So, at first impression it seems this spouse deserves a gold star for supporting the partner and understanding the challenges of following an unconventional diet with many possible restrictions.

Then the spouse laments for the days of gluten foods and half jokingly says gluten free foods taste “like straw”. Now, it seems that re-evaluating those gold stars might be a god idea.

Since this is “FOOD for the rest of us” and not “MARRIAGE counseling, guidance, and judgement for the rest of us”, I lets focus on the food.

This spouse is not the only person in the world to consider gluten free foods to be unpleasant.  In fact, I have previously blogged about a NYT article where celiacs’ laments for gluten foods such as pasta and breads were followed with praises to the food industry for coming up with increasingly “better” imitation foods as substitutes.

In fact, while making a birthday cake with two layers of genoise brushed with sherry and iced with mocha butter-cream and chocolate icing using regular all purpose flour, I found myself thankful for not having to counter balance any of the garbanzo bean flavor sometimes found in many gluten free flour mixes. I was also glad to focus on the cake and not if the amount of xyntham gum added was sufficient or too much.

So, while I wasn’t saying it tasted like straw, I was viewing it as something inferior to a gluten based product. Then I realized this was probably due to the fact that I was automatically assessing the possible tastes and textures of something made with out gluten against something made using gluten.

Just as substituting beef or chicken with some sort of soy based product, using vitamin pills instead of eating fruits and vegetables, or eating farm raised vs wild or “free range” fish, fowl, or beef leads to all kinds of dietary issues and doesn’t taste all that good; forcing an over processed, chemically stabilized, and artificial-in-nearly-all-aspects-of-its-existence food item to replace is not exactly a good idea.

Instead of looking for substitute food products or items that can be swapped in and out of your eating habits as if they computer parts or brake pads, maybe it is better to consider it time to undertake a food odyssey, searching for new to you foods that are fun to eat and do not conflict with your dietary choices.

After all, just because a meal or a specific dish or food item is made to be gluten free does not mean the food should not be good.

For example, the other weekend I cooked great meal.

The salad included fresh cherry tomatoes, sweetened red onions, basil, sheep’s milk feta, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

For the main course, I roasted beef sirloin with a rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, Grana Padano cheese and garlic crust. The beef was accompanied by roasted apples, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and turnips, a pan sauce, and rustic mashed potatoes.

For dessert, I used Giffords’ double chocolate ice cream with warmed “Last of the Season” peaches and a ruby reduction.

Although I added toasted bread croutons with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, parsley, and basil to the salad, and the salad would have been equally good without them, the meal was essentially gluten free.

Nothing came out of a box, was almost entirely gluten free and it did not taste like straw. In fact, I was later told the meal was “Kick A** Good.”

Over the weekend, I happily and thankfully enjoyed some beers produced by a neighbor and friend. Although I could easily write this entire piece about those beers (and I will very soon), today’s focus is on how beer can be used in a marinade/BBQ sauce.

Interestingly, despite its popularity as a beverage of choice for BBQ, most of the recipes for marinades and BBQ sauces do not use beer and instead use wine, spirits or a fortified wine such as port or madera.

As most beer drinkers know, especially those whom have tasted “skunked” beer, beer frequently has a bitter element to its taste. Although this bitter element is not necessarily a bad thing, results from many potential causes, and is frequently used as a tool to bring out other flavors in a beer, the bitter element becomes increasingly strong as the liquid is reduced while making a marinade, sauce base, or the grilling.

Just as a little salt brings out a recipe’s sweet flavors, a beer’s bitter flavors can bring out many other great flavors. But, if the bitter flavors become too strong they will overpower everything.

The “trick” to using beer is not using it alone. If the beer is “cut” by another flavorful liquid such as chicken stock, orange juice or similar. Cutting the beer with this other liquid allows the beer to be reduced without becoming overwhelmingly better.

So, in order to have BBQ pork with a sauce/marinade complimenting my friend’s home brewed and excellent beer, I used a bottle of Old Dominion’s October Fest and cut it with some chicken stock, juice from two oranges and two diced peaches. The marinade also included toasted cumin, all spice, caraway seed, coriander, and fennel seed in addition to cayenne and chili pepper flakes.

The basic recipe is the same as the one used for my earlier blog “Sometimes Simpler is better” with an addition of two – three small peeled and diced carrots slightly browned before adding the onions.

Peach Cobbler No 2

With very few exceptions, sequels and/or copies, imitations or duplications are usually less entertaining, engaging or good as the premier version. I suspect the cause is some sort of motivation to “out-do” the original by some completely arbitrary and ultimately important-for-only-a-fleeting-moment form of measurement.

But, sequels are also second chances, opportunities to learn from previous experience and seek out additional information to improve upon the previous product.

Or, somewhat more appropriately, sometimes the only way to learn the difference between good and bad wine is to drink both, tasting is the only way to experience the difference for yourself.

The gluten free peach and blueberry cobbler I made earlier this month was good and well liked. Although the earlier peach cobbler was good, the crust did not have the crisp, almost cookie or scone texture I wanted. And, I was not all that happy with the taste of the crust.

But, purchasing half a bushel of peaches (in other words many, many pounds of fresh peaches) and a visit by a cousin participating in a GW master’s program provided me with a chance to make a sequel, as if I really needed the excuse.

Without blue or blackberries to go with the peaches and since some were less ripe than others, macerating them in sugar with a splash of vanilla extract for a few hours heightened their sweetness, making them even richer in flavor. Maceration, similar in concept to marinating, adds or heightens foods’ flavors by immersing the food in sugar, spices, salt, vinegar or other substances.

For the crust, I wanted something with a bit of a crust, not a thick distracting crust but enough of a crust to have its own flavor and contrast-to-compliment the peaches. Somehow shortcake came to mind. Using the “Fluffy Biscuits or Shortcake Dough” from Joy of Cooking as a base; I substituted Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free All-Purpose flour for regular AP flour, 6-7 tablespoons chilled butter, a bit extra sugar, and some cinnamon for extra flavor.

The resulting dough was thick, perfect for baked or pan fried drop biscuits. After spreading the dough over the peaches sitting in nearly all of the maceration “juice”, remembering to spread it evenly and leave space around the edge, I baked it It was baked at 450 for about one hour.

The results were great! The high heat browned the dough, caramelizing some of the sugar in the dough and making a firm but crumbly crust covering. Served with freshly made goat milk ice cream, the cobbler was a perfect end to a hot summer’s day.

ice-cream cone

Goat’s milk is a great substitute for cow’s milk.  Not only does goat’s milk offer more protein than cow’s milk, goat’s milk does not normally irritate the stomachs of people with celiacs or with other digestive issues such as lactose intolerance.

Fortunately, Wife and I both really like ice creams. So, when I found fresh, local and excellent goat milk from J-Wen Farms & Dairy at the Columbia Pike Farmers Market I had a great opportunity to put the ice cream maker to good use give making goat’s milk ice cream a try.

It turned out to be some of the BEST ice cream I have ever eaten.

Only with further testing (batches) I will be able to conclusively determine if the stellar quality of the ice cream was due to the excellent quality goat’s milk, the recipe used, or something else. I know it will be a tough job, but … somebody has to do it.

In case you want to give it a try, the following is the recipe used for this batch:

2 2/3 cups goat’s milk

2+ teaspoons vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

*adopted from the Ambrose Ice cream recipe listed at Meyenberg Goat Milk Products website: http://meyenberg.com/

BBQ - August 30 2009

Although you can buy exotic or seasonal fruits on nearly any giving day of the year, this is does not necessarily mean you should go out and buy or use them every day. Similarly, just because it is possible to use passion fruit in marinades or BBQ sauce, doesn’t mean you should.

The other day, I made a batch of BBQ sauce for grilling some ribs, steak and chicken. Although the ingredients sound simple, like baking soda and vinegar, their combination results in a great surprise.

Here is a rough recipe:

2 – 3 cps chicken stock

2 – 3 cps old vine Zinfandel

I large can – crushed tomato

1 large or equivalent onion chopped very fine

1 head garlic – approximately

4 + tablespoons sugar

3 – 4 tablespoons cider vinegar

cinnamon to taste

cayenne powder to taste

paprika to taste

salt to taste

4 tablespoons buckwheat honey*

A very important point about making this or other similar sauces:

• Reduce the sauce SLOWLY. Using a high boil – when large bubbles constantly and frequently burst at the surface – may result in the sauce’s sugars burning before the sauce reduces to a correct consistency.

*The buckwheat honey, from Virginia Pure Beeswax, is a recent find at the Columbia Pike Farmer’s Market. It has a wonderful dark, nearly chocolate color and a rich smooth dark caramel flavor, making it a superb substitute for molasses.

Like molasses, the buckwheat honey added a touch of dark caramel flavor to the sauce as well as gave it a big boost in the “sticky” factor.  At the same time,  unlike molasses, the buckwheat honey’s subtle flower flavors are just strong enough to bring out some surprising flavors to the sauce.

Peach and Blueberry Gluten Free Cobbler

Thanks to a visit by some well loved in-laws, I decided it was time to take the risk of trying to live up to those day-dream quality cobblers and attempt one myself.

Cobblers are supposed to be a simple-enough affair. As the name “Cobbler” implies, this traditional American dessert is made from bringing different fruits or berries together and combining them to make an entire dish. Personally, I think the name comes from two sources. First, much like a cobble stone street, these pie – like desserts are usually filled with large, nearly mismatched, pieces of fruit or berries and nearly always it is a combination of two or more fruits or berries. Second, a review of multiple recipes as well as assorted conversations with others, indicates these desserts probably evolved from a need to use up all the assorted bits and pieces left over from assembling more traditional pies, other desserts, or even the preparation of preserves.

At any rate, the point is cobblers are supposed to be rather unstructured or even informal in their preparation, final product and even how they are served, simply put: they should be like a summer evening – fun, for family, and filling.

For the cobbler in the picture above, I followed the Peach Raspberry Cobbler recipe listed in the Joy of Cooking but substituted Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free All-Purpose flower for the required all purpose flower. In order to offset any potential “bean” flavor from the GF AP flour, I added a pinch or two of extra sugar when covering the cut fruit as well as in the batter mix.

For a first attempt, it turned out very well and proved to be a very tasty and relatively easy gluten free dessert to make.

But, after some review, I would like to investigate a different style of GF topping or even using an entirely different GF flour. As it turned out, the flour does have a slightly strong but not un-pleasant chick pea taste. Alternatively, including cinnamon, allspice or even a touch of nutmeg – when appropriate – or even a splash of brandy, cognac, Cointreau or something similar would introduce some great flavors and help offset any potential flavors resulting from the GF flour.

Pan Roasted Venison, Roasted Finglering Potatoes with Green Sauce of Cilantro, Galic, Lime juice, and seasoning

Growing up in Oregon, I knew people – friends in school or friends of friends – who hunted deer each fall. I knew they also ate the deer successfully hunted but called it venison. Although I was never really one to associate Bambi with a food item, the concept of eating venison was foreign to me and foreign enough to many more that it was not exactly something seen on every menu.

Fortunately, times and tastes have changed.

It seems the unique flavoring and the healthier-than-beef-if-not-raised-like-beef traits of venison have helped bring it to many menus. At the same time, since moving to the East from the West I have had the pleasure of cooking and eating amazing venison many times with each better than the last.

Last Monday, January 12, 2009, I threw together the venison dish pictured and described on the right.  Normally I try to complete most, if not all, of the main preparations or cooking for the week by Sunday or, if time allows, Monday afternoon or evening. On this particular Monday I had cooked the meals for the week and so was faced with trying to cook food for the week and dinner, at the same time and to be completed with the cooking before 10:00 p.m.

So, once I put a chicken in the oven to roast (more on this particular chicken in another blog entry), I focused on the venison.

Broken down, the venison dish has three components: venison, roasted potatoes, and sauce.

Here are the guidelines I followed for each:

Venison- although last to be put on the stove or to put into an oven, the seasoning and cooking of this meat was probably the most important part of the dish.  I seared each side in a cast-ion saute pan and then placed it in an approximately 400 degree oven to finish (about 12 – 14 min total.  The venison steaks were seasoned with salt, pepper, just enough to coat olive oil, and freshly grated or cut lime zest. The lime zest was a great addition and really added a lot to the flavor of the meet.

Roasted Fingerlings-a variation on my standby – olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper: instead of putting them to roast in the oven after either starting on the stove or at least warming (or more accurately heating) the pan in a 450 – 500 degree oven, the potatoes were put into a pan with some grape seed oil and the heat at high. Once they started to brown, the heat was dropped and freshly chopped garlic was added. Keeping the pan on the stove top instead of the oven was a challenge because I had to stir the potatoes and garlic to prevent everything from burning.

Green Sauce: Basically – a cilantro version of a more traditional parsley green sauce.  I loosely or hash chopped the cilantro and garlic, added them to a blender with a touch of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Blend just enough to mix all the flavors with the oil. As you can see in the picture, this is a rough or “country style” sauce, it should be bold and not look like it was just pureed.

Wrapping up as I fall asleep, the sauce a normally good meal and elevated it to excellent, we even used it for salad dressing the next night.