Mainstream Round-Up – Bloody Mary Edition
February 20, 2010 | Comments
The other day I had this craving out of nowhere for a Bloody Mary. I’m not a big fan of Bloody Mary’s and almost never drink them, but the craving was intense so I said hell why not and sent the hubby to the store to round up the ingredients to make them. As I started mixing the drinks I read the back of the labels of everything I added in just out of curiosity and I was astounded at how many common place products are now being labeled as gluten free. It’s like a revolution is taking place on supermarket shelves. Big brands are waking up to the fact that gluten free is where it’s at and they are touting their naturally gluten free products proudly – score one for celiacs!
Ketchup obviously does not belong in a Bloody Mary, but I added it in here because I pulled it out of my fridge to verify it’s status and was surprised to see that it’s labeled gluten free too! All of these products can be found in any grocery store, which is huge in my book. I plan on pulling together more of these lists soon. It’s like a scavenger hunt for me and I can’t wait to find out what other every day products are out there with gf labels on them!
Mainstream Round-Up – Bloody Mary Edition
- Gold’s Horseradish – Gluten Free
- V8 Spicy Hot Vegetable Juice – Gluten Free
- Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce – Gluten Free
BONUS
- Heinz Ketchup (the best in my book) – Gluten Free
Dale Degroff’s Bloody Mary Recipe
- 1 1/2 oz. Vodka
- 2 Dashes Worcestershire
- 4 Dashes Tabasco
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper
- 1/4 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
- 4 oz. Tomato Juice (I used V8)
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass and roll back and forth to mix. Strain into an iced goblet. Garnish with wedge of lemon and lime on a side plate. Dash of celery salt is a nice touch and New Yorkers traditionally add horseradish. Bloody Marys offer rich ground for improvisation both in garnish and ingredients. Have fun.
Shabtai Gourmet Gluten Free Seven Layer Cake
February 12, 2010 | Comments
What do you do when you’re in your local organic/health food grocery store and you see a gluten free seven layer cake in the freezer section? If you’re me, you pick it up and run to the checkout with wild eyes and a huge grin on your face. Ok, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but I was seriously in awe when I saw this at Mrs. Green’s. I love Shabtai because their gf goodies are dairy free too, which makes my mouth (and tummy) happy.
I wasn’t worried about putting in extra time at the gym to try this baby, because I knew it would be worth it. This is exactly the kind of after dinner or late snack you want in your fridge at all times. Even the hubby liked it and he’s not even gluten free! It tasted very much like a Yodel or Devil Dog – that same chocolatey/marshmallowy flavor that Drake’s seems to have mastered. The outer chocolate shell is a bit waxy, but not off putting. The cake itself is firm, but it’s the filling that makes me love this cake so much. Just thinking about it is making me crave more!
Oh and don’t forget to check out Shabtai’s Rainbow Cookies – a dairy/gluten free version of the rainbow cookies I used to get at my local Italian bakery. So yum!
General Tso’s Chicken (gf version!)
February 8, 2010 | Comments
Do you ever get tired of eating the same thing day in and day out? I have a handful of recipes that are my go-to’s because I know how to make them well and can usually cook them in under an hour, which is key when you get home after a 12 hour day of work. Every so often though, I’ll get an itch to try something different, and it’s usually something that I can get via takeout fairly easily – like General Tso’s chicken. Ok, so here’s the thing – I can only find a mediocre gluten free version of this from PF Changs, which is a FAR, far cry from authentic Chinese food, but I eat it because it’s convenient and gluten free.
chicken & broccoli frying in pan with sauce added
I decided to break out of the takeout box and try to make my own General Tso’s chicken. I really had no idea where to start so I scoured the net for a recipe that sounded good and looked good too. I seriously won’t try a recipe unless I can see a photo of the end result – it gives me something to strive towards, lol.
I was worried this would be an utter failure, but it was the opposite. General Tso’s chicken is actually super easy to make and this recipe came out really good, plus this version was already naturally gluten free. I tried it a second time using white meat instead of dark and it was a toss up over which I liked better. I think the dark meat is a little more moist, but the white meat version was really good too. Maybe next time I’ll do a combo of white and dark!
Ok, onto the recipe!
General Tso’s Chicken (adapted from Blog Chef)
Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 scallions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)
(I included broccoli in my version because I like it. If you want to add broccoli just make sure you add in fry time for the broccoli after you fry up the chicken. A few minutes in the wok will do it.)
Sauce – (I highly recommend tripling the sauce ingredients or it ends up being too dry)
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce (Temari Wheat Free)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Preparation:
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.
Step 2: To make the sauce- in a small bowl combine rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.
Step 3: Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Step 4: Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.
Step 5: Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with scallions and serve.
Boulder Canyon Rice & Adzuki Bean Artisan Snack Chips
February 6, 2010 | Comments
I’m so excited when I go to Whole Foods and find new gluten free treats. I’m not a big chip eater, but I was having a party and wanted to have a pita like chip that would be great for dipping in hummus. I’ve seen the Boulder Canyon Rice & Adzuki Bean chips before, but I never bought them because I didn’t know what an Adzuki bean was and I wasn’t sure if they would taste good. According to Wikipedia, Adzuki beans are grown in East Asia and are commonly used for making red bean paste. I had no idea!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that these chips are really good. They are very thin and have a great savory flavor, almost like garlic or some type of spice, and a subtle hint of sweetness. These are definitely not pita style chips in any respect, but I didn’t mind at all. I didn’t even bother with dipping them in hummus because they tasted great right out of the bag!
GF Linzer Cookies from Risotteria
January 28, 2010 | Comments
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an obsession with jelly cookies or more specifically “cookies with the red dot” as I like to call them. I have no idea what they are really called, but it’s basically a shortbread cookie with a jelly dot in the center. Yum. I used to buy $1 packs of these cookies in the 80s and haven’t had them in years, but I still think fondly about them.
Now that I’m old and grizzled (lol, ok maybe not grizzled), I still have a mild obsession with those red dot cookies. I get all sorts of excited whenever I find a gf linzer cookie, because it’s the closest I can come to my nostalgia. Which is why I was in near euphoria when I went to Risotteria recently and saw that they sell individually packaged linzer cookies. Amazing.
Once I saw that they were dairy free the $4 price tag didn’t matter. Dairy + gluten free is always a win win situation for me. I bought one and devoured it as soon as I got back to my office. It was pretty much everything I hoped for, yummy raspberry jelly filling, a sweet (but not too sweet) cookie that still had a little give to it – perfection. The only thing that could be better about these cookies is if they sold them in a box of 12 and maybe made them a little smaller.
Risotteria is simply awesome. If you’ve been there you know what I mean, and if you haven’t – make sure you go one day. It’s well worth the visit just for the fantastic gf pizzas, but you really can’t miss out on their desserts either. Take your desserts to go if you aren’t hungry, you’ll thank me later.
