New York City Gluten Free

We just got back from a 5 day stay in New York City -- it truly is a great place to travel if you are eating gluten free. In fact, our "restaruants to visit" list was longer than the number of meals on our trip. (Oh well, I guess we have to go back.) Some of the highlights were as follows:

Friedman's Lunch -- In the Chelsea Market. Their gluten free menu includes sandwiches on gluten free bread, bagels and pancakes on Sundays, hamburgers on gluten free buns, fresh french fries and homemade potato chips (they have a separate fryer for the gluten free food).

Risotteria -- we shared an order of risotto and a gluten free pizza. We ordered a pizza with olive tapenade instead of tomato sauce, topped with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. Delish. Every meal is prefaced by gluten free breadsticks, the nice soft kind. They also sell wrapped gluten free baked goods to take home, include black and white cookies.

Just Salad -- a salad chain, we went to the one at 30 Rock (Rockefeller Center). The gf salad dressings are clearly labeled. According to the owner, the grilled chicken is gluten free, as are many of the toppings (other than the obvious ones, such as croutons). Ask to have your salad mixed and chopped in a clean bowl on a clean board; the staff were happy to accomodate.

S'mac -- a small restaurant in the East Village, specializing in macaroni and cheese. They have gluten free pasta available, and all the breadcrumbs that are used to top the mac and cheeses are gluten free. You can have traditional American style mac and cheese, or go for a more exotic version, with different kinds of cheeses and mix ins.

Petit Cafe -- this cozy cafe in the West Village was a real find. The owner's mother has celiac, and he has been increasing his gluten free offereings over the past couple of years. Options now include gluten free french toast (served all day), grilled paninis and other sandwiches on gluten free bread, gluten free brownie and gluten free soups. The cafe is small and friendly -- the owner seemed to know many of the customers, and even went to his car in a rainstorm to loan one of his customers his umbrella!

Tuttoriso -- a homey cafe on Staten Island, right next to the ferry stop. This makes a great stopover if you are planning to take the Staten Island ferry (recommended for a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline, and it's free!) Tuttoiso has a full range of gluten free pastas, sandwiches, soups and baked goods.

Cafe 82 -- a typical NYC diner on the upper west side of Manhattan (82d St. and Broadway). They have a gluten free menu, including gf toast for the traditional eggs and hash browns, as well as other diner foods. Very reasonably priced. (no web site)

Whole Foods -- there is now an enormous Whole Foods on East Houston Street. Not surprisingly, this being New York, they have a huge prepared foods section. One night, we didn't feel like eating out, so we picked up take out sushi as well as fresh french fries from the Pommes Frites station within Whole Foods. Pommes Frites is a french frie restaurant in the East Village -- they have an ecclectic selection of sauces (we didn't investigate, just stuck with the ketchup.) This Whole Foods also sells gelato from local gelato makers Il Laboratorio del Gelato, in the Lower East Side.

Another treat was home made buttercrunch chocolate candy from Roni-Sue's Chocolates in the Essex Market (Lower East Side).

What was particularly nice about traveling in New York, is that there were gluten free options in every part of town. The only place that was a bit challenging was Spa Castle -- an incredible Korean spa in the heart of Queesns (you can take the number 7 subway to the last stop, and get a free shuttle bus from there to the spa.) Spa Castle is a five story experience, complete with saunas, and a variety of whirlpools. (I can't really describe it, take a look at the website.) Apparently there is a salad bar there on the weekends, but during the week the main food option is a Korean restaurant. We hadn't brought restaurant cards with us, but in the end were happy to order a couple of bowls of plain white rice (rather cleansing after our other food extravengences). There is also Haagen Daaz and Edy's available, if you want something more decadent!

More gluten free pizza in the Boston area!

Stone Hearth Pizza has now started serving gluten free pizza and pasta at its three Boston area locations (Needham, Belmont, Somerville/Cambridge). The gluten free items are indicated right on the main menu itself. The pizza is thin crust -- they call it Neapolitan style. In addition to pizza and pasta dishes, they have some nice salads, a few appetizers and gluten free desserts on the menu. We tried the gluten free pizza with fresh mozarella the other week, and really enjoyed it.

Daring Bakers January Challenge -- Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.


This months challenge asked us to bake Tuiles. I had never really seen these before. They are cookies that are shaped or rolled. In addition, we were to pair the cookies with a mousse or pudding, or something similar.


I used the basic Tuiles recipe presented, which was taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck. (The recipe actually makes a butter cookie, not a chocolate cookie.) It was easy to convert to gluten free -- I just used Better Batter flour instead of the all purpose flour. I shaped the cookies into little cups, but pressing the warm cookies inside of a muffin tin when they came out of the oven.

For filling, I made a simple white chocolate mousse, using a recipe posted a the Cooking by the Seat of my Pants blog. I substituted a bit of vanilla for the liquer called for by the recipe. It was super simple, and really good. I then filled the cups with the mousse.

Would I make it again? Maybe. Shaping the tuiles was a little too finicky for me. However, the combination of the crispy cookie and the creamy mousse was quite delicious.

Being thankful for family who "get it"

Our extended families have been incredibly supportive of our gluten free needs. They are happy to go to restaurants with gluten free menus when we go out -- and they have been more than willing to prepare safe, gluten free feasts for family gatherings.

Take this Thanksgiving. My sister and her husband hosted and coordinated, cooked and cleaned, and -- except for one premade pumpkin pie that they bought at a fundraiser -- the meal (for 15 of us) was entirely gluten free. And quite delicious, I might add. We started with olives, humus, cheese and Mary's Gone Crackers. The turkey, of course, was the centerpiece. Roasted vegetables (including baby brussel sprouts, new for me but actually really sweet), squash (made by my mom), a wild and brown rice "dressing", green salad with a nice vinaigrette (provided by my in-laws), mashed potatoes and gluten free cornbread (provided by us). I baked some gluten free Heath Bar brownies and a gluten free apple pie, using an Annalise Roberts recipe and a Whole Foods gluten free pantry pie crust, and we had ice cream as well. Although none of the foods being prepared for the meal contained gluten, it is always more challenging to cook gluten free in a "gluten" kitchen, and I appreaciate the extra efforts my sister and her husband made to keep preparations safe, such as using new cutting boards.

I don't think that anyone came away from the meal saying "that was a great gluten free meal" -- I think they came away saying "that was a great meal". Because it was. Not only did the food itself taste great -- but because it is simply nicer and warmer when everyone at the table can fully partake of a meal , and not worry about whether something is safe to eat.

So, thanks!

Bakers Challenge for November -- Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

- Name of the Cookbook - Shuna Fish Lyndon's recipe - (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006 … he-recipe/)
- Name of the Author - Shuna Fish Lyndon
- Hosts for the month - Dolores the host (http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/) with Co-hosts Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo: http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/), Jenny of Foray into Food (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/). Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go (http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/) assisted with the gluten free info.

This was my second attempt at a Daring Bakers Challenge. I see from the other Daring Bakers posts that some folks are really creative -- at this point, I'm just trying to get the basic recipe made! I used Better Batter flour for the gluten free flour, and upped the baking powder to 1 teaspoon. I used a 9 inch springform for the baking pan. The cake didn't rise very much (either that, or it rose than sank) so it was a fairly "short' cake -- more like a torte. However, it was really moist and quite tasty. Definitely on the sweet side, but not too sweet for my taste.

I had read reports that the frosting was WAY sweet, especially in conjunction with a sweet cake, so I halved the recipe, and reduced the sugar even further. In the end, I used about 6 tbls. butter, 1 an 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 3 tbls. heavy cream and 3 tbls. caramel syrup. I also added a little sea salt. The frosting was nice and light and fluffy; I didn't think it was too sweet. The half recipe did cover the top and sides of my not very high cake.

If I was making the recipe again, I'd make sure to halve the caramel syrup -- it made far more than was needed, even if you were making a full batch of frosting. Now I need to figure out what to do with the leftover syprup -- maybe combine with heavy cream to make caramel for ice cream?

The assembled cake (frosting and cake) was delicious. I drizzled some of the caramel syrup on top for decoration. I would definitely make it again.

Thin, pliable, gluten free wrap bread

There has been a lot of interest in the gluten free blogging and message board community in developing gluten free wrap recipes. Gluten Free Gobsmacked has a whole series of useful posts with a number of variations, including some that were based on a thread originally posted on the Delphi Forum. I was particularly intrigued by her latest post in the series, for Mock Lavash, which called for a combination of whole grain gluten free flours and buttermilk powder. It occurred to me that Pamela's Baking mix already included a combination of whole grain type flours as well as buttermilk, so I decided to try making the recipe using Pamela's mix as the base. I also added Expandex (modified tapioca powder) which results in a very pliable mix. I also eliminated the yeast, since I didn't want the bread to rise. So, here is my latest variation (with thanks to Kate and all the others who have been working on refining this recipe!):

1 cup Pamela's Gluten Free Baking mix
2 tablespoons Expandex
3/4 cup warm water (note, probably doesn't need to be warm anymore since no yeast is used, but I haven't tried it without warming it yet)
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to the ingredients, mix on slow to combine ingredients, then mix on high for about 2 minutes.
5. While dough is mixing, line a jelly roll sized pan with parchment paper. Don't skip the parchment paper -- the dough is very wet and sticky.
6. Pour the dough onto the parchment paper lined pan. Use a wet spatuala to smooth it out. The dough is very thin and wet and should spread fairly easily.
7. Bake for 13 to 16 minutes until edges are brown (if you have a hot oven, start checking earlier).
8. After the pan has cooled, peel the parchment paper off of the wrap bread. I usually got it in thirds. You can store it in an airtight ziplock for a day or so.

A good and easy dinner

Last night we had a fast and easy, but still mighty tasty, gluten free dinner, courtesy of Receipezaar. Baked tilapia with tomatoes and olives, baked swiss chard with olive oil and parmesan, and quinoa (toasted, then cooked like rice). The meal preparation only took about 30 minutes total.

Also, for those of you in the Greater Boston area, check out Sorry I Can't Eat That's posting about A New Leaf, a terrific health food store in Needham Massachusetts with a huge selection of gluten free food.