FOOD GLORIA'S FOOD - March 2016 - Kansas City

Putting a Better Batter Up

By Gloria Gale

 

Though there may be a slugfest between political parties this season, nothing has taken more punches than dough. 

 

The delightful combination of grain and water, pounded and proofed, folded, rolled and yes, punched until it blooms is causing quite a stir.

In this day and age the culprit is grain (wheat, barley, rye, oats) and its inherent protein, gluten. 

 

These grains, once pesticide and GMO-free, are now tampered with from planting through processing resulting in a new breed of seed that’s essentially only a shell of its former nutrient dense self. 

 

According to Wheat Belly author Dr. William Davis, “this thing being sold to us called wheat—it ain’t wheat. It’s this stocky little high-yield plant, a distant relative of the wheat our mothers used to bake muffins, genetically and biochemically light-years removed from the wheat of just 40 years ago.”

 

And now scientists are starting to connect modern wheat with all manner of chronic digestive and inflammatory illnesses. Nearly twenty million people contend that they regularly experience distress after eating products that contain gluten, and a third of American adults say that they are trying to eliminate it from their diets.

 

Next time you’re shopping for gluten free foods, there’s no shortage of products on the shelf.  The problem is most are, in my opinion, dreadful tasting.  I’m gluten sensitive, so after deciding to try a slice of gluten free bread.  I threw it against the wall and the house fell down. I figured there has to be more palatable, not to mention healthier, selection.

 

Careful with the Carbs

This is exactly what Angela Resch found as she watched her young son routinely get ill after eating what most children love to eat: sandwiches, sweets and other grain-based carbohydrates.  

 

Various health issues from physical to lack of concentration yielded a diagnosis of an extreme intolerance to gluten, along with approximately 75 other foods he could no longer eat.  

 

The intolerances and allergies resulted in an inability for Resch to buy ‘gluten free’ baked goods.

 

“I wanted him to be able to eat the same foods all the other kids were eating,” she says.

That’s when Resch started developing her own flour blends and recipes that he could eat. 

Her research and persistence paid off.

 

Resch found a commercial kitchen designed to support biotechnology, life sciences, food and beverage and general small business startups called The Independence Regional Ennovation Center in Independence Missouri. 

 

Her trials took about 18-months to perfect.  “I started with breads and moved on to sugar cookies.  The outcome was so positive I discovered an entire community that was struggling with the exact same issues. Word of mouth was the best marketing tool. I started to get requests to bake for others to the point that I could no longer do it out of my house.”  

 

In 2013 Resch found a vacant space that was once a pie shop on Old Metcalf thus Mama Resch’s Bakery was born dedicated to providing gluten free, dairy free, nut free and soy free products.

 

Four years later, her shelves are  filled with delectable s including sandwich breads, banana bread, vegan multi-purpose buns, oatmeal cookies, Snickerdoodles, baked chocolate donuts, graham crackers, sun-dried tomato crackers, chocolate chip granola bars, and pancake mix.  

 

I don’t know what Resch’s secret is, although it’s healthier than the ‘cardboard-tasting’ gluten-free items found in the marketplace.

 

I’ll vouch for that after trying the chocolate cupcakes. Now I’ll admit to pilgrimages for a fix.  The cupcakes rarely last beyond the parking lot. I’ll wager your stash won’t either.

 

Mama Resch's - A Gluten Free Bakery

12635 Metcalf Ave

Overland Park, KS 66213

Bakery - 913-213-5355

Cell - 913-526-8195

www.mamareschs.com

Click to Read the Full

Kansas City Edition!

Click to Read the Full

Santa Fe Edition!