This weekend I ate out not once, but twice. The first was after some very exiting shopping, we bought a shed. This made me very hungry. A pizza place is not the first restaurant that one would think of for the gluten free, but I had a tip about a place nearby that made a gluten free pizza. Also being a beautiful spring day this place had outdoor dining. My hubby ordered a gluten free pizza with grilled veggies. The veggie were to be onion, mushroom, peppers and eggplant. Sounds great.
However, when the pizza came the eggplant appeared to be breaded. Now you would think that common sense would kick in. If the guy was ordering a gluten free pizza the veggies should not be breaded. Being ever the optimist, I had to ask. Who knows the breading could be gluten free. But no. A new pizza had to be made, sans eggplant.
This is not the first time such a thing has happened. We will explain to the waitress that the food can have not wheat products in it and what will appear atop the salad, croutons. We have been presented with gluten free menus from chain restaurants in which almost none of the food can be consumed. Why bother then.
We have had the best luck in smaller places where the chef will actually come out to talk to us.
Chef Harry at the local winery will come out and go over the entire menu with us. If in doubt we have been known to ask for the food package.
We ended up with a good pizza (have had better) and for the incovenience was not charged for it.
Restaurant outing number two was for my honey's 50th birthday. Several member of his family are gluten intolerance. His sister and three spouses of nephews (not blood related). We also have several family members who are vegetarian. We chose an Indian restaurant as all needs would be satisfied and we love the place. The staff is warm and welcoming as well as very willing to describe the food to us. This would be Mirch Masala in Groton. Thanks Raj for a delightful meal.
Indian cuisine is mostly gluten free. Nan is an exception - an Indian flat bread that I love. They serve a crisp "bread" that I do not know the name of which is made from chick pea flour. The only other item made from wheat flour is the pastry part of a samosa (this is an appetizer).
My personal favorite is an eggplant dish called Bagara Baingan. Indian food features lots of vegetables, but often uses a vast quantity of oil and gee, so careful of the portion sizes.
Raj kindly allowed us to bring our own cake. I made the cranberry upside down cake (see previous blog) and a pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple upside down cake was made using the same recipe, just substituting pineapple. I have to say that everyone enjoyed them, including the non gluten sensitive people.
FYI - I did have an event of lack of planning with the cake. I had run out of tapioca flour for my usual gluten free mix and being Sunday morning the local health food store was closed. I ended up having enough gluten free mix for 1/3 of the batter ( I made 3 cakes) and used rice flour only for the remaining 2/3. Crossed my fingers. It came out fine.
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Applesauce Cake
I am doing cake experiments as my honey is turning 50. In honor of buckwheat and also due to the fact that I had an open jar of applesauce in my refrigerator, the cake of the day was applesauce cake. The other flour used is rice flour. Xanthan gum is is a n emulsifier and thickener . It is powdery, make from glucose in a reaction requiring a slimy bacteria called Xanthomaonas campestric. This sounds goss, but it it is the same bactereal that appears as black rot on veggies like broccoli. You know when the broccoli gets forgotten in the veggie bin and it gets that black stuff on it (never happens in my world). The recipe is derived from one off of the Bobs Red Mill web site.
I thought I would try to make the cake vegan by substituting the egg for an egg replacer. I started to put it into the bowl when a little voice said to me "what is this stuff made of"? Checking the ingredient list revealed wheat gluten. Not using that. I could have used a mixture of ground flax seed and canola oil, but the recipe has of oil in it, so I decided to just use 4 egg white in place of the two eggs. That reduces the fat content a bit. It is not vegan at this point.
This cake comes out nice and moist, with a mild, not too sweet flavor. Very nice with a bit of whipped cream.
Applesauce Cake-
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum (find at health food store or large grocery store)
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup honey
4 egg whites (the yolks go to the dog)
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Mix together dry ingredients. Add oil, honey and eggs. Beat mixture for several minutes until smooth. Mix in applesauce and nuts.
3. Pour mixture into baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested. The cake bakes up high in the pan. Cool 10 minutes and then flip out onto a pretty plate.
Serve with whipped cream or low fat vanilla ice cream.
I thought I would try to make the cake vegan by substituting the egg for an egg replacer. I started to put it into the bowl when a little voice said to me "what is this stuff made of"? Checking the ingredient list revealed wheat gluten. Not using that. I could have used a mixture of ground flax seed and canola oil, but the recipe has of oil in it, so I decided to just use 4 egg white in place of the two eggs. That reduces the fat content a bit. It is not vegan at this point.
This cake comes out nice and moist, with a mild, not too sweet flavor. Very nice with a bit of whipped cream.
Applesauce Cake-
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum (find at health food store or large grocery store)
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup honey
4 egg whites (the yolks go to the dog)
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Mix together dry ingredients. Add oil, honey and eggs. Beat mixture for several minutes until smooth. Mix in applesauce and nuts.
3. Pour mixture into baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested. The cake bakes up high in the pan. Cool 10 minutes and then flip out onto a pretty plate.
Serve with whipped cream or low fat vanilla ice cream.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thnking Day - Quesadilla Salvadorena
This past February 22 was official Girl Scout Thinking Day. This is a day to remember that Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding is a world wide organization encompassing 124 countries. Every year we have a big crazy event and it usually involves food (surprise!!) This year the Theme is Extreme Poverty and Hunger. Each troop will pick a country to represent and a food item for the country.
My troop is not doing a country, but organizations that assist people worldwide.
So I had to pick a food to make and chose a cake from San Salvadore. It is called Quesadilla Salvadorena, but is not a Mexican type Quesadilla , it is cake.
I made two versions, one gluten free and one regular. I actually found some recipes that used rice flour. I chose to use my gluten free mix ( see previous blog for mix recipe). This is not a healthy food by any account.
The batter to this cake is beautiful. It's soft and fluffy, just lovely. The end cake texture is very dense and sweet. You can actually pick the whole thing up out of the baking pan without it falling apart. I found the texture of the gluten free cake to be better than the flour based cake -- weird.
Quesadilla Salvadorena-
1 cup gluten free flour mix
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
4 ounces Parmesan Cheese - grated
3 eggs
1 stick of trans fat free margarine
1 tsp baking powder
Sesame Seeds
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8 x 12" baking pan. You can also use 2 round cake pans or a spring form pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl sift together the gluten free flour mix and baking powder.
4. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture a little at at time. Add sour cream and parmesean cheese mixing well.
5. Spread batter into baking pan and decorate with seasame seeds.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until done.
As you can see with the sour cream, butter, eggs and cheese this is not at all healthy. A small piece is good. Seasame seeds are optional if you don't like them.
My troop is not doing a country, but organizations that assist people worldwide.
So I had to pick a food to make and chose a cake from San Salvadore. It is called Quesadilla Salvadorena, but is not a Mexican type Quesadilla , it is cake.
I made two versions, one gluten free and one regular. I actually found some recipes that used rice flour. I chose to use my gluten free mix ( see previous blog for mix recipe). This is not a healthy food by any account.
The batter to this cake is beautiful. It's soft and fluffy, just lovely. The end cake texture is very dense and sweet. You can actually pick the whole thing up out of the baking pan without it falling apart. I found the texture of the gluten free cake to be better than the flour based cake -- weird.
Quesadilla Salvadorena-
1 cup gluten free flour mix
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
4 ounces Parmesan Cheese - grated
3 eggs
1 stick of trans fat free margarine
1 tsp baking powder
Sesame Seeds
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8 x 12" baking pan. You can also use 2 round cake pans or a spring form pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl sift together the gluten free flour mix and baking powder.
4. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture a little at at time. Add sour cream and parmesean cheese mixing well.
5. Spread batter into baking pan and decorate with seasame seeds.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until done.
As you can see with the sour cream, butter, eggs and cheese this is not at all healthy. A small piece is good. Seasame seeds are optional if you don't like them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
