I can’t think of anything quite as frustrating than finding that you are basically gluten-intolerant when the number one thing you love to do is bake. Having struggled over a long period with some symptoms, I am now certain that I should avoid eating anything with gluten in it and reap the rewards given to my body and psyche. A lovely, long-overdue Valentine’s Day dinner at La Grenouille on Saturday night was the last straw. Two lovely rolls and the Tarte Tatin and, oh well, it couldn’t have been a nicer good-bye……..
Oh well, I am not alone in this situation and so, while I will never give up my baking pursuits which include baking and experimenting with regular flours – I’ll continue to do this for others and as experiments and, I will add to my food-oriented agenda the development of a repertoire of my own gluten-free recipes and the study of the existing and emerging compendium, aka, barrage of new gluten-free recipes. I already have some great books like this:
Beatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmand – most of the flours she uses are Gluten-Free and this is a fabulous cookbook in all regards – I highly recommend it!
Kelli and Peter Bronski’s Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking and
Blackbird Bakery Gluten Free by Karen Morgan………
There, that is out on the table, and so, off I go……….
As a quick sidestep before my promo on the most current of stars in the Gluten-Free world, last week I was reading the November issue of Martha Stewart Living. The feature article entitled, “a Pilgrim’s feast”, is one of the best articles I have seen in a very long time in an American magazine, about Thanksgiving or otherwise. It is absolutely perfectly-styled, reflecting the motif of Martha of old – back when she was developing Turkey Hill and showcased her collections of vintage and antique kitchen items and furniture and lived in a more old-world-inspired style. This article also fully achieves what I guess to be its objective – to engage you in an aura and then, inspire you to make and remember the recipes and the article itself. This, for me, is a keeper.
Take a look at this article and see if you agree – I found myself at once transported back to the 1980s when Martha’s magazine and books reflected her passion for this time-frame and enthusiasm for period decorating. Being a lover of old houses and having a passion for collecting old things, I felt quite nostalgic – for the holiday and for feasting my eyes on the pictures of old. My favorite picture of Martha’s is on the Introduction page of the original Entertaining Book, circa 1982. She is standing in her kitchen at Turkey Hill and the room is filled with her collections of copper pots and baskets – hanging from the rafters and she is surrounded with antique molds and kitchen implements, a vintage-looking floral arrangement, pumpkins and produce, drying herbs and flowers and a large meal laid out on copper trays. I find myself returning to this picture over and over again as I just love the feeling it creates for me – it is one of my all time favorite “foundations of inspiration” in print.
As time has gone on she has moved away from strict adherence to this style, on a pure level, and mixed old and new in her homes as well as developed spaces which are sleek and modern – with stainless steel cabinets and work surfaces – the latter of which I can say I don’t relate to. We worked in stainless kitchens in Pastry School and I found them bland, institutional and uninspiring. (I know that restaurant kitchens don’t come with a warm and fuzzy persona – it’s just my preference.) However, I can understand the desire to streamline one’s lifestyle and experiment with other genres, stylistically. I am sure that someone like Martha thrives on change and frankly, she can live with old and new in her many homes and do basically anything she wants to. I can totally identify with the invigorating feeling of putting together new spaces as I share this passion – boy is she lucky she gets to do this in so many different outlets and for a living as well. Anyway, check out this edition of the magazine.
That was a long way of getting to my subject matter – current stars in the world of Gluten-Free. Also in this edition of the magazine is Martha’s profile of her first American Made Awards – being showcased this week in New York City at Grand Central Station on Wednesday and Thursday. One of her recipients is a chef named Lena Kwak, who together with Thomas Keller developed the Cup4Cup brand of gluten-free flours. I have to confess that until I read about her in the magazine I knew little of this brand, having instead followed the King Arthur Co’s product line and their rolling out of an entire line of gluten-free products. But, it would appear that Lena’s work and products have achieved the goal of “tastes remarkably like the real thing”. So, as I go about my own research into gluten-free flours, I will be sure to highlight Cup4Cup in my repertoire. Kudos to all of those who are dedicated to helping people transit to these new products so they can continue to enjoy the food items they love to make AND eat. Also, check out the book, Wheat Belly – for those of you who are looking to gather more information on why so many people are becoming gluten-intolerant and the author’s perspective on the results of eating too much wheat in our society. While there is a lot of disagreement and controversy about this topic, it is worth reading up on as we move forward in the effort to understand how the food we eat affects our bodies, our health and its connection to inflammatory and other diseases. This has been a long-time area of interest of mine and so I am happy to see more people in the medical profession getting on board with this line of thinking – but I continue to be so frustrated with the disconnect with the medical profession and diet issues. It is my opinion that Doctors continue to lag behind the curve and prefer to prescribe medications for symptoms rather than to drive the lifestyle changes needed in this country to get people away from destructive behaviors. But, oh well, I am so off my topic, and, that is a subject for other times – and sadly, these issues do not dovetail with my love for baking breads and sweet treats – how cruel! Perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised with the results I can get with the new flours. Interestingly, the emphasis on gluten as the pivotal structure-building component of baked goods as drilled into us in Pastry School is getting a good challenge and I look forward to seeing the industry continue to evolve. I suspect we will see a flood of books from the traditional pros in this field in the near future – some of which were my teachers and other Chefs at school!
Aside from trying the emerging selection of Gluten-Free flours, which often incorporate a mixture of other grain and nut flours, there are many ways to avoid grain in your recipes and achieve very good results. One such experiment follows:
So, last night I attempted a Gluten-free Parmesan Chicken recipe – and I think it came out pretty well. Basically, after picking up a container of gluten-free breadcrumbs in Whole Foods which contained sugar (I put it back) I substituted ground pecans for breadcrumbs and baked my chicken breasts in the oven with no flour coating and just bathed them in an egg and then dipped them in a combination of the ground pecans and parmesan cheese. They were quite good and I will make them again! I have been a big fan of both Ina’s Parmesan Chicken and Pierre Franey’s as well – and so, sadly, bye bye!
Tip of the day: Use finely chopped nuts for many applications in lieu of bread crumbs – and these did not miss being dredged in flour either!
For Pecan-Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts:
Preheat oven to 375F. Brush the bottom of a baking dish with butter.
Place Pecans in food processor and pulse – don’t overgrind or they will turn to paste.
Mix in bowl with equal quantity of grated parmesan.
Beat an egg and add a little water. Coat chicken pieces with the egg and then with the pecan/cheese mixture. You can drizzle with a little melted butter if you want to (I do). Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and crunchy.
Trust me, they taste a lot better than this picture. Give these a try – I don’t think you will be disappointed!