Labels Shmabels!

The name of this blog is designed to make a point, sort of.  I wonder if I have ever explained that point?  Can't remember, so here I go!

The point is that gluten-free foods can be delicious enough to compel gluttony (gluttony:  the act or process of eating to excess).  Gluten free foods are just that:  foods (food:  material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth and provide energy...etc).  Above all else, they are designed to be consumed.  Are some of them lousy?  Yep.  Are some of them practically inedible?  Yep.  Are some of them processed beyond the scope of what a healthy imagination can imagine?  Yep.  Are some of them pretty tasty, but not great?  Yep.  Are some of them surprisingly good given that they look terrible?  Yep.  Are some of them just plain delicious?  Yep.

In other words, gluten free foods are just like any other foods.  They come in all shapes and sizes and textures and calibers.  What seems to set them apart from the general genre of "food" is that they all have the (mis)fortune of a common (lack of) ingredient, so we lump them all together rather than taking each for what it is.  That's kind of like going to an Italian restaurant and commenting on the lousy Chinese food.  Or, more exactly, it's kind of like having one bad experience with Thai food and therefore never eating it again and swearing that it's all too salty or too greasy or too yucky.  Not all Thai food is created equally.  And so it follows that not all FOOD is created equally.  And...not all gluten free food is created equally!

Just because a food is gluten free does not mean it will be dry.  It does not mean it will be "healthy tasting" (though I'm not sure what that means, but I hear people say it and the implication is definitely negative).  Gluten free does not mean taste-free or texture-free or moisture-free.

It simply means that there is none of a specific protein (called gluten) found in wheat, barley, rye, and malts in said food.  Have you ever tasted plain wheat flour on its own or flour mixed with water?  It's kind of like eating dust.  It is far from tasty.  What makes it tasty are the reactions that happen when it is combined with other things.  That's right:  the wheat itself is a vehicle or canvas, if you will, on which other ingredients rely to bring out or imprint their flavors.  By changing the canvas, you only get MORE possibilities, not fewer.

This post is dedicated to my dog Eddy (eddy:  a current of air or water running contrary to the main current).  Having him around and experiencing the reactions people have to him has helped drive home the fact that labels and generalizations only make our minds smaller and our hearts sadder and our lives less textured.  Who needs that?  Not me!  Not you!  Eddy likes gluten free foods...well, when they fall on the floor, that is.  I somehow don't think he's musing, "Hmmm, this is gluten free.  It will likely be terrible.  But I will quick scarf it up before Mom-lady sees me."  I am pretty sure he just eats and enjoys the surprise indulgence.  Is there a lesson here somewhere?

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Blueberry Raspberry Blackberry Pear Crisp!  
Seriously, you can use whatever fruits you have in the fridge, for the most part.  This recipe was adapted from a Bob's Red Mill recipe for Blueberry Nectarine Crisp, though I have never made it with just those two fruits.

Makes one 13x9" crisp

Ingredients
Topping
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon guar gum OR xanthan gum
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, chilled and diced

Filling
4-6 nectarines, cut into wedges
2 cups blueberries
3 cups other fruit of choice
1 tablespoon arrowroot
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest OR 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375.
Lightly grease your 13x9" pan with shortening or butter.
To make the topping, combine the flours and be sure to break up any clumps.  Add the spices and sugar and blend well.
Cut in the butter with your fingertips until you have small moist clumps and/or it kind of looks like you're working with damp beach sand.
Refrigerate the topping while you mix the fruits!

Or make the fruit part first!
Mix all your fruits in a large bowl and sprinkle the arrowroot over evenly.  Remix to distribute.  Add the sugar, vanilla, and lemon and mix again.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes (this lets the arrowroot work its binding magic).

Pour your fruit into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top.
Bake until the topping begins to brown and feels firm to the touch and the fruit is tender, about 30-50 minutes (I know this is a wide range - start checking at 30).  Rotate your pan after 15 minutes.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes if you can stand to wait.

Serve plain or with coconut ice cream!  Or regular ice cream!

Enjoy!

~GFG

P.S. - We are in the last couple weeks of peach season...that fruit would work great here.  

Biscuits! With one kind of flour! Not kidding!

In this transitional time, I have found myself reflecting on why we do what we do when we do it.  Many of our rhythms and tendencies are seasonal whether we recognize them as such or not.  And the foods we eat and crave and make are a huge part of that cycle.  When it's cold, more people use their ovens for cooking, baking, and general warming.  When it's hot, cool salads and gazpacho rule the roost.  When you have free time, you can spend a lot of time researching, cooking, and enjoying one meal.  During hectic work weeks, it's all about simply getting food on the table.

Foods are a reflection of our immediate needs.  It's not just a philosophical thing.  It's a stomach growling right this minute kind of a thing.  During stressful, busy times, we don't have a minute to think about meal planning, yet we want something comforting, something that tastes good and satisfies us and doesn't confound us.  We want something simple and fulfilling.  Now.

These are the times when it is so easy to turn to fast food or quick food or no food...or that pint of ice cream in the fridge.  Those edibles may fill you, but they won't fulfill you.  I have a better idea that's almost as quick and easy.

Luscious, buttery, warm, melt in your mouth biscuits.  Perhaps over leftovers quick sauteed with some canned tomatoes (or fresh!).  No leftovers?  Fried eggs make a fine accompaniment then, with a side of whatever veggies you've got on hand.  Please pass the butter.

No time for mixing, cutting in butter, rolling, and shaping biscuits, right?  Wrong!!  These take about three minutes to mix, 15 to bake, and 0 to cool!  They use a whopping six (6!!) ingredients, two of which may be left out if you so choose.

Gluten free baking requires finding a balance, as does a busy life.  When you're balancing too many things already, try to simplify something.  It's hard to simplify without feeling like you're sacrificing.  I can guarantee you won't feel one bit deprived, guilty, or otherwise short-changed by making these simple beauties instead of something with twenty-seven ingredients.  And I highly doubt anyone you feed them to will disagree.

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Almond Flour Drop Biscuits - yields 7-9 large biscuits
(adapted from The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook, by Elana Amsterdam)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt - optional
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup olive oil (or grapeseed, or whatever you have on hand)
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar (more if you want them sweeter) - optional
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it.
Combine the almond flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.  Be sure to break up any clumps.
Add in the eggs, olive oil, and honey.
Stir with a whisk or wooden spoon until well blended.
Dough will appear sticky and dense.
Using two large spoons or a 1/4 cup measuring cup, spoon rounds of dough onto your baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake 15 - 22 minutes, rotating your pan after about 8 minutes.
Serve warm, with or without butter!

Enjoy!

~GFG