Published: December 21, 2008 07:00 pm      

Free of Gluten: Baker makes the food that she wants to eat

TRAVERSE CITY -- Plagued by ill health and stomach problems for 18 years, Mary Prohm removed gluten from her diet 2&1/2 years ago.

As her vitality rebounded she began addressing what to eat without consuming the grains contraindicated for people sensitive to gluten: wheat, rye, barley and, for many, oats. With doctors telling her to avoid those ingredients for the rest of her life, she was determined to find a way to have healthy and tasty breads, brownies, cookies, pizza, pies, crusts, muffins and cake.

Prohm's experimentation began with a baker's classic: chocolate chip cookies. She had not had one in six months and was determined to re-create the taste, texture and satisfaction without the troubling ingredients.

Her eventual success sparked the idea for Gluten Free Queenz, a gluten-free bakery she launched in Portage more than a year ago. When Prohm relocated to Traverse City in October, she brought the concept with her.

Cooking in a church kitchen, Prohm brings all her own equipment and ingredients with her. These steps are required to keep her creations gluten free because people with gluten intolerance, also called celiac disease, cannot "cheat" by having just a little.

The gluten-free lifestyle should be absolute to prevent further health problems with symptoms that can affect every system of the body, said Sandy Cartwright of the Traverse Area Gluten Free Support Group.

A traditional bakery set up to make breads or other products using wheat or the other restricted grains would face insurmountable challenges to purify its environment for gluten-free products.

"Flour can stay in the air 24 hours," said Cartwright.

The same difficulties apply to restaurants and food-manufacturing facilities hoping to cope with the fine, particulate nature of flour.

"You have to change social life and family life because you can't just drop into your local pizza parlor," said Cartwright, adding that the selection of packaged gluten-free foods has improved over the past 10 years. "Breads or being able to go and buy a doughnut or a scone and a muffin, go out to dinner and have bread, that's what is hard to do at this point."

Through Gluten Free Queenz, Prohm offers a range of gluten- and wheat-free baked goods. With a few items sold at Oryana Natural Food Market and a full roster of choices for a half-dozen accounts around the state, Prohm is evaluating where to take her business next. She is eager to satisfy the needs of gluten-free consumers in the area, believing there are not enough good-tasting, fresh and healthy choices available.

"There are a lot of gluten-free people who would like a good cookie, bread, pizza," said Prohm, who also works as an accountant and at a retail store downtown. "You kind of hunt for these things as a gluten-free person and you don't want to cook all the time, so you want something that's quick and easy."

Little by little over the past two years, Prohm accumulated recipes for a full range of baked goods while also offering mixes and gift baskets of goodies. Wedding and birthday cakes, candies, cheesecakes and even chocolate-covered caramel apples round out the roster.

"I have lots of secrets," said Prohm of her recipes and techniques. "I've experimented for over two years now, blended recipes."

All homemade items are gluten and wheat free and many do not have any dairy products or eggs.

"I do everything from scratch. I even make my own chocolate chips -- they're vegan," said Prohm, who tapped the name Queenz from her background as a nationally titled baton twirler.

As the prevalence of diagnosing celiac disease rises -- Cartwright cites Celiac Disease Foundation figures showing that 1 in 133 Americans have the disease -- the demand for gluten-free products has jumped correspondingly. Most grocery stores offer at least some manufactured cereals, breads or other items on their shelves, sometimes in a separate if modest-sized section.

Red dots on shelf tags at Oryana Natural Foods Market help consumers locate the abundance of gluten-free items in the Traverse City store. Education outreach coordinator Sandy McArthur suggested this system a few years ago and it has proven popular with both customers and employees.

The market has seen a steady increase in demand for gluten-free products and McArthur estimates that Oryana has the largest offering in northwest Michigan. Most of items are made by health food suppliers out of the area who run gluten-free lines or have a dedicated facility.

"It's been really successful," she said of the broad selection the store began offering about five years ago.

For more information, call Prohm at (231) 360-6510 or go to www.glutenfreequeenz.net. For information on the Traverse Area Gluten Free Support Group, call Sandy Cartwright at 947-8324 or go to www.traverseareaglutenfree.com.

Dream Potatoes

2 sticks butter (1 c.) melted, divided

32 ozs. gluten-free hash brown patties or hash browns

8 to 12 ozs gluten-free sour cream

14 to 16 ozs. gluten-free sharp cheddar cheese

1 can gluten-free cream of chicken soup (Health Valley is a good brand)

3 c. gluten-free corn flakes for top of the potatoes

Thaw hash browns. Melt butter and mix 3/4 c. butter in with hash browns. Next, mix in sour cream, grated cheese and soup. Pour potato mixture into 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Mix 1/4 c. melted butter with corn flakes. Spread corn flakes onto potatoes and bake covered at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes until browned.

-- Mary Prohm

Molten Chocolate Cake

6 ozs semisweet chocolate

2 ozs. unsweetened chocolate

3/4 c. unsalted butter

3 egg yolks

3 whole eggs

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown rice flour (or any gluten-free flour)

Butter eight 6-ounce muffins cups or ramekins and dust with cocoa. Melt butter and chocolate and set aside to cool. Mix eggs and sugar until pale yellow and it holds a shape and forms ribbons on beaters. Blend flour into egg-sugar combination and mix for 3 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix for 2 minutes. Pour mix into cups and refrigerate for 1 hour. Bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes and watch not to overcook. Can be served with chocolate or whipped cream.

-- Mary Prohm