Tell me more ×
Seasoned Advice is a question and answer site for professional and amateur chefs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite
1

A recipe calls for coating (slightly cooked) fennel bulbs in flour before roasting them, presumably to obtain a bit of a crust. Is there anything I could coat them with that is gluten-free?

share|improve this question

9 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

Rice flour should work well for this; it produces very crispy crusts.

share|improve this answer
Doesn't rice flour also contain gluten? – Carmi Oct 6 '10 at 13:29
4  
No. Rice generally thought of as a good gluten free alternative. Brown rice contains something like .02 of gluten so some highly intolerant people can only have white. I emphasis that this is rare though. – nunu Oct 6 '10 at 13:50
1  
@nunu: thanks for the correction. It seems I learn something new every few hours, and unlearn something wrong every day. – Carmi Oct 8 '10 at 7:43
up vote 8 down vote

I like nuts that are finely chopped, kinda like bread crumbs. Almond flour will perhaps work as well.

share|improve this answer
up vote 3 down vote

I would consider using potato flour. It gives a coating sort of like the outside of a chip (french fry).

share|improve this answer
3  
And for the cases where you're replacing breadcrumbs instead of flour, you can crush up potato chips (but use the thicker cut ones, like the ripple cut ones) – Joe Oct 7 '10 at 2:06
up vote 2 down vote

Actually, what I usually use at home is chickpea flour. It has a neutral flavour, generally, and gives a nice brown coat to my pakoras.

share|improve this answer
up vote 5 down vote

The last time I made "breaded" chicken, I had some spare lentils leftover and decided to pulse them in the food processor and try using them (not quite to a fine powder, but closer to that than whole). The result was delicious, a little bit of a nutty flavor, and a great crunch.

share|improve this answer
+1 for a cool, off the beaten path idea. Did the wife consider it a vegetable? ;) – yossarian♦ Oct 7 '10 at 3:15
@yossarian - HA! I didn't think to ask, but I bet she did :) and it must have been pretty good because she asked me to make it again the next week! – stephennmcdonald Oct 7 '10 at 3:29
This sounds delicious! Were the lentils cooked or raw when you pulsed them? – Dorrene Oct 7 '10 at 13:38
They were still raw - which is why I decided to take them down to a size that was as close to a powder as I could without being an actual full-on powder (though I suspect a powder would work just as well, maybe with just a little less crunch) – stephennmcdonald Oct 7 '10 at 13:43
up vote 2 down vote

I'd use corn starch. It's gluten free and I use it as part of (although not all of) my fried chicken coating for extra crispiness.

Almond meal is another alternative.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

Bean flour, usually from lentils is a very good gluten free replacement for many things (except in baking). It's very popular in a lot of Indian food.

share|improve this answer
up vote 2 down vote

Grits, which is to say coarsely-ground corn. Also try masa, which is very finely-ground corn. You can find masa in Mexican grocery stores.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

@Nick is correct. Gram flour (milled from chickpeas) is used extensively for 'crunch' with fried stuff. It does have a taste of its own which although tasty, doesn't necessarily go with everything. But its definitely worth a try.

Its also a very good alternative to facial scrub cosmetics.

Some links:

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.