"Alan S" wrote in message
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On Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:53:29 GMT, "Julie Bove"
wrote:


"Alan S" wrote in message
. ..
snip

I haven't bought any form of potato processed product since
I was diagnosed. We do buy, and eat in moderation, fresh
potatoes but I would not recommend that a type 2 keep
processed potato products in the larder at all.

Why not? I keep them here. Gluten free ones of course. I don't use them
often, but they do make a nice thickener for soups and some sauces.


Two reasons. I use several other things for thickeners: guar
gum and psyllium have other benefits and no blood glucose
effect; if I do need a starchy thickener I always have flour
or cornflour(cornstarch) available. However those last two
last a long time in this house.

I can not keep regular flour in the house because of Angela's food
allergies. Cornstarch tends to break down in reheating. I do use sweet
rice flour for some things but prefer the potatoes for other things. I
can't use psyllium because it's high in fiber. Don't know about guar gum
but that's just another thing I don't want to have to buy. I've heard it is
inferior to xanthan gum and I do have to buy that for gluten free baking.

In soup I use real potato and not much of it in proportion
to the other veges. I thicken by selectively blending a
proportion of the soup. For sauces I thicken by reduction.

I use real potato in some soups. Can't really do a reduction in crock pot
recipes unless you spend extra time to take some out, cook it down in a pot
(dirtying another pot) and then cook it some more.

The second reason is that I attempt to minimise ALL
commercially processed products. If processing is needed I
do it at home. That way I have total control of the
ingredients and the quality of the product.

I have total control too. I buy Barbara's Organic potato flakes. They are
nothing but dehydrated potatoes. They are also good for me to have on hand
when I accidentally make the mashed potatoes too runny. Due to the food
allergies, I've had to devise my own method for making them and it involves
using the cooking water. Sometimes I miscalculate and use too much water.
I can then add a few flakes and they come out perfect.

For breading/crumbing/crusting I use the old traditional
egg-wash, flour dip and breadcrumbs with various herbs,
spices, maybe some parmigiana. But I am careful to be very
sparing with the flour and crumbs. Similarly, for battered
fish I use a light beer batter, almost tempura style to
minimise the starch surrounding the fish or chicken and the
oil that is trapped in it.

Well, I have an egg allergy as does my daughter. We don't use regular flour
as I said before. Gluten free bread crumbs aren't very good. And beer has
gluten in it. So for us, potatoes work quite well! Plus they don't
spike me like flour does.