Semi-Random Notes
These points are mostly about flours, though more general points may show up here from time to time. Frankly, if you can follow a recipe you'll have no trouble cooking most things -- it's the conversions and substitutions that get you with allergies.
Glutinous rice flour (Asians call it "sweet rice flour") does not contain gluten. Its stickiness comes from a type of starch.
Unless you are making deep-fry breading or shortcake, don't use American rice flour if you can avoid it. The rice flour you find in most health-food stores in the U.S. is dry-milled, and has a characteristic gritty texture, which is part of why store-bought rice breads are so grainy. Asian rice flour, on the other hand, is wet-milled (if I recall correctly), and has a much finer, silky texture. It is also cheaper, at least in California. If you can find an Asian market, most will carry plain Asian rice flour in 1-pound bags. This is also the only place I have found to buy glutinous rice flour. Look for cheap tapioca starch and rice spaghetti ("rice sticks") while you're there.
If you don't have to worry about gluten, barley is very good for many cookies and cakes, and is one of the ingredients I use in pie crusts. The only caveat is that the cookies or cake will turn out like it has either whole wheat or a lot of wheat germ, so don't expect a smooth consistency. That said, you can't notice the difference in my gingersnaps, brownies, or pie crust. My cake ends up like carrot cake.
My barley-flour blend is 1 part barley flour, 1 part glutinous rice flour, and 1 part regular rice flour. It substitutes 1:1 in wheat-flour recipes. For pure rice, I use 1 part glutinous rice to 1 part white rice flour. It substitutes like regular rice flour.
There is a distinct difference between potato starch and potato flour. Potato starch is white and very fine, like cornstarch; potato flour is yellow, and has distinct grains. Do not try to substitute one for the other!
Flour conversions (from "Baking for People with Food Allergies", USDA Home and Garden Bulletin #147, 1975):
| Kind of flour | Amount |
|---|---|
| Barley flour | 1¼ cups |
| Corn flour | 1 cup |
| Oat flour | 1 1/3 cups |
| Potato flour | ¾ cup |
| Rice flour | ¾ cup |
| Rye flour | 1 1/3 cups |
| Soy flour | 1 1/3 cups |
| Tapioca flour | 1 cup |