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Snowmageddon may have made most of us a little stir crazy, but it also gave us plenty of time in the kitchen to try new recipes. I found this recipe for brownies on the back of Meister’s Gluten Free Mixtures and swirled in some strawberry sundae topping for a little flare. Even though the snow is melting, I recommend giving these brownies a try the next time you’re in the need of a sugar fix.

Ingredients

1 cup of unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1/1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups Meister’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (or another gluten free flour blend that includes xanthan gum)

1/2 cup strawberry sundae topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 9×13″ pan. Melt butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. Stir in sugar and reheat for approximately 5 minutes until the mixture is soft, but not bubbling. Stir in cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, and then add flour, stirring until smooth. Spoon batter into pan. Using a spatula, swirl in strawberry topping. Bake for 50 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.

Enjoy!

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January and August bring a treat to DC foodies on a budget: DC’s famed Restaurant Week. The gluties try to make the rounds to new restaurants each time Restaurant Week comes to town. It’s a great opportunity to truly test a restaurant’s gluten free sensitivity. When limited menus are the rule during Restaurant Week, some joints go out of their way to make sure you’re well fed, even if a few substitutions are required. Others deliver nothing more than a blank stare. That said, here’s what went well and what didn’t during the 16th Washington, DC Restaurant Week.

Bobby Van’s Steakhouse

My first stop during Restaurant Week was to Bobby Van’s Steakhouse on New York Ave. When we sat down, we were pleasantly surprised by the wine specials that accompanied the dinner specials. A limited selection was featured at $25/bottle and $5/glass. Not their top shelf, but it was nice to have a decent price on wine to accompany the prix fixe menu. The waiter seemed well informed about gluten free dining, and was amenable to my requests, but I’m pretty sure it was lip service. Nothing communicated at the table made its way to the kitchen, and every course had to go back. Croutons on the Caesar salad, jous (which I was told was not safe, even though it often is) on the steak, and cookies in my mousse. After all of my dishes were remade without gluten, the end result was yummy … but not enough to warrant a return visit from me. I wouldn’t put it on the top of my list for gluten free dining, either. 

BlackSalt Fish Market

BlackSalt was divine. No questions about it. The happy hour is worth checking out – the bar features great wine and beer (for your gluten loving date) specials, house oysters and other finger foods. The only real option on the happy hour for gluties are the oysters, but for me, that was just right. The menu is quite flexible, and the waitstaff is eager to let you know. I started with the naturally gluten free heirloom beet salad, followed by the Spanish mussels, which the kitchen doctored to accomodate my needs. Even though the restaurant wasn’t participating in Restaurant Week during dinner, it was a great night out and a restaurant I’ll visit again. Two thumbs up for gluten free awareness.

Zengo

Zengo in Gallery Place was a mixed bag. The restaurant has a loud, fast paced, slinging-hash kind of atmosphere, yet it’s gluten free menu is leather bound and official. The food is yummy, but their approach to dining is based on an “everyone shares” mentality, which doesn’t work well for us gluties. They bring out dishes when they’re ready … not by table. When you’re dining with gluten-loving friends, and can’t share, it means you’re staring at your empty plate. Not quite the best way to spend a night out. When it was our turn for sharing, Brooke and I noshed on duck tacos (wrapped in a pickled radish shell), arepas, chicken tandoori, beef tenderloin palomilla, and dulce de leche pudding. I would recommend the food, but maybe choosing a quieter night to visit.

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Just in time for the holidays …

The snowy weekend inspired me to warm up in front of the oven and do some baking. I always turn to Carol Fenster’s recipes for my gluten free pies, but since we’ve already headed north to Massachusetts to spend time with family, I was without my trusted cook books. Instead, I turned to Google for a new gluten free pie crust for the spiced peach pie I’m bringing to Christmas dinner.

What I found may be my new “go to” recipe. Cherie Funderburg’s “Beyond the Wheat”blog has a simple flaky pie crust recipe that yields a dough that’s easy to handle. I used Meister’s Gluten Free Mixtures! all purpose flour blend. Their products are a little pricy but worth the cost. You can buy the flours online at www.meistersgf.com.

Here’s a link to the recipe that makes two 9″ pie crusts. Fill with your favorite flavors. If you’re like me and have a freezer full of fruit saved from the warmer months, this peach pie from Epicurious.com might inspire you. The spices scream winter with a little touch of summer.

Happy holidays!

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Tags:   carol fenster · Epicurious · gluten free · holiday · peach pie · pie crustNo Comments.

I love to eat. I really love eating out. But, I really don’t love being forced to eat on the road. For gluties, every new restaurant is a risk and every uninformed server is a serious source of frustration.

Over the past several months, I’ve been traveling quite a bit in both my personal and professional lives. So much so, I’ve eaten at McDonald’s twice! While I hate to admit caving to the temptation of the fast food pit stop, I have to admit it’s often easy dining for those of us living the gluten-free lifestyle. 

Despite all of it’s flaws when examined through the lens of sustainability, McDonald’s is incredibly gluten friendly. The recipes don’t change from restaurant to restaurant and the corporation is vigilant when it comes to sharing ingredients. When you’re starving, you know you can count on a Micky D’s burger, hold the bun*.  That standard of consistency is not true of all fast food chains, and certainly can’t be said for most diners, drive-ins or dives. Why can’t these restaurants be more transparent, though? Why not list allergens alongside food items on menus? It would certainly reduce the likelihood of making a patron sick and would take some of the pressure off of restaurants that aren’t always familiar with the nuances of hidden allergens and cross contamination.

When you consider the success New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has had implementing public health initiatives geared towards the food service industry, I’m left wondering why gluten free/allergen free standards can’t be applied. New York City restaurants are no longer allowed by law to include trans fat in their foods and restaurants must include nutrition information on their menus. Mayor Bloomberg was on a mission to improve health and reduce obesity. The food service industry at large said no way will it pass – it will cost too much and hinder small business. The dark horse won – and 16 other cities have followed suit. But he missed one (very important) detail: all of those freshly reprinted menus failed to include allergen information.

The advent of the FDA’s Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 improved the lives of many people living with food allergies, and in 2008, the FDA set out to add gluten to the list of allergens, creating a universal definition for gluten free. This glutie thinks that the information we’re privy to at the grocery store should be apparent on food menus as well. It would certainly help every allergy sufferer and gluten free patron make informed food choices, even when the waitstaff isn’t.

*McDonald’s French Fries were formerly listed as gluten free, but upon further review, it appears their ingredient list includes wheat gluten in the fry (and hash brown) flavoring.

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Tags:   FDA · Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act · gluten free · labeling · Mayor Michael Bloomberg · McDonald's1 Comment

Little by little, it’s becoming obvious that the gluten free lifestyle is here to stay and becoming widely accepted. Two things caught my eye this week and both stand to make your holidays more enjoyable.

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

I’m a huge fan of NPRs Kitchen Window food discussion series. I especially like the podcast. It’s informative and investigative, but it also has this down-home quality that makes me feel that no food adventure is insurmountable. So, imagine my delight when I discovered Stephanie Stiavetti’s “A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving” article.

In the piece, Stiavetti provides recipes for:

• Gluten Free Jalapeno Cornbread
• Gluten Free Stuffing with Autumn Fruit
• Gluten Free Butternut Squash Pie
• Gluten Free Flour Mix (for use in the pie)

Cooking Class

Additionally, the Sur La Table in Pentagon Row is offering a gluten free holiday baking class on December 5.

The menu includes: Brownie Tartlets with Peppermint Glaze – Lemon-Zested Refrigerator Cookies – Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti with Almond Glaze – Gingerbread Men – Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

The instructor is Angie Lee, and the cost is $69.

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Tags:   gluten free holidays · gluten free thanksgiving · NPR · Pentagon Row · Sur La Table2 Comments