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Tag Archive: Gluten-Free

Wildflour Bakery In Providence

Written on January 27, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Restaurant Review

When I first arrived back in Providence, one of the very first things I did was stop by the newly opened Wildflour bakery which specializes in vegan and gluten-free pastries. Clearly, I have my priorities.

The bakery had a really friendly atmosphere. The staff were more than helpful with any and all questions we had on their baked goods. And there were a lot. Everything in the showcase(pictured above) was vegan, and on the shelf above that sat out the vegan/gluten-free baked good. The choices was almost mind blowing considering I feel lucky to be able to order 1 or 2 things off of a menu usually.

We finally settled on a gluten-free brownie and raw cheesecake to split between 3 people. One of the workers told me that the gluten-free brownie was better than their “regular” brownie, so it certainly seemed promising. The cheesecake was on the pricier side but considering the size of it and the work that goes into raw cheesecake I knew we had to try it.

Ultimately, the brownie paled comparison to the cheesecake. It tasted a little starchy and overly sweet without that deep richness that a good brownie has. I thought that some of my brownies tasted better than that and my parents agreed(and not just because they’re my parents I hope).

I really enjoyed the cheesecake. My guess at the recipe would be a thin almond/date crust with a filling made of soaked cashews, coconut cream, lemon juice, and agave, covered with coconut flakes and raw chocolate syrup, kind of similar to my recipe. But aren’t things always so much better when someone else makes them for you?

In short, I will definitely be back; there are too many desserts I haven’t tried yet, and I could always use a break from baking. Oh, they also serve raw juices, but who wants that when you have cheesecake staring you in the face? That’s what I thought.

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Gluten-Free Dumplings With Dipping Sauce

Written on January 6, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

It’s rare that I’ll put more than 30 minutes of actual laboring into cooking a meal. But some things are worth the effort. As a kid, my favorite food to order from a Chinese restaurant was always their dumplings; I love the soft, doughy exterior with the savory filling dipped in a sweet sauce. I never even thought to make these gluten-free until I saw them on another blog and wanted to give them a shot. Unfortunately, that recipe didn’t work out for me at all. A few kitchen sidesteps and 2 hours later I had 30 cooked dumplings and 1 burnt pan(but that’s a story for another day).

I’m not going to pretend these are a nice simple recipe for a weeknight; they aren’t. But what they are is incredibly impressive to make and very flavorful. Make a batch over the weekend and you can enjoy them through the week.

Gluten-Free Chinese Dumplings

Ingredients(Makes 30-36 dumplings):

4 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour(such as Bob’s Red Mill)
3/4 cup cold water
4 eggs, divided
1lb ground pork or chicken
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sesame oil

To make the dough, mix together the flour, water, and 3 eggs. Work the mixture until it forms a tough dough and roll it into a ball.

To make the filling, mix together 1 egg, the meat, ginger, onion, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Knead the mixture together until the ingredients are emulsified.

Roll the dough into balls and pound them into disks about 1/4-inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide. Be sure not to pound them too thin or else they’ll tear.

Scoop a tablespoon of filling onto each disk biased onto one side.

With dry fingers, lift up the other side and bring it over to make a pouch. Pinch down to seal the edges. If any part shows sign of tearing, take a little extra dough and make it into a patch, pressing down lightly on the thinning area.

To steam these, boil a pot of water with a fitted steamer on top. Add as many dumplings will fit without layering them on top of one another. Steam for 10-15 minutes until the outside starts turning a deep yellow and the filling is cooked through.

To pan-fry these, heat a large skillet with a few tablespoons of oil in the pan. Once hot, add the dumplings and cook 5-7 minutes on each side until the breading is crunchy and cooked.

Gluten-Free Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil(preferably toasted)
1 tablespoon chopped green onion

To make the dipping sauce, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce well. Add the chopped onion on top as garnish right before serving. Be sure to mix the sauce again any time you serve it as the oil will separate.

These were a pain to make. But it all became worth it with the first bite of doughy, savory goodness. I think I preferred the pan-fried ones both on flavor and ease of cooking. The sauce is a perfect balance of brininess and depth to match the filling. These are undeniably not take-out food.

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Cheesy Rosemary Flatbread

Written on January 3, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Everybody loves cheesy bread. That’s just a fact. Whether you can’t eat wheat bread or avoid dairy, this recipe still has something for you, too. The bread itself gets nice and crusty on the egg but soft and doughy in the middle. Everybody has a preference and I love the center. Be warned that if you eat too much you’ll have onion breath for a week, and you will eat too much because it’s too good to show restraint around.

Cheesy Rosemary Flatbread

Ingredients:

1 ball of prepared pizza dough*
1 yellow onion, julienned
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan, loosely packed**
2 tablespoons rosemary

*Make this recipe gluten-free by using a gluten-free dough such as Bob’s Red Mill.

**For a non-dairy alternative, use the same amount nutritional yeast with an added 1/2 teaspoon salt.

I started by making my pizza dough. I always add Italian herb seasoning even when the dough is a mix; it just adds such great flavor.

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. To prepare the onions, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over low heat on a burner. Add in the julienned onions and cook for about 10 minutes until they’ve softened and soaked up the oil. Add in the other 2 tablespoons and continue cooking until they’re soft and translucent.

Roll out the dough on a pizza pan(a baking pan will work in a pinch). Flatten it out to about 1/4-inch thickness and poke holes in the top to let the air out when cooking. Add on the onions and any extra oil in the pan. Then sprinkle on the parmesan and rosemary and bake for 25-28 minutes until the edges crisp up.

Like I said, I love the center part that’s nice and doughy, onion breath be damned. I’ve made this for guests and they had no clue it was vegan and gluten-free; it’s just a plain good recipe with tons of flavor. I’m ready to slip into my food coma.

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Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

Written on December 21, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

The best kind of recipes are simple recipes, or recipes that involve chocolate. This is both.

Every year at Passover my mom would make this cake for our bake sales. All the Jewish kids loved it because it doesn’t break the rule of eating leavened bread and yet it’s so airy and cake-like. Now, I’m not Jewish, but I tip my hat to any religion that favors chocolate over bread.

When I saw Jenna post the recipe a few weeks ago, I took it as a sign to bake this cake. Who doesn’t celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Trebia every December 18th? You should. With cake.

I used the same recipe with a few alterations, like making it dairy-free. I followed the recipe to a T, messed up completely as I typically do, and still managed to bake something that held together and was delicious. I’m not sure how that last part happened but I’m so grateful it did.

Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

I used this recipe replacing the butter with Earth Balance in a 1:1 ratio and added a hefty teaspoon of instant coffee granules.

I knew I was doing it just like Jenna when I had a mess in my sink, floor, and counter space.

This came out so well for a cake with no flour or gluten-free replacement. The structure is entirely made by eggs. I even beat mine way too long, never got them “thick” or to make ribbons, had to deflate them just to get the chocolate to mix, and the cake still turned out just fine. Now that’s a forgiving recipe.

And we all ate happily ever after.

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Taking Inventory

Written on December 17, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Highlights

For the next month, I’m home with a large kitchen, full refrigerator and freezer, and 2 houses worth of groceries merged into one. Somewhere along the way, I stopped keeping track of what ingredients I had/needed and where. I figure I’ll use them all up anyway by the end of December; it is baking season after all.

4 boxes of Earth Balance. Don’t ask me how it got to this point, just know I love it. The sad part is how fast this will probably be gone.

My first box of shortening! I’m oddly more excited about just using this than whatever I’m going to make with it. Should I take a picture with it? Oh, a chef and his shortening…

All the ingredients to make another batch of peanut butter s’mores bars, because one pan a week just isn’t enough.

A whole roasting chicken to satisfy my craving of stuffing an onion up something’s you-know-what. It’s cheaper than seeing a therapist.

Countless opened bags of Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour. Bob is my savior; I owe him my first born by this point.

And 5 pounds of carrots, because I discovered 5 pounds of regular sized carrots cost the same as 2 pounds of baby carrots and I have a pound-a-day habit going. I’m aiming for Snookie orange by the new year.

If our Northeaster on Friday turns into a 10-foot snow storm and we’re caved in, we have plenty of butter and carrots to live off of. What more could you need?

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Gluten-Free Pastry Dough

Written on November 30, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Among the many things I’m thankful for is the Sweet Utopia vegan desserts cookbook. I’ve had this book for a while and everything I make from it turns out delicious. It’s a great dessert book for anyone to keep on hand.

When I saw a recipe for “praline bars” in the book, I had to give them a try for Thanksgiving. It’s a maple, walnut and pecan streusel on top of a rich pastry dough. Doesn’t that sound good? However, I’ve baked enough to know that the vegan pastry dough in the book wasn’t going to translate well gluten-free, so I made some changes to come up with the perfect gluten-free pastry dough. It’s rich and flaky and everything pastry should be; you would never know it’s gluten-free

Gluten-Free Pastry Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour(such as Bob’s Red Mill’s)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese, cold
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cane sugar
1 egg

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, salt, sugar, and egg. Slowly sift in the gluten-free flour and mix on low until it’s barely all absorbed. It’s OK if there are chunks of fat still visible in the dough.

Stick the dough in the refrigerator and let it sit for 1-2 hours. When you’re ready to use, pull it out of the refrigerator and work it as little as possible pressing it into whatever mold.

Always grease the baking vessel and bake your crust through before adding the filling in an oven usually set at 350 degrees. You’ll know it’s cooked as the edges begin to brown.

I can’t give the recipe for the filling because it’s not mine. But you can bet it was tasty. Since the dough isn’t very sweet but rather rich, you can use it for anything from a sweet pie to a savory filled pastry.

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Gluten-Free Gingerbread With White Chocolate Ganache

Written on November 18, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Like I mentioned yesterday(p.s. Have you entered the giveaway yet?), I’ve been doing some baking recently. I’m one of those people who like to jump the gun with holidays. If I had a house it’d probably have had a Santa Claus in the front yard on November 1st. So excuse me if it’s too early to be making gingerbread but I just couldn’t wait. I love this because it’s spicy and comforting on these cool Winter nights, especially with a cup of coffee for dipping. The ganache really puts it over the top and makes it something special.

Gluten-Free Gingerbread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 6oz container plain yogurt
2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour such as Bob’s Red Mill’s(could use regular flour, too)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the brown sugar, eggs, yogurt, and vegetable oil until it’s emulsified.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Pour the wet into the dry and fold until the batter comes together.

Grease a loaf pan and pour in the gingerbread batter. Drop the pan a few times on a flat surface to make sure it’s level. Bake for 50 minutes or until the center is cooked through.

Now, you could stop here. The loaf is moist with a nice spice and definitely a great breakfast bread. But why not push it over the top for a dessert and give it a simple ganache?

White Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

3oz(about 6 tablespoons) white chocolate
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon heavy cream

Melt down the white chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler. Once it’s smooth and runny, slowly add the heavy cream and continuously whisk to incorporate it. It helps if your cream is room temperature or warmer when you start. Once the two are mixed, pour it over the gingerbread loaf and spread to form an even layer.

Perfect. The frosting is sweet while the bread is spicy. It has all the flavors of Fall and makes a great treat on a Winter weekend.

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