Congratulations to YuShan, winner of the Little Lad’s Popcorn sampler.

Now with Luca around, photos of my nephews will take a back seat to my little pup when winners are announced.

Happy Holidays!

Winner selected by random.org

I love popcorn. I mean serious, obsessive lurve. I’m pretty sure I could eat popcorn every day for a month without getting tired of it.  So when I find a new version of the snack that heightens my crush, it’s almost a magical experience.  I found Little Lad’s “Herbal Corn” when looking for a cheap way to feed guests at a happy hour I was throwing.

Their addition of “natural flavors and herbs” create little kernels of delight – explosions of flavors really. I brought this to a friend’s birthday party recently and another guest declared: “You just changed my life!” (no joking).  Not only is it tasty, it’s also labeled “gluten-free” right on the package which always warms my heart a bit.

So far, I’ve only seen Little Lad’s at Whole Foods in NYC, but I’m offering a giveaway so at least one of you can try Little Lad’s even if you aren’t lucky enough to live in NYC.

One reader will get two small bags of Little Lads Herbal Corn. To enter, leave a comment telling us what your favorite topping for popcorn is by 6pm Eastern on Monday November 1st, you must live in the U.S. to be eligible. Blog or tweet about this giveaway and link to this post and you can comment twice (be sure to put @yumcat in the tweet) which will increase your chance of winning.

At the Fancy Food Show this year I discovered a plethora of new gluten-free goodies, but one of my favorites was a gluten-free granola from JK Grain Free Gourmet.  I was smitten after trying their Cranberry and Cashew gluten-free granola, but a full-fledged food crush developed later when I received a sample of their Hazelnut and Date concoction made with coconut, dates, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, honey, sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.  The combination of sweet, savory, crunch and chew is utterly delightful. While I loved it in big handfuls straight from the bag, it was completely decadent on top of ice cream.

I haven’t yet seen JK Gourmet in any stores near me, but I put in a request at my local health food store.  You can see a list of current stores on their web site or place an order directly.  One lucky reader will get a package sent directly to them with 2 flavors of the JK Gourmet gluten-free granola.  Just leave a comment below telling us your favorite way to eat granola (as a topping? like cereal? a dry snack?)  A winner will be selected randomly from all of the comments left by Monday, December 14th at 6:00pm Eastern.  US and Canadian residents only.

I heart almonds. I heart cookies. I heart Paris. So the fact that I love the French version of macaroons should not be a surprise. I first tasted these delicate cookies when visiting my best friend in Paris more than 10 years ago. Now these are not the coconut confections that may first come to mind when hearing the word ‘macaroon’ but are sweets made with almonds that will almost melt in your mouth.

For my birthday this year, my best friend sent me a package of French macaroon cookies from a cute spot in NYC called Macaron Café. She had double checked with them that their versions of the cookies were gluten-free and had them deliver a special package to my apartment. (Yes I have wonderful friends, and I am constantly grateful for them)

This week I discovered another source for gluten-free French Macaroons a few blocks from my office at La Maison Du Chocolat. They have a little coffee shop in addition to their ‘take-home’ offerings. So yes, I can get chocolate, cappuccino and macaroons all in one place less than three minutes from my office. I can already tell this is going to be a dangerous temptation.

And since I know most of you don’t live in NYC, I also want to share a few recipes to make your own French Macaroon Cookies at home. They may not be as pretty as the ones you see here, but they are absolutely delicious with the crunchy exterior and chewy center you’ll find in the cookies at the bakeries.

Gluten-Free Macaroon Cookies Recipe FIVE ways (adapted from recipe on Delphi Forums Celiac Listerv)

Almond Macaroons

Each recipe makes about 2 dozen 2-inch cookies

Ingredients:
3 cups (12 ounces) blanched slivered almonds (measure without packing or shaking the cup)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon (3 large) egg whites
1 teaspoon gluten-free almond extract

Directions:

Set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle levels of oven and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade, add the almonds and process 1 minute. Add sugar and process for 15 seconds. Add egg whites and almond extract and process until the paste wads around the blade. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl. Process again until stiff but cohesive, about 5 seconds longer. It should be similar in consistency to marzipan or pasta dough. If the mixture is crumbly or dry, turn machine back on and add water by drops through feeder tube until proper consistency is reached.

On the cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, spoon just under 2 tablespoons of paste for each macaroon, spacing the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake macaroons, switching cookie sheet positions midway through baking, until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. (If overbaked, macaroons will dry out rather quickly when stored.) Remove from oven and leave on parchment paper until completely cooled or they may tear.

Can be stored in an airtight container for at least 4 days or frozen up to 1 month.

Fudge Almond Macaroons
Follow recipe for Almond Macaroons, decreasing almonds to 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) and adding 1 cup dutch-processed cocoa and 1/4 teaspoon salt along with the sugar. The macaroons will be done when they have cracked lightly across the top.

Pine Nut-Crusted Almond Macaroons
You will need 2 to 3 extra egg whites and 2 1/2 to 3 cups pine nuts. Follow recipe for Almond Macaroons, rolling paste into balls between your palms. Dip each ball into a beaten egg whites, then roll in pine nuts, lightly pressing with your fingertips. Transfer cookies to baking sheet and flatten slightly with fingers, making inch-wide buttons.

Lemon Almond Macaroons
Follow recipe for Almond Macaroons, making the paste without water. Add 2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest (approx 2 large lemons) and process 10 seconds longer.

Pistachio Macaroon Button Gluten-Free Cookies Recipe

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

The skinning of pistachios is a nuisance, but there is no point in bother with this recipe unless it is done. Make sure to get pistachios that are raw or only lightly toasted. The flavor of these macaroons becomes more intense the day after baking

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (about 6 ounces) shelled pistachios
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons (1 large) egg white

Directions:

Boil pistachios hard in several quarts of water until skins begin to loosen, about 3 minutes. Drain nuts, then plunge into bowl of cold water. Let stand in water for a few minutes. Remove skins, tossing skinned nuts onto paper towel-lined tray.

Thoroughly dry skinned pistachios on baking sheet set in center position in 200 degree oven, approximately 45 minutes. Remove tray from oven before nuts begin to give off roasted aroma or take on any color. Increase heat to 325 degrees to preheat oven as you continue to prepare the cookies.

Set aside 48 pistachios. Turn remainder into bowl of food processor, fitted with the metal chopping blade, and grind fine. Add sugar, lemon zest, salt and process 1 minute longer. Add egg white and process until dough wads into moist clumps.

Roll dough into 1-teaspoon balls and arrange 1 inch apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make dimple in center of each ball with moistened finger tip and press a reserved pistachio into each crater.

Bake cookies until they look try and have just begun to color, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set baking sheet on cooling rack. Let macaroons cool completely before peeling them off parchment paper.

For those of you not cooking:

Macaron Café
Address: 161 West 36th Street (btw 7th Ave & Broadway)
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 646-573-5048

La Maison Du Chocolat
Address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 49th Street between 5th and 6th Ave
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-265-9404

My latest food crush is something simple – gluten-free toast, and I have Udi’s Gluten-Free bread to thank for it.  I tried a couple of Udi’s Gluten-Free products at the Fancy Food Show this year, but it was such a blur I hardly remembered.  When I received a sampler pack in the mail last week, I was excited to try them.  Allergic Girl had given the bread a big thumbs up and I remember Gluten-Free Steve was all hot and bothered over their products. 

The gluten-free White Sandwich Bread is so soft I could hardly believe it.  I could squish it down just like the gluten-y bread I grew up on.  I liked it without heating it up or putting anything on it.  This was amazing.  The gluten-free Whole Grain Bread is just as soft.  I didn’t like the flavor as much as the gluten-free White Bread but I also lurved white Home Pride bread growing up rather than any of that ‘whole wheat’ stuff, so who am I to say? 

But here’s where the amazing thing happened.  I was in the mood for something warm and buttery, so I decided to make some toast.  Not to cover up the flavor/texture (which is why I usually toast gluten-free bread) but just because toast was what I was craving.  Once I tried it, I realized I hadn’t had really good toast in the five years since I started eating gluten-free.  I’ve had some great gluten-free breads and rolls and baked goods, but I hadn’t had that light toast with the pockets and crunch and…can you tell I’m getting hungry just writing about it? 

I started to wonder if it was just in my mind, maybe I just liked it that much because it had been a while since I’d had ANY toast or that I was just REALLY in the mood for toast.  So I decided to do a side by side comparison with the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Prairie Bread, my previous favorite. 

But the Whole Foods toast didn’t begin to compare – the texture is heavy and more like an artisanal bread which is fine in its own right but not what I crave with my breakfast. 

With all of the controversy lately about bloggers being paid to post about products, I will clarify that I have never been paid to write about a product and I only write about items that I feel are worthy of sharing – and I will warn you if something tastes like cardboard.  I just love the toast that much.  Right now it’s only available through a few distributors so I took that info directly to my local health food store to request that they start carrying it.  Fingers crossed I can get my hands on some more soon.  I’m not sure how long the shelf life is since I finished it off before it had a chance to go bad….

Well now that I’ve built it up so much I am sure it can’t possibly live up to your expectations, but Udi’s has offered to give a sampler pack to one lucky ready of A Gluten-Free Guide, so you can be the judge. 

Udi’s sampler pack also includes gluten-free Lemon Streusel and gluten-free Blueberry muffins.

They are tasty, soft, moist and you would never know they are gluten-free.  Udi’s makes gluten-free cinnamon rolls and gluten-free pizza crusts but I haven’t tried those yet.  The really exciting thing is that Udi’s is looking to expand their gluten-free product offerings.  So to be eligible to win the sampler pack, leave a comment with your request for their next gluten-free products.  What are you interested in seeing more gluten-free versions of? Bagels? What flavors? Pretzels? What kind? Granola? Cake Rounds?  Different varieties of muffins or breads?  What should they focus on next? 

US residents only, deadline to enter is 11pm EDT on Monday August 24, 2009. 

I recently received a sample of products from Made to Crave, a small company based in Arizona that specializes in gluten-free granolas and other snacks made with gluten-free oats.  While I was excited about the granolas, I didn’t realize that the owner was also including gluten-free animal crackers.  They totally caught me off guard – they were soooooo good they are my latest food crush.  They are crispy and sweet – that perfect crunch you expect from a little cookie.  They are full of graham flavor and totally crush-worth; I would never guess they are gluten-free.

The granolas are delicious in their own right. The maple pecan flavor is a little bit sweeter and the apple cinnamon is a little bit tart (in a good way) – they both taste outstanding.  The owner, Pam has graciously agreed to offer a sampler pack of the gluten-free granolas and the gluten-free animal grahams to a reader of A Gluten-Free Guide.

To enter the contest, just leave a comment with suggestions for flavors of granolas and granola bars you would like to see Made to Crave make next.  To be eligible you must comment by 8pm on Sunday August 16, 2009.

Someone was asking me recently why I thought food memories are so vivid at times.  I think it’s because it involves so many different senses.  The smell that fills the room and eventually greets your nostrils and the presentation set out for your eyes to take in, the touch/feeling of the texture and bite and finally the actual act of tasting which is affected by all of the other senses. While there isn’t much to hear other than chewing or crunch, a great meal is usually shared and that’s where conversation plays into the vividness of the memory.  I might not remember the details of what was said, but I associate the warmth and comfort of my friendships with whatever I was eating.

I am constantly on a mission to share deliciousness with my friends and family. When I find an ingredient that I love I become almost religious in my fervency as I try to introduce them to something that brings me such pleasure.  If you share my love of food, this is a familiar circumstance.

My recent discovery is Salish Smoked Sea Salt.  It concentrates the perfume of a summer afternoon spent grilling into little crystals you can use long after summer has given way to the chill of fall and winter.  I was lucky enough to visit my friends Jed and Chris in Seattle last week.  My host gifts for them included a small jar of Salish.  On Sunday we took advantage of a beautiful afternoon to experiment with the salt as we grilled with a big group of friends.   One friend made a delicious seared tuna crusted with Salish and chili powder.  I used the salt to make halibut with a yogurt sauce everyone seemed to love.  It makes the perfect accompaniment to fish tacos though this time we just smothered the fish with the salt and topped it with cilantro.

A great starter for this dish would be my Avocado and Fig Salsa, and a side of cilantro lime butter smothered on grilled corn would make the meal complete.

Halibut Fish Tacos Recipe with Salish Smoky Yogurt Sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients
halibut fish fillets for 2
1/2 fresh lime juice
1/2 lime zest
ground salish salt to taste
cumin to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Salish Smoky Yogurt Sauce
4oz nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 fresh lime juice
1/2 lime zest
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
salish salt to taste

cilantro

corn tortillas for tacos or lettuce for wraps
Directions:
Dry the halibut filets and coat with cumin, salish salt, pepper and lime zest.  Squeeze the fresh lime juice to coat.

Mix yogurt, chili powder, salish salt, lime juice and zest.  Set aside.

Heat a medium frying pan lightly coated with grapeseed or olive oil to medium/high heat.  Pan sear the halibut on each side until done. (time will vary according to thickness of the filet and personal preference)

Top the fish with the yogurt sauce and cilantro – serve with tortillas or lettuce for tacos or lettuce wraps. 

Special thanks to Jed and Chris for being such incredible friends and making sure my five days in Seattle were full of great food memories.  They bought a big box of gluten-free crackers before I arrived so we could eat them with cheese.  At the BBQ, Jed went to extra special effort to make sure no one contaminated dishes I wanted to eat with anything ‘gluten-y’.  I felt so cared for and loved.  I will have a vivid memory of all our meals together in Seattle for years to come.  It was truly a magical break from NYC.

Have you ever tasted something that haunted your memories?  The combination of flavors, textures and ingredients combine to make something so intoxicating you think about it years after the first bite passed over your lips?  That has happened to me very rarely – it would have to be an exception to the norm to make such an impression.  That is what this recipe did to me more than five years ago the first time I made it.  I don’t usually enjoy fruit based desserts.  I LOVE fruit but I think fruit is great on its own so for the basis of a dessert, I prefer something rich like caramel or chocolate.

I made this Strawberry Tart for the first time as part of a Roman Cooking Class.  Everyone in the class was scared of baking so I volunteered (this was 5+ years ago, pre-Celiac).  It was the first time that I realized that many people found baking intimidating; that seemed so foreign to me since that was all my family did (my Mom hates to cook but loves to bake).  While the jam takes time to cook down, the actually hands-on time for the tart isn’t as long as you would think.  I made this for a dessert party I hosted last weekend.  The jam cooked down while I was busy doing a plethora of other things.

While I may be biased about the extreme level of deliciousness, my friend Jennie, my yoga and food-conspirator agreed.  She took two slices home with her from my party, ate them both for breakfast the next day and declared that it “changed her life” (apparently we also share a penchant for hyperbole).

Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think.  I’ve never made any sort of homemade jam or jelly before but this recipe is worth every bit of effort and time involved I promise.

Strawberry Poppy Seed Tart with Ricotta Mascarpone Filling
Torta marmellata con ricotta  (adapted from Classic Dishes of Rome at ICE Culinary)

Ingredients:
for the crust:
1 cup gluten-free flour mix (xanthan or guar gum should already be part of the mix)
1/2 cup blanched almonds, toasted
3 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1 extra large egg
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

for the jam:
3 pints strawberries, hulled & quartered
2 cups Italian red wine, barbera or valpolicella (I used a Syrah/Merlot blend this time and it was great)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves

for the filling:
1 cup whole milk ricotta
1/4 cup sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup mascarpone

Instructions:

Prepare the jam. Wrap bay leaves, cinnamon and peppercorns in cheesecloth. Place the wine, sugar and cheesecloth pack in a saucepan.  Simmer the liquid until slightly thickened.  Make sure you stir the sugar to dissolve it.

Place the strawberries in the saucepan and continue to simmer over low heat until the mixture is thickened.  Place a small spoonful on a plate.  If it thickens upon cooling it is ready.  Let cool.  (will take approx 2 hours depending on pan size)

In the bowl of a food processor, grind the almonds finely.  Add the flour and sugar and process to combine.  Add the butter and process until very fine.  Add the eggs and process with quick on/off turns until the bowl forms a ball.

Remove the dough and flatten it into a disc.  Using your hands, press the dough into the tart pan pushing it out and up the sides.  Refrigerate the dough until firm about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, sugar and mascarpone in a bowl.  Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
When the tart dough is firm, bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until the dough is golden brown and cooked through.  It will have the texture of a crisp cookie.

Remove the tart from the oven and cool.

Smooth filling into the tart and gently spoon jam on top.  Serve immediately. 

While I am not sure which of my recent recipes will haunt me in the same way – the Flourless Chocolate Lust Cake seems like a good candidate, and I am just waiting for the fresh figs to arrive this summer so I can make more of these prosciutto and goat cheese creations.

The idea of “Chocolate Tortilla Chips” was initially rather under-whelming.  Even though I have used chocolate in savory dishes like gluten-free tamales and my healthy turkey chili recipe, I was less than enthused.  However when I finally tried these, my tastebuds were tantalized.  The hint of sweet is really just an undertone to a savory, crispy chip.  I also LOVE that they provide ‘flavor pairings’ for all of their chips.  That inspired me to try the chocolate chips with salsa – which was another wonderful surprise.  Don’t look to these chips to satisfy a hard-core chocolate craving, but they would be a great conversation starter at your next party.

Now the snack that truly has won my heart – the “Multigrain”chip. It’s not a sexy name, but it IS my new favorite snack.  It also has a hint of sweetness, but the combination of grains is wonderful and the flavor hearkens back to a cracker I haven’t had in years – Wheat Thins. Don’t let that comparison scare you away; they have been tested and certified to be gluten-free.  I too was wary at first, as one of the ingredients is ‘oat fiber.’ So I asked the manufacturer about the source of their oats, as well as the type of vinegar used in their other chips. Their response is below.  Suffice it to say, it quelled by concerns and I am excited to see another company reaching out to the gluten-free community with products that are truly gluten-free.

Don’t let my effusive love of the Multigrain and Chocolate Tortilla Chips deter you from trying the other varieties.  The Buffalo flavor has a nice kick, reminiscent of an ‘all-natural’ nacho cheese Dorito (though I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate that comparison –ha!) and the Olive chip truly seems infused with Kalamata olives.  I was expecting ‘The Works’ chip to be too much, but the garlic isn’t too strong and I loved the caraway seeds.  The Sweet Potato chips are nice but I would prefer slightly more sweet potato flavor.  The Jalapeno chips are pretty, but surprisingly bland if you are expecting a spicy kick.

Their response to my gluten-free questioning:
“I appreciate your concern for the oat fiber and I will say that we have had a lot of questions regarding our Multigrain chips, but they most definitely are gluten free. Our chips are certified gluten free by GIG of North America.  I will send you some information regarding the oats if you like.  In the extraction process any gluten is removed from the oats early on in the process of manufacturing so they are safe for Celiacs to eat.  The Buffalo chips are made with white vinegar, which is also gluten-free.  In addition: ‘We test our products regularly for GFCO compliance.  Gliadin is the targeted allergen and the detection limit is identified in parts per million.  This analysis is the most stringent level of detection that can be performed.  Levels of 5ppm Gliadin is equivalent to 10ppm Gluten.  As you are probably aware, there is no test that will measure absolute zero. Our certification assures that the product contains less than 5 ppm of Gliadin and similar proteins from rye and barley by AOAC methods which have been approved by the GFCO.    The FDA is proposing a labeling rule to identify Gluten Free as product containing less than 20 ppm Gluten or 10 ppm Gliadin, we are well with in these proposed rules’”

THE GIVEAWAY
One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to share my favorite product discoveries and keep you from wasting your money on  the ‘cardboard-esque’ gluten-free foodstuffs.  To be eligible for your very own sampler pack of Food Should Taste Good chips, leave a comment with your favorite gluten-free snack below by 11pm Eastern on Saturday, March 14th.  The winner will be selected randomly and announced on Sunday March 15th.