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So, by now most of you may have heard the news. Chef John took “The Next Food Network Star” title, but it was a good run. Thanks again for all of your support!

While the Food Network may have chosen me for the top 15, there were a lot of critics out there who weren’t sure how a salad could make the cut. I promised a video as I made this pizza, but we lost power, and it wasn’t meant to be. Even though I don’t have a video, I can provide the recipe! It’s heavy, so it makes a better appetizer than main course. I might serve with a light arugula salad on the side. 

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

In a pinch, you can turn to any frozen pizza crust out there, but it’s best to start with a dough-based frozen crust (not a pre-baked crust). You will want to press the dough out to form a thin crust for this recipe. I used Gillian’s, available in the freezer section of the Clarendon Whole Foods.

Here is a link to another pizza recipe from our site if you have time to make some dough from scratch.

Blue Cheese Sauce:

1/4 lb of blue cheese (try to find one with a good balance of veins and cheese – it will melt more evenly)

1/4 cup of butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

Toppings:

1/4 cup of fig jam

1/2 cup of chopped, dried figs

1/4 cup of chopped, cooked bacon

PREPARATION

Press the dough out into a pan to the thickness you prefer (I recommend a thin crust for this pizza, but choose your poison). Bake according to crust directions for 10 minutes, until crust is firm, but not cooked through. Remove from oven.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. When the butter is melted but not yet bubbling, add the garlic. Slowly crumble the blue cheese into the butter and stir constantly until melted. The cheese should be smooth, not separated. If it is separated, add more cheese until the texture evens out.

Mix chopped figs and jam in a small bowl. Spread the blue cheese on the pre-baked pizza crust and drop dollops of the fig mixture on the pizza. Sprinkle bacon across pizza.

Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese begins to brown. Let stand for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

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Tags:   blue cheese · figs · food network · gluten free pizza · Next Food Network Star · whole foods6 Comments

Remember when we said:

“We’re extremely excited to announce that founding DC Glutie, Brandi, has decided to vie for a coveted spot as The Next Food Network Star.”

WELL, WE CAN HARDLY CONTAIN OUR EXCITEMENT NOW AS WE LET YOU KNOW BRANDI MADE IT TO THE TOP 15 CANDIDATES FOR THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR YOUTUBE CHALLENGE!

With messages about the joys and great flavors of simple, homegrown gluten-free food, Brandi is giving a voice to people with food allergies everywhere.

Wouldn’t it be bliss to regularly watch a nationally televised show that focused on bringing attention to the gluten-free good life hosted by our very own glutie?

Please, please, please visit the Food Network site right now and vote for her. Vote as many times as you can and spread the word!

Voting continues all this week through Friday, August 16.

Good luck, Brandi!

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Tags:   Brandi · gluten free recipes · gluten-free cooking · grown your own vegetables · Next Food Network Star · organic3 Comments

Hear ye, hear ye -

We’re extremely excited to announce that founding DC Glutie, Brandi, has decided to vie for a coveted spot as The Next Food Network Star.

Brandi’s message is simple: Cooking garden-fresh, allergen-free food doesn’t have to be intimidating – whether you have a dietary restriction such as that required by celiac disease or are just looking for a way to get back in touch with your food. In fact, when you cook with whole foods that are fresh, flavorful and never processed, cooking becomes easier and you’ll benefit from bigger, bolder flavors and shorter grocery lists that harken back to a simpler time.

So consider how great it would be to watch a show that helps you slow down, spend less, stay healthy and connect with where your food comes from. Brandi’s personal experience as an organic gardener with celiac disease would be an amazing foundation for getting out the word about the homegrown,  gluten-free good life.

Watch her entrance video and please leave a YouTube comment if you like what you see. Then be sure to VOTE FOR BRANDI on August 2 when voting begins.

Brandi – The Gluten-Free Guru

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Update 4/15/10: The FDA has closed the gluten free labeling survey as it claims that the survey has met quota. Keep your eyes on this space for more news as the FDA formalizes the gluten free labeling process.

Movement has begun at the FDA in the agency’s efforts to introduce standardized gluten free labeling. Take the survey at the Gluten Free Living blog and help determine how gluten free labels are presented. It takes around 20 minutes to complete, but if you’re concerned about cross-contamination and hidden gluten in products like I am, it’s worth the time.

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Tags:   celiac · Celiac disease · FDA · food labeling · gf · gluten · gluten free2 Comments

In 2002, Real Simple released a recipe for Belgian beef stew and for five years straight, we made an absolutely huge pot of it every winter. Then, when I went gluten-free, it just kind of fell off our radar – especially given that two of its stand-out ingredients are beer and bread.

It has such a unique flavor, nothing like the crockpot tomato paste disaster I had (and frankly, always loathed) at friend’s houses growing up. No tomato here, no carrots, no peas – just hearty beefy flavor that derives its tongue-pleasing acidity from grainy mustard and red wine vinegar.

We dusted off the recipe last week during the storm of the century and created a gluten-free version that was just as satisfying as I remembered and dead-on in terms of flavor replication. Now, to be fair, I should tell you that my mother-in-law sends us these mail-order filet mignon cuts so, in place of the chuck, we cubed the filets and threw them in there – elevating the flavor and richness dramatically. It also gave us a chance to break out our beautiful red Le Creuset Dutch oven.

In place of the Guiness and country bread, we used one whole bottle of Green’s Endeavor double dark beer (b0ught at Whole Foods) and some split Foods by George English muffins (from Whole Foods or Wegmans) slathered in mustard. This stew is so starchy we don’t even serve it over noodles or potatoes, it’s delicious just the way it is. Sure, we were housebound and anything would have tasted good, but I can assure you that as far as recipes go, dit is perfectie, as they would say in Belgium.

Here’s what you’ll need.

Jump over to the recipe at www.realsimple.com to read about the preparation.

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