In case you missed it (like I did!)...

The Gluten-Free Pizza Fest 2011 was hosted by ATX Gluten-free, but even though it's over now you can still click over and peek at all the mouthwatering recipes!
Click here to see some of my favorite pizza picks.  (Yes I looove pizza!)

English Muffin Spinach Pizza + fresh veggies

Whoops!  Sorry It's been a few days!  

If you've noticed I've been working on other things like a new background and adding a bunch of restaurant links to my gluten-free menu pages.  Check it out!

Here's a tasty pizza that's quick to put together.

First I toasted one Food for Life gluten-free english muffins.  You want to split it first of course, but be careful since they are kind of hard!

I get a fork or a knife and stab slits in it all around and this usually pries the two halves apart.

I really like these english muffins because they are the one of the things that you can buy gluten-free and it still has the taste and consistency of the regular english muffins, especially the little nooks and crannies I miss.  

Chewy and a little bit dry if you don't top them with anything, but they're really great.  Plus they are so versatile, you can make anything with them.  They are particularly good at holding up to thick hamburger patties.  And of course pizza!

I toasted them once, then I topped it with no salt tomato sauce seasoned with a tiny shake of salt and pepper, marble jack cheese and fresh spinach.

Then I set it on oven until the cheese melted and the spinach wilted.  I put a little of the tomato sauce on top so that it would wilt the spinach instead of crisp it.  It still got a little crispy but that's okay.  You could probably chop it up into strips so it's easier to bite.
Served with a side of baby carrots and my favorite dill pickled okra.

Restaurant Review: Craig O's

Craig O's is yet another pizza place that is joining the seemingly growing trend of restaurants offering gluten-free alternatives.  Yay Craig O's!

Now admittedly I do not know much about this franchise or how they operate and the gluten-free crust does not seem to be on their online menu.

I was able to talk to someone in charge at the South location however and he assured us as to the safety of this pizza.

Yummy Craig O's GF pizza!

The rice flour crusts are not made in-house but rather shipped frozen to their location.  Because they are frozen they take a little longer to bake and he recommended that we call in the order and then pick up.
We then got to talking about the actual crust and he said theirs is exclusive; they tasted a bunch of different crusts, chose the one they like best and struck a deal with the distributor to be the exclusive provider of that crust so that they'll be the only ones in Austin with that crust.
And I must say, the crust is dense, chewy and pretty thick!  Definitely unique.  It's about as thick as my pinky finger,  thicker than Brick Oven's crust, which is airy, thinner and crispier.

Look at that crust!

After my first bite I had to wonder if there wasn't quite a bit of tapioca flour in the crust as well!

The cross section of the bit revealed that the dough was slightly translucent, which I attribute to either tapioca flour or glutinous rice flour.  

(Please note glutinous rice flour is gluten-free!) 

I didn't get a picture of the cross section though because my camera died! :(
My mom and I shared a 10" pizza and ate a plate of salad with fixings at home and found that it was a surprisingly filling meal!
For my salad I used mixed baby greens, walnuts, cranberries, tomato and okra and this time with Litehouse Homestyle Ranch dressing.  For some reason I like to have ranch dressing when I eat pizza!

Yes my nutty salad and yes more okra

It's not cheap eats though since it came to about $14 for a 10" pie like Brick Oven that is again, only one meal if you add a salad from home.
But like I said gluten-free gets expensive when you're talking baked goods!
If I was craving specifically a thick, chewy pizza I would make the splurge.  If my friends wanted to go there, I wouldn't mind paying that much.  But it's not something I could afford very regularly.
Keep in mind also that this pizza is the only gluten-free item on the Craig O's menu, except for maybe some salad.
For more info on Craig O's click here!

Restaurant Review: The Brick Oven

The Brick Oven in South Austin is one of those singularly amazing restaurants to me, much like P. F. Chang's, that caters so well to the gluten-free customer.  Again I cannot say enough good things about this place.  (I had been dying to write a review of them and have an excuse to go!)

Part of the reason for their excellent gluten-free service is because the General Manager, Christine Moore, is herself gluten-free.  Whenever a gluten-free menu is requested more often than not Christine herself personally introduces herself and offers her assurances as to the quality of their gluten-free menu.  And more times than not she has great tips about other gluten-free restaurants as well!

Spiffy new laminated GF menu.

Their gluten-free menu can only be described as amazing!

My marker for a "great" menu means that the gluten-free options rival that of the regular menu.  If it's just dry salad and veggies with soda, I'm not impressed.  For me, the gluten-free options should offer the same or similar things as the regular menu, only gluten-free.  

That would be a great menu right?

Well the South Austin Brick Oven Restaurant's gluten-free menu seriously can't be beat.  It offers a full range of gluten-free pizzas, pastas, bread, appetizers, beer, desserts and even kid's options!

Their servers are also well trained as far as the gluten-free menu and can instantly tell you what dressings, drinks and desserts are available to you that day.

Garden salad with GF dressing.  Is it just me or does this salad have a face?

The fact that they have such a great GF menu is because this location actually has a separate gluten-free kitchen area and makes a concentrated effort to keep all cooking utensils and surfaces separate and uncontaminated.
Due to the obvious fact that the majority of the restaurant is not gluten-free and the same tables and utensils are used throughout, the restaurant cannot be considered entirely gluten-free.

GF Pasta Rustica with GF garlic bread

The only down-side to the gluten-free menu is the up-charge, which can make the price a bit steep for a medium size pizza with toppings.  

For example, I recently got a gluten-free portobello mushroom and prosciutto pizza that was $14!

Gluten-free in general shouldn't be too much more expensive if you are just eating a regular meal, but add that bread product and it can get pretty pricey!  In case you haven't noticed there is always a notable price-hike for gluten-free bread products and pastas because manufacturers have to use other flours rather than the cheap and readily available wheat.

If you think about the fact that Brick Oven has a separate kitchen space to bring you your gluten-free meal and the fact that gluten-free bread bread products tend to be more expensive anyway, it's easy to see where the money goes.

To save a bit of money stick to fewer toppings and plain drinks.  My hubby and I don't eat out too much but we do save up for it a bit by not eating out anywhere else for a week or so, so we can go ahead and splurge for a fancy pizza (and maybe a gluten-free beer) because how often can you go to a restaurant and enjoy yourself like this? 

GF Cheese Pizza

As you know, Celiac has been shown to be a genetic disorder, one that many members of my family on my mother's side have.  Ever since we discovered The Brick Oven's great gluten-free menu and people pleasing regular menu, we decided that whenever the whole family was in town, that was where we'd take everyone.

We've had the opportunity of having my family in town a few times in the past year, most notably for my wedding in the past October and for a family funeral.

Both times everyone was taken to Brick Oven and both times everyone, even the non-gluten family members, enjoyed the menu.
These are pictures from the last time we went.  Sorry if the pictures are a bit shaky, we were huuungry!
The quality of the pasta and pizza crust are such that you can't even tell they are gluten-free.  The crust in particular is chewy, not soggy and holds up well to re-heating.
The pastas (they use the Tinkyada brand which I am a fan of) are also very sturdy and hold up well.

GF Portobello and Prosciutto Pizza 

Go here for The Brick Oven Restaurant info and here for their extensive gluten-free menu available at the South Austin location only!