Abstract:
A gluten free and carbohydrate free food product comprised of a mixture of a ground meat and a ground cheese wherein the mixture is formed into a thin sheet like configuration and cooked and then cut into a desired geometrical configuration to provide a crust or layer or shell for a final or finished food product.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to the food art and more particularly to an improved food product which is gluten free and carbohydrate free and is formed in a sheet like configuration. The food product may be utilized in various geometrical shapes to provide a crust or shell configuration of a finished food and may also be utilized in a multi-layered stacked configuration to make a patty. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0002]    The diet of many people is often restricted, either by medical advice or individual choice, to prevent the ingestion of various materials. One such diet restriction is often a gluten free diet to eliminate the ingestion of gluten containing foods. Another diet restriction is often a low or no carbohydrate diet. However, many commonly consumed products contain gluten and/or carbohydrates. Thus, such a person on such a restricted diet is prevented from ingesting conventional foods such as bread and other flour based products including pasta dishes, and other foods formed with a crust or shell made from flour thereby to eliminate gluten and/or carbohydrates from the diet. Such a diet, of course, eliminates conventional pasta dishes, bread, hamburgers and the like from such diets and reduces the quality of the life of people on such diets. 
         [0003]    Thus, it has long been desired to find a substitute for the food products containing gluten and/or carbohydrates which may be incorporated into finished foods in the place of the gluten and/or carbohydrate containing products. 
         [0004]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved food product useful in the manufacture of a plurality of finished foods. 
         [0005]    It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved food product useful in the manufacture of a plurality of finished foods and in which the food product is gluten free. 
         [0006]    It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved food product useful in the manufacture of a plurality of finished foods and in which the food product is gluten free and/or carbohydrate free. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The above and other objects of the present invention are achieved, in a preferred embodiment, by providing a base member food product which may be utilized with other foods to ;provide a finished food product. The finished food product may be a crust or shell for finished food ;product such as pizza crust, lasagna sheet, ravioli shell, calzone shell, taco shell tortilla crust, burrito shell, egg roll shell, dumpling shell, pierogie shell, and pot pie crust, and the like. The base member food product of the present invention is comprised of a mixture of a ground meat and a ground cheese. The ground meat may be ground beef, ground poultry, ground turkey, ground goose, ground pheasant, or any other ground fowl or the like, or any combination thereof, and is ground to any desired consistency. The ground cheese may be ground parmesan, ground mozzarella or any other ground cheese alone or in any combination as may be desired for particular taste or application. 
         [0008]    The ground meat and the ground cheese are mixed together to form a substantially uniform mixture and in a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a ratio of 25% cheese and 75% meat, though other ratios of ground meat to ground cheese may be utilized as desired to provide a particular taste for a particular application. Other seasonings, species or additives may be added to the uniform mixture as desired for imparting a particular flavor, texture or taste to the mixture. 
         [0009]    The mixture having the ground meat and ground cheese is pressed in to a sheet which may be on the order of 1/4 inch to ⅛ in thickness, though other thicknesses may be selected as desired for a particular finished food product. The sheet of the mixture having the meat and cheese, and other ingredients that may be applied therein, is cooked at a temperature in the range of 300° F. To 485° F. For a time period in the range of 5 minutes to 15 minutes. 
         [0010]    After the step of cooking, the sheet of cooked mixture may be cooled to a temperature in the range of ambient to frozen. 
         [0011]    After cooling, the sheet of cooked mixture may be formed into a final geometric shape corresponding to the desired final food product. In many applications of the present invention cooked sheet may be utilized as a crust or shell for final food products such as pizza crust, lasagna sheet, ravioli shell, calzone shell, taco shell tortilla crust, burrito shell, egg roll shell, dumpling shell, pierogie shell, pot pie crust and similar final food products. Additionally, the cooked sheet may be formed into a conventional hamburger patty geometric shape and two or more of such the cooked sheet in the patty shaped configuration stacked together to make a final food product similar to a hamburger patty. 
         [0012]    Alternatively, the cooked sheet may be cut into the desired shape for the final food product after cooking but before cooling of the cooked sheet to a temperature in the range of ambient to frozen. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0013]    The above and other embodiments of the present invention my be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar elements throughout and in which: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating the steps performed in the practice of the subject invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a semi-schematic representation of a ground meat according to the principles of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a semi-schematic representation of a ground cheese according to the principles of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a semi-schematic representation of a mixture of the ground meat and ground cheese according to the principles of the present invention;  FIG. 5  is a semi-schematic isometric representation of a sheet of the mixture of the ground meat and ground cheese according to the principles of the present invention; and, 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is perspective view of a stack of the mixture of the cooked meat and cheese sheet formed into a generally rectangular patty configuration. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    Referring now to the drawing,  FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating the steps in the practice of the present invention. The first step  10  is the selection of a particular meat or mixture of meats to be included in the finished food product of the present invention. The meat or meats may be selected from for example one or meats such as beef, turkey, duck, chicken, goose, pheasant or any other desired fowl or appropriate meat. The second step  12  is the grinding of the meat selected in step  10  to form a ground meat portion. The ground meat portion may, for example, be of the consistency and texture of conventional ground meat utilized in hamburger patties The third step  14  is the selection of a cheese product to be used in the finished food product of the present invention. The cheese selected may be, for example, parmesan, mozzarella or any other desired cheese to provide a desired taste. The fourth step  16  is the grinding of the cheese selected in step  14  to form a ground cheese portion and the ground cheese portion may be of the consistency and texture of the conventional ground parmesan or ground mozzarella utilized in pasta dishes. 
         [0020]    The fifth step  18  is the mixing of the ground meat portion of step  12  with the ground cheese portion of step  16  to form a ground mixture of the ground meat portion and the ground cheese portion. In the preferred embodiments of the present invention the ground meat portion of step  12  is in the range of 50% to 95% of the ground mixture and the ground cheese portion of step  16  is in the range of 5% to 50% of the ground mixture. The ground mixture of step  18  is a uniform mixture of the ground meat portion and the ground cheese portion By uniform mixture it is meant that each portion of the ground mixture contains about the same amount of the ground meat and the ground cheese. 
         [0021]    The sixth step  20  is forming of the mixture into a base member of a sheet configuration having a thickness on the order of ⅛ of an inch to ⅜ of an inch though larger or smaller thicknesses may be utilized as desired for particular applications. The base member may be of any desired size compatible with the steps of the present invention as described herein. The seventh step  22  is cooking the sheet configuration of the base member formed in step  20 . The cooking may be at a temperature in the range of 300° F. to 485° F. for a time period in the range of five minutes to fifteen minutes. Higher or lower cooking temperatures and/or longer or shorter cooking times may be selected as desired for particular applications. The eighth step  24  is cooling the cooked base member to an ambient temperature or, if desired a frozen temperature. 
         [0022]    The final step  26  is cutting the cooked base member into a preselected configuration corresponding to the shape required for a final or finished food product. The final or finished food product may be, for example, pizza, lasagna sheet, ravioli, calzone, taco tortilla, burrito, egg roll l, dumpling l, pierogie , pot pie or the like and the cooked base member is cut into the geometrical configuration to provide the crust or layer or shell for the finished food product. 
         [0023]    The step of cutting the cooked base member may be done before or after the cooked base member is cooled to ambient temperature or after the cooked base member is frozen as may b e desired for particular applications. Similarly, the steps of selecting a meat product, grinding the meat product, selecting a cheese product and grinding the cheese product may be performed in any desired order or sequence. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  is a semi-schematic representation of the ground meat portion indicated at  28  of the present invention after the step  12 . The ground meat in the ground meat potion  28  is substantially evenly distributed throughout the mass of the ground meat portion.  FIG. 3  is a semi-schematic representation of the ground cheese portion indicated at  30  of the present invention after the step  16 . The ground cheese in the ground cheese portion  30  is substantially evenly distributed throughout the mass of the ground cheese. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a semi-schematic representation of the ground mixture indicated at  32  of the ground cheese portion  30  and ground meat portion  28  of the present invention after the step  18 . 
         [0026]    The ground mixture  32  is substantially uniform throughout the mass of the ground mixture  32  so that all parts of the ground mixture  32  contain substantially the same amount of the ground meat portion  28  and ground cheese portion  30 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a semi-schematic representation of the base member  34  formed into the sheet after the step  20 . The thickness T may be on the order of ⅛ inch to ⅜ inch depending on the requirements for the final or finished food product. 
         [0028]      FIG. 6  illustrates an other embodiment of the present invention generally indicated at  40  wherein the cooked base member after step  22  is formed into a generally rectangular patty configuration and three of such patties indicted at  34 ′ are stacked to make a final or finished food product to be enjoyed alone without forming into another food product. 
         [0029]    Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the various Figures of the drawing, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention as further defined in the appended claims.