Book of Yum

Recently we walked by a local Middle Eastern falafel restaurant and I found myself pining over the golden brown fried chickpea balls so much that I resolved to make some…soon. Right after that my slow cooker committed hari-kari (in the middle of slow cooking chickpeas) and so I had to wait until I could buy some canned chickpeas. A travesty, I know, but I was out of options. Finally, I had my chickpeas, I had some light, refreshing veggies for a cucumber based tomato salad, and I even had some fresh basil for garnish. Basil might not be traditional, but personally I think everything is just a little bit better with a bit of basil. I kept thinking about the flat bread issue. Although I do have a Gluten Free Naan recipe I’m rather fond of that uses yogurt as its primary liquid, somehow it just didn’t seem right. So, I pulled out my worn copy of “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread” and found a recipe for gluten free flat bread that is based on her white rice french bread mix. Although previously I didn’t have the best luck with this mix, I decided to give it another try, so I made the mix and whipped up a batch of her flatbread. It handled well, and looked fairly promising on the cookie sheet as it rose, but I’ve been disappointed before. Just in case it didn’t turn out, I threw together a recipe of my favorite Indian special rice for the rice cooker. (I know, it would have been better to make some pilaf, but I already had a package of the relevant spices pre-made, so laziness won out.) Luckily the flat bread turned out so well DH practically swooned when he saw it and when he tasted it, he proclaimed that “THIS IS EXACTLY what gluten flat bread tastes like! Make this anytime! Anytime!” When he heard it was based on a mix and I had enough left for several more recipes, he was about ready to make up more on the spot, but given how much food we had, he somehow restrained himself. Our non GF guest who has never had gluten free food before (knowingly, anyway) said she was really surprised that it was gluten free, and that it was really good. I served the falafel with an easy tahini mustard sauce, rice, and a salad I made up of cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, and some of the previously mentioned red corn. I dressed it with a homemade cilantro dressing and garnished it with some heavenly local chive goat cheese.

Gluten Free Falafel Recipe Main Course  Middle Eastern

Ingredients 2 Cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup gluten free bread crumbs (toast bread or dry in pan in oven and then food process) 2-3 tbsp brown rice flour (superfine) 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp (Freshly) ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper (or other cayenne pepper etc) 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/2 tsp salt Vegetables oil for frying Bette Hagman’s French Bread Mix flatbread (if possible, or serve with Special Indian rice or other rice recipe) Lettuce (optional) chopped cucumber, tomato, red onion etc. salad Tahini dressing of choice, hummus if desired Directions Blend Chickpeas and bread crumbs in food processor, add ingredients up to salt and process. If you like you can leave it somewhat chunky. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then shape into small balls and then flatten into little patties. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in cast iron or other heavy pan but not so hot that white smoke whisps up from it. Cook patties ideally for 2 and a half or three minutes on each side, but if oil is too hot you will have to remover them earlier and then bake them at 375 or so until done in the middle. Drain on paper towels or baking rack, serve with flatbread or rice and accompaniments of choice. Notes The flavor was excellent, even uncooked, but the center was not as solid as I would have liked, perhaps due to excessively hot oil. I also baked them for at least 15 minutes after frying. Very tasty with tahini mustard sauce.

Rating:  7 Original Source:  Adapted from Vegan -Vengence Recipe ID:  1088 Added:  June 25, 2007 Last Modified:  June 25, 2007

There are some gluten free items which seem out of the realm of possibility of the gluten free baker. One of those is the cinnamon roll. One of my most traumatic baking experiences came when I painstakingly followed a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens for gluten cinnamon rolls, substituting something simple like rice flour for the gluten flour, and turned out the most lovingly prepared cinnamon rocks ever to grace my kitchen. Granted that was something like ten years ago, before I had learned the way of gluten free yeast baking, but I think even now I’d have difficulty coming up with a good cinnamon roll following one of the traditional recipes. Well, thank goodness for my personal Culinary Muse, Bette Hagman, AKA the Gluten free Gourmet. When I first read her recipe for Cinnamon Pecan Sticky Buns, I felt a surprising optimism that maybe Cinnamon Roll-esque desserts weren’t entirely off the menu. Her clever recipe involves taking muffin tins, putting a brown sugar, cinnamon pecan syrup (pecans optional) on the bottom, and filling the tin with her ridiculously fluffy and light Featherlight Mix based batter. This batter is so light and fluffy, it’s like filling the tin with air frosting. I’ve made her recipe now many times, always with the Cinnamon Roll Variation (extra cinnamon, no pecans) and it turns out beautifully every time. Last night after a tedious house cleaning session, I turned to DH for inspiration and asked for a baking request. “I’ll bake anything you ask for, so choose wisely,” I said. He paused, and surprisingly quickly for my dearest Libra Husband, said “Cinnamon Rolls.” I paused, and regrouped. “Ok. How do Cinnamon Sticky Buns Sound?” “Great,” he said. I ventured into the kitchen and began baking. It hasn’t been cool enough to permit comfortable oven use in ages, so I was pretty happy to enjoy the cool breeze from the window rather than be lying in a puddle on the floor melting. I mixed up a double batter as per her recipe on page 230 of “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread.” If you don’t own this book, save yourself from bread boredom and pick yourself up a copy from Amazon (or wherever has the best price.) It is my hands down favorite GF cookbook for its sophisticated usage of the newest flours and a wide range of flavored breads and bread products. There is even a chapter on yeast free breads (although I like my breads chock full of yeast). But since I only had one muffin tin and needed something to bake twenty four buns in, I was at a bit of a loss. However, I decided to think outside of the muffin tin and got out some alternative tins, such as the metal rings I use for crumpets. Why not make Cinnamon Bun style crumpets? I also got out some adorable mini bundt cake tins with the thought that they were rather like an jumbo muffin tin, and a lot cuter than your average muffin. I poured the brown sugar syrup topping into the bottom of the tins and tried to lightly coat the ring center as well. For the crumpets, although I tried to keep the syrup contained in the rings, it did spill out onto the cookie sheet below, and as it baked the sugary syrup naturally burned a bit. However, at the end of my experiment, I had twelve delicious cinnamon sticky buns in muffin shape, seven in crumpet form, and four of the cutest little bundt cinnamon roll cakes I’d ever seen in my life. They retained their sugary glaze and the bundt shape in a most unexpected, beautifully decadent dessert that made the muffin sticky buns look positively homely. They all tasted equally light and delightfully sweet, with the exception of the semi sweet crumpet buns that had lost the majority of their syrup to the pan. DH declared them a resounding success, and gave them a “Yummy” rating and 8/10, and I would have to agree although I think I would give the Bundt sticky buns a 9/10 because they are so gorgeous AND sweet. The next time you’re experimenting with a favorite recipe, why not try baking it in a different pan, and see if you can’t create something that tastes and looks even better? I highly recommend these mini bundt cake tins- they were cheap and make the simplest things look absolutely delicious! Oh, by the way- I now have twenty some sticky buns languishing at my house- absolutely delicious but two people can only do so much damage without having to roll out of the house. Feel free to come on by and have one! ;)

*Note: The next day, they taste best microwaved for 20-30 seconds. Mmm mmm tasty. It’s now day three and we enjoyed a hot sticky bun with a cappuccino, yum! I froze half the recipe- will update you when I try them frozen and reheated.

For other yummy, gooey Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Goodness, try Ellen’s Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Recipe at her blog, I am Gluten Free. I haven’t tried it yet, but it got rave reviews. Why not do a GF cinnamon roll taste test- Bette Hagman against Roben Ryberg- let the battle begin!