dancing in the kitchen with gluten-free girl and the chef, part 1

I had the pleasure of trying a couple of recipes from a new gluten free cookbook-- Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.
One word: WOW. While I totally messed up one of the recipes (peanut butter brownies that I somehow turned into a fluffy chocolate cake/brownie) and I sniffled over that, I made two others that, wow.

Two things first...


FIRST. Back in the day, when I was still eating gluten, I had a pasta machine that I was in love with. Amongst the many things I had to give away and forget about, that one was one of the most painful (donuts remain the first). Sure, there are now seemingly endless dry gluten free pasta options out there that are fantastic, but those of you that know the joys that are fresh pasta, well, I'm sure you shed a few tearlets into your bowls of pasta while you wonder what your slow sauteed onion cream sauce would be like with some fresh fettucini. Maybe I'm alone in this. Anyhow...

SECOND. I have gone my whole life deliberately avoiding sardines and anchovies, for reasons that are totally mystifying now. I would shudder when I saw them on menus, ask foodie friends if they seriously enjoyed eating them and why WHY!?, and wondered why someone would ever want to buy a tin of sardines (my brother, ahem). Now I'm reading up on the differences between sardines, anchovies, and boquerónes... and I'm hunting down some brands so I can try cooking with these MORE.

SECOND AND A HALF. I kinda hate olives. Again, not sure why, I just do. This recipe calls for olives (and I grabbed the wrong can--green-- at the store and didn't realize it until I was chopping these up) and now I'm warming up the idea of olives. Really!


So anyway, onto this recipe. If you want to blow your own mind, do yourself a favor and buy this cookbook if only for these two recipes: gluten free pasta dough and fresh pasta with anchovies, lemons, and olives. Even if you don't think anchovies are for you, that olives are too peculiar, or that capers are too tart.

Take it from this former anchovy hating, olive rejecting lady... you will not want to stop eating this.

The pasta dough was literally out of this world. As I mentioned before, I am without a pasta making machine, hence the hand cut noodles... but this is making me think I need to buy this
attachment for our KitchenAid. The noodles themselves cooked up in under 5 minutes (and floated up to the top like any fresh pasta should when it's done) and were perfectly chewy and made me swoon. I'm not kidding. Going 7 years without fresh pasta will do that to you. Even my non-gf husband was floored. This recipe is a winner.


The pasta sauce... wow. While I was prepping the ingredients, I was shaking my head, thinking, why in the world am I chopping olives and sardines? If you know me, you'd be wondering this, too. As I started sauteeing and mixing in the pan, this WONDERFUL smell started to take over the house, and I was thinking, maybe I'll just try to eat it. Once I got through the recipe and started tossing the fresh pasta with the sauce, it was over. I had to try it immediately. I couldn't even really handle NOT eating it while my husband took the pictures. Just writing about this now is making me hungry. The sauce is fresh tasting and unlike anything I've ever eaten before... light, flavorful, and heavenly. Literally.

check out more pictures here. BUY the cookbook here.


Next up... seared shrimp with garlic almond sauce. stay tuned.

hands down, the best gluten free pasta...

TINKYADA!

Tinkyada is the best gluten free pasta-- hands down. Somehow, they have managed to turn organic brown rice, rice bran, and water into a pasta that reminds me of the kind I used to eat before I was diagnosed.

There are a lot of regular rice pasta and quinoa (and lots of other grains) brands that just don't quite hold up in terms of the flavor or mouth feel that I've seen all over town. After many repeated and expensive tasting trials and gross pasta experiences with other brands, I always head back to Tinkyada and Trader Joe's versions. Tinkyada is especially great since they make a variety of shapes-- shells and lasagna noodles, too!

I buy Tinkyada locally at Lassen's in Goleta, Lazy Acres, and at Tri-County Produce and at Amazon. It can get a little rough if you're a big pasta eater... a bag costs about 4.00. But trust me... it's worth it!

If you're on a budget, Trader Joe's makes an excellent (though not quite as perfect) alternative with their line of organic brown rice pasta that is only 1.99 a bag. And it really does make for the best sticky spaghetti pasta for our weekly heirloom tomato gorge.

heirlooms...

Why are heirloom tomatoes so unbelievably delicious?

Ever since last year, when I was exposed to the sheer volume of heirloom varieties grown by the local and lovely Fairview Gardens, I just about cried when the season was over... I was obsessed. We ate at least a couple of pounds of tomatoes every week. I would pick up our regular share and then hop over to the stand and buy more. Embarassing, maybe? Totally and completely delicious? Yes.

Before last year, I understood that the beauty of heirlooms really comes from the most simple preparation-- with buffalo mozzarella or maybe just sliced and lightly sprinkled with flake salt. But I'd never had a simple sauce made with perfectly ripe heirlooms. Man, was I missing out.

Of course, being gluten free meant finding the right gluten free pasta to work with the sauce.


I'm a fan of the Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Pasta-- the spaghetti works particularly well here. It's a little more sticky than other brands so the tomato sauce really lathers up the pieces nicely.

Anyway... enough blather: here's the recipe.

what you'll need to feed two fairly hungry people:
- at least two great big heirlooms... or maybe 4-5 smaller ones (the more, the better)
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- fresh thyme (either 2 sprigs of fresh or 1 teaspoon of the dried stuff)
- freshly chiffonaded basil (anywhere from 8 leaves to a fistful works in our house)
- crushed red pepper (1 teaspoon... or more if you are a hot-food-fiend, or you could disregard the pepper completely)
- small chunk of cubed mozzarella (totally optional, btw)
- 1 package of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti
- olive oil

Start by filling the biggest pot you have with water... put the tomatoes in before you start the water boiling. Once the water boils, the skins should split. The skin split is the sign that they are done. Pull the tomatoes out and peel away the skins (rinsing them in cool water will help you from burning your fingertips and make this whole step a lot easier-- trust).

Then blend all of the tomatoes together to your desired consistency. I'm a fan of a smooth puree...

In a larger saucepan, bring up 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.

On the side, gently thwack the garlic cloves with the flat side of your knife so they split open slightly (I do this because I recommend you pull them out later!) and let them rest while the oil heats up. Of course, if you are a garlic fan and like the chunks in the sauce, feel free to mince these finely in this step.

Once the oil is heated properly, throw the garlic in. Be careful not to burn the garlic... and keep the cloves moving in the pan.

When the garlic starts to get a little golden, slowly pour in the blended tomatoes. Be careful of the splash that has made me ruin a couple of shirts.

Salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the thyme whole (again, you can fish this out later). This would also be the time to add in the crushed red pepper to taste. Stir it up.

Let this simmer for about 20 minutes over a medium low heat... keep stirring. At about the 15 minute mark, toss the basil in the pan. This keeps it from losing too much of the flavor before you get the pasta going.

When you start the sauce simmering, start the pasta... cook until al dente. I like to take the pasta directly out of the water and put it right in the sauce and let it cook, stirring often, for another five minutes. By doing this, you let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce, which ultimately tastes better... but figuring out the exact time to pull this out of the boiling water can be a science-- you will find your perfect time after you try this a couple of times.

Top the pasta with as much or as little of the mozzarella as you see fit.

Enjoy.

And then go back for seconds...