A Gluten Free Guide

Congratulations to the Gluten-Free Granola from JK Gourmet Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Johanna B, winner of the gluten-free granola from JK Gourmet.

Johanna loves her gluten-free granola with vanilla yogurt and frozen blueberries.

As always, announcing a winner gives me an excuse to post a picture of my nephew. This is a picture of Cam during Halloween this year. I will be getting a whole new batch of photos soon when I visit him in California.

Winner selected by random.org – don’t worry if you didn’t win this time, another great prize is on it’s way.

Gluten-Free Recipes – EASY Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls

While gluten-free dinner rolls were one of my most elusive achievements, the recipe that I developed was so complicated and required such difficult to attain ingredients that I never even posted the recipe to this blog.  Gluten-free bread that tastes as good at gluten-filled bread is tough to make or find — and rolls, they require even more exceptional skill and care.   While I had had success making cheese rolls with the Chebe roll mix, they weren’t really the type of dinner rolls that I craved.  At Thanksgiving this year I decided to give the Chebe bread all-purpose mix a try with a few adaptations.  They were so tasty and unbelievably easy – I feel as though I’ve conquered the unconquerable!

Easy Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls Recipe

Makes 12 small rolls

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons sweet cream butter, softened

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 package Chebe all-purpose gluten-free baking mix

5-6 Tablespoons whole milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

In a medium mixing bowl, using a fork or spoon, mix butter with sugar, add eggs and the Chebe all-purpose mix.  Stir until the mixture forms even-sized crumbs.  Add 3 tablespoons milk and mix.  Add 2-3 more tablespoons milk and continue to stir with spoon.  Once the mixture is almost even, work with your hands until smooth.  Divide dough in quarters and then break into three pieces and roll into balls.  Place each roll onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

At 10 minutes, rotate cookie sheet. After another 8 minutes remove from oven and gently top with a bit of butter (I just use a stick of butter and glide it over the top).  Return to oven and continue to cook for 2-7 minutes or until very-lightly browned.

As you are getting ready for more holiday dinners and celebrations, these will please your guests and no one will ever suspect how easy they were to make or that they are gluten-free!

Gluten-Free Recipes – Gluten-Free Stuffing Recipe Take Four

After much experimentation, I have now successfully made FOUR different types of gluten-free stuffing.  The two recipes for gluten-free stuffing already on my site, the gluten-free herbed bread stuffing I made during my video shoot for MyRecipes.com, using this stuffing recipe and substituting gluten-free bread.  So with three successes under my belt, I started to feel a little bit more confident with my ability to make gluten-free stuffing.  So for Thanksgiving this year I did something bold.  I tried an all new recipe without a test run.  Now this is not something I would normally do.  But it was a small group for Thanksgiving (three of us and a toddler), we had plenty of other dishes, and no one would be heartbroken if the recipe turned out horribly.  Well, to my great delight, the recipe turned out to be the best gluten-free stuffing yet.  Not only that, my sister-in-law Jenn declared it the ‘best stuffing ever’ and wants it to be our new family tradition (even though she doesn’t have to eat gluten-free).  While I left Texas to return to NYC the morning after Thanksgiving, Jenn assures me that even the leftovers were delicious, which is not a small feat considering how gluten-free baked goods tend to fall apart.  There’s quite a bit of chopping with this recipe, but it’s well worth it.

Gluten-Free Stuffing Recipe with Pears, Prosciutto and Hazelnuts (adapted from Eating Well)

4-5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into small strips
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
2 cups diced fennel bulb (about 1 large)
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 loaf WholeFoods Gluten-Free Bakehouse prairie bread, cut into 3/4-1-inch cubes
2 ripe but firm pears, chopped
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2/3cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
12-16-ounces reduced-sodium gluten-free chicken broth
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Spread bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast until crisped and dry, 15-25 minutes.  The cubes are slightly larger than a traditional recipe because gluten-free bread is more likely to crumble if the cubes are smaller 2
2.Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto; cook, stirring, until crispy, about 5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.
4. Use the same pan and heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, fennel and shallot and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add sage, thyme and rosemary and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer everything to a large bowl and gently stir in pears, parsley, hazelnuts, the prosciutto and half of broth.  Gently stir in bread cubes, season with salt and pepper and spoon into the prepared baking dish.  Drizzle remaining broth over the mixture and cover with foil.
5. Bake for 40 minutes; remove the foil and bake until the top begins to crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.

The combination of textures and flavors made this stuffing a standout – and we didn’t even need the gluten-free gravy I made to give it extra moisture. My sister-in-law insists I left her with all of the leftovers to make sure she gained weight because it was so tasty.  Well, since there are still many holiday parties and dinners to come, here are some tips from RealSimple on how to eat healthy during the holidays.  

The Gluten-Free Diet – Sometimes it just Sucks

Sometimes being forced to be on a gluten-free diet just sucks.  There’s no getting around it.  I wish I could run out and grab a slice of pizza or get a sandwich at my favorite deli for lunch.  I wish I could have eaten all of the amazing pastries and baguettes in Paris.  I wish I could have eaten the donut pictured above. I want to eat crepes in a restaurant.  I want to be able to order toast with breakfast at any diner.  I wish I could eat a pretzel croissant – I want to eat at the new Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, heck I want to eat at the original Momofuku.

Yes, I ate amazingly well and completely gluten-free in Paris.  Yes I can eat gluten-free pizza at multiple restaurants in Manhattan.  Yes, there are gluten-free croissants and even gluten-free ravioli.  Yes, I have had more amazing food experiences in the last 4 years since being gluten-free than I ever had previously.  Sometimes I just want to be able to eat a Twinkie or a box of Wheat Thins (of course I haven’t eaten a Twinkie since I was in elementary school, but somehow knowing that I won’t ever be able to eat one again makes me mourn the loss).

In the last year I have become so adept at eating/living gluten-free it has started to seem less like a burden, but it still is really hard sometimes.  This week was particularly rough.  A friend offered to make me dinner on Thursday.  He had cooked the same dish successfully for me before so I let my guard down and didn’t rehash the do’s and don’t’s of ‘gluten-free’.  When I arrived at his place the ribs I had been dreaming about were smothered in a fragrant homemade sauce I remembered so well from this summer.  Just as we were about to eat I double-checked with him all of the ingredients.  “It’s the same as what you made this summer right?”

“No, not exactly, I don’t really work from a recipe.”
Oh no, my heart sank.  I couldn’t bear another dinner like Jeff’s.  Hold on, I told myself, it’s probably fine.  “What’s in it, just to be sure?”

The first red flag was fish sauce.  While most fish sauces are gluten-free, I held my breath as we checked the bottle.  It was fine, phew.  The rest of the ingredients were gluten-free.

“Oh and I added a little hoisin sauce at the end” he said.

Then I knew, the amazing ribs, smothered in sauce were just going taunt me.  As we looked at the ingredients, there right on the bottle were the words I dreaded: “WHEAT FLOUR.”  I wanted to cry.  I normally am so good at planning ahead, but when we had had the ribs this summer he didn’t pre-sauce them so everyone was able to put the amount they wanted.  I figured even if the sauce wasn’t gluten-free I would still be able to enjoy the smoky meat falling off the bone.  But alas, it was not meant to be.  He still managed to pull together a great spread of prosciutto, chipotle and cinnamon-spiced sweet potatoes and an arugula salad with toasted walnuts, fresh parmiggiano reggiano and homemade vinaigrette all of which were gluten-free and delicious.  So while I didn’t leave hungry, it was a blow to my spirit.

Less than 24-hours later I encountered another difficult eating situation.  I had a work lunch at 12:45pm.  Now most work lunches aren’t a problem.  As long as a restaurant is somewhat upscale I can usually find something and it tends to be great for the most part. Well, the location hadn’t been selected until an hour beforehand so by the time I got to look at the menu it was too late – a soup and sandwich place, again my heart sank. The focus of the restaurant was bread and luscious gluten-filled soups.  I didn’t have time to reach anyone to ask for a change of venue or to grab something to eat in advance.  When I got to the restaurant it was so crowded inside it was tough to move and there were throngs of people waiting for a table.  Our third guest arrived late so there really wasn’t enough time for us to change restaurants so I had to sit and watch as they ate the most amazing French onion soup I have ever seen/smelled.  I usually don’t have that much of a problem sitting at a table while other people eat, but I had already been so demoralized by the previous evening that this was just too much.  I fought back tears and tried to silence a rumbling stomach as we talked business.

I had a great dinner later that evening, shared with a roommate from college.  It helped me feel better after the dreadful lunch experience.

In general I am a really positive person, but sometimes it really just sucks to be gluten-free.  What has been your most frustrating dining experience since going gluten-free?

Delicious Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

I can tell from the recent influx of new readers to my blog that it’s time to start thinking of how to celebrate Thanksgiving with a batch of gluten-free recipes. I outlined my favorite Gluten-Free Thanksgiving recipes, tips and tricks last year, wrote about surviving the gluten-free holidays with your sanity intact. I included a recipe for gluten-free green bean casserole, gluten-free stuffing recipes – cornbread and traditional, and gluten-free pumpkin pie. How could I add to those gluten-free survival guides? How about videos showing you exactly how to make gluten-free Thanksgiving desserts?

My gluten-free cheesecake recipe is a personal and family favorite. Here’s a demonstration of slightly different version using macadamia nuts instead of pecans.

If you like my gluten-free chocolate pecan pie recipe, here is another way to make gluten-free pecan pie – without the crust.

Here are more videos demonstrating:Gluten-Free Turkey
Gluten-Free Gravy
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Casserole
Gluten-Free Herbed Bread Stuffing

Now be kind, I’m not a professional and this was my first time in front of the camera demonstrating gluten-free cooking techniques. But if you like these, let me know what other types of gluten-free tv you would like to see!

Gluten-Free Recipes – Healthy Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Watching the marathon in NYC today (on TV from my apartment) left me feeling a little lazy as I shopped online for cheese.  Sigh.  So to redeem myself I am posting a healthy recipe for a fresh roasted beet salad with homemade buttermilk dill dressing. Beets seem to be a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” sort of vegetable, but I adore their sweet flavor and firm bite – especially when paired with tangy goat cheese and crispy, tart apples.

Beet, apple and goat cheese salad with buttermilk dill dressing recipe (adapted from Eat Food Nutrition)

Ingredients – serves 4
Salad
2 pounds quartered (not peeled) fresh beets, stems and leaves removed
2 large bunch arugula, stems removed
2 cored and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
4-ounce goat cheese log

Dressing
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 Tablespoons season rice wine vinegar
5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
9 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wrap beets in foil, making sure to seal into an airtight package.  Roast in the oven for about 80-90 minutes or until beets are soft.

Prepare dressing by whisking together mustard and vinegar in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in olive oil, then buttermilk, shallot and dill.  Chill until ready to use.

When beets are soft, remove from oven and run under cold water until cool to tough; rub skin off with fingers and cut beets into 1/4 inch dice.

Divide arugula evenly among individual plates.  Add apple slices, then dices beets, topping with small pieces of goat cheese.  Spoon dressing over each salad and serve immediately.

While roasted beets definitely have the best flavor, I have recently found packaged steamed/peeled ready-to-eat beets at FreshDirect and Trader Joe’s.  For a quick salad on a weeknight they are a great substitution.

Here are some tips from Cooking Light on working with beets. For more salad recipes – try my Gluten-Free Tuna Mediterranean Salad, this Pear, Blue Cheese and Endive Salad Recipe or my favorite Avocado, Cilantro and Tomato Salad Recipe.

Gluten-Free Restaurants NYC – Opus Gluten-Free Pizza and Pasta

When the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Tini’s closed earlier this year, I was disappointed to think that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the amazing fava and chicory dish I had been dreaming about.  Luckily, Tini’s owners have opened a new restaurant on the Upper East Side that not only includes the fava and chicory side dish but also a full range of gluten-free pastas, appetizers, main courses and soon gluten-free pizza.

While the owners are still working out how to make gluten-free pizza without cross-contamination, the rest of the menu is ready for the gluten-free masses.  After seeing the press in NY Magazine, DailyCandy, the Meetup Board and the CeliacChicks, I immediately organized a group of friends to sample the new gluten-free menu.  I was quite disappointed that the gluten-free pizza wasn’t ready yet, but the rest of the menu was naturally gluten-free or could easily be adapted.

UPDATE – gluten-free pizza and bread are now available! I will continue to check on the status of the pizza (the photo here is a gluteny version enjoyed by my friend Chadi).  I spoke with the owner and they are expecting to be ready for gluten-free pizza in two or three weeks.

I have been busy this fall and summer with work at my day job at MyRecipes.com, leaving my blog woefully neglected.  On the bright side, I am still working constantly to create more gluten-free content even if it’s not for this site.  Last week I was down in Alabama, taping some gluten-free cooking videos with tips on surviving the holidays and particularly thanksgiving gluten-free.  It’s a tough holiday since it’s so food focused.  Let me know if you have any tips to share or questions about how to manage.

Opus

Address: 1574 Second Avenue, between 81st and 82nd Streets

Telephone: 212-772-2220

Gluten Free Restaurants NYC – Annisa and Savoy

This summer I met my soul mate – Mark.  Ok, so as not to get my Nana’s hopes up, let me clarify – I met my FOOD soul mate on my 30th birthday this July.  My friend YuShan came to NYC for two weeks this summer for work.  Lucky for me, her trip coincided with my birthday. She brought her good friend Mark to my celebrations.  Turns out Mark and I went to high school together and both have been living in NYC since we graduated from college.  While this was the first time our paths crossed in NY or CA, I knew I would love Mark when he gave me his unfinished cheese plate at Annisa.

It was during our second dining experience, at Savoy that I knew he was my food soul mate.  He arrived at the restaurant with his camera in hand (to photograph our meal) and a bag of mangosteen for me.  Mangosteen is a tropical fruit that I had never tried before.  It wasn’t for any particular reason other than he knew that I love food and would enjoy trying something new.
Then the waiter came to tell us about the specials, I went through my ‘gluten-free spiel.’ Mark looked at the menu and said “Why don’t you pick dishes that you can eat and then we can share so we both get to taste more.” Then when the waiter brought bread for Mark he pushed it back with the reply “I don’t want you to have to worry about cross-contamination.” Wow! What more could I ask for?

Since that dinner, Mark has helped me paint my apartment, taken me rock climbing for the first time and accompanied me on many more gluten-free restaurant adventures in New York.  He is always up for trying something new; we’ve experimented with sweetbreads, buffalo, stinky cheese and liver (though not together).

Back to the food – I highly recommend both Annisa and Savoy for special occasion gluten-free dining in Manhattan.  While Annisa is an Asian-influenced restaurant (which can be tricky gluten-free territory), the chef was able to make a full selection of dishes for me without soy sauce.

The two appetizers we had a Savoy may be my favorite dishes of the summer.  The caul fat sausage was so good, I almost cried when I went back for lunch and it wasn’t on the menu.  Don’t be dissuaded from going to Savoy for lunch though, the menu is still great and very affordable – more along the lines of sister restaurant Back 40 in the East Village.

Both restaurants were very accommodating and knowledgeable about gluten-free dining needs. They made eating such a pleasure, gluten-free was merely a refinement rather than a restriction.

Annisa
Address: 13 Barrow St
New York, NY 10014
Telephone: (212) 741-6699

Savoy
Address: 70 Prince St
New York, NY 10012
Telephone: (212) 219-8570

Gluten-Free Recipes – Gluten-Free Baked Oatmeal Squares

While in my last post I was writing about summer, now a cold breeze has settled in Manhattan.  So as I get braced for winter and the warm and comforting foods that come with that season, I want to share a perfect cozy breakfast recipe I learned in a Healthy Cooking Class.  Because I knew Oatmeal Squares were on the menu for the class, I brought a box of gluten-free oatmeal and a gluten-free flour mix just in case.  I spoke with the instructor before class and asked if I could be on the team to make that dish.  With a little bit of planning I was able to eat everything in class just by replacing the regular oats in the one questionable recipe with the gluten-free ones.

This recipe is warm and toasty and provides more protein than a plain oatmeal preparation.  It’s suitable for guests and yet easy to make – I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Gluten-Free Baked Oatmeal Squares Recipe (adapted from Eat Food Nutrition)

Serves 6-8 for breakfast

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
2 1/4 cups uncooked quick-cooking gluten-free oatmeal
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup dried cranberries
2 teaspoons ground Vietnamese cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups skim milk
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Optional: yogurt or fresh berries/fruit for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly coat 8-in square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray

In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, cranberries, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well.  In medium bowl whisk together milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to large bowl with dry ingredients.  Mix until well blended and pour into baking dish.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes until center is set and firm to the touch.  (resist the temptation to stir during the baking process – it won’t set right, I learned the hard way…)

Remove from heat and let cool slightly before serving.

For an ‘eggy’ breakfast recipe try my Breakfast Frittata Recipe.  To put the rest of those gluten-free oats to use, try my Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Recipe or Shauna’s Gluten-Free Granola Bar Recipe.

Gluten-Free Recipes – Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

Growing up I thought I hated figs.  Not because I had ever tasted them mind you, but a bad experience with a dry and flavorless ‘Fig Newton’ left such a strong impression I was sure figs were ‘gross.’ Lucky for me a summer in Sicily cured me of that notion when the place I was staying on the beach in Ragusa had a fig tree overflowing with the perfectly ripe fruit. Once I tasted their sweet flavor, I partook every day for the rest of the summer.

During my recent week of repose in California, I was reminded of my summer in Sicily as I again practically ate my weight in fresh figs.  Our wonderful Italian neighbors, Ruby and Carmella have two fig trees in their back yard.  I was glad to ‘assist’ them in clearing out their bounty.  While fresh figs are delightful all on their own, I decided to try my hand at a new appetizer.  I love experimenting with food and recipes when I have others to test my creations.  This ‘small plate’ makes for the perfect party showstopper because they can be put together in advance and popped in the oven right before serving.

It’s so easy it doesn’t even really require a recipe but I’ll do my best to construct one.

Gluten-Free Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

Ingredients:
Fresh Figs
Thinly-sliced Prosciutto di Parma, cut into quarters
Softened Chevre (goat cheese)
Chopped Pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees or turn on broiler

In a small bowl combine the softened goat cheese and chopped pecans

Slice figs in half, spoon a small spoonful of the cheese/pecan mixture into the center of one half of a fig.  Wrap each fig with a small piece of prosciutto and place on a foil lined cookie sheet.

When ready to serve, put the cookie sheet in the oven/broiler for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the prosciutto starts to crisp.  Serve warm. 

If you are looking for more ways to be creative with figs – try this Fig and Avocado Salsa recipe or Shauna’s take on Gluten-Free ‘Fig Newtons’ (though really that does her cookie an injustice because these taste great and Fig Newtons almost soured me to the fruit forever…)