Category Archives: Recipes

Bowl ‘Em Over With Biscuits

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Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits from Amaya La Jolla make a great go-with for your Super Bowl fare, or another dish, or just by themselves with butter. (Photo by Kelley Carlson)

Super Bowl Sunday is coming up fast, and bowls of chili, gumbo, and other warming fare will be on the menu of gatherings across the country. Here’s an idea for a go-with dish — a yummy biscuit I had the good fortune to sample at Amaya La Jolla recently. These Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits were part of Chef Camron Woods’ delicious roast suckling pig slider appetizers — but they’d also be great supporting players for the abovementioned chili, gumbo, soups, stews, etc.

Biscuits are enjoying a bit of a renaissance (did we all get tired of polenta?), and they’re fairly easy to put together. (Note that the recipe calls for at least 4 hours’ chill time, or overnight, so plan accordingly.)

Here’s the recipe from Amaya La Jolla, courtesy of Pastry Chef Michael Luna. Truth in advertising: I don’t have a kitchen scale, so I made these conversions (in parentheses) with the help of online sources.

CHEDDAR BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

1 pound, 4 ounces White Lilly flour (about 4 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 ounces shortening

6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 ounce thyme (1 tablespoon)

15 ounces buttermilk

2 ounces butter, softened

In a large bowl, mix the first six dry ingredients together.

Cut the shortening into this dry mixture by hand, until about pea-sized. Put in freezer overnight or up to 4 hours.

Place the chilled flour mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the cheddar and thyme and pulse to incorporate. Add the buttermilk in a slow steady stream and mix until fully combined.

Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, covered in the mixing bowl.

Generously flour the surface of the workstation and roll the dough out to about the size of a 9” x 13” pan.  Spread the butter over 2/3 of the left side of the dough and book-fold once, folding from the left side to the right, leaving enough room to tri-fold from the right side on top of the part that you just folded.

Turn the dough 90 degrees on the table. Proceed to roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut to desired size diameter of biscuits.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes and brush with butter when they come out of the oven golden brown.

(c) Laura Groch 2014

Getting to know your inner turkey

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Turkey Soup is a thing of beauty once it’s finished, and you can vary the other ingredients to your liking. Photo by Laura Groch

One of my favorite post-holiday meals is turkey soup. Not only does it taste good, it’s a deserving second act for all the leftover turkey parts. And I do mean parts: the skin, the bones, the drippings, the neck and whatever giblets didn’t end up in the stuffing.

Even if this weren’t National Soup Month, I’d be telling you about making soup from turkey carcasses (sorry, there’s no pretty word to use). To my mind, this is not only thrifty, but respectful. I don’t like waste, and using every last bit seems to me a fitting way to be mindful of what that bird gave up for me.

I’m going to show you a basic recipe you can use all year round: how to boil all the leftover bits together, pull the meat off the bones and strain the broth, which will then become the base for a delicious, warming soup.

What’s nice about making your own soup — besides being able to control what goes into it — is that it’s so adaptable to whatever else is in the fridge. First, you don’t have to make this with turkey. Collect a gallon freezer bag of chicken bones, skin, necks and giblets, and use them. (Tip-Top Meats in Carlsbad sells frozen bags of chicken bones with lots of meat on them for soup-making.)

Second, you can switch around the other ingredients to your liking. Soup is forgiving and flexible. Some good additions:

— A quarter-cup of leftover tomato sauce or a chopped tomato.

— Leftover white beans, zucchini, chopped mushrooms or green beans.

— A couple of spoonfuls of mashed potatoes or cooked squash.

— Leftover gravy.

— Spinach, chard, chopped green cabbage, or frozen sliced okra instead of kale.

— Chopped parsley or cilantro to garnish.

— Cooked rice or barley or kasha instead of pasta.

Third, if you’re cooking for one or two, making a pot of stock or soup gives you lots of options. You can portion out the defatted broth and cooked meat into freezer containers to combine later on with some of the abovementioned veggies and leftovers, or put it all together and then freeze your finished soup in one- or two-serving containers.

To that end, as you prepare your next bird for cooking, save the giblets and neck (if you don’t have another use for them) in a plastic bag and freeze them. Some people cut off the wing tips and discard them, but they’re great to add to the soup pot, so freeze them, too.

After the feast, collect the bones, drippings and any skin scraps. Add them to the giblets, neck, etc., and freeze till you’re ready to make soup. If you have a lot, portion them into several bags — about a half-pound to a pound (about a half-turkey’s worth of bones) to each bag should be ample. Then freeze what you won’t be using right away.

I usually make my broth in a slow cooker, but you can also simmer it in a large pot on the stove. (This is Part 1 of the recipe.)

After encountering bone fragments once too often, I’ve finally learned to strain my broth. I use a wire mesh strainer, not a colander, and strain the broth into a large stockpot. The strainer may hold some pieces you want to keep, such as large pieces of meat, so pick them out and add them to the strained broth. If you’ve used celery, onion, etc., they’ll look pretty limp and unappetizing at this point. Some recipes tell you to discard them with whatever else remains in the strainer. Others tell you to puree them and add back to the soup. Your call. (I go back and forth on this, depending on my mood.)

I usually refrigerate the broth and the bowl of meat to work on the next day. By then, any fat will have congealed on top of the broth, and I can easily scoop it off and dispose of it. (NOT down the garbage disposal. Put it into your regular garbage or freeze it in a disposable container and then throw it out on garbage collection day.)

Next, pick off the meat from the boiled bones and scraps. Here’s where you will really get to know turkey anatomy. It’s a personal challenge to remove every last bit of meat from the bones (and you’d be surprised how much usable meat a turkey neck can yield). The best way to do that, IMHO, is with fingers, not a knife and fork. I usually collect a good cup and a half of meat.

You can stop at this point and freeze everything for a later cooking session. Pack the meat into a freezer bag or a freezer container, and do the same with the defatted broth. (Be sure to label everything!)

Otherwise, keep going with Part 2 of the recipe. Some notes:

— Adjust the seasoning as the soup veggies cook. They throw off some sodium, so it’s best to keep tasting.

— My favorite green in turkey soup is chopped kale. Since the leaves cook quickly, I add it at the end, with the pasta (see below). The stems are sturdier, so I remove them and dice them into about 1/4-inch pieces, then add them with the carrots, onions, etc. (My dog loves inch-long pieces of kale stems as a treat.)

— Pasta is my go-to starch. A small pasta — something that will fit in a spoon — works best. Try little stars, ditalini, orzo, alphabets, small elbows or shells. You can also use short lengths of broken-up spaghetti, or regular noodles. A cup will probably work, but I usually use at least 1 1/2 cups (no doubt compensating for being noodle-deprived as a child).

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do, and have fun adapting it to your own taste!

LAURA’S TURKEY SOUP, PART 1

1 turkey carcass, broken into pieces: This includes leftover wing, leg and thigh bones, skin (also neck and giblets if you have them), and skimmed pan juices

8-10 cups water or enough to mostly cover turkey carcass

1 medium onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1-2 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in large slow cooker or large pot on stove. If using slow cooker, cook on Low for 4-6 hours. If using large pot, bring ingredients to a boil, then lower to a simmer, covered, with the lid slightly open. Cook 2-3 hours.

Remove from heat. Using tongs, remove as much of the bones, skin, and meat as possible and put in separate bowl. Refrigerate until cool; then separate meat from bones and shred into small pieces. Discard bones and gristle. Cover and refrigerate meat until ready to use in soup.

Using wire mesh strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth, strain broth into separate large pot or bowl. Pick out pieces of meat from strained ingredients and add to other turkey meat; be careful to remove all bones. If you wish, you can puree the vegetables and add back to the soup; otherwise, discard vegetables and bay leaves. Refrigerate broth until fat has risen to top, then skim fat from surface and discard.

Defatted broth and meat can be frozen for later use. Otherwise, proceed with Part 2.

LAURA’S TURKEY SOUP, PART 2

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 ribs celery, chopped

1-2 carrots, sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 cups turkey broth from Part 1 of recipe

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

1/4 teaspoon each sage and thyme, rubbed between palms to pulverize leaves

1-2 kale leaves, shredded or torn, with stems removed and finely chopped

1 to 1 1/2 cups noodles or small pasta

In large skillet, saute onion, celery, carrots and garlic in olive oil until soft. Scrape contents of skillet into soup pot with broth from Part 1 of recipe. Add chicken bouillon, sage and thyme, and chopped kale stems. Bring to a boil, then simmer, partly covered, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in shredded kale leaves and pasta; cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is done. Stir in turkey meat and bring back to a boil. Turn off heat and adjust seasonings. Makes about 10 cups soup.

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2014

Dozens of reasons to enjoy a cookie exchange

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Above: The assorted cookies I brought home from our recent cookie swap. For a cookie swap, you bake only one batch but end up with a beautiful assortment of delicious cookies. (Photos by Laura Groch) 

If you’ve never taken part in a cookie exchange before, let me recommend this enjoyable way to share the holiday spirit. And it’s not too late in the season to organize one.

I don’t remember where I first heard about cookie exchanges or cookie swaps, but I do know that the idea immediately struck me as a winner: Bake one batch of cookies, get together with a group of friends, and divvy up the cookies. Go in with snickerdoodles, come out with chocolate chip, peanut blossoms, rugelach, Mexican wedding cakes and more, depending on the group.

I enlisted my officemates to try it out, and it worked so well that we started a December tradition. Not only was it fun, it was efficient and saved buckets of time when everyone was being pulled in several directions at the holidays. This year found me swapping with another group of friends, who were also pleased with the results.

As I said, it’s not too late for you to enjoy the fun, creativity and rewards of doing a cookie exchange. (How about organizing one for a Saturday-or-Sunday-before-New-Year’s get-together!) All you need are 1) a batch of homemade cookies; 2) a few friends, relatives or colleagues (make sure one of you is good at math!); 3) about 90 minutes to make the exchange in whatever place you designate; and 4) an extra container to put your shared cookies into while others are taking from your batch.

The basic idea is to divide the cookies by the number of bakers, then each one takes that number of cookies from everyone else. So if you have 6 people, you bake, say, 4 dozen cookies (48). Forty-eight is evenly divisible by 6 (6 x 8 = 48). Everyone keeps 8 of his or her own cookies, takes 8 from everyone else’s batch, and you go home with 48 cookies, the same number you brought in, except you now have six different kinds.

At least, that was the way this recent cookie exchange was supposed to work. But I managed to goof up the neat calculations by not counting myself in the group. We really had 48 cookies each to be divided among 7 bakers. (Oy.) So — we instead took 7 each, then divvied up the remainder. Which is what you might have to do, too. (Or you can reverse-engineer it: Choose a number, say 6 cookies apiece, multiply it by the number of cookie swappers, then everyone bakes that amount.)

We used to have as many as a dozen people, and we’d each bake as many as 6 dozen cookies (also a nicely divisible number). Something always happens, though. One person always bakes more, another bakes fewer — recipes are variable, after all, and so is the human hand. But someone else always manages to figure it all out to everyone’s satisfaction.

The cookies don’t have to be fancy — not at all. Of course, if your specialty is an elaborately decorated cookie, go for it. Just don’t be disappointed that others can’t match your baking prowess. Remember, they’re all still tasty cookies!

The one big rule is that the cookies must be homemade. It’s not fair to those who actually made dough and shaped and decorated it (or even just dropped spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet). They put effort into their cookies, no matter how simple (or blobby). It’s just not right to hand over a machine-made cookie in exchange for an individually made little work of art.

And they are all works of art, I can assure you, from the humble oatmeal cookie to the sophisticated palmier. The sight of them arrayed on a plate will gladden your heart as much as anything by Picasso or Renoir or Wyeth.

Or Norman Rockwell, for that matter. Bringing together different people and traditions and recipes to share them with each other is about as American as it gets, in my view — and it also reflects the spirit of the season.

Really, there’s no good reason why the Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa time of year should hold a monopoly on pretty cookies. In fact, we’re already planning a Valentine’s Day cookie exchange.

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Above: Cranberry Refrigerator Rounds (OK, they’re a little oblong) are what I made for a recent cookie exchange. (Photo by Laura Groch)

I made this refrigerator cookie for our recent cookie swap, but used cranberries this time instead of apricots. It’s from “Gifts From Your Kitchen,” by Better Homes and Gardens (Meredith, 1976).

APRICOT REFRIGERATOR ROUNDS

1 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup finely chopped dried apricots (or cranberries)

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

Cream together butter and brown sugar till light. Blend in egg and almond extract. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Stir in apricots and nuts. Shape into two rolls 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper. Chill well. Cut in 1/4-inch slices; place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Makes 6 1/2 dozen.

Notes: I used butter, not margarine, and about 1/4 cup of nuts (I used walnuts) instead of 1/2 cup. A knife will do to chop dried apricots, but I used kitchen shears to chop the cranberries.

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Sweet potatoes make the grade

I know, I know, they’re fantastically good for you, but those traditional mounds of mashed sweet potatoes with their marshmallow topping (and how did that get to be an American tradition, anyway?) usually leave me cold.

Oh, I regularly serve them at the holidays — but no one else in the family seems to like them that much, either. I’ve mashed ’em with butter and brown sugar, candied ’em with cashews and peaches, and even done the marshmallow thing. Still, I usually have piles of them left over.

Until this year. I think I’ve finally found the recipe that makes them a hit. Brown sugar and butter, yes, but not overly much, plus a hearty helping of apple made this sweet-potato dish disappear at Thanksgiving.

I found it at allrecipes.com, submitted by Tamby Plue, bless you, whoever and wherever you are. It’s easy, yet different — and it tastes delightful. (A heap better than marshmallows, imho.)

Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole — exactly what it says — layers parboiled sliced sweet potatoes and fresh apple, with a little brown sugar and butter in between. I cut mine into quarters, boiled them enough to tenderize but not pulverize them, then sliced them and layered them with the apple. I did mine in two more layers than the recipe called for, possibly because I used a smaller dish (8×8 square). So the amount of sugar and butter was distributed a little differently. You can adjust that to your own taste, of course (I routinely use less butter than called for, and skipped the pecans too).

This was good with turkey, but would go well with other poultry or ham. Check it out here:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-and-apple-casserole/ Enjoy!

Thankful for a special Italian recipe

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My maternal grandmother, “Nini,” and her rumpled granddaughter, who still makes her special Thanksgiving stuffing. (c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Wishing you all an early Happy Thanksgiving! :<)

Everyone’s Thanksgiving is full of rituals beyond the turkey. As a kid, the family must-haves included a local TV station’s annual showing of “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” the Laurel and Hardy classic, followed by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Our table offered Italian antipasto — black olives, salami, artichoke hearts — and we drank asti spumante, not red wine or beer.

Gloppy green bean casserole was unheard-of; instead, we had fresh broccoli and a green salad, and my grandmother’s special stuffing ladled out of the bird.

After dinner, the turkey carcass rested majestically on the stove for several hours as we all picked at it, no doubt contributing to the eventual upset stomachs that were also a holiday ritual (we didn’t know as much then about food poisoning as we all do today).

On Thanksgiving Days now, I start the preparations by turning on the parade as background accompaniment. (Sadly, no one broadcasts “March of the Wooden Soldiers” any more.)

We still do the antipasto plate, the asti and the broccoli. But we no longer stuff the turkey; that concession to speed and food safety came years ago, with stuffing now prepared on the side.

And the turkey, which these days is grilled by my husband over mesquite wood on the faithful Weber, is bustled into the fridge right after serving instead of breeding bacteria as in days gone by. (Some rituals you just don’t need to keep.)

But my grandmother’s special stuffing is still one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving.

A skilled midwife from Sicily who immigrated to Brooklyn, she wanted her grandkids to call her Nini (to rhyme with “mini”). She became familiar with American foods through her clients and her children. It took a little trial and error — when her daughter, my mother, wanted peanut butter, for example, Nini bought it, but was mystified when the sandwiches didn’t come out quite right. A more Americanized uncle had to explain that jelly was also needed to make a classic PB&J.

I like to think that must be how this recipe came about: When Nini learned that stuffing was expected in the American turkey, she created it her way, using rice and Italian sausage.

I think it’s delicious. Nini is long gone, but she returns to our table every year when I make this simple recipe for the rest of the family. Here’s how my mom dictated it to me.

NINI’S SAUSAGE AND RICE STUFFING

Cook 1 cup white rice in 2 cups chicken bouillon or giblet water (water you cooked the turkey giblets in).

Brown 3/4 pound Italian sausage (skinned and broken up) with 1 medium onion, chopped, 1 clove garlic, chopped, and 1 stalk celery, chopped.

Drain off fat.

In casserole dish, combine sausage mixture and rice; mix well. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes. Serves 4.

Notes: You can make this with brown rice, or turkey sausage; you can add the chopped, cooked giblets to it or not. Adjust the amount of celery or onion to your taste. I like it browned a little on top to make some crispy bits.

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Lima Love

Laugh if you like, but I’m growing fonder of lima beans year by year.

This past Saturday marked the fifth year of Encinitas’ Lima Bean Faire, a fundraiser for the San Dieguito Heritage Museum (www.sdheritage.org) and my fourth year (I think) as a judge of the faire’s cooking contest. (Also judging were Coast News columnist David Boylan (“Lick the Plate”) and Chef Marian of ChefMarian.com.)

I was not a fan of lima beans as a child. They were the hated ingredient in the blocks of frozen succotash that were our family’s default dinner vegetable. They were mealy and dry, and far inferior to the corn niblets and green beans they accompanied.

But now, after several years of experiencing limas transformed by amateur and professional chefs, I’ve come to appreciate them. They certainly are no longer the shriveled nubbins I remembered from childhood. Nope. I now know them as moist, inviting, satisfying and savory, not to mention nutritious, full of fiber and economical, as most beans are.

This year’s contest allowed other kinds of beans besides limas, and entries included soups, dips, salads, stews, casseroles and pasta dishes, as well as several (yes!) desserts. According to Jean Bruns, a museum board member, this year’s turnout was 21 cooks entering 26 dishes.

The winners:

People’s choice:  Sean O’Leary – L Im A Piggy Soup;

Professional division:

Salad/Side – Brett Nicholson, Brett’s BBQ: Black Bean Salad

Entree/Side — Steve Molina, Delicias Restaurant, Five Bean Fritters With Spiced Yogurt Tzatziki;

Dessert — Mary Dralle/Cooking With “Klibs,” Xocolatl Bars.

Amateur division:

Salad/Side — Evelyn Weidner, Ginger Citrus and Sweet Chipotle Dips;

Entree/soup — Sean O’Leary, L Im A Piggy Soup;

Dessert — Kristin Gaspar, Mini Lima Bean Pies

Winning recipes, as they have been every year, will be compiled in the group’s fundraising cookbook, soon to be available at the museum, 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas (760-632-9711).

Sean O’Leary’s prize-winning soup was one of my favorites. He’s a former chef turned freelance photographer (www.simplysophotography.com). This recipe makes a LOT of soup, but you can cut it down for a smaller batch. The  pork bone is for flavor, not for meat, Sean says. He adds that you can roast it beforehand for more flavor in the soup.

L IM A PIGGY SOUP 

5 pounds dried lima beans

6 stalks celery

3 carrots, peeled

2 1/2 pounds onions, peeled

1 head garlic, peeled

1 Fresno chile, seeded

1 pound ham, chopped

1 pound pork shoulder bone or other pork bone (not meaty)

1 bunch parsley stems

1 bunch green onions

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 1/2 gallons chicken broth

Salt and cracked black pepper

Lime Creme:

12 ounces sour cream

4 ounces mayo

1 lime

Kale Chips:

1 bunch kale

Leek Threads:

1/2 pound leeks, cut lengthwise and cleaned

Soak dried lima beans overnight in a 20-quart stock pot. Make sure water level is at least 4 times the volume of the beans.  The next morning, strain the beans in a colander and set aside.

After cleaning and preparing vegetables, rough-chop them. You don’t want to cut them too small.

Place the dry 20-quart stock pot back on the stove and add some vegetable oil over medium heat.  Let the pot get warm.  Add celery, carrots, onions, garlic and chile, and sweat them until they are translucent by occasionally stirring them. This should take 8 to 10 minutes.

At this point add reserved lima beans, ham, pork bone, parsley stems, green onions, paprika, cumin, oregano and chicken broth.  Cover and bring to a boil, then turn down heat to low and simmer for 3 hours or until beans are soft.

Remove pork bone and discard.

Cool soup until it is about room temperature.  It is best to cool soup as quickly as possible by placing pot in your kitchen sink. Surround the pot with ice and fill sink with cold water a quarter full.  Stir soup to cool it faster.  Once soup is cool enough, blend in a blender starting at low speed and working up to high speed until soup is smooth. Do small batches at a time.  Reheat soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Lime Creme: While soup is cooling, mix sour cream, mayo and lime juice as desired in a small bowl.  Add a little water and salt until desired thickness and flavor.

Kale Chips: Cut the leafy part off the kale stems.  Now cut kale into desired size.  In a saute pan, add vegetable oil to fill saute pan 1/4 full.  Heat oil to medium-high. Place a little bit of kale in saute pan at a time. Be careful — the kale will splatter oil due to water content in the leaf. Pan fry kale until oil is no longer bubbling around the cut pieces.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and shake over pan to remove excess oil. Place on paper towel to drain and season with a little salt while still hot.  Set aside.

Leek Threads:  This is the exact same method as to make the kale chips. Slice the leeks crosswise into thin shreds and then pan fry.

Once you have all the components ready, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with Lime Creme, Kale Chips and Leek Threads.  Enjoy!

Here’s the recipe for Xocolatl Bars from Mary Dralle’s (“Cookin’ With Klibs”). The recipe uses lima bean flour, which she said she gets at the Santa Ysabel General Store. “Frazier Farms in Vista carries bean flours as well as Jimbo’s, Sprouts and Henry’s,” she noted. “A substitute bean flour could be used in place of the lima bean flour.”

XOCOLATL BARS

1/2 cup lima bean puree

1/2 cup butter, unsalted

1 cup raw sugar

1 cup brown sugar, slightly packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons creme de cacao liqueur

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour, sifted

3/4 cup lima bean flour, sifted

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream the first four ingredients until fluffy.

Beat eggs in one at a time, then fold in vanilla, creme de cacao, and dark chocolate chunks.

On a large piece of wax paper, measure out all of the dry ingredients. (This method will ensure that all of the items are added.) Fold wax paper in half, pour into sifter and sift into bean mixture. Fold until all is incorporated.

Press dough into a parchment paper-lined 11-by-17-inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Gluten-free at breakfast? Cookbook author can tell you how

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Above: Apple Pancakes from “Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond” by Linda J. Amendt (recipe below). All photos (c) 2013 by Tara Donne. 

Note to readers: Leave your comment below, and I’ll choose one at random to win a copy of “Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond” by Linda J. Amendt.

Linda J. Amendt has made a name for herself in Southern California (as well as other states) as a canning and preserving expert and a food-contest judge. She has won more than 900 awards in state and county fair competitions, and has written three award-winning cookbooks.

(Full disclosure: I own a copy of her “175 Best Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & Other Soft Spreads” and love it.)

Gluten-free cooking isn’t exactly her field of expertise. But when she was asked by her publisher to create a gluten-free cookbook, she was ready for the challenge.

Though she doesn’t have to avoid gluten herself, Amendt is very, very familiar with the world of food allergies and sensitivities. For years, she has coped with an allergy to the alkaloids in plants in the nightshade family — tomatoes, potatoes, peppers of all kinds, eggplant, okra, and several kinds of berries, to name a few.

“I understand what people go through because gluten is used as a thickener (in many foods), and you have to read labels,” she said in a recent phone interview.

People with celiac disease — a genetically linked autoimmune disorder — must avoid foods made with wheat or wheat products, which contain gluten.  Rye, barley and sometimes oat flours — but not corn or rice — also contain gluten-like proteins. These proteins trigger an immune reaction in the small intestine. It interferes with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, which creates digestive and other problems over time. Ridding the diet of gluten can help restore the gut’s normal digestive and absorption function.

ImageAmendt, a Murrieta, CA, resident,  had already been helping some friends remove gluten from their diets by reformulating recipes for them. So when her publisher proposed the gluten-free breakfast book, “I thought, ‘What a cool idea!'”

“Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond” (Taunton Press, trade paperback, $19.95) was born about 10 months later. In it, Amendt covers 100 recipes for quick breads, muffins, scones, pancakes, waffles, French toast, crepes, quiches, omelets and more in 234 pages with color photos.

Making gluten-free versions of those foods is doubly difficult: Gluten is what gives baked goods structure and height, as well as flavor. Not only must revised recipes taste good, it’s important for them to look as appetizing as their non-GF versions.

As she talked to people on GF diets, Amendt realized, “One of the things they really missed was having baked goods similar to what all-purpose (wheat) flour produces. Without gluten, there’s no structure, no support” for breads or cakes or muffins. “My purpose was to try and replicate the texture and flavor of foods made with all-purpose wheat flours. That’s what people missed the most.”

Home cooks cope with the GF regimen by using many different grain flours in varying combinations. “There are a lot of gluten-free recipes that require 10 different flours,” Amendt said.

She met this challenge by creating two all-purpose flour blends — one that takes the place of all-purpose wheat flour in recipes, and one that’s more like a whole-grain blend. They are made with white-rice flour, brown-rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch, and are the basis for all the recipes in the book that use flour.

“I used rice flour because it’s very neutral, as opposed to soy or sorghum flours, which have a very strong taste and can be heavier,” Amendt said. “Rice flour is lighter, because there’s no gluten you have to replace.”

A natural substance called xanthan gum is also a major player in her recipes. “I learned about the gum from friends, then it was a question of figuring out the right ratios in what kind of recipe. That started me in coming up with a general flour to substitute in all the recipes.”

Perfecting the flour blends took about a month, she said. “I just kept working on those until I got consistent results. Then it was a matter of taking some of my favorite recipes and converting them to gluten-free.”

Among those recipes are traditional favorites like Zucchini Bread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Blueberry Pancakes, Spice Muffins, and Cinnamon Crumb Cake, and variations like Pumpkin Sweet Rolls, Raspberry Coconut Coffee Cake, Spinach Waffles, Cherry Almond Scones and Cheddar Cheese Biscuits.

Besides the recipes, Amendt offers easy-to-read tips for each category and instruction on using starches and flours, baking and mixing techniques, and sources for gluten-free ingredients. She also explains why baking with gluten-free flours is different from using wheat flour.

“Gluten-free batters need to be thick to support the structure of the baked good,” she said. “If you’re finding your batters are too thick, add more fat to them. That will thin them out. Or you can increase the leavening by 25 to 50 percent. That will really help it rise more.”

Quiche crusts benefit from added baking powder. “I use it with my regular pie crusts,” she said. “It just helped them to puff better. This is a problem with a lot of gluten-free foods — they tend to be dense and heavy.”

Another tip: Try a narrower baking pan.

“Gluten-free batters, when rising, need something to cling to,” Amendt said. “Without that gluten around to support them, they are likely to sag in the center. Or they’ll rise, then fall.” For breads, that means trying an 8-inch-by-4-inch pan instead of the usual 9-by-5.

“If you’re making a quick bread and it’s not working in a pan, try baking it as muffins.”

Among her favorites in the book are the Apple Pancakes, Carrot Muffins, Poppyseed Coffee Cake and the Spinach And Feta Quiche. “The one that was the really big hit was the Banana Maple Muffin,” she said. “I gave those to a bunch of different people. Nobody knew (they were made with gluten-free flour) until I told them. Everyone really liked that recipe.”

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These recipes are from “Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond”:

GLUTEN-FREE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR BLEND

4 cups finely ground or stone-ground white-rice flour

2 cups stone-ground brown-rice flour

2 cups tapioca flour or tapioca starch

1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)

In an extra-large bowl or container, combine the rice flours, tapioca flour, and potato starch. Whisk together until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Use a large spoon to bring the flour from the bottom of the bowl up to the top and whisk again. Repeat a few times to make sure the flours are evenly distributed throughout the entire mixture.

Store the flour in an airtight container or ziptop storage bag at room temperature for up to 1 month. For longer storage, keep the flour in the refrigerator or freezer. Allow the flour to come to room temperature before using.

Lightly stir the flour before measuring. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off the top with a straight-edged utensil, such as the back of a knife. Makes about 9 cups.

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I like to use Grade B maple syrup for baking. It has a stronger maple flavor and darker color than Grade A Amber maple syrup, the type commonly used as a topping for pancakes and waffles. Grade B maple syrup can be found in specialty food markets and some health food stores.

BANANA MAPLE MUFFINS

Unsalted butter or nonstick baking spray, for the pan

1 3/4 cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup, preferably Grade B

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 bananas)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with unsalted butter or nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the maple syrup. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. By hand, stir in the bananas.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup until nearly full and mounding the batter in the center to the top of the cups, or slightly above.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove the muffins from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool the muffins on their sides. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 muffins.

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I like to use smooth applesauce in this recipe because it gives the pancakes a velvety texture. Any good cooking apple, such as Gala, Fuji, Jonagold, Golden Delicious or Granny Smith, will work well. Be sure the peel the apple before grating, as the peel can be tough when cooked.

APPLE PANCAKES

1 1/2 cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour

3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup grated or finely chopped peeled apple

Nonstick cooking spray or unsalted butter, for the pan

Maple syrup for serving (optional)

Heat a griddle or large nonstick frying pan over medium heat, or heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, using a wire whisk, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, xanthan gum and nutmeg until well blended. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium bowl, using a wire whisk, lightly beat the eggs. Gradually whisk in the melted butter until evenly combined, then stir in the applesauce. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Pour the liquid mixture into the well in the flour mixture all at once. Stir just until combined and the flour mixture is moistened. There may be a few small lumps; do not overmix. Gently stir in the apples just until evenly distributed.

Lightly grease the griddle with nonstick cooking spray or unsalted butter. Ladle or spoon about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle. Cook until the pancakes rise, bubbles start to come to the surface, and the underside is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn over and cook until golden brown, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more, adjusting the heat if needed to prevent overbrowning. Serve hot with maple syrup, if desired.

Note: Individual serving-size containers of applesauce hold 1/2 cup and are the perfect premeasured amount to use in this recipe.

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Salvaging a Dessert Disaster

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Above: The (successfully) remade cookie bars. See how I managed to salvage my disaster of a dessert. 

This is a story of kitchen hubris (mine) and dessert redemption (also mine). Maybe you’ve been there too. This is my cautionary tale:

I found two cans of sweetened condensed milk deep in my pantry recently. I had bought them a while ago “in case I needed them,” but obviously never had. I decided to use them up rather than throw them away. They were old. They didn’t even have expiration dates. But the cans weren’t bulging or anything, so I thought they were probably still good.

(Beep. Beep. Hazard ahead!)

The only recipe I know that uses SCM is Magic Cookie Bars. It’s easy: chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, raisins, pretzel pieces, butterscotch chips, whatever, on a graham-cracker-and-butter base in a 9-by-11 pan, bound by the sweetened condensed milk poured over it and then baked and cut into bars.

As a bachelor, my husband used to make Magic Cookie Bars whenever he needed to contribute to an office potluck. I thought I’d surprise him by putting one of those old cans to good use and making a batch.

So I set up the graham-cracker base, scattered a cup each of chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, coconut and raisins, then opened one of the cans of SCM.

(Alarm bells. Warning!)

Oh my.

It was the color of crankcase oil and the consistency of petroleum jelly. It didn’t smell sweetened; it had a faint cheese odor instead.

But I’d never baked with SCM before, so maybe it always looked like this, I told myself.

(Klaxon horns. Danger!)

I spooned it onto the cookie bars and put the pan into the oven. Maybe the heat of the oven would transform it into something more appetizing.

A half-hour later, out of the oven it came. Or should I say, “Out of the oven — ‘IT’ came.”

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The pan looked exactly the same. This was not good. (see photo above)

My husband came into the kitchen to see his cookie bars. They were a surprise, all right. Gallantly, he said, “I’m sure they will be OK.”

After dinner, we dug in. They weren’t.

Glumly, we chewed through our portions. Everything else in the bars tasted OK. The sweetened condensed milk was obviously past its prime, but not really BAD. Just not really GOOD.

I put the pan in the fridge, chagrined and humbled by my bad decision.

Throwing the bars out would be a shame, though I was leaning that way. (I had already tossed the other can of SCM.)

If only I could save them. But how?

In bed that night, thinking about my defeat, it dawned on me that most of the ingredients were solid: nuts, coconut, raisins. Even the chocolate chips came out of the oven unchanged.

More to the point, they were all pretty waterproof.

What if I could wash them? Dissolve that Bad Sweetened Condensed Milk off them? I’d lose the graham-cracker base, but that was OK. The whole pan would be a loss otherwise.

The next morning, I filled a large bowl with water and sat it in the sink. I broke off parts of the Bad Cookie Bars and dunked them into the bowl. Then I squooshed them and mooshed them around in the water, breaking them up with my fingers, until everything was dissolved off.

I drained and rinsed what was left, and spread it in a pan to dry. I had raisins. Coconut. Peanuts. And chocolate chips — intact, though they had softened a bit. More important, they hadn’t dissolved.

(Trumpet fanfare. Rescue at hand!)

I let the ingredients dry for a few hours before heading to the store for fresh SCM and more graham crackers. (And FYI, fresh sweetened condensed milk looks like vanilla pudding.)

Then I remade those bars using the laundered ingredients, plus another cup of coconut. They baked up pretty the second time around and tasted just fine. Whew.

(Angelic choir. Victory!)

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Pick a peck of peppers, and roast ’em

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When peppers go on sale, buy a bunch and roast them yourself. (Photos by Laura Groch)

Roasted red peppers are a colorful, versatile addition to your kitchen palette. You can buy them for upwards of $6 a jar — or I can show you how to roast your own for a fraction of the cost. And with peppers at such bargain prices this week (they’re going at 3 and 4 for $1), it’s time for a lesson in this easy way to add a gourmet touch to summer salads, sandwiches, pizzas and more.

You don’t need to build a fire to roast a pepper. I often roast mine in my little toaster oven. You can also use your oven or even a barbecue grill (just make sure the fire isn’t TOO hot, as they can burn beyond salvaging in just a few moments).

Roasting (really, broiling) peppers softens them and adds a bit of sweetness. I like to roast red bell peppers, but any color pepper will work. Use what you like (that includes jalapenos, Anaheims, etc.) and whatever’s at the best market price.

Here’s how:

Wash peppers; slice them in half lengthwise. Clean out the seeds and remove the stems. Rub or spray with a little bit of olive oil if you wish. Lay them flat on a foil-covered roasting pan, skin side up — or if you’re using a grill, do them skin side down. The idea is to get the skin side close to the heat source.

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Broil or grill the peppers until the skins are blackened but not burned. (See photo: They should look a little bit scary.) Try to position the peppers so they blacken evenly; it’s not necessary to blacken the whole surface.

When the peppers are ready, use tongs to remove them from the oven or grill and transfer them into a plastic bag. (I usually save a couple of empty cereal bags — the kind that line cardboard boxes of cereal — for this purpose. They’re very sturdy and leak-proof.) Add any juices that may have collected in the pan. Then close the bag tightly with a clip or twist-tie. Leave some air space — you don’t have to roll the bag shut all the way down to where the peppers are.

Let the peppers rest in the bag for about 20 minutes. They’ll continue to steam for a bit, and then they’ll cool off enough for you to handle them.

Now you’re ready to peel them. Remove the pepper halves one by one from the bag. The blackened skin will have blistered and raised from the flesh a bit. Put the pepper on a cutting board and grab a piece of skin. It should peel away easily from most of the pepper’s surface. You may not be able to remove all the skin — that’s OK.

Slice the peeled pepper into strips (my preference) or leave them in bigger pieces. Put the peeled peppers into a bowl, and pour over any juices that may have collected in the bag or on your cutting board. You can now add some olive oil to them, a dash of your favorite vinegar if you like, or maybe some shaved garlic. Stir and refrigerate.

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What can you do with roasted peppers? Try them as part of an antipasto plate with olives, mozzarella, salami and artichokes. Use them to liven up salads. They’re also wonderful in an omelet or frittata or quiche, and on homemade pizza (or add them to storebought pizza). Stir them into a pasta dish with chopped tomatoes and/or sauteed zucchini.

They’re also great in sandwiches. One of my favorites is a simple vegetarian sandwich: Split open a crusty roll or other sturdy bread, spread with a little hot chili sauce, and then top with hummus, sliced red onion, tomato, cucumber and roasted peppers. Yum! It’s light and easy on a hot day when you don’t feel like cooking.

I’m sure you’ll come up with more ideas. Roasted peppers will keep for about a week in the fridge. I don’t recommend freezing them, as the texture will break down too much. So enjoy them — and the money you just saved by making them yourself!

(c) copyright Laura Groch 2013

Seeing red, and what to do about it: Panzanella

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Above: One of my panzanella salads. This one has cucumber and white beans in there too.

About this time of year, gardeners (and their lucky friends) are becoming awash in lovely ripe tomatoes. And once you’ve made multiple salsas and pasta sauces, and your freezer is full, well, it’s time to put a little panzanella into your life.

Panzanella is best described as a tomato-bread salad, originating in Italy. (I’ve also seen it called Tuscan bread salad.) “Bread salad” may sound a little strange, but I can assure you that it’s delicious — and a cooling change of pace, especially in hot weather.

To make panzanella, you need good, sturdy bread, preferably a bit stale. Italian or French or country white bread are all good choices. You can probably find a suitable loaf on the day-old rack at your local bakery or grocery store. If not, you can slice or tear a fresh loaf into chunks or cubes, leave it out for a few hours to stale a bit, and then use it. (I’ve even toasted my bread chunks to get them dry in a hurry.) If the bread is a bit dry, it won’t get overly soggy as it soaks up the tomato juices.

You’ll also need two or three large, juicy-ripe tomatoes; about three tablespoons each of olive oil and vinegar (I like red-wine or balsamic); about a quarter-cup of thinly sliced red onion; a clove or two of garlic, chopped or put through a press or microplane grater; and some fresh basil would be nice. (If you only have dried basil, it will work too. But really, you should have some fresh basil on hand! It’s summertime in California!)

Here’s how to make it: Cut or tear about half your loaf of bread into bite-size chunks or cubes. Put them in a large salad bowl. (Some people moisten the bread with water beforehand, then squeeze it out and proceed. Others drizzle the cubes with olive oil and bake them, cooling them before adding to the salad. I prefer the simpler method of letting my tomatoes do the moistening.)

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and pour them and all their juices over the bread. Add the olive oil and vinegar (or use a bottled Italian dressing), the onions and the basil — about a half-dozen shredded leaves if you have fresh, a half-teaspoon of dried if you don’t — mix it all up, and add salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste.

You can let your panzanella sit at room temperature if you’ll be eating it within an hour or so; otherwise, refrigerate it until serving, especially if you’ve added meat and cheese to it.

What I like about panzanella is that it takes so well to leftovers and improvisation. Don’t have red onion? Use white ones, or sliced green onions. Can’t live without chopped celery? Go ahead and add it. How about those leftover beans from the other night? Sure, toss them in, along with some black or green olives. If you prefer the taste of fresh thyme or parsley to basil, go for it.

Other foods that play well in panzanella:

— Diced ham, salami, Canadian bacon, or regular cooked crumbled bacon;

— Diced cheese, like mozzarella or provolone;

— More vegetables, like radishes, artichoke hearts, bell peppers, garbanzo beans, green beans, shredded carrots, fresh peas, cooked edamame.

Using about a half-loaf of bread should give you three to four side-dish servings, or two large dinner-size servings. Leftovers make a nice lunch on top of a bed of lettuce the next day. (And you’ll have turned your bread salad into a salad salad!)

When you’re ready to serve the panzanella, the bread chunks should be nicely chewy and moist. If they seem dry, add a tomato, or more dressing.

This just in (to my brain, that is): I bet you could create a Mexican-flavored panzanella by using cilantro instead of basil, a chopped jalapeno pepper, black beans instead of white, and about a half-cup of canned (or fresh) corn. Add cubed Monterey jack cheese or your favorite Mexican cheese, and sprinkle with a few crushed tortilla chips.

Or even Greek-style: Lemon juice instead of vinegar, plus black olives and chunked peeled cucumber; canned tuna instead of ham or salami; feta cheese; and flavor with oregano instead of basil.

That’s the beauty of panzanella. There’s no one way to make it, and it can be different every time, depending on how you feel and what’s in the fridge. What a perfect summertime dish! Enjoy!

P.S. Got variations? Share them in the comments, please!

(c) Copyright Laura Groch 2013