A Gluten Free Guide

Post-Holidays Fare

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday season. I am spending some wonderful and relaxing time with my family. It’s also been full of delicious though rather rich culinary adventures. (plenty of photos and recipes to come)

If you are looking for a lighter salad after all of the more substantial feasts – try this simple cucumber dill combination.

It’s deceptively easy – just cut up some fresh cucumbers, chop fresh dill and season with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. It’s light and refreshing; a wonderful change after all of the more substantial winter fare.

I Heart Gluten-Free Gingerbread

In keeping with a holiday theme, I have been eating and cooking with ginger as much as possible. A few weeks ago, I saw this post about a too good to be true gluten free gingerbread cookie mix that you could actually roll out. I had retired my cookie cutters since I started baking gluten free cookies, but I knew I had to give these a try.Mona’s mix worked splendidly. Her directions advise you to roll out small sections of cold dough while keeping the rest of the dough in the fridge. I found this to be imperative. As the dough warmed, it became more and more difficult to transfer the cookies to the parchment lined cookie sheets.

I highly recommend this mix. As my picky gluten eating Mom tasted these she said “Wow, you would never know they were gluten free.” That’s high praise from someone who could happily exist on just pastries and cookies. And for those of you that miss rolling out cookies and using fun cookie cutter shapes, you will be happy before you ever eat a gluten free gingerbread man.

Happy (gluten free) Holidays!

Parmesan Roasted Fennel

I am back in California, enjoying some time off from work during the holidays. One of my favorite aspects of coming home is the freedom I have to cook without as many time restraints. (One of my friends said this didn’t sound like a vacation to her – I guess to each his own!)

For dinner this week I decided to roast fennel as one of our side dishes. It’s an easy recipe with maximum flavor.

Parmesan Roasted Fennel

2-3 heads of fennel trimmed

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the fennel heads into approx 16 slices each keeping the base/core in each slice to keep the slices intact (the smaller you slice it the quicker it will cook)

Toss the sliced fennel with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Arrange the fennel in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle the fennel with the cheese and roast for an additional 10-20 minutes. The fennel will have just a slight crisp when it’s done.

The Office Holiday Dinner

While I work out of the New York office, my team is actually based in Atlanta. Our holiday dinner was held at a lovely trattoria in Virginia Highlands called “La Tavola.” I didn’t have high hopes that I would be able to find anything gluten free. Last year I had communicated in advance with the restaurant (not La Tavola), expressed all of my needs to a seemingly very understanding waiter, only to find a big crouton hidden at the bottom of my salad. It was not a pleasant experience by any means. It emphasized for me why the Delphi forums require the warning of “eating out is always risky” when discussing restaurants.

This year my strategy was to eat a late lunch, and plan on eating a late dinner after the party if I was unable to find anything gluten free. When I arrived at the restaurant the hostess provided me with the prix fixe menu choices. I asked to speak with someone about my gluten free dining needs and she led me right to the chef. Whenever they let you speak with the chef directly – do it. It’s much better than playing “telephone” with the waiter.

The chef was well-informed about celiac disease, potential for cross-contamination and preparation needs. He was able to give me exact ingredients of the dressings and marinades. I ended up with a delicious salad and entrée – though none of the desserts were gluten free friendly.

The beet salad was served with shaved fennel, Granny Smith apples, goat cheese and a red wine vinaigrette. It was a lovely salad though I don’t think the apples actually added to the dish.

I was able to have the roast chicken entrée served atop red grapes and mushrooms. The risotto made to accompany the chicken was prepared with barley, but I had plenty to eat with just the chicken. I was surprised by how delicious the combination of grapes and mushrooms was.

While “La Tavola” is not part of the Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program, I would be comfortable eating there again. The chef was quite accommodating and the food was delicious.

La Tavola is located at 992 Virginia Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30306 Phone: 404-873-5430

My Holiday Soiree

Here is the final menu from my gluten free holiday party. Seeing as I was the only person at the party who couldn’t have gluten, I couldn’t sacrifice any flavor or quality to keep everything gluten free.The Cheese Platter

I love gourmet cheeses. A party is just the excuse I need to try new food and cheese combinations. After getting some inspiration from “The Cheese Plate” by Max McCalman, I decided on the following:

Soft Cheeses:
Saga Blue
Brie
St. Andre double crème
Pepper Goat Cheese log

Hard and semi-soft cheeses:
Aged Gruyere
12-month aged Manchego
Piave
Arina Goat Gouda

Accompaniments:
Quince Paste
Granny Smith apples
Dried Apricots
Blue Diamond Nut Thins – Pecan and Almond flavors
Glutano Crackers – they have a crispy Ritz cracker flavor

Crudites served with Cilantro dipping sauce and my bean spread.

Corn tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole.

Tamari Roasted Almonds For sweets, I served the Vanilla Butterscotch Bark, Gingerbread cupcakes, candy canes and toffee.

I hope no one left hungry and I’m sure no one “missed” the gluten.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

My gluten free gingerbread cupcakes were the hit of the party. I used the Gluten Free Pantry’s Mix, doubling the ginger, but the key to this dish was the frosting. I made a luscious cream cheese frosting that was a perfect compliment to the sharp spice of the gingerbread. I planned on doing some experiments with ginger or nutmeg in the frosting but decided that simplicity was best.In lieu of sprinkles, I tried shaving crystallized ginger with my microplane. Unfortunately the ginger I bought wasn’t firm enough to get a nice topping. Rather than admit defeat, I chopped the ginger into small pieces to top half of the cupcakes. The presentation wasn’t as lovely as the shaved ginger would have been, but they were mighty tasty. (I chose not to put the ginger on all of the cupcakes as the flavor is quite strong. While I can’t get enough of it, I realize not everyone feels the same.)

Gluten Free Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

2 eight-ounce packages cream cheese, softened slightly, cut into small pieces
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5-5 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a medium-size bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and the butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually add the sugar and beat until well incorporated.

With 5 cups of sugar the icing will be slightly runny. If you want a stiffer icing, keep adding sugar until it reaches the desired consistency.

This frosting worked well with the gingerbread but would also be great with other quickbreads or hummingbird cake.

Gluten-Free Vanilla Butterscotch Bark

I stumbled upon this recipe originally made with milk chocolate and macadamia nuts. While I’m sure the original is delicious, I don’t care for milk or dark chocolate and didn’t have any macadamia nuts on hand.This treat is delightfully sweet and smooth. It’s also easy which was of tantamount importance for this celebration with limited preparation time.

Vanilla Butterscotch Bark

2 cups gluten free Vanilla Chips (I used Guittard brand)
2 cups gluten free Butterscotch Chips (also Guittard)
¾ cup toasted chopped pecans

Prep work – Toast the pecans in the oven at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes then chop roughly

Reserve ¼ cup each of the vanilla and butterscotch chips.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butterscotch chips, 2 minutes on high, stirring every 30 seconds.

Spread the melted chips on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Melt the vanilla chips with the same method. Pour the vanilla mixture on top of the butterscotch and swirl with a toothpick.

Spread the reserved chips and pecans throughout the tray, gently pressing them into the mixture. Refrigerate for one hour. Break into pieces before serving.

Gluten-Free Garlicy Bean Spread

The holiday party was a resounding success. I am still getting all of the pictures and recipes together. In the meantime, here is a delicious bean dip that can be used with tortilla chips, crudités or as a bruschetta spread.I love this recipe because it tastes light and fresh – unexpected with a bean dip.

Gluten Free Garlic Bean Dip (adapted from Real Simple Magazine)

2 15-oz cans of drained cannellini beans
1/3 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until smooth.

Serve at room temperature.

You can prepare this dish a day or two in advance and keep in the fridge. Try to take it out of the fridge a couple hours before serving to bring back to room temperature for the party. You will have a hard time keeping the crudités platter stocked as long as this dip is around…

Gluten-Free Holiday Party Preparations

This Sunday evening I am throwing a little holiday soiree for a few friends in NYC before I head back to CA to spend 10 days with my family. I usually prepare a few dishes a couple days before the party and then spend the whole “day of” cooking.I had to take a new approach this year because I will be busy all day Saturday and Sunday before the party. That means I had to pick dishes I could prepare in advance and that weren’t as time consuming as my normal fare.

While my Rosemary Roasted Cashews are pretty easy, these Tamari Roasted Almonds are even easier.

Gluten-Free Tamari Roasted Almonds

1 pound raw unsalted (unblanched) almonds
1/3 cup gluten free tamari ( I used San-J wheat free Tamari )

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

In a bowl, stir together the almonds and tamari sauce. Pour the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake the mixture for 15 minutes, stirring three times throughout.

Remove from the oven and serve at room temperature.

More recipes and photos from the party to come.

Gluten-Free Skincare

When I was diagnosed with Celiac I was vigilant about removing every possible source of gluten from my diet. I was aware of risks of cross-contamination in restaurants, in stores, even in my own kitchen. After months of careful work and examination of everything I consumed my antibodies did not return to normal. I was making progress, but not the kind of decrease that should have resulted from all of my work.I had heard that wheat products could be found in hair and skincare products. Luckily I had checked all of mine and they were “clean.” When shopping for a refill of a face cream I was using, I looked at the ingredients listed online and was shocked to see “Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein.” How could I have missed it? What else might I have missed? I started looking at every hair product and skin cream that I used. I couldn’t believe it – THREE hair products plus the skin cream all had wheat as one of the ingredients.

I obviously hadn’t checked all of my products. In all of the confusion of my diagnosis and dealing with a completely new set of diet restrictions I simply had let this slip through the cracks. After I threw all of these products away (another financial OUCH) I started feeling better immediately. The next time I had my antibodies tested they were almost undetectable. The amazing thing about living gluten free is how vigilant you have to be with everything.

I now have all gluten free toiletries – but one of the best discoveries I made was homemade body scrub. You know those $30-50 brown sugar scrubs they sell at various skin care shops? Well you can make one for much less that is all natural and works like a dream.

Gluten Free Brown Sugar Body Scrub

Choose a container – I refill a scrub container I had from before or use a gladware container. It just needs to be something that you can seal and leave in the shower.

Fill the container half-way with “Sugar in the Raw” (I prefer the large granules, but you can substitute another sugar if you prefer the texture)
Then cover the sugar with olive oil until the container is ¾ of the way full. I use a less expensive olive oil without much scent. Stir the mixture and add more sugar or olive oil as you see fit. Then add a 20-30 drops of essential oils for scent. I use lavender and eucalyptus.

I made this when I went home to visit my family this summer and now my Mom is hooked. It will exfoliate your skin and leave is super soft. Just make sure that you rinse all of the oil off after you use it and don’t slip in the shower!