A Gluten Free Guide

Betty Crocker’s Gluten-Free Mixes – almost as good as the original

I was so excited when I heard the news of Betty Crocker’s new line of gluten-free baking mixes.  I couldn’t wait to try them.  I ordered the six pack from amazon.com because they aren’t available at my local grocery store yet.  I opened my box when it arrived this week and eagerly made a box of the Yellow Cake mix into gluten-free cupcakes.  The result?  Meh – they were ok.

A little grainy, they crumbled apart and the flavor was just plain.  Not at all like what I remembered of Betty Crocker’s original yellow cake mix.  Sigh.  After all of that build up it was a bit disheartening.  Not one to be satisfied with an average product I decided to see if I could tweak the recipe to make them as good as my well-loved gluten-free cupcakes.  Success!  They turned out great and my gluten-glutton friends gave them a big thumbs up too.  It requires slightly more effort than the Betty Crocker directions but will give you a much moister cupcake with a better flavor and texture.  I’m still excited to have this as an option because the Gluten-Free Pantry’s mix from my original cupcakes can be tough to find.  You can see in the photo below, my tweaked Betty Crocker cupcakes are a little more golden with the pudding and orange juice (though you wouldn’t taste the orange juice if you didn’t know it was there).

New and Improved Gluten-Free Cupcakes Recipe
1 package Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

1 3.4 oz package Jello vanilla instant pudding

1/3 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs plus one egg white room temperature

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup orange juice (no pulp)

1 Tablespoon good vanilla extract

*DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PACKAGE

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients  and   beat   on  medium speed until completely combined

Line  a muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Fill 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for about 23-25 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  

So let’s admit it, cupcakes at their best are really just a “frosting delivery device”, this buttercream frosting will rock your world. 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe (adapted from Domino Sugar)

1 pound Confectioners Sugar

1 stick (8T) of good unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

1/4 cup of whole milk

Combine half of the sugar with the butter and beat on low speed.  Add the wet ingredients and beat.  Slowly add the rest of the sugar while mixing until combined.  Beat on medium-high speed for at least two minutes until the frosting is smooth and creamy.  If you want the frosting to be a bit stiffer (better for decorating) add powdered sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Frost cupcakes with icing at room temperature. 

Have you had luck with any of the other Betty Crocker Gluten-Free mixes?  (my review of the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies to come)

Here are the ingredients of each of the mixes:

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix Ingredients: Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sugar, Potato Starch, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), Xanthan Gum, Salt.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Devils Food Cake Mix Ingredients: Sugar, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Cocoa Processed wtih Alkali, Tapioca Starch, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), Salt, Guar Gum.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies Mix Ingredients: Sugar, Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), Cocoa Processed wtih Alkali, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Salt.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix Ingredients: Rice Flour, Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), Brown Sugar, Sugar, Potato Starch, Potato Flour, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate) Salt.

Food Crush – Salish Smoked Sea Salt

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.

A Strawberry Recipe That Will Change Your Life

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.

Mercadito Cantina Will Satisfy Your All of Your Cravings (almost)

Foiled in my attempt to go to the Red Hook Ball Fields yesterday, I had a hankering for grilled corn that had to be satisfied.  I began scanning my memory for restaurants on my ‘to check out soon’ list and remembered that Mercadito Cantina was apparently ‘better than sex.’  While I wouldn’t extend the hyperbole quite so far, the food did satisfy my cravings at the time.

I’ve enjoyed a great gluten-free dinner at the original Mercadito up the street, but this was my first visit to the Cantina.  My friend Matt and I ordered a sampling of guacamoles – totally unexpected flavors that were still recognizable as guacamole.  I loved the betabel guac with beets, pickled jalpenos and toasted spiced pepitas.  The sandia guacamole with watermelon and habanero was spicy and refreshing (reminded me a little of my fig and avocado salsa).

We had the rajas – sautéed chiles with corn (the menu said hominy but they replaced it with regular corn) and the Taquiza carnitas tacos with the veracruzana and cacahuate salsas.

Our favorites were the elote mexicano (grilled corn) with lots of spice and the arroz verde, a green rice casserole that was crispy and cheesy and totally crave-worthy.

Most of the menu is completely gluten-free.  Unfortunately their chips are fried in the same oil as their churros, but I was able to enjoy the guacamoles with the fresh corn tortillas. And apparently I made that look good enough that Matt abandoned the chips and started using tortillas as his guac delivery device as well.

They don’t take reservations and while the space is tiny, the food is worth squeezing in next to strangers.  Mondays and Tuesdays they offer all you can eat Tacos and Taquizas.  I will definitely be back there soon.

It’s down the street from S’mac, Back 40 and Terroir – gluten-free dining options in American, Greenmarket, Italian and Mexican cuisine all so close together, the East Village seems to have an irresistible call to the “gluten-challenged.”

Mercadito Cantina
Address: 172 Avenue B (at 10th St)
New York, NY
Phone: 212-388-1750

Easy Gluten Free Recipes – Turkey Burgers with Feta and Dill

My friend Kate is one of my favorite people that I have met in the last year.  I knew we would be fast friends even before we met in person just from the restaurants she recommended for our lunch (we were working together on a project).

I went out to her house in Queens for her Holiday party in December.  She had gone to the effort to get me gluten-free crackers AND gluten-free pasta for a dish she was making.  I had no idea she was going to such efforts.  With all of the chaos of hosting over 25 people (and her Mum!) at her place, she went way beyond any accommodations I would have ever expected.

When I went out to her house a few weeks ago for dinner with her and her amazing boyfriend Erik, they asked me to bring gluten-free bread for our burgers.  Not just for me though – we all ate the gluten-free bread.  I was so touched – they didn’t want me to feel like the odd man out.  They declared the gluten-free bread delicious whether it was or not isn’t really relevant, it made me feel like less of a burden with my ‘special needs,’  I also brought the gluten-free cookies I found at Mozzarelli’s.  The whole house, including her roommates, enjoyed those.

Aside from being a great evening of conversation and food, where I felt so cared for and at home, I also left with a new recipe for my repertoire.  (You can spy Kate and Erik in this photo from my Valentine’s Day Party)

Feta and Dill Burgers or Lettuce Wraps with a Spicy Sweet Potato Side

Ingredients (serves 2)

1/2 lb extra lean ground turkey
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2-3 oz fresh feta cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Sweet Potato Side
1 teaspoon grapeseed oil (you can sub olive oil)
2-4 shallots, sliced
2-3 jalapenos, sliced
1 medium sweet potato, grated
salt and pepper to taste

romaine hearts

In a bowl, combine turkey, dill and feta. Shape with your hands into two burger patties and set aside.

In a medium non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add shallots and jalapenos and sauté until the shallots are soft and beginning to caramelize (about 10 minutes).  Add the shredded sweet potato and stir until the sweet potato is warmed through (about 3-5 minutes).

Heat grill (or your grill pan/george foreman for my fellow Nyers) and cook the burgers over med-high heat.  (quick tip – I like to make turkey burgers a little thinner than burgers made with beef to make sure they cook through without losing too much moisture)

Serve with gluten-free bread or hamburger buns.

I have been adapting this to make lettuce wraps.  Sauteing the turkey with dill, salt and pepper until brown.  I then add the feta as I turn off the heat to just begin the melting process.  I then fill pieces of romaine with the turkey mix and sweet potato side. It’s an affordable, low-fat and flavor-packed dinner I can make in under 15 minutes.  I owe Kate and Erik not just for their thoughtfulness but also inspiring my cooking long after our dinner!

With summer on its way, I will soon be leaving sweet potatoes behind for the season and adding lighter fare – Henrietta’s Halibut,  Chicken with Strawberry Salsa, and Corn with Cilantro Lime Butter are all on the agenda.

What are your favorite summer foods?

Happy Mother’s Day

 From the archives – but still so true!

My mom is not a foodie, but during my call to wish her a happy Mother’s day, for once she started talking about food:

“I’m throwing away a green lemon, not because it’s not ripe, because it’s moldy. We’ve got to get the science experiments out of the fridge. One shelf at a time…the yogurt said December 21st, I figure it is time to get rid of it.”

I asked her permission to share that on my blog and she said “Of course, you can use it as an example of how far you’ve come and that liking to cook is not genetic.”

The fact that food is of so little importance to my Mom means we find other topics of conversation. But what’s really remarkable is the effort she puts forth to make sure I am comfortable and can eat completely gluten-free whenever I go home. They even stop eating gluten for the most part when I am there. I told them as long as flour isn’t flying in the air, we could keep the gluten from contaminating me, but she and Victor don’t want me to feel deprived when I am visiting. I am able to cook as easily in their kitchen as I do in my own.

I am lucky to have such an incredible Mom and wish I could be there with her today. All of my love and thoughts are with her on this special day. I hope you are able to celebrate Mother’s Day with your loved ones.

Gluten-Free Restaurants NYC – Nizza hits Midtown with Soccas and More

When people come to NY for a ‘gluten-free culinary tour’ there are so many options, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches.  However, when visitors come to NY  to enjoy the theater and need a convenient restaurant before the show – I never had many suggestions.  I would recommend Bistango or Rice followed by a long walk or a quick cab ride over to the theater district.  In January, that all changed with the addition of Nizza to the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program.  Midtown West now offers an affordable gluten-free meal with great ambiance and superb service – oh and the food is fab too!

Soccas are one of the restaurant’s signature plates – it’s a chickpea dish – a cross between a flatbread, pizza and crepe.  I ordered one with swiss chard and topped with egg and fontina cheese.  My friends (including Ms. Allergic Girl) ordered theirs with basil, mozzarella and basil.  It was more substantial than the chickpea crepe I had in Florence, Italy – hearty and enough to feel full (at a bargain price of $8-12)

They have a variety of gluten-free appetizers – including eggplant rollatini – cheesy, rich goodness that is almost always made with gluten-filled breadcrumbs. There are loads of options for vegetarians and while I didn’t order any of their gluten-free desserts on my first visit, I am looking forward to their panna cotta next time.

Nizza launched their gluten-free menu in January but I didn’t make my first trip there until April.  The reviews I saw were good, but my biggest surprise?  They now also offer gluten-free breadsticks with fresh ricotta for dipping!!  While there are an increasing number of restaurants that can handle gluten-free requests, there are very few where you can enjoy the pre-meal starters of bread, breadsticks etc.  (Risotteria and Bistango are other options for Nyers)

I am headed back to Nizza for my friend’s birthday celebration tonight.  Happy Birthday Danielle!  It’s definitely worthy of a celebration dinner.  Thank you to the owners of Nizza who have done such a great job adapting their restaurant to be part of the GFRAP.

(Apparently business is booming since they launched the Gluten-Free Menu – hopefully this will encourage other restaurants to accommodate gluten-free diners!)

NIZZA
Address: 630 9th Ave, New York 10036
Btwn 44th & 45th St
Phone: (212) 956-1800

For you non-NYers don’t dispair – Socca’s aren’t that difficult to make at home.  I’m going to use chickpea flour to try this Sage Farinata (Socca) Recipe from Sunset Magazine soon.  This recipe says its possible to use canned chickpeas if you can’t find flour – so I’ll have to experiment with that and  report back with the results!

Wine and Food – a perfect pair at Terroir in NYC

My first visit to Terroir, a cozy little wine bar in Manhattan’s East Village, was last year for a great first-date.  Unfortunately the relationship didn’t stick but Terroir has since become one of my go-to places for after-dinner drinks. I frequent wine bars in NYC on a regular basis – but usually just for drinks and an occasional cheese plate.  While there are a few with some gluten-free nibbles, I don’t plan on satiating hunger pangs at a wine bar. Terroir always offered great cheese and a few other gluten-free dishes, but they recently added more options to their menu from their sister-restaurant Hearth.  It’s affordable and spring-tastic.

My recent dinner included a ‘ramp and asparagus frittata’ and a ‘fava and pecorino salad.’

Chickpeas and squid – light and fresh with lemon and the crunch of celery. Mushrooms roasted with thyme were perfect. Oh and cheese, don’t forget the cheese!

Finishing the meal with panna cotta topped with grappa soaked cherries? Life doesn’t get much better.

Terroir’s small plates are $3-9, much more affordable than Hearth’s main dishes.  Plus you can get tasting glasses of any of their wines – I love being able to order smaller pours for less $$ since I can rarely finish a glass on my own!

I’m almost hesitant to share this find because it’s already difficult to get a seat, but it’s so delectable, I can stay silent no longer.

Terroir
Address: 413 E. 12th St
New York, NY 10009
Phone: (646) 602-1300
http://twitter.com/terroirNY

It’s down the street from S’mac and Back 40, a few blocks away from Prune and Knife + Fork – the culinary call of the East Village is strong.  For an uptown wine bar with actual food options – give Casellula a try, but I’ll stay downtown for now…

Gluten Free Cake at Starbucks – An Exclusive Preview

Your eyes are not deceiving you – that is gluten-free cake at Starbucks!  While the national launch doesn’t hit stores until May 5, 2009, employees are getting a preview this week.  The Starbucks blog gives more information:

“The Orange Valencia Cake is a delicious moist citrus cake bursting with Valencia oranges and topped with crunchy almonds.  Not only is it gluten-free, it is also prepared with 7 simple ingredients: Whole Eggs, Valencia Orange Pulp, Almonds, Sugar, Orange Peel, Gluten Free Baking Powder, and Orange Oil.  Plus it delivers 30% of your daily value of vitamin C.

Keep on the look out for it in the pastry case with a sign that says “gluten-free.”  A single cake will be displayed unwrapped so you can see it clearly, but don’t worry.   They all come individually packaged to prevent cross contamination.  And with the ingredient list right on the package, it’s easy to see exactly what you are eating.  Whether you are gluten-sensitive or not, this product is delicious and satisfying and I hope you will all enjoy it soon.”

You can see in the out of focus cell-phone photo that each cake IS “wrapped for gluten-free goodness.”  Each cake is about the diameter of a baseball and is considered a “single-serving” [Nutritional info: Calories – 290, Fat – 16g, Carbs 52g (23g sugar), Protein 9g]

What a wonderful change – to have access to gluten-free food across the country without fear of cross-contamination.

And the best news?  My source on the inside says it tastes good – sweet and a little bit like orange but not overwhelming so.  It’s very moist and doesn’t crumble like many gluten-free cakes. She’s a gluten-glutton and gives it a thumbs up!  I should have one of my own to taste later this week.  Any one in the test market get to try it yet?

Let’s hope it’s such a smashing success that Starbucks and other chains continue to add gluten-free options to their menus!

Gluten-Free Cookies and Chocolate in NYC!

It’s finally starting to get warm so perhaps I should be contemplating a less errr, dessert-heavy diet, but I can’t help sharing my recent NYC gluten-free dessert discoveries.

I love the restaurant Candle 79 and wish I could afford to indulge in their organic fare more often.  They make vegan cuisine so delicious and sustaining, you could take any meat-eater there and leave fully satisfied.  They also do gluten-free desserts amazingly well.  David from GF NYC sang such praise for their gluten-free chocolate almond cake that I had to try it.  It fully lived up to the hype.  In fact when I shared one last weekend, it was gone so fast our server probably questioned if she had remembered to bring it to us.

Did you know that you can sample over 20 kinds of gluten-free cookies at a restaurant in Manhattan?  I sure didn’t.  A couple weeks ago, as I was picking up some gluten-free goodies to take to my friend’s house for a dinner at her apt in Queens, I stopped in at Mozzarelli’s (remember their gluten-free pizza weekend?) to see what kind desserts they had.  While I knew they had a huge variety of gluten-free cakes, brownies, cheesecake and more, I was stunned to see a whole wall of gluten-free cookies and a table allowing you to sample ALL of them.  One of my biggest complaints about gluten-free baked goods is spending the extra money only to be disappointed when you get home.  I found so many great options at Mozzarelli’s I was barely hungry when I arrived at my friend’s place.  Luckily I am a hearty eater and managed to make room for dinner (and dessert).  Even my gluten-glutton friends loved the gluten-free cookies and bread that I brought.  Erik and Kate preferred the rosemary shortbread cookie (yes I said rosemary – it was delish) but I was partial to the vanilla cream sandwich cookies. The options are so varied at Mozzarelli’s, I am convinced anyone can find something to suit their tastes (they even have sugar-free gluten-free cookies [though they weren’t my favorite…]).

If you don’t live in NYC, you can still enjoy gluten-free cookies and luscious Flourless Chocolate Lust Cake, it just will take a little elbow grease….but think about all the calories you’ll burn!

Mozzarelli’s
38 E 23rd St, New York 10010
Btwn Park & Madison Ave
Phone: 212-475-6777
Fax: 212-475-6888
Open: Mon-Fri 11am-7pm