Gluten-Free Baking 101

BWD: Creamiest Lime Meringue Pie

2010-07-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

This week Baking with Dorie was my selection! WOOT! The idea of a lime meringue pie just sounded perfect. Somehow I selected this recipe before I really read the recipe (sorry fellow Baking with Dorie members!). I didn't realize that the filling was nearly identical to "The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart" that we'd already made. Eep!

Before we get to the recipe, I need to make a quick housekeeping note. Soon this blog will be housed at my main site, GlutenFreeBaking.com. Right now my nifty web folks are making changes that will allow comments at that site. That hasn't happened yet. However, I have put the recipe, with step-by-step photos there.

Here is the link: Baking with Dorie Challenge Creamiest Lime Meringue Pie.

Sorry for the trouble! It will be straightened out soon!

Salted Caramel Brownies (A Baking with Dorie Post)

2010-07-05T19:27:00.002-04:00

It's that time again! Time to Bake with Dorie! This week's recipe was chosen by the fabulous woman who founded "Baking with Dorie", Grapefruit.

When she selected the recipe, she asked if I was allergic to peanuts. I was touched that she asked and the answer was "Yes, peanuts are fine!" It often surprises people that my long list of allergies doesn't include peanuts. But it doesn't. However, as I was putting this recipe together, I was thinking about the peanut-allergic folks that read my blog. Hmm....Dorie had created a wonderful peanut topping that you can either find in her book or on Grapefruit's blog. Wouldn't it be neat if I made the brownies gluten-free and peanut-free? I agreed with myself--as I am wont to do.

This post has moved to: http://www.glutenfreebaking.com/public/Salted_Caramel_Brownie.cfm

Thank you!

Living the Food Allergic Life

2010-07-01T16:24:00.002-04:00

Two things happened in the last two days that reminded me that I am a food allergic person. Don't get me wrong, it isn't like I forget that I have food allergies! It's just after dealing with them for a lifetime, my coping skills are pretty good. Yet there are times when I am reminded that my food allergies make me, um, different.

Last night I went to get ice cream with a friend. Fun right? Well it should have been. I'd eaten at this little ice cream shop several times. Each time they were good about changing the scoop and double-checking ingredient lists for me. Not last night. Nope.

I walked in with the allergen list I'd printed from their website. Since I have multiple food allergies, printing the list is just easier. I'd only gotten my allergy spiel halfway out of my mouth when the woman working the counter said, "How bad are your allergies?" When I told her that they were severe, she said, "Well, then we'd prefer it if you didn't eat here."

The other folks standing in line suddenly started looking at the ground or talking to each other. I could tell they were embarrassed for me. At this point, I wasn't going to let it go. I said, "I've eaten here before. You've changed the scoops and---"

"I know, hun." came the reply. "But I'd just feel better if you didn't eat anything." Ack! It is hard to argue with that because, really, I wasn't going to risk it. Who would? If someone tells me that something might not be safe, I am not the type to say, "Hey! Anaphylactic shock is fun! Let's see if this food triggers it."

My friend had already ordered her ice cream and paid. So I sat there while she ate, the whole time saying, "Oh! Don't worry about it." The truth is, it was annoying and more than that, it was disappointing. When a place that has served you safely in the past suddenly changes, it is another loss. Another disappointment. With food allergies there are so few places that I can eat at safely. When another one gets crossed off my "safe" list, I feel it. I won't lie. (Plus, I'd really wanted a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream.)

*

This morning an e-mail showed up in my in-box. A community group is having a summer camp. Like all community groups, they need supplies from, well, the community. Let me show the list to you:

                        - Pringle's Baked Wheat Stix
                        - square pretzels
                        -M&Ms
                        - Honey Nut Cheerios
                        - miniature marshmallows
                        - bite-sized blue corn chips
                        - blue Jell-o mix
                        - whipped topping
                        - vanilla wafers
                        - chocolate graham cracker crumbs
                        - cherry pie filling (extra fruit).

Did you catch that? I bet you did! All those allergens! When I see this list I see: wheat, nuts, dairy, eggs, etc. etc.

Now I need to be honest here. I don't think that all allergens should be eliminated from gatherings. That just isn't realistic. However, it is 2010. In 1985 when I was going to camp, I would have expected something like this. But in 2010? It disappoints me.

Why? Well camp should be *fun*. If you are a little food allergic kid, having a snack or food-based craft that you can't participate in sets you apart from the community. And that is decidedly un-fun. Trust me on this. I was that kid.

My question to the person who put this together would be: Why these foods? Is it possible that a non-food craft could replace this? Today's kids aren't just struggling with food allergies; there is an obesity crisis in this country that is heartbreaking.

This is what I have done all my life. I've always had to be the one voice saying, "Hey, I know that you thought you planned something super-fun. However, did you think about what it would be like to be excluded from the activity because of the food?" Sadly, I've had people say, "Yeah I thought about it and the food allergic kids should just stay home." You want to talk about heartbreaking? That attitude is heartbreaking. But it won't stop me from asking questions-- from trying to spread awareness.

See I think that non-food-allergic people forget that we didn't choose this. We aren't attempting to make their lives, their crafts, their summer camp less fun. I imagine to them it might feel that way. Because, perhaps, there will be "only" one or two kids that can't participate. But to those kids, oh my goodness, it could be the world.

I still remember how I was asked to leave the Girl Scouts group because of my allergies or how my school made me stay home during the week long eight-grade field trip. To food allergic people, there are lots of little hurts. (See my ice cream story above.) But when you combine a group activity with food, like at summer camp, those little hurts can become really tender spots. I'd like to think that planners would eliminate as many potential allergy situations as they can. To be honest, the planners and the non-food allergic kids might not remember this camp. Yet for the kid who is excluded? It might stay with her forever. And if you had the chance to change that, to make an event inclusive, why wouldn't you take it? It is one of those rare times in life where everyone wins.

Fancy Food Show 2010

2010-06-29T13:22:00.002-04:00

To say the Fancy Food show has a lot of food is like saying there is a lot of water in the ocean.

Yesterday I visited the show and, as always, came away overwhelmed. There were 2,400 vendors and samples of everything.

I am happy to report that Gluten-Free was proudly on display this year! Last year I meet the folks from Udi's. This year? I met several new gluten-free vendors, including Jill from Glow.

Below are just a handful of photos from the show. I can't wait until the 2011 show!

While there is a lot of *every* kind of food at the Fancy Food Show, this year I came away thinking, "Oh my goodness! I saw a lot of cheese!" This is only one display!

More cheese...

Close up of more cheese...

Not cheese! Meat! Isn't that Mortadella just lovely? (The Mortadella is the large round on the far left. It comes from the Bologna region of Italy and is wonderful. )

Chocolate! I didn't snap many chocolate pictures but, trust me, there was as much chocolate as there was cheese. Mmmm....chocolate....

Gluten-free was one of the buzz words at the show! Here are the folks from Conte's. I really like their ravioli.

This display is all fresh fruits and veggies. On the floor ground, it was a wonderful reminder of summer. (Also a reminder of summer? The heat! By the end of the show, I melted! The Javits center was oddly stuffy and warm.)

I meet these guys last year. I wonder how that whole gluten-free-bread-thing is working out for them? :)

Here is THE pre-made loaf that gluten-free eaters love!

Disclaimer: This loaf is NOT gluten-free. But it is HUGE. Also the poster of the woman in the back made me chuckle. Of course women dress up and dangle panatone boxes from their fingers! Of course they do! What? You don't?

The Italian pavilion was enormous. I guess this isn't shocking. There is a lot of great food in Italy.

Have you tried Against the Grain? For the first time, I sampled their goodies. I think their new nut-free Pesto pizza might have been the best pre-made gluten-free pizza I've ever tried. YUM!

GLOW! I met Jill--who brought my book to the show(!)--and sampled her wonderful cookies! They are all AMAZING! The packaging is adorable and the cookies are fabulous!

Garden Lites was a great surprise! They have a line of low-fat, pre-made gluten-free dinners. The zucchini portabella dinner was divine!

Look! It's Lucy's! And I wasn't even at a Starbucks! :)

Stonewall Kitchen will always have a piece of my heart. One of my favorite things to do n Maine (besides reading on the beach and eating lobster) is visiting their flagship store. I am not a jam lover; yet, I love every jam they offer. Their "display" at the show was more like a store. Incredible!

These aren't gluten-free but isn't it pretty? Almost puts me in the holiday mood. Almost.

These photos are for my mom who LOVES Ina Garten. One thing she often says to me is, "You know what I saw on Ina..."

Look, ma! It's Ina! (On a poster...)

One of aspects of the Fancy Food show that always amazes me is the "booths" that companies set up. They are more like little shops. This is the booth for the Republic of Tea. Don't you just want to sit down with a book and have a cup of tea? Well you can't! Why? Look below!

Hammond's set up a candy shop! Several of their samples said, "Gluten-Free" right on the package. Thank you Hammond's!

Kinnikinnick has been serving the gluten-free community FOREVER. And I still can't spell their name correctly. I finally sampled their doughnuts. You guys are right! They are good!

I am not a fan of their S'Moreables but, I have to admit, the package is cute.

My one true love: he guys from Bob's Red Mill. (The standing next to the photo of Bob is clearly thinking, "Really Lady? A bright pink camera? Jeez..."

Did you know that 123 Gluten-Free and I go WAY back? I was at the first (or second) celiac event they ever attended! I still remember trying Kim's delicious biscuits. Her product line has expanded and I couldn't be happier for her. (I did take a picture of Kim and her mom. However, it is super fuzzy. I like Kim too much to post a bad picture of her.)

Cheese, meat AND pastries. Oh my!

I LOVE olives. This tray was HUGE. I bet it was at least two-feet across.

Did I mention that the show had cheese?

Or meat? Did I tell you about the meat?

Look at that cheese! I lub cheese.

Just some cheese waiting to be eaten.

Another lovely booth that looked like a mini-shop. I was in heaven.

You know what every show needs? A Mona Lisa---made of Jelly Belly jellybeans. I am not kidding. How fun is this thing? I love it when people play with their food!

I wonder what flavors made up the Mona Lisa?

Baking with Dorie--Blueberry Galette

2010-06-21T15:46:00.002-04:00

This week's pick for the Baking with Dorie challenge was my pick! (Woot!) Since it's summer, I thought the "Summer Fruit Galette" on page 366 would be a good choice. It might have had something to do with the word summer in the title. I don't know...

Anyway, Dorie suggested using apricots, peaches or rhubarb in the galette. My problem? None of these fruits looked all that good at the market. And by the time I got to the farmers' market this week, the rhubarb was gone. What's a baker to do? Not use under ripe fruit, that's what!

Since galettes will work with any fruit, I decided to look around the market to see what looked best. As you've learned, I take a little bit of freedom with Dorie's recipes. (I swear, she and I will meet at some event and she'll clock me over the head with a rolling pin for tweaking her recipes. I'm kidding! Dorie is lovely, I'm sure. And she wouldn't do that, right? Right?) Where the heck was I? Oh, right. Tinkering. I decided to use blueberries in the galette. They looked really good and, to be honest, were on sale. I'd have to thicken the fruit a bit with cornstarch but other than that, I was good to go!

The finished galette, with a few of my tweaks*, was perfect! Easier to make than a pie and just bursting with fresh berry flavor!

Be sure to head over to Needful Things to see what the other BWD group members baked up for this challenge!

*The original recipe uses a custard. Since I made this galette with blueberries, there was no room for the custard nor could the crust withstand more liquid.

Here's a little step by step.

I've rolled out the crust and brushed it with jam and sprinkled it with crushed up gluten-free vanilla cookies. As you can see, I've left a border of crust untouched.

The filling is piled into the center of the crust. The blueberries look white thanks to the cornstarch and granulated sugar. This will disappear upon baking.

Look at the crust! A light sprinkle of granulated sugar adds just a bit of crunch. YUM!

And, just because it is so pretty, one more look at the finished galette!

Thanks to Dorie for always creating recipes we can play with! (And, preemptively, for not clocking me over the head with a rolling pin!)

Blueberry Galette
Printable Version

adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Crust
Dry Ingredients

1 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3 Tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
1/4 cup ice water

Filling
About 3/4 pint of blueberries, washed and picked over (This amount will vary depending on the size of the berries)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, more or less depending on the sweetness of your berries.
Jam, about 2 teaspoons (I used cherry jam.)
Gluten-free vanilla cookie crumbs, about 1 tablespoon (optional)

For the Crust

In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients. Pulse to combine.
Add the butter and shortening. Pulse to combine. Don't over mix. The fat should be just incorporated, leaving little pieces behind. The mixture should resemble a coarse meal.
Add 3 Tablespoons of the water. Pulse to combine. If a dough comes together, you are done. If not, add remaining water and pule to combine.
Turn dough out onto a white rice-floured counter. Pat into a circle and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
Chill for two hours.

For the Galette

Make the pie dough as directed. Allow to chill for two hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 minutes.
Place the pie dough out onto a piece of parchment. Generously white rice flour the parchment.
Roll out dough to a 13-inch circle. Slide rolled out dough onto a baking sheet.
Brush a little bit of jam onto the crust. You want to fill a 9-inch circle, leaving about 4-inches of dough exposed. The exposed dough will become the crust you flip onto the filling. (Dorie suggests using a 9-inch cake pan to mark a 9-inch circle in the center of the dough. If this helps you, do it! I just eyeballed it.)
Sprinkle the cookie crumbs over the jam. The crumbs help to soak up the liquid. However, since we are using cornstarch in our filling, you can leave them out if you want.
Toss the blueberries together with the remaining ingredients.
Pile the berries into the center of the crust, over the jam and cookie crumbs.
Lift the border of the dough up onto the filling. It will pleat as you do this.
Sprinkle granulated sugar onto the edges of the crust.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and berries are soft.

Makes one 9-inch galette

Woodman's Seafood or Elizabeth Eats a Pile of Fried Food

2010-06-13T21:00:00.002-04:00

A few weeks (months?) ago, a reader told me about Woodman's. She'd just been to this little seafood restaurant in Essex, MA that served fried gluten-free seafood and insisted I must try it. After a few failed attempts to get there, I finally made the four hour trek. (Funny thing, after mentioning Woodman's on Facebook, I found out LOTS of people that I know have eaten there and none of them are gluten-free! They just love the place!)

How could I not go? Gluten-free fried seafood. Yes please!

See that sky? This is why people hate traveling with me. That is usually the color of the sky whenever I travel. I tend to bring rain and gray skies with me. It's part of my charm, I guess.

I was already in love. Any restaurant that puts its name on a giant clam is okay by me!

Woodman's, in case you missed it, is open year round--even when the sky is that dark at 3:30 pm in June.

As we walked into the place, we passed these lovelies. When I clicked the pic, I thought I heard one lobster say to the other, "Why is she taking our picture? We're just chillin.'" (Okay, that was a bad joke! Let's move on!)

Have you ever noticed that if a restaurant has a chalkboard menu, the food is usually really good? It's a rule of life or something. At this point, I got nervous. I didn't see "gluten-free" on the sign. It might have been there but I didn't see it at first glance.

So I said, "Hi! I am gluten-free---"

Helpful Woodman's employee, "You can have everything but the onion rings, the clam cakes and the sandwiches."

How great is that?I didn't even have to explain what I meant by gluten-free! She knew! Heaven!

I ordered the clam strip plate but, really, I could have ordered everything. It all looked and smelled great.

After ordering, you select your table and wait for your order number to be called. Drooling might also be happening.

This was my dinner. I actually giggled when I saw it. The pile of clam strips was at least 8-inches high. I don't think I'd ever seen this many fried clams in my life. Hidden under the pile were french fries. But, really, who cares about french fries when there is an 8-inch pile of fried gluten-free clams?

See how my dinner is in a box? My friend, who is not gluten-free, picked up the order in the window. The server said to him, "Don't put that plate in the box. The onion rings aren't gluten-free and they can't touch the clam plate." Clearly this is a restaurant that understands how to serve gluten-free meals!

Close-up of the crispy, crunchy clams. They were a delight. The coating was light and not leaden. (I hate heavy fried food!) Plus the clam strips were HOT. You know how sometimes fried food seems to arrive at the table cold? Not these clam strips.

If only had one teeny, tiny grumble. The coating was a little bland for my taste. I don't know if that was just this batch or how they are usually served. But the hot, fried goodness made up for the somewhat bland flavor.

As you exit, there is a pile of bumper stickers. Notice it states, "Inventor of the Fried Clam." Umm, okay...Woodman's you have gluten-free fried clams; if you want to claim being the inventor of the fried clam, go for it! You could claim to have invented ice and I wouldn't say anything other than, "Wow! Ice is cold!"

If you are in the Boston area, a trip to Woodman's is really worth it! (They also have a second location in Litchfield, NH and offer mail order fried clam kits.)

Albany Gluten-Free Food Fest!

2010-06-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

Last night I attended the annual Gluten-Free Food Festival hosted by the Albany Celiac Support Group. There were hundreds of gluten-free folks in attendance! They enjoyed lots of samples from local and national gluten-free vendors. Here are a few photos from the event. (Links to gluten-free businesses are provided!)

Thanks to all the volunteers and businesses that made this event so fantastic! I can't wait for next year!

A happy volunteer!

123 Gluten Free sent samples!

Laurie's Gluten-Free Goodness, a local gluten-free bakery, brought lots of treats.

Cookies from Laurie's Gluten-Free Goodies!

Francine acted as the emcee for the evening.

Here you can see the line is out the door!

Shabtai, who makes my favorite rainbow cookies, attended the event.

See those bags? They are filled with tasty samples!

Sherry Lynn's, a local gluten-free restaurant, brought pizza!

John took one of the first classes I offered in the Albany area years ago!

Dawn, aka Daffi, from KD Fish Fry brought cannolis!

What would a gluten-free event be without bread samples? This bread was from the Grainless Baker.

The little girl's face in this photo makes me smile--as do the Mi-Del cookies.

See these lovely ladies? They are Gail Failing and Maureen Murphy from Price Chopper. Gail and Maureen organize the amazing gluten-free food festivals and classes I do with Price Chopper Supermarkets.

Paul Smith's Celiac Conference

2010-06-08T12:41:00.000-04:00

On June 18th I will be participating in the Paul Smith's College Celiac Conference!

The day includes talks by Shelley Case, Richard Coppedge and others. I'll be doing a hands-on Gluten-Free Baking 101 class. If you are in the area, I hope you can make it!

Click here for more information.

If you have any questions, just let me know!

BWD: Vanilla Cup Custard

2010-06-07T14:38:00.001-04:00

I blame the strawberries. And the heat. But mostly the strawberries. Today is another Baking with Dorie post. And, I must admit, I really, really, really adapted this recipe. Again, I say, It was the strawberries fault.

On Saturday, I picked up a pint of strawberries from one of my favorite local farms at the farmers' market. These strawberries begged (begged!) to be paired with something. I then thought of the Dorie challenge and decided that vanilla custard would be ideal for these strawberries. (The actual challenge was Lemon Cup Custard; vanilla was a suggested variation.)

But then it was hot and Dorie's recipe calls for the custard to be baked in the oven. To be honest, I really didn't feel like turning on the oven. (This is not something you will hear often from me, let me tell you!) I skimmed the recipe, conferred with my strawberries and decided that neither Dorie nor my fellow bloggers would be upset if I played with the recipe a bit. (Of note, strawberries tend to agree with everything you say!)

This simple recipe, with only four ingredients, was super easy to convert to a stove top custard. Is it as easy as Dorie's original? Hmm...I think it is just different.

Here is what I did

I put six custard cups in a 9x13-inch baking dish. This makes it easy to get the custard cups to the refrigerator.

In a 2-cup measuring cup, I whisked together the eggs, 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup sugar.

In a medium pot, I heated 2 cups of milk and 1/4 cup of sugar.

When the milk came to a boil, I slowly whisked it into the egg mixture. This is important. This custard contains no starch; therefore, you need to take care not to cook the eggs. (More about that later.) There isn't a photo of this because I was unable to pour the milk, whisk the egg mixture AND snap a photo. Sorry about that!

After tempering (that is baker's talk for adding the hot milk to the eggs) the eggs, I slowly whisked the mixture into the remaining hot milk.

Over medium heat, I whisked the mixture constantly until it thickened and coated the back of the spoon.

The thickened mixture was lovely and silky.

Then I putzed around taking pictures and forgot my burner was still on. I overcooked the mixture! Eep! Yes I know I could have redone it. However, the custard was still tasty. So, why bother? I just strained it and poured it into my prepared cups. You can see in the photo that it isn't as smooth as it should be.

You still like me, right? Even though I varied this dessert wildly and then overcooked it? You do? Thank you! That means a lot to me.

The finished custard. (Psst...see those strawberries? They make you do things! They are powerful berries!)

Want to see how the recipe was intended? Head over to the Baking with Dorie Challenge to see what the other bloggers did! (Probably followed directions is what they did...)

Vanilla Custard Cups

ADAPTED FROM DORIE GREENSPAN'S LEMON CUP CUSTARD. Original recipe appears in Baking: From My Home to Yours on Page 387 (Sorry to Dori for changing her recipe so very much!)

Printer Version

2 1/4 cups milk, divided (Whole or 2%. Anything else will result in a watery dessert.)
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place 6 custard cups in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
In a medium put, combine 2 cups milk and 1/4 cup sugar. Heat over medium heat.
In a small bowl, or 2-cup measuring cup, combine eggs, remaining milk and sugar. Whisk to combine. (Don't use this whisk in your hot milk or the egg clinging to it will cook and cause lumps to form in your custard.)
Bring milk to a boil, reduce heat to low.
In a slow and steady stream, whisk about 3/4 cup of hot milk into the egg mixture. Be sure to whisk constantly.
Pour hot milk mixture in a slow and steady stream into the pot.
Heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. It should coat the back of a wood spoon.
If necessary, strain through a fine strainer.
Divide among custard cups.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the cups, pressing the plastic onto the surface of the custard. This prevents a skin from forming.
Chill four hours or overnight.
Serve with fresh berries.

Makes 6 cups

Salt Potatoes

2010-06-02T14:17:00.002-04:00

About two years ago, I read Kim Severson's piece in the New York Times about salt potatoes. I remember thinking, "Those sound interesting. I should try them." Two years later, I finally did! (I am never one to rush!)

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that salt potatoes are a central New York dish. I'd never heard of the practice of boiling "new" potatoes in copious amounts of salt. Somehow this dish didn't make the 150 mile jump from Syracuse to Albany. I'm sorry it didn't! These potatoes are fantastic!

What makes these potatoes unique? The texture! Since heavily salted water has a higher boiling temperature than unsalted water, the starch in the potatoes is cooked more completely. I love tasty food science at work! The first bite of these potatoes was amazing! The interior really tender--almost like boiled potatoes, baked potatoes and mashed potatoes got together and created a baby! A tender, delicious, salt potato baby.

If you are worried, like I was, that these potatoes will be too salty, fear not. The salt is just right. And they are nowhere as salty as potato chips. To finish, I tossed the potatoes in melted butter and herbs.

Salt, potatoes, butter and herbs? Doesn't that sound great?

The water is so salty that as the potatoes boil you can see salt clinging to the pot. Nifty, right?

Boiled potatoes. The light white color on the potato skins is actually a thin salt coating.

The finished potatoes are coated with butter and herbs. Yum!

Salt Potatoes
printer friendly version
adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, August 22, 2008

10 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of kosher salt (Note from the NYT: Add another cup if using the Diamond Crystal brand)

3 pounds well-scrubbed small red or white potatoes (I used new white potatoes)

1/2 stick melted butter

Chopped fresh herbs, about a 1/4 cup (I used parsley and basil because it was what I had on-hand at the time.)

Bring the water and salt to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add the potatoes.
Boil for 20 minutes or until for tender.
Drain and toss with butter and herbs. (If you don't want to toss with butter and herbs, you will be able to see the light salt crust on the potatoes.)

Serves six

Baking with Dorie--Tender Shortcakes

2010-05-24T12:57:00.001-04:00

Oh, shortcakes! How I love you! The recipe for this week's Baking with Dorie Challenge was Tender Shortcakes. Dorie described them as "quintessential shortcakes." By the end of the testing, I was calling them either, "Rockefeller Shortcakes" or "Fat Belly Shortcakes." As you might have guessed, these shortcake are super rich!

How rich? Well, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream! In fact, the finished shortcakes reminded me a bit of a cross between a croissant (without the flakiness) and a biscuit (with LOTS more richness).

For my taste, these shortcakes were decedent enough. Topping them with whipped cream or pastry cream would have been too much for me. A dab of sour cherry jam was all they needed. In fact, I really just enjoyed eating these shortcakes plain. The sweet, rich goodness was a delight. I also think some fresh macerated strawberries would have been ideal! (I like to combine sliced strawberries with a bit of sugar and a splash of vanilla or balsamic vinegar.)

As for the gluten-free recipe conversion, you will notice that I've used a lot more starches than I usually do. The reason for this is that I wanted the shortcakes to be tender. When I used more flour, they were good but they didn't melt in your mouth. My final recipe, complete with potato, tapioca and corn starch, melts in your mouth--just as a rich shortcake should!

So, whether you call these Tender Shortcakes, Rockefeller Shortcakes or, my favorite, Fat Belly Shortcakes, enjoy them. They are simply delicious!

To see the other recipes prepared for this challenge, visit here.

Tender Shortcakes

adapted from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan
Printable Recipe

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cups white rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch
3/4 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups plus two tablespoons cold heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
Using your fingers or a pasty cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until no large pieces remain.
Add the heavy cream. Stir until a dough forms. Do will be a little dry. If it is too dry add a splash more heavy cream.
Scoop the dough, about 1/4-1/3 cup each, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes 12-14 shortcakes.

Just for Fun: Top Five Ice Cream Flavors --and Two Recipes

2010-05-14T17:11:00.009-04:00

(This lovely pic came from Microsoft. I have no idea why there are green specks in it. Let's ignore them and pretend it is vanilla cream! Sound good? Good!)

It's summer! And it's time for ice cream! For today's "Friday Fun" I've been thinking about my top five favorite ice cream flavors. With all the exotic ice cream available (I've even seen bacon ice cream!), I was surprised by my list. I don't want to say it is boring...Well, let's just say that there are some ice creams that you eat once or twice and then there are ice creams that you come back to again and again. This list is made up of the latter.

By the way, what are your favorite flavors? I really want to know!

Mint Chocolate Chip

Without a doubt, this is my favorite flavor of ice cream. When in doubt, I'll always order it. I only have one preference when it comes to Mint Chocolate Chip. The chocolate chips need to be chips. I don't like flakes of chocolate in my mint chocolate chip. My favorite brand? Stewart's. It's a local chain with really good ice cream. All ice cream is comfort food but, for me, Stewart's Mint Chocolate Chip is the comforting-est of comfort ice cream.

Homemade Sambuca Ice Cream
Sounds weird, right? I mean an anise flavored ice cream? Let me tell you, it isn't weird! It's wonderful! I don't really like to drink Sambuca but in ice cream the flavor is elevated somehow. First you get a hit of the creamy sweetness of the base and then the anise flavor blooms on your tongue. Amazing! And the liquor retains its kick. This flavor is a grown up treat. Here's my recipe:

Sambuca Ice Cream
(printable recipe)
4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup Sambuca liqueur

Place a medium bowl in an ice water bath. (I usually fill my sink with a little water and a lot of ice. Then I set a bowl in the center.) Place a fine strainer into the bowl.
In a medium saucepan, heat the heavy cream and half of the sugar. Bring mixture to a boil.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining sugar.
Slowly (this is important!) whisk the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture. If you do this too quickly, the egg yolks can cook and leave bits of cooked egg in your mixture.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat, whisking continually, until the mixture just begins to thicken. Test it by dipping a spoon into the liquid. If it clings to the back of the spoon, it is thick enough.
Strain the hot mixture through the strainer you have set up.
Allow to cool, string ever few minutes, in the ice water bath.
Once cooled, pour mixture into a container, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Right before making your ice cream, stir in the liquor.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Because of the alcohol, this ice cream will remain soft. Don't over mix or you might get bits of butter in your ice cream!
Remove the ice cream from the maker, place in a container and freeze.
Serve to adults and enjoy!

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream.

Orange Custard Chocolate Chip

My absolutely favorite fruit/chocolate combo is orange and chocolate. When I visited Babcock Hall in Madison, Wisconsin and saw Orange Custard Chocolate Chip on the menu, I *knew* I had to try it. I expected it to be good. What else would the ice cream be from the University of Wisconsin? This is place knows dairy. But it just wasn't good. It was perfect! The ratio of chocolate chips to creamy orange custard was just right. And if you are wondering what frozen custard is, well, let me tell you! Frozen custard has egg yolks and a higher milk fat than ice cream. What this means is that it is super creamy and super delicious. If you are ever in Madison be sure to try this ice cream. Oh, and you can order it on-line, too!

Chocolate Vanilla Soft Serve

Soft serve is one of those treats I forget I love until I eat it again. The reason I stop eating it each year is because the plethora of shops that serve soft serve in my area close each fall Now, if they only soft serve you've ever had has come from a fast food restaurant, then you haven't really had soft serve! Great soft serve should be creamy and soft with no funky chemicals.It should celebrate dairy and only dairy! My favorite flavor, the chocolate vanilla twist, is not only pretty--I mean chocolate twining itself around vanilla is visually enticing--but it allows me to eat both chocolate and vanilla soft serve at the same time. The best place to eat soft serve is at any small ice cream shop, at night on a picnic table with a friend or two. (Lightning bugs being present are optional but do enhance the overall experience.)

Vanilla Ice Cream

I know. I know. Some people think that vanilla ice cream is boring! Well, I think they are wrong. I adore vanilla cream. Adore it. Now, if you are buying it, be sure the ice cream actually includes vanilla. This is not the place for artificial vanilla! (Actually, I don't think there is any place for artificial vanilla ice cream now that I think about it.) While I like to eat a small dish of vanilla ice cream, I also really like to pair it with things. What kind of things? Well, root beer for root beer floats, hot espresso for affogato, fresh berries. You get the idea. Great vanilla ice cream is just begging to be turned into a fabulous dessert.

Affogato
(printable recipe)

Affogato means drowned. And, baby, what a way to go! Vanilla ice cream and hot espresso? It is not only easy, it is insanely good.

1 shot (about three tablespoons) hot espresso. (I won't tell anyone if you use decaf.)
1 scoop ice cream

Pour the hot espresso over the cold ice cream. Serve right away. (If I am serving this to friends after a dinner party, I will pre-scoop my ice cream into glasses and freeze. Then when it is time to serve, I bring out the ice cream bows and let my friends have fun pouring hot espresso over the top.)

Baking with Dorie--Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte

2010-05-10T14:43:00.003-04:00

It's time for another Baking with Dorie challenge! This week's recipe was my selection. Since I love cheesecake, I thought the Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte would be fantastic. Not only did it look delicious, I liked that it wasn't a heavy New York-style cheesecake. This cheesecake-torte hybrid, made with cream cheese and cottage cheese with a hidden layer of jam, sounded like a perfect spring dessert.

Dorie's original recipe included ground cinnamon and nutmeg in the cheesecake filling. While I liked that, I found that it somewhat muted the delicate flavor of the cheeses. However, the ground cinnamon flavor was good and I didn't want to omit it completely. As I munched through a test piece, it hit me: the crust! I could flavor the crust with cinnamon.

So I did! I removed the spices from the filling and put them into the crust. The results were wonderful! The buttery crust became subtly spicy. This slight change really affected the flavor of the finished torte. While all the flavors married nicely, I could taste now taste the slight tang of the filling. It was no longer hidden under the spices.

Now you might be wondering about that cottage cheese in the recipe. I was! While I love goat cheese cheesecakes and ricotta cheesecakes, I wasn't sure how I would like a cheesecake with cottage cheese. I should have known to just trust Dorie on this one. The cottage cheese does not grab your tongue and shake it! Nope! It really stands to lighten the torte. And by blending the filling in a food processor, the texture is really silky. There aren't any curds of cottage cheese in the finished torte.

This recipe has been added to my "will make again" list. It's easy, it's delicious and it's cheesecake. What could be better? I mean, really. Look at this beauty!

You want a piece don't you? I knew it!

Here are a few Baker's notes before you begin:

A food processor is needed for both the filling and the crust. This makes for a tender crust and a silky cheese filling.
The torte is baked in a springform pan. If you don't have one, a tart pan with 1 1/2 inch sides would work. As would a 9-inch cake pan. With a cake pan, be sure to use parchment paper to line the pan. When the torte is done, simply lift it out of the pan using the paper.
The hidden layer of jam, while lovely, is not necessary. Feel free to leave it out. If you are going to use it, be sure to use a good jam. Avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup. I used Stonewall Kitchen's Sour Cherry Jam. It was wonderful. In fact, the tartness of the jam balanced the sweetness of the filling really well.
The torte can be served slightly warm. I know this sounds odd. During testing, I munched on a piece that was just slightly warm and it was delicious!

As always, I am doing this challenge with Susi and Grapefruit. Head over to their blogs to see lovely non-gluten-free versions of this dessert. Also, Grapefruit made her own jam for the filling! Amazing!

Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte

adapted from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan
Printer Friendly Version

For the Crust

Dry Ingredients
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons ) chilled, salted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling

1/3 cup thick berry or cherry jam (I used Stonewall Kitchen's Sour Cherry Jam. And, I didn't measure it! I just spread it on the bottom of the crust.)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (Don't use low fat.)
8 ounces (1 cup) small curd cottage cheese, at room temperature (Don't use low fat.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make the Crust

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the dry ingredients. Pulse to mix.
Add the butter. Pulse until no large pieces of butter remain.
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix until a dough forms. (I turn my Cuisinart to "On" and allow it to mix until a dough forms.)
Remove the dough from the food processor.
Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. You want the paper to hang over the edges of the pan.
Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the prepared pan. The dough should come about 1 1/2 inches up the side of the pan. Don't worry about it being even. The uneven crust looks rustic and really lovely.
Chill for 35 minutes. Use as directed below.

To Make the Torte

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly prick the crust with a fork.
Bake crust for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine cream cheese and cottage cheese.
Process until smooth. (The mixture should almost be shiny. If you see any cream cheese clinging to the side of the food processor, stop the machine, scrape down the down and process until all the cream cheese is incorporated.)
Add granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.
Process until smooth. Set aside.
Remove the crust from the oven. Lower heat to 350 degrees F.
Spread the jam on the bottom of the crust. You just want a light layer of jam.
Pour the filling over the crust.
Return the pan to the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the filling is set. When done, the filling will be light and should not jiggle. Test the cake at 35 minutes. If over baked, the filling might crack.
Remove torte from the oven. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Open the springform side, remove the torte and pull the parchment paper away.
Place torte on a serving dish and chill for one hour or overnight.

Makes one 9-inch torte, about eight servings.

Just for Fun: Top Five Books

2010-05-07T11:21:00.004-04:00

As you might have noticed, I've been answering questions that my friend Ned has been posing on his blog. So far I've answered "What are your favorite albums?" "Top Five Favorite Songs" and "What would you send in a care package to your 15-year-old self?" I've had so much fun with these that I decided to do another one. Today it is all about books!

It was a real challenge to name only five books that I love and recommend to people!

"Living Out Loud" by Anna Quindlen

I stumbled upon Living Out Loud while I was cat-sitting for a friend. It was tucked away on her bookshelf. By the end of the weekend, I’d inhaled the book. This was about fourteen years ago. Within those pages, I found that Anna Quindlan had given voice to many of the things I believed. Her words also helped shaped the woman I would become. A dog-eared, autographed copy of this book now sits on my bookshelf. Whenever I pull it out, I find it as fresh as I did fourteen years ago.

"Nest in the Wind" by Martha Ward

Here’s a useless fact about my life: while I was getting my Bachelor’s degree, I took almost every cultural anthropology class my college offered. Learning about cultures just makes my pulse quicken. I credit my love of cultural anthropology to Martha Ward. Her ethnography, Nest in the Wind, captured me. Because of my food allergies it wouldn’t be safe for me to go and live on a little island like Ward did. However, I am so thankful people like her do this and share their experiences with us when they come back.

"Operating Instructions" by Anne Lamott

For me Anne Lamott is one of those writers. I adore her stuff. My relationship with Anne began with Operating Instructions. On the cover it states that this is a journal of her son’s first year. But really it is about life and death and almost everything else.

"Tender at the Bone" by Ruth Reichl

Often when I tell people that I write about food, their eyes glaze over. At times like those, I wish I could shove a copy of Tender at the Bone into their hands. Ruth Reichl’s memoir captures just what makes food such an integral part of living.

"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe

This is the only novel on my list. Things Fall Apart is a deceptively simple read. Trying to describe it makes me feel clumsy. I’ll just say that the themes of change, loss, fear and relationships stayed with me long after I closed the book

Really, Really Simple Lemon Vinaigrette

2010-05-07T09:46:00.002-04:00

When I have friends over for dinner, there is usually one thing I can count on. Someone will say, "I love this salad dressing! How did you make it?" It doesn't matter what else I'm serving. Everyone loves my salad dressing. Figures, doesn't it? It is the easiest thing I make.

There is the "correct" way to make a vinaigrette (whisk together vinegar and seasonings. Slowly whisk in olive oil to emulsify.) and then there is my way (basically throw everything into a bowl.) My way is easier.

Since I finally invested in a grown-up camera, I thought it would be fun to show you step-by-step how to make a simple lemon vinaigrette. The best part of this recipe is that you can play with it to suit your tastes.

Here we go. (Full recipe is below.)

Today I am making a lemon vinaigrette. I've pulled out olive oil, a lemon, garlic and Penzeys' Sunny Paris seasoning. I'll also need sugar and kosher salt. But I forgot to photograph those. Oh well.

For this recipe, you'll need a half a lemon. I am feeling the need to tell you that I love lemons. Love them. A bowl of lemons makes me happier than a vase of flowers.

See this lemon squeezer? It is my favorite. It does a really good job at extracting all the juice from a lemon and it catches the seeds. What more could you ask for?

In a small bowl, combine three tablespoons of oil and one tablespoon of lemon juice.

Add one teaspoon of mustard. This will keep your vinaigrette emulsified. It also tastes good. By the way, the mustard I am using is not gourmet at all. It is what I had on hand--and that is even better.

Use a small whisk and combine all the ingredients until the vinaigrette is smooth and creamy.

Isn't that neat? It is a totally dairy-free dressing but it looks really creamy. I love this. Vinaigrettes make me happy.

Now add your seasonings. I've used Penzeys' Sunny Paris because I *love* it. But any dried herbs and spices that you love work just fine. (In the Sunny Paris is purple shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf.)

Add a pinch of sugar. Trust me on this. A pinch of sugar in your vinaigrette makes it taste good. I promise it won't make it sweet. The sugar will just mellow the ingredients and take away the sharpness that plagues some vinaigrettes.

Now throw in some kosher salt. Again, this is important. Salt enhances the flavor.

Add a half clove of garlic. The garlic transforms this vinaigrette from good to "Oh my goodness. I want more." If you don't like raw garlic or are planning on kissing someone right after eating this salad (lucky you, by the way!) just leave it out and add more dry herbs.

At this point, taste the vinaigrette. Does it need anything? More salt? More seasonings? More lemon juice? Adjust if necessary.

Then I put my greens in a bowl, splash some of the vinaigrette over it and toss together. You don't need to do this but it ensures that every green is coated with vinaigrette. Yum!

Throw on whatever else you have around. When I made this salad, I did not have much around. I went simple with just a few grape tomatoes.

Now, where is my fork...

Lemon Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon mustard (anything but bright yellow mustard will work.)
1/2 clove garlic, minced (or squeezed through a garlic press.)
Herbs, to taste
Pinch granulated sugar
Pinch salt

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and mustard until smooth and creamy.
Season with dried herbs and pinch each of sugar and salt.
Whisk together.
Add garlic. Whisk to combine.
Taste. Adjust if necessary.
Toss together with greens.

This dressing makes enough for two large salads. If I am making a salad for myself, I just store the leftovers in the fridge for the next day.

Baking with Dorie--The Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart

2010-04-26T17:24:00.002-04:00

This week it was my pleasure to select the Baking with Dorie Challenge recipe. Since I love all things lemon, I thought it would be fun to give Dorie’s “The Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart” a try. At first glance, I thought this was just a lemon curd tart. How wrong I was!

One of the first things I noticed about this recipe was that the lemon cream filling used a whopping 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons of butter. For those of you playing along at home, that’s 21 tablespoon of butter—in the filling alone! As much as I love butter, and really I do, I was concerned that 21 Tablespoons of butter was too much. Would it overwhelm the lemon zip?

The first time I made the recipe as written and Land O’Lakes butter rejoiced. I found the flavor to be good but too buttery, too rich. And when I handed a slice to friends they all said the same thing, “Boy! That’s rich!” Not exactly what I was going for. I was looking for “Yum! That’s good.” Boy that’s rich! and Yum that’s good! are two different things.

I decided to tinker with the recipe a little. After three more batches, I finally decided that 1 1/4 sticks of butter, only 10 tablespoons, made for a perfect balance of richness and flavor. The butter no longer blunted the flavor of the lemon.

There was one other spot where I varied Dorie’s recipe a bit. She uses a double boiler to make the lemon cream. I elected to just use a heavy pot and whisk. If you are more comfortable using a double boiler, please do!

After the filling is made, Dorie puts it into a blender to incorporate the butter. This also serves to lighten the cream a bit! While I’ve never done this before with a lemon curd-type filling, I loved it and thought the resulting texture was worth the mess of the blender.

As for the crust, I used my favorite gluten-free tart crust with one tweak. I added lemon juice to it. It serves to heighten the lemon flavor of the entire crust without being sharp. I think you’ll like it.

Is this Dorie’s Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart? Not exactly! But it’s heavily influenced by it. I hope you like my variation!

If you are interested in Dorie's original filling--which is gluten-free--head over to Grapefruit's blog. She has the entire recipe posted! Thanks to her for typing it up! As always, Susie and Grapefruit have posted their wonderful results. Head over to their blogs to see what they've done!

Tart Crust
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Lemon Filling
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
10 Tablespoons butter, room temperature and cut into small pieces

For the Crust

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and confectioner's sugar.

3. Add whisked dry ingredients. Blend until a mixture is dry and crumbly.

4. Add lemon juice and mix until a dough forms.

5. Spray a 10-inch tart pan with gluten-free cooking spray.

6. Place the dough in the tart pan and, using your hand, press the dough evenly
onto the bottom and sides of the pan. This will take a minute.

7. Chill tart dough, in the pan, for 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

9. Bake tart shell for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Remove tart pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the Filling

1. While tart shell bakes, prepare the filling.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Whisk together until smooth.

3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly.

4. As soon as the filling thickens, about 180 degrees F, remove from the heat.

5. Strain mixture and transfer to a blender or food processor.

6. Allow mixture to cool slightly, about 140 degrees F.

7. Begin adding the butter two or three pieces at a time. Blend until butter is incorporated.

8. Pour filling into a 9x13-inch pan to cool.

9. Chill for 3-4 hours.

10. Whisk filling and spread into prepared tart shell.

11. Serve and enjoy!

Serves eight.

Molding Hard-Boiled Eggs

2010-04-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

Really, how cute is that?

A few years ago, a friend pulled out a hard-boiled out for lunch. No big deal, right? Wrong! The egg was cow-shaped. Cow Shaped! I actually sat there gawking. I did not know that you could have cow-shaped eggs. Once I stopped staring, I had to ask, “How the heck did you do that?” Turns out, egg molds were the key.

My friend had molds from Japan. And while I searched for them locally for years, I was never able to find them. I made do because I could not resist the siren call of shaped hard-boiled eggs. Several people on-line suggested using ice cream sandwich molds for eggs. I bought a bunch and with the help of rubber bands, I, too, had cow-shaped eggs. (Pig, heart and, of all things, cowboy hat-shapes too!)

The other day I noticed that Amazon was carrying the Japanese egg molds. Unlike my makeshift molds which, to be honest, were a bit of work, these molds promised easy egg molding.

After I posted a pic of my teddy bear-egg on Facebook and Twitter a few people asked, “How’d you do that?” Here's how!

Hard-boil your eggs. (For tips on how to perfectly hard-boil an egg, click here.) Remove eggs from hot water. Run quickly under cold water.

Tap egg, large side down, on the counter to crack the shell.

Ah! Perfect. You really just need to whack the egg once or twice to crack the shell on the bottom.

There is a membrane between the egg and the shell. This membrane is your friend. Run your thumb over the membrane to rupture it. Once you've loosened the membrane, peel it back. The shell will come with it.

Pop egg into molds. (Imagine the eggs are in the mold above. I forgot to take a picture. Thank goodness for imaginations, right?) Snap the mold shut.

Submerge egg mold in a bowl of cold water to cool, about 15-20 minutes. (Usually I forget the eggs are in the cold water and come back an hour later. This works too!)

Unmold eggs.

Stare at the cuteness. Post pics of egg on Facebook and Twitter. Wait for people to say, “How’d you do that?”*
Enjoy!

*Optional step but highly recommended.

The Egg Molds are available here on Amazon.com

How to Hard-Boil and Peel an Egg

2010-04-20T17:04:00.002-04:00

How to Hard-Boil an Egg

1.    Place eggs in saucepan. Cover with about 1-inch of water.
2.    Bring water to a boil.
3.    As soon as water reaches a boil, carefully remove pot from heat source.
4.    Cover pot and allow eggs to sit for 10 minutes. (If you are like me and forget about things, use a timer.)
5.    Remove the eggs from the hot water and cool under cold running water.
6.    Peel and enjoy.

To Peel an Egg (This is the easiest method I’ve found.)

1.    Tap egg, large end down, on the counter.
2.    Remove shell.
3.    Run your thumb over the membrane to rupture it.
4.    Peel away membrane and the shell will come with it!

Care Package to a Fifteen-Year-Old Me

2010-04-16T08:43:00.000-04:00

If you could send a care package including one book, one CD and one DVD to yourself at age fifteen, what would it contain? My friend Ned posed this question on his blog, where for the past few weeks he’s been running various “projects.” While I had fun completing his albums and singles projects, I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate in this week’s topic.

Fifteen is tough for almost everyone. For me, it was hellish. First my best friend moved away and then my dad died unexpectedly. Within three months, my entire emotional well-being collapsed. Whenever I think back to myself at fifteen, I just think, “You poor thing.” Life was rough.

With that past, I didn’t know if writing a letter to myself at fifteen would be the best idea. Then I thought, why not? And sat down to compose the letter. Guess what? It was fun! It wasn’t the same “fun” as I’d had compiling my favorite music but it was fun. In fact, I’d recommend that you give it a try.

I’d apologize for this blog entry being a little navel-gazing but aren’t most blogs navel-gazing? Isn’t that why we read them?

If you are just here for the recipes, don’t worry, I’ll be back to posting recipes on Monday. For now, a letter to my fifteen year old self.

Book
Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone

I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about which book I want to send to you. Right now, you are mired in pain and grief and loss. Trust me when I tell you that you will find the right words. The books that you need will find you and they will mark you. Your love affair with language will save you a thousand times over.

The book in this care package is different. There are no words in it to assuage your tender soul. Pull it out. See that cover? It has your name on it. That’s right: you wrote it. Remember those kids who used to make fun of you because of your allergies? Well, you’ll spend your career making the lives of other kids with food issues easier. It’s pretty cool.

Soon you will find Anna Quindlan—and you will love her. You’ll read these words that Anna wrote, “Seeing my name in black and white at the top of a good story, suddenly it wasn’t an ugly dog [name] anymore.” And, let me tell you, those words are true! However, you didn’t write your book to feed your ego. Trust me on this. You wrote your book because you believed right down to your toes that people on a restricted diet (like you!) deserve food that tastes great. Turns out, you are really good at developing recipes without gluten.

The journey you’ll embark on while writing your first book will change the way you see the world and yourself. (Did you catch that? Your first book. There will be more than one but I can’t tell you too much.) At first, people will not “get” what you are trying to do. You and the book will face LOTS of rejection. A few agents and publishers will turn you down. One will say, “I just don’t think that many people are interested in eating gluten-free.” She will be wrong. You will believe in yourself and your work. At first you will self-publish your book. This will disappoint you. Don’t let it. Your self-published book will do so well that you will sell it to a publisher who is amazing. (By the way, the first time you go to NYC to have a meeting with your publisher bring boots. Trust me on this.)

Easy Gluten-Free Baking is filled with recipes and words that you created. Not only will these words shape your life, they will affect the lives of strangers. This will never, ever stop amazing you.

You have a long journey from where you are now to where you are going. I have good news and I have bad news. The good news? Look at that book again. That’s the good news. The bad news? Life will get harder. It will hurt in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. Dad’s death? That’s just the beginning. Before you are twenty you will know, intimately, pain and betrayal and hurt that would curl the hair of most adults. But you will get through it.

By the way, writing a book isn’t the end. It’s a beginning. But I can’t tell you too much. Why spoil all the fun?

CD
Jim Gaffigan Beyond the Pale

Included in this care package was to be a book, a CD and a DVD. I’m sure I was supposed to include a music CD. Oh, well. I don’t care. (One of the great things about growing up is that you care very, very little about “rules” that don’t really matter. If that isn’t freedom, I don’t know what is.)

I tried really hard to remember the music you listened to at fifteen and, honestly, I couldn’t. The only thing I remembered about your music was how you’d listen to a walkman on the bus ride to school with your face pressed up to the cold glass of the window. I hadn’t thought about that in years. And then, then, I remembered that most of the time you’d be crying. That’s okay. I know there are lots of people trying to tell you what grieving should look like. The picture of grief they hand you is “be seen and not heard.” Do you know why they are doing this? They’re uncomfortable. I know now that people have a tough time being present to the emotional pain of others. That’s why they all neglect to mention that it is okay to be sad; it’s okay to cry. In fact, one idiot is going to tell you to “keep your chin up and don’t cry.” Trust me, that is one of the dumbest pieces of advice you will get. Ever.

You have music and you have tears. What you don’t have much of is laughter. If anyone needs a laugh, it’s you. Jim Gaffigan isn’t the edgiest comedian that you’ll eventually come to enjoy. Nope. He’s just funny. He jokes about cake and silly holiday traditions and, of all things, hot pockets. The reason I’m including Beyond the Pale is to remind you that the very act of living is sort of funny. It might not feel that way now, but it’s true. And if you can’t laugh at cake, what can you laugh at?

Movie
About A Boy

This movie squeezes my heart each time I watch it. I hope you’ll like it. I don’t know what you’ll see in this movie at fifteen. I think I was thirty when I first watched it. By thirty, the character of Will grabbed me. He’s bought into a way of living he calls “Island Living.” Since, even at fifteen, you are sort of a loner, I am sure you will get the appeal of “Island Living.”

The reason I’m sending you this is because of the movie’s ending. Pay close attention to it. (It differs from the book. By the way, read the book, okay?) Both Will and Marcus have forged a community of friends. When you feel yourself retreating in solitude just remember that it’s okay to be an island. Yet as Will says at the end, some islands are connected under the surface by chains. By my age you’ve done a good job at creating “island chains” of friends but, perhaps, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start a little earlier.

Gluten-Free Sour Cream Coconut Banana Cake

2010-04-12T13:52:00.005-04:00

Baking with Dorie

The Challenge: Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake

If there was one baked good where variety didn’t appeal to me, it was banana bread. Prior to this week’s Baking with Dorie challenge, the only banana bread I really liked was my mom’s recipe. For me, her version was the ne plus ultra of banana bread. I loved it so much, I converted the recipe to gluten-free for my cookbook. I really never had any desire to try another recipe. Banana bread and me? The very definition of “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

This week’s Baking with Dorie challenge pulled me out of my banana bread comfort zone. The selected recipe was Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake. After skimming Dorie’s recipe, I was reminded that there really isn’t much of a difference between banana bread and banana cake. It’s sort of like the difference between a cupcake and a muffin– icing! Also, banana bread is usually baked in a 9x5 loaf pan; banana cake in two rounds or a 9x13. While Dorie calls this recipe a “cake”, I came to think of it as a bread because I decided not to ice it.

And deciding not to ice it would be just fine with Dorie. The recipe doesn’t include the phrase Lots-of-Ways for nothing. Throughout the recipe Dorie notes that substitutions are welcome. Don’t have brown sugar? Use granulated! Can’t find coconut milk? Use milk or sour cream or yogurt. You get the point; this recipe can be altered to suit your tastes—or whatever you have in the pantry.

After glancing at the recipe, I was intrigued that coconut was one of the ingredients. Coconut plus bananas? Yum! In addition to sweetened coconut, Dorie suggests that unsweetened coconut milk can be used in the recipe. Well, I didn’t have coconut milk on hand. Okay, that’s not true. I did have coconut milk in the fridge. I also had mold in my coconut milk. Down the drain it went. Since my coconut milk was spoiled, I decided to use sour cream. My version of Dorie’s Cake ended up being a Sour Cream Banana Coconut Cake. Even I had to admit, it sounded pretty good.

I used a combination of white rice flour, cornstarch and sweet rice flour in the recipe. The thick and creamy batter was gorgeous! Since I didn’t want to ice the cake, I decided to bake it in a 9x13 inch cake pan because I love sheet cakes. There is just something wonderful about a cake you can leave in the pan, on the counter, and let folks lob themselves off a slice when they feel like it.

Out of the oven came a beautiful cake. I couldn’t wait to try it. After snapping a few pictures, it was finally time for me to try a new banana cake! And, as you might have guessed, I loved it! The coconut and spices combined with banana is just perfect! The texture of the cake is really moist without being gummy. There is only one problem, which recipe will I make in the future with my overripe bananas? Dorie's or my mom's recipe? Hmm...

PS Be sure to take a look at what Susie and Grapefruit baked up for this week's challenge.

Sour Cream Banana Coconut Cake
adapted from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan

Dry Ingredients

1 2/3 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup cornstarach

1/2 cup sweet rice

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (About 4 very ripe bananas)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13-pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl), cream together butter and sugars. Use medium-high speed.
Add eggs, one at a time, and cream until thoroughly combined.
Add vanilla extract and bananas. Blend to combine. The mixture will curdle. Don’t worry. This is fine.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Blend until thoroughly incorporated. Add 1/2 the sour cream, mix well. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and sour cream. After the last addition of the sour cream, blend batter for 30 seconds.
Add coconut and mix just to combine.
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. (This cake is also yummy served warm!)

Makes 1 9x13 inch cake

Just for Fun: Top Five Songs

2010-04-02T22:22:00.001-04:00

So, last week my friend Ned asked for people's favorite albums. This week it's singles. Here are five songs that just pluck at my heartstrings no matter how many times I hear them.

This Woman’s Work--Kate Bush

I discovered Kate Bush when I was about 16. Thank God. Even today, This Woman’s Work is my favorite song. It’s perfection for me.
>

The Highwayman--Lorenna McKennitt
Oh, Bess! I really love stories about men or women loving someone they shouldn't—even if it means it eventually ruins them. While I’m not the world’s biggest romantic, hearing her sing, “Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky, with the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!” when the Highway man learns his love is dead makes me swoon a bit. Each time I hear the song, I think, “He went back. He.went.back.”

Closer to Fine--Indigo Girls
Okay, I’ll admit this song has become something of a cliché. A song for folks who hang out in coffee shops (read: my people). I don’t care. It makes me happy.

All That’s Known--Spring Awakening
I could put together a list of my favorite songs from musicals. However, I doubt Ned will be doing a “Music: Theater Geeks Edition” list. Of all the musical numbers I love, I think it’s funny that this song makes the list. Why? I’ve not seen Spring Awakening! I think that’s why I had to include this song in my top five. A song from a musical that *gets* you even if you haven’t seen the show? Awesome!

Piano Man—12 Gardens Live Version--Billy Joel
Of course Joel’s classic Piano Man is, ya know, classic. I like it alright but I adore the live version from later in his career. There is something about a voice that’s aged—reflecting a life that’s been lived—that imbues this song with a depth that original can’t match.

(In the same vein, I love Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now-Remastered. Her voice, so radically different than when she first recorded the song, is just perfect.)

Honorable Mention

I Love Rock N’Roll—Joan Jett

Numb—Linkin Park

Annie’s Song—John Denver

Live to Tell---Madonna

Jack and Diane—John Mellencamp

Gluten-Free Cheese Biscuits

2010-04-02T17:46:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness, I love biscuits so much. Actually when testing this recipe, I might have loved them too much. Several seemed to disappear after baking. I was the only one home...hmmm...I wonder how that happened...

This recipe makes fluffy gluten-free biscuits that are just loaded with cheese. They're amazing. After baking they have a lovely golden hue that just makes my mouth water. Sadly I wasn't really able to capture that color in the photo. I've been baking for years but am just now learning how to snap a good photo. For some reason, capturing the color of these biscuits eluded me. Sorry! But let me just say again, they are a gorgeous color when they come out of the oven. They all but scream "cheese!"

Here's the recipe. You'll love it! I just know it!

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
6 Tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
4 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. (Don't have a food processor? Use a medium bowl and whisk them together.)
Cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until no large pieces remain. (Do this with either the food processor or a pastry cutter.)
Add the milk and cheese and pulse until a dough forms. Don't over mix. (Just stir to combine if doing this by hand.)
Drop the dough, about 1/4 cup each, onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm.

Makes about 1 dozen biscuits

Gluten-Free Gingered Carrot Cookies

2010-03-29T17:00:00.005-04:00

I vividly remember the day I discovered I was allergic to carrots. I was in the first grade and my class was going to the circus after school. My mom packed a bag of carrot sticks for me to eat as a snack. After class ended, I pulled out my little bag and grabbed a carrot. Seconds later, my fingers began to itch. After that they swelled up a little. I can remember pulling the tail of my shirt taut so I could scratch my fingers on it.

As my teacher came around, I hid my hands. I knew if she saw them, I couldn’t go on the trip. And I really, really wanted to go to the circus. Of course, the reaction didn’t stop and my teacher did notice. My checks started to turn red and my lips became puffy. The teacher called my mom who came and picked me up. No circus for me!

“What did you get yourself into?” my mom asked while handing me a Benadryl.

“Carrots.” I mumbled.

“Carrots? Are you sure? You didn’t eat something someone else gave you did you?”

I could tell that my mom thought this reaction from carrot sticks was odd. But I was right. It was the carrots. To this day, carrots make me break out in hives. When I tell people that I am allergic to carrots, they have the same reaction as my mom did years ago, “Carrots? Are you sure?”

When I joined the Baking with Dorie challenge, I noticed that the second recipe was Gingered Carrot Cookies. Oh carrots, how I dislike you! But I’ve spent my life not allowing my allergies to stop me. So carrot cookies it was!

Now you might be wondering why in the world I would bake something that I can’t eat. It’s just what I do.

As someone who has a long list of food allergies, I knew when I decided to go to cooking school there would be lots of foods I would not be able to taste. Actually, tasting was the least of my worries. I was concerned about the stuff that could actually, ya know, kill me. My allergies vary in severity. For some foods, like carrots, I just break out in hives. Other foods, like soy and tree nuts, cause me to go into anaphylactic shock. This means that my throat closes up and I can’t breathe. It’s not fun!

Avoiding anaphylactic shock while at the CIA was my main priority. If I had to work with an allergen, I would wear gloves and be very careful. It was a risk. I knew that. Not everyone at school was thrilled that a food allergic person was attending the CIA. One of my instructors, upon learning about my allergies, said to me, “Why are you wasting my time? You will be of no good to this industry with all of your allergies.” I, however, didn’t think I was wasting anyone’s time. I just wanted to learn how to bake well. And I didn’t think my allergies should stop me from doing just that.

Today I don’t often bake foods I can’t consume. When you aren’t baking for a grade, like I was doing at cooking school, there is little reason to make something you can’t eat. However, I wanted to fully participate in the Baking with Dorie challenge. So, I donned my gloves and peeled and grated some carrots.

While I didn’t eat the cookies, I can tell you that my tasters loved them! After converting the cookies to gluten-free, I left out the nuts and the raisins. The reason I left out the nuts is simple: I am anaphylactic to tree nuts. I don’t allow them in my kitchen. As for the raisins, one of my tasters doesn’t like them. For him, I left them out.

Fellow Baking with Dorie blogger, Grapefruit, thought there wasn’t enough ginger flavor. I e-mailed my tasters to ask them about this. They both thought the ginger flavor was fine. In the recipe I used Penzey’s ground ginger which is stronger than McCormick. Perhaps that made a difference?

Here’s recipe. If you can eat carrots, I hope you enjoy it!

Gingered Carrot Cookies (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe)

Dry Ingredients
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (Dorie used light brown sugar. I think gluten-free baking benefits from dark brown sugar.)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup raisins, optional
1/2 cup pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light, about 1 minute. Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
Turn off mixer and add the dry indigents. Turn mixer to medium-low and blend until a dough forms. The dough will be thick.
Add carrots and coconut plus the raisins and pecans if you are using them. Mix until just combined.
Drop dough, about 2 tablespoons, onto a prepared cookie sheet. These cookies spread. Be sure to leave about 2-inches between each cookie.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Just for Fun: Music

2010-03-26T18:01:00.001-04:00

It's Friday and I've been baking all day. To ease into the weekend, I thought it would be fun to talk about music for a moment.

Ned, a fellow blogger and friend, is currently running The Album Project. (Here's a bit of useless trivia for you, Ned and I rode the bus together as kids.) He's asking people for their top 25 albums. At first I wasn't going to compile a list. I listen to music all day. I bake to it, write to it, and listen to it in the car. If my iPod dies while I am out for a walk, I don't know what to do with myself! I really (really) didn't think I could narrow my music down to only 25 albums. But I did!

I decided it would be fun to just jot down the first 25 albums that came to mind. In no particular order, here's my list:

Sensual World-- Kate Bush
Book of Secrets-- Loreena McKennitt
The Visit-- Loreena McKennitt
Live from Paris and Toronto-- Loreena McKennitt
Exile in Guyville –Liz Phair
Liz Phair—Liz Phair
Clouds in My Coffee-- Carly Simon
Clouds-- Joni Mitchell
Rubber Soul --Beatles
Monster--R.E.M
White Album-- Beatles
Top of the World Tour-- Dixie Chicks
Greatest Hits-- Simon & Garfunkel
Automatic for the People—R.E.M.
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset Soundtrack--Various Artists
Odds & Sods--The Who
She's So Unusual--Cindi Lauper (I usually listen to this when I have *lots* of dishes to do.)
Revolver--Beatles
Queen's Greatest Hits--Queen
Medusa--Annie Lennox
Romanza--Andea Bocelli
Billy Joel Greatest Hits Vol. 1&2--Billy Joel
Indigo Girls--Indigo Girls
Invocation--Ty Burhoe
Les Miserables 10th Anniversary--Cast Recording

Doing this has made me curious! What do you listen to? Do you have specific music for the kitchen? Put your list on your blog and link to it in the comments. I'd love to read it.

Enjoy the weekend!

Gluten-Free Food at the Ballpark?

2010-03-24T13:28:00.000-04:00

When I first started teaching gluten-free baking classes, few people outside of the gluten-free community knew what the phrase "gluten-free" meant. Boy, things have changed!

I just read that Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, will offer a gluten-free food stand this year!

This is from their press release:

In response to fan requests, the Mets and ARAMARK will debut a gluten-free stand, courtesy of Kozy Shack. The Kozy Shack Gluten-Free Stand on the Field Level outside the World's Fare Market will feature a full line of Kozy Shack puddings, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages and beer. For vegetarian fans, Yves Spicy Veggie Hot Dog & Harvest Veggie Burger will be available at general concession stands throughout the ballpark.

(To read the full press release about Citi Field, click here.)

How exciting is that? We now have gluten-free cereal at the grocery store and a gluten-free stand at a major ballpark!

My question for you, what do you want to see go gluten-free?