesn't mind experimenting, you might be able to replicate it less expensively.

Good luck,
Cj

This post was edited by cj47 on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 20:01

Potato flour (Bob's Red Mill) is an amazing thickener, really effective. A little goes a long way.

Instant potato flakes also work if you are thickening soups and gravies.

Annie

For thickening, I've used cornstarch, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, waterchestnut flour and chickpea flour (besan). I've also used wheat starch but I don't know if this is gluten free or not. These are usually available at Asian grocery stores and are very reasonably priced. I don't measure so I can't tell how to exchange one for another, but for a gravy or sauce I usually start with about a tablespoon per cup of liquid, adding more as it's needed.

Cheryl

If I'm thickening a sauce I use a corn starch slurry. For soups I use potato flakes for my gluten-free friends.
When making a quiche, I use a hash brown potato crust. Meringues make a nice gluten free dessert, either as cookies or to fill shells with ice cream. I don't have to do it that often so I don't want to get involved with lots of special products.

Great ideas, everyone! I knew about corn starch for sauces... but had no clue what to do about soups or gravies that call for flour. I'm very interested in the potato flakes substitute and will definitely give that a try. One of my favorite soups to make is Julia Child's French Onion Soup... strange to think about substituting potato flakes for the flour. Do you substitute equal amounts?

CJ's idea about building your own Cup4Cup substitute is great and I'll forward that to my gluten free friend, and check out the site for myself.

Thanks for the wonderful ideas. Equipped with these, I'll invite my friend and her husband to dinner.... I've delayed too long, because I just didn't know how to get around the thickener issue.

P.S. I have purchased many of the "weird" ingredients listed above -- xanthem gum, etc... because I baked this friend a couple of loaves of gluten free bread for a Christmas present, using the recipe provided by Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. The breads were excellent, and I was amazed.... but they certainly required very different ingredients -- all of which I was able to purchase at my local health store to make the bread.

I'll check the ingredients of Bob's potato flour to see if I can use that. Another great suggestion!

Thank you everyone!!

I am cooking low carb, and so am amassing my own store of 'weird ingredients'. I have found very good prices at Netrition.com and Honeyville Grains. I like Honeyville's almond flour. They offer discounts every so often, at which time I get 25 lbs and put it in the freezer. Both of these companies also offer a low flat rate shipping fee, so you don't go broke shipping 25 lbs of flour. :-)

Good luck,
Cj

What a friend you are!! I am always so grateful when people cook for me. I surreptitiously left a box of mochiko with some friends. He used it to thicken jambalaya, and another time breaded some chicken with it. Great investment for $1.50 a box! :-) Perhaps I should start keeping a few in the car, just in case.

I'm gluten free, and my absolute favorite thickener for soups/gravies is this mixture:

-1 part cornstarch
-1 part potato starch (not potato flour)
-2 parts arrowroot starch

You can use it either in a roux or as a slurry, which is nice for adapting recipes. The flavor is neutral (no weird aftertastes), there is no graininess/grittiness, and the texture of the finished food seems almost exactly like wheat-thickened items. I don't like to thicken gravy with straight cornstarch slurry, because it turns gelatinous and slightly translucent--I don't get that with this blend, even after I've refrigerated and reheated leftovers. I like it for soups or stews also--you can really use it for thickening just about anything.

Tiny Dogs.... Potato Starch, I'm not familiar with.... do you buy it in a health food store? I've used Potato flour... but the starch is new to me.

Sorry, I just now saw your response! I usually get potato starch at my regular grocery store, in the "health market" area that has all the organics, gluten free, vegan, etc. It's usually in a section of specialty flours and starches, mostly consisting of Bob's Red Mill products. If your grocery store doesn't have one of those sections, any good health food store should have it, or it can be found on Amazon (see link). I think the difference between potato starch vs. flour is mostly taste and consistency--the starch is lighter and makes gluten free baked goods a bit fluffier, and it has very little potato taste to it compared to the flour.

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Starch on Amazon

Manischewitz Potato Starch is often available at this time of year, Passover, if your store has a kosher or passover selection. Good stuff and versatile. Even stores without a Jewish population sometimes have a small kosher/style selection of Manischewitz products.