Gluten-free Gourmand

My cooking partner and I are really into making food over a campfire.  It's so much easier to make the whole meal on one heat source, and what is an open fire but man's first stove?  When we heard about grilling artichokes, we loved the idea, because artichokes are the perfect accompaniment to so many other things that we like to grill.  However, all the recipes we found involved boiling the artichokes first - not an option for the lazy camper.  We wanted to cook them just on the grill.  This recipe is the result of our inspiration. How to cook artichokes on the BBQ or grill : Serves two Ingredients: 1 artichoke oil salt 1-2 Tbsp butter 1-2 Tbsp water lemon juice (optional) Directions: Cut the artichokes in half, then scoop out the pale choke in the center.  Oil and salt both sides.  Put a few chunks of butter in the center of the artichokes where they are hollowed out.  In the center and around the leaves, add a bit of water u...

I try to always document this day in the year, mostly for my own reference.  Then, there's also that desire to brag a little.  This year, I'm not sure it qualifies as bragging, but I finally have my first ripe tomatoes. These are Sun Gold tomatoes, and they ripen very early.  If you consider August to be early.  Well, the point is that they ripen earlier than other varieties.  Last year my first ripe one was July 23rd.   The year before , it was July 17th.  I posted a Sun Gold tomato salad recipe on July 20th that year.  It has been a cold, wet spring in the west of the country this year.  Snow packs are still high, the weather only just turned warm, and tomatoes aren't exactly getting in early.  Here's a photo I took of Mt. Adams last weekend.  Look at all that snow! Not that I'm complaining.  It's always nice to have water.  Some of my spring crops are still going strong, and I have a ton of beautiful, huge sunflow...

When I first started out with gluten-free baking, I did a lot of experimenting with different gluten-free flours to see what worked and what didn't.  Here is a quick guide to what you should buy to try out at the start, and what you should avoid.  To read more about what these flours contribute to your mix read this post. Brown Rice Flour White Rice Flour Sorghum Flour Teff flour Potato Flour or Potato Starch Tapioca Flour Xanthan Gum Here are a few things you can pass up on, and the reasons why: Bean flours - Don't do it!  They taste and smell like beans.  If you need more disincentive, they are often difficult to digest and they spoil quickly. Amaranth flour - Overrated!  It's very delicate, it goes bad quickly, and sorghum tastes better anyway.  Plus, it's expensive. Quinoa flour - It has a distinctive flavor and a dry texture like corn flour.  I only use it in a few select recipes, including this pancake recipe .  While I like ...

Right now, I have plenty of cilantro.  It grows like weeds in my garden.  I love cilantro.  In honor of this  prolific herb,  I created a fresh pesto recipe.  This recipe is dairy-free, and the lime juice keeps it fresh long after other pesto sauces would expire.  See some recommendations for gluten-free pasta here .  Cilantro Pesto 2 C fresh cilantro leaves from your garden 1/3 C Brazil nuts or walnuts 1 clove garlic 1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil 1 squirt lime juice 1/4-1/2 tsp salt ground white pepper to taste Blend all ingredients in a food processor until evenly minced, scraping down the sides as you go.  Taste for balance of flavors and adjust.  Serve tossed with hot pasta.  It's that easy!

I went to visit some family in Denver this weekend and was pleased to find many more gluten-free options than I had the last time I visited.  I even had a few surprises: some really good gluten-free pizza, and a gluten-free beer I'd never even heard of before!  Here I thought I was up on all the cutting-edge news for gluten-free beer, and I found a new one thanks to my mom's iPhone app, which led us to Papou's Pizza . From the outside, it just looks like a run-of-the-mill pizza joint in an average Denver strip mall.  However, Papou's serves some really good gluten-free pizza.  It's New England-style Pizza with a Greek influence - meaning lots of good roasted vegetable toppings.  I got the Mediterranean, which was roasted eggplant, fresh tomatoes, and feta.  The normal pizza crust looked good, too, and the place was a real crowd-pleaser.  We didn't all get gluten-free, but everyone from my 5-year-old niece to my grandmother liked the place, which is a...

I went to Australia earlier this year and did quite a bit of research before I left.  Local blogs in Melbourne and Sydney proved to be really helpful, along with dining sites that had gluten-free search options.  I thought I'd give back to the community by making a traveler's dining guide for Portland.  I'll only list the restaurants that I have personally eaten at and which have strong adherence to gluten-free safety.  There's a more comprehensive list over at Gluten-free Portland dot org. New Cascadia Traditional Bakery - This dedicated gluten-free bakery serves bread, pastries, coffee, pizzas, and sandwiches. Tula Bakery  - An excellent dedicated gluten-free bakery in Northeast Portland. Hawthorne Fish House - Almost all the food served at this establishment is gluten-free.  See the full review here . Deschutes Brewery - They bake their own gluten-free buns and bread sticks in a separate kitchen, and they brew their own gluten-free beer! ...

What a difference a server makes. I like Clyde Common.  The food has always been amazing, and their mixed drinks are equally amazing.  I still remember the first time I went there.  It was New Year's Eve, and for some reason the mood struck me to get a Bloody Mary.  I almost never order that drink - it's usually too sweet or salty for me.  Well, this one was made from a chili sauce.  It was spicy and perfect.  Another reason to like Clyde Common is that many of their dishes are gluten-free without having to make substitutions.  They aren't trying for it; they are just really high-end.  The food is cheffy, which typically means they don't rely on a lot of wheat products.  Wheat is boring and mundane, after all.  Gluten is passé.  So I took a gluten-free friend to Clyde Common this winter.  We got our fancy cocktails and we checked out the dinner menu.  There were several things that looked doable as a gluten-free dis...

Here in Portland, the gardening season starts pretty early.  In fact, you could argue that it never stops.  I've been trying to budget my food expenses a bit more, so last week I decided I'd only eat vegetables that I already had, or that I picked from my garden.  Here is most of what I harvested for the week: The orange globes in the background are acorn squash I harvested last year.  The big white roots are parsnips.  The leafy greens are cilantro, kohlrabi, kale and mustard greens that I planted last year - they survived the winter, along with the onion.  I don't eat a lot of vegetables compared to some people, but I was able to get some green in my diet every day last week, and it was all from my garden. I already have some seeds planted in the outdoors and they are starting to sprout up.  I've planted carrots, basil, onion, fennel, chard, lettuce, parsnip, broccoli, kale and leeks.  I think I'll wait a few weeks before planting anything e...

For people just starting the gluten-free diet, there can be a lot to digest.  Sometimes, the biggest shock to the system isn't about the food itself - it's about how much it costs.  Here are some strategies for easing the blow to your wallet. Cut down on waste .  A recent study found that Americans let 40% of their food go to waste - in spite of having almost universal access to the most advanced technology in quality control and refrigeration in the world.  Have a plan for when you will eat everything perishable that you buy, and don't buy more than you can use. Make what you have .  If you find yourself running over budget in the week, try to see what you can make without going to the store.  Don't have any meat in the house?  Use eggs, tuna fish, peanut butter, nuts or beans for your protein instead.  Necessity is the mother of invention, and you might end up creating a new recipe out of common ingredients that you can use again. ...

Imagine traveling to a new city, one you've never been to before.  You go downtown, and you walk into a random coffee shop.  There are loads of pastries in the case, but nothing looks likely to be something you can eat.  You ask anyway, out of habit.  The woman behind the register blandly replies, "We have several things that are gluten-free.  There's a chocolate muffin that's gluten-free, and we have several kinds of friands that are all gluten-free." That is what happened on my first day in Melbourne, Australia.  And it happened almost every day after that.  My mom and I were amazed at how many gluten-free things there are to eat in Australia.  I even found gluten-free treats in several airports, an occurrence that has never happened in the US.  Here is proof that I bought a GF pastry in the airport in Hobart, Tasmania: In honor of the great gluten-free trip I had, I bring you a taste of Australia.  Friands aren't something you f...

Walk to the corner of NE 60th and Glisan and you'll see something that catches your eye: a sign out front of Seven Virtues lets passers-by know that they now serve gluten-free sandwiches.  Upon further investigation, it turn out that they can serve their grilled sandwiches on New Cascadia Traditional flax bread.  I was pretty excited about this turn of events so I had to sample a sandwich right away.  I got the North Tabor which has turkey, pesto and cheese. But first, I asked a few questions.  The man taking my order that day was one of the owners, and he was very helpful.  I asked if they grill the GF sandwiches on a dedicated grill, and he replied that they don't have demand or space for a dedicated grill right now, but they can give the grill a thorough cleaning before they make the gluten-free sandwiches.  They also use a separate cutting board and knife for prepping the GF stuff.  He told me that the sandwich would take a little longer than re...

I have to confess that I'm not very good at following directions.  In fact, I almost never cook anything exactly as instructed, and I am pretty savvy about when and where to skip steps or make substitutions.  When I saw that the King Arthur Gluten-free Bread Mix called for three eggs I was tempted to change the recipe entirely, but I was afraid that if it didn't turn out I wouldn't be able to legitimately review it.  So I started off to make the bread as directed. I threw in the three eggs, warm water, and 4 Tbsp of walnut oil.  I mixed with an electric mixer as instructed.  I added the flour one cup at a time.  Somehow, in the middle of it all, my subconscious took over and I ended up doing things my own way by sheer force of habit.  Sure, I added the three eggs, but I skipped another step entirely.  And it still came out. I've been making a lot of gluten-free bread recently, and I've figured out that you can completely skip the second rise...

I love pumpkin, but for some reason, I've never liked pumpkin pie. I've tried to get into it, but it's been over thirty years now and I have to admit that I've been unsuccessful. I have, however, found a solution: Butternut Squash Pie. I make this pie as more of a custard than your standard pumpkin pie. I go a little light on the seasonings and the sugar. Butternut squash is naturally sweet so you don't have to add a ton of sugar. Butternut Squash Pie Recipe (A clever substitute for Pumpkin pie) Have a (gluten-free) pie crust ready to bake. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. With a cleaver or other dependable knife, remove all the seeds and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes: 1.5 lb butternut squash Roast the squash on a baking sheet or roasting pan until it feels done when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Puree the squash in a food processor. In a large bowl, whisk: 3 large eggs Whisk in: 2 1/2 cups of the butt...

I have found that gluten-free crusts aren't too difficult.  What helps to make them easy is, ironically, their lack of gluten. Wheat-based pie crusts are very finicky.  They have to be rolled out correctly the first time or the gluten is developed and the crust becomes tough.  GF crusts don't have this issue. What makes gluten-free crusts tricky is that they tend to crumble and break apart.  However, you can try rolling them out as many times as you like.  If mine doesn't roll out correctly on the first go I just fold it over onto itself and roll it out again.  You can do this many times for a really flaky, layered pastry.  Or, if all else fails, you can just press it into the pan. The hardest part of making pie crusts for me is the timing and the temperature of the ingredients.  You have to keep the bowl, the ingredients, and the blade cold if you don't want to have your dough turn out like this disaster : Don't. There is a lot of wai...

Need some gift ideas for a gluten-free person in your life?  Here are some practical suggestions for things to give or read this holiday season. This holiday season, get your friends and loved ones something they can cherish forever: a book.   The Essential Gluten-free Restaurant Guide by TriumphDining . Know someone with a new baby in their life?  Get them the Eco-nomical Baby Guide: down-to Earth Ways to Save Money and the Planet , written by the authors of GreenBabyGuide.com . Not that they need more press in this circle of friends, but this one is on my wish list: Gluten-free Girl and the Chef Have gluten-free friends?  If they are new to the diet, it's likely they will need some new kitchen equipment to help them in their new culinary pursuits.  Here are some things I've always desired: Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer Chantal 8-inch Omelette Pan You can find these and other culinary tools in Portland or online at Kitchen Kaboodle . Or, if...