Restaurants... Who Needs 'Em?

Alright, so the title of this post is a little misleading. I miss restaurants. It’s true. Sure, there are a few I can still eat at… but there are ones I will never eat at again that I miss. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful for the exceptional restaurants I have found that go out of their way to provide a “safe” meal for me. They are my heroes! But once in a while, I do find myself dreaming of days gone by…

One restaurant that was in the top 10 of "Katie’s Favorites" was Cracker Barrel. The truth is, I don’t really like their food all that much. Confused? Let me explain.

The food, in general, is way too salty. But I am a sucker for a restaurant that invites you to SHOP while waiting for your table. Ingenious. I can plunk down a pretty penny or two in their little shop. There was one thing on the menu, however, I always looked forward to at Cracker Barrel. Cornbread. I love cornbread. Personally, I think it should have its own food group. But I digress.

I would even go so far as to call myself a cornbread snob. I’m not proud of that title, but it’s true. I don’t like cornbread that is so dry it sucks all the moisture out of your mouth. I like cornbread to be warm, soft and sweet. Warm and sweet can easily be accomplished in the gluten free world, but soft?

Well, dear friends, I can honestly say I’ve done it. I’ve come up with a recipe for warm, sweet, SOFT cornbread. I know it’s good because just today I made a small batch (to photograph, of course!) and I heard my mom eating it in the kitchen. No, I didn’t hear her smacking her lips and chowing down. I heard, “Ohhhh…” and, “Mmmmm…” throughout the entire snack. (Always a good sign.)

Sure, I may not be able to go to Cracker Barrel anymore. But I now have a darn good recipe for cornbread and my husband doesn’t have panic attacks anymore from me shopping… er, I mean, eating… there.

Gluten Free Sweet Cornbread Recipe

• 1 cup Pamela’s Baking Mix
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix Pamela’s Baking Mix with the cornmeal. Add in sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to mix the ingredients. Next add your egg, milk and oil. Mix well. Grease your pan and fill, then bake.

8 inch square pan - 35 minutes
11x7 baking pan – 25-30 minutes
13x9 baking pan (when doubling recipe) – 30-35 minutes

Every oven is different so look for some browning around the edges, a golden brown color on the top, and firmness in the center when lightly touched. Insert a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean it’s done.

A Crumb-y Morning

When I have overnight guests, I love to have something out-of-the-ordinary to serve them for breakfast. But – that doesn’t mean I want to get up at the crack of dawn to make it! This recipe is one of my favorites, mostly because it’s downright ridiculously delicious, but also because I can make it the night before and warm individual servings in the microwave the next morning.

This is not your Entenmann’s Crumb Cake type of cake… 98% cake with some sad little amount of crumbs on top. This is New York Style Crumb Cake, where the ratio of crumb to cake is 50/50… ok, let’s be realists here, it’s more like 75/25! The crumb topping is sweet and rich… the cake is so moist but not as sweet, to balance everything into perfect breakfast harmony. All you need to serve with this cake is a cup of coffee and some fresh fruit. Oh, and a microwave.

GF New York Style Crumb Cake

Crumb topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted, and warm
2 1/2 cups GF flour blend (without leavening - I use King Arthur brand)

Cake
2 1/2 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
12 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sour cream
1 ts pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass 9 x 13-inch pan.

Make the crumb topping

In a medium bowl, stir together both sugars, salt and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and whisk until combined. Fold in the flour until it is absorbed and set the mixture aside.

Prepare the Cake
Sift flour blend into medium bowl and set aside.

Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy; add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla extract and beat just until blended. Add flour blend in 3 parts, beating just until incorporated after each addition.

Assemble the cake
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spread batter evenly. Use your hands to scoop up a handful of the topping and make a fist. The topping should hold together. Break off in chunks and drop them over cake. Repeat to use all the topping. Remember the topping will look very thick.

Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Rotate the pan two times during the baking process. Cool entire pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar.

To warm, place individual serving (3"x3" sq) on microwave safe dish and heat for 15-20 seconds on high. If needed, add more time, in 5 second increments.

A little bit of chocolate goes a long way

I don’t know about you, but when I found out I had a gluten intolerance in August of 2010 I went into shock. My mom describes the time after the diagnosis as a time of grieving. Apparently I would walk into the kitchen, open the cupboard doors, stare at the contents, quietly close the doors and walk away, usually shaking my head and letting out a little sigh.

You see, I love to cook. I love to bake. A little bit of this mixed with some of that and - VOILA – yumminess. How was I going to do that? Figuring out when to use which flour or starch, checking ingredient labels, contacting companies for allergen info. It all just seemed so… overwhelming.

In our little family of four, three of us have food allergies. My 7-year-old daughter has a white potato intolerance (ever heard of that one?), my almost-3-year-old has a peanut allergy and I have the gluten intolerance. I want you to take a moment to imagine making dinner for my family. Understand now why I was at a loss?

It was my sweet husband, Tim, who snapped me out of the funk. After weeks of eating apples and cheese (because I didn’t know what else to do) I was grumbling and complaining of missing the complex flavors I loved. I missed taking a bite of something and tasting different layers of flavor and spice. Tim took it upon himself to research and find a recipe he could make that would be safe for his food allergy-stricken family.

He’s a saint, I tell you.

It was that delicious dinner that made me think I just might be able to cook again. Maybe. And so began the mind scrambling game of researching information on a gluten free life. Wow.

(FYI… my advice for newly diagnosed gluten allergy folks who aren’t sure where to start… meet with someone who is in the same boat, bring a notebook and write down every word they say. Trust me.)

I decided that above all – I needed to come up with one recipe that would be my “coping” recipe… the thing that would make me say, “I can live a gluten free life.”

And so – I found a recipe for the one thing that I knew would have that impact. I tweaked it. Then I tweaked it again. And probably another four or five times. A little excessive, I know.

I give you – the best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie I have ever had. Actually, it might be the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had, period. Gluten or no gluten.

No need to thank me. I understand the importance of a little chocolate now and again. ;o)

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes about 2 dozen big cookies)

2 sticks butter

2 cups brown rice flour

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

¼ cup white sugar

1 ¼ cups light brown sugar

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp milk

1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer (w/ paddle attachment).

In a medium bowl, sift together the rice flours, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda.

Add both sugars to the butter and cream together on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Cover and chill the dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Shape the dough into large balls (approx 2-3 Tbsp, I use the largest scoop from Pampered Chef) and place on Silpats or parchment paper, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes on the middle rack, rotating the pans after 7 minutes for even baking.

Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes. Move to wire racks and cool completely.