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Archives for February 2011

Salmon with Curry Dry Rub and Dressed Vegetables

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This outstanding gluten free recipe is revised from one which appeared in Bon Appetit magazine nearly a decade ago.  There are 3 components:  the rice, the vegetables and dressing, and the salmon.

Prepare the Rice first:

Fry 1 Tablespoon homemade ghee or butter, then add:

  • 1 cup rinsed basmati or long grain rice

Stir fry for a minute or so, so that all the grains of rice are coated with the ghee or butter

Add:

  • 1 cup water
  • 2/3 cup coconut milk
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and cook until the rice is done. Season with pepper.  Set aside, covered, to stay warm.

Prepare the vegetables :

Fry the following aromatics in 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil for one minute:

  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Add sliced vegetables and stir fry for just a couple of minutes, then set aside:

  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • Sliced shitake mushrooms, stems removed
  • 1 bunch of bok choy, sliced
  • Other options include carrots, scallions, celery, spinach, baby spinach, watercress, zucchini, bean sprouts with the ends removed etc.

Set the vegetables aside.

Make the dressing for the vegetables:

  • 6 Tablespoons rice vinegar or homemade cider vinegar
  • 3 Tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2-4 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

Set the dressing aside.

Prepare the serving plates: You will need 4-6 dinner plates ready to go.

Prepare the fish:

Choose very fresh salmon fillets, with the evenest possible thickness for uniform cooking.  Instructions assume that there is a “skin” side, but if there is no skin side just proceed anyway.

Make a dry rub of  one teaspoon of each of the following spices:

  • gluten free chili powder
  • gluten free curry powder (make your own – that’s the best way)
  • gluten free ground cumin
  • gluten free ground coriander
  • gluten free mustard powder (difficult to find – if you can’t find gluten free, leave this out)
  • salt
  • sugar

Sprinkle each of 4-6 6-ounce salmon fillets (the flesh side of the fish, not the skin side) with a teaspoon or more of the spice mixture.  If you want to do something ahead, you could set the spiced fish aside, wrapped, in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours at this point, but we don’t bother – we proceed immediately with the cooking:

Heat a Tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  For 6 fillets, you might need 2 pans. When hot, add the salmon filets, skin side down, and fry for 3-4 minutes.  Flip the fish, spice side down now, and finish the cooking – another 3-4 minutes on this side. The fish should flake easily when done.

To Serve:

On each plate, arrange a serving of rice, a serving of vegetables, and a piece of salmon.  Drizzle the vegetables with a little of the dressing (a tablespoon or so).

Can be served with a rose wine, a dry red wine such as Tohu Pinot Noir from New Zealand, or a New England Hard Cider.  The dish is surprisingly well paired with a dry pinot noir, just for the record.

 

Gluten Free Miso Soup

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Miso Soup gfzing dot com

Loaded with vegetables, this simple, easy gluten free soup can be put together in under a half hour. Use other vegetables in place of the ones specified in this recipe – whatever you have available. Cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae family) like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, watercress etc. or quick-cooking greens like spinach are ideally suited to this type of soup.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

5 scallions, cleaned and minced

2 quarts water

1/2 cup dried sliced shitake mushrooms

1/2 head of cauliflower, in flowerets

1 bunch (1 pound) asparagus, washed, tough end removed, sliced in 1/2 inch slices

1 large yam or sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed

8 Tablespoons gluten free miso (we used South River 3-year Hearty Brown Rice Miso – check with the manufacturer’s website for gluten free status)

black pepper

Simply heat the sesame oil, stir fry the garlic, ginger and scallions or onion for 30 seconds, then add the water.  Bring to a simmer, then add the dried shitake mushrooms, cauliflower, asparagus and yam or sweet potato. Simmer for 10 minutes until the yams are tender.  Stir in the gluten free miso paste, season with pepper and serve hot.

A surprisingly rich and satisfying vegan soup.

Double-check to make sure the miso paste you choose is gluten free.

Oyster Sauce and Hoisin Sauce

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Gf-Zing! received a request to find a gluten free Oyster Sauce and Hoisin Sauce in March 2006.  We have updated the links for 2011, and we remind our readers that we don’t verify the gluten free status of products.

For Hoisin, you might consider the Premier Japan brand of Wheat-Free Hoisin Sauce.  It is not the same texture as wheat-based hoisin sauces, and it is neither as thick nor as dark. See the Edwards & Sons Trading Company website regarding this product. We rely on the manufacturer to state the content. Please be sure to verify that any products you consume are safe for your situation. Gf-Zing! does not verify the gluten free status of products.

http://www.edwardandsons.com/specialdiets_celiac.itml (link updated 2011 Feb 23)

For the Oyster Sauce: You might consider the Lee Kum Kee brand for oyster sauce but  NOT for their hoisin sauce (see their website.)

Assuming you don’t want either 5 or 55 gallon drums of oyster sauce, then the Lee Kum Kee’s Choy Sun oyster sauce (yellow label) and the Panda Brand green label are the most likely candidates on their website (they make other kinds too, so it is important to check the bottle at the store.) Things change often in the food world, so you have to keep checking to see if they change their ingredients. Gf-Zing! does not verify the gluten free status of products.

http://us.lkk.com/faq (link updated 2011 Feb 23)

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.

A Simple Brown Rice Flour Pie Crust

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If you are trying to make a gluten free pie crust and find yourself with few ingredients, or want to make a gluten free pie crust with a whole grain flour and no xantham gum, try this one.  It does contain some cream cheese, so be certain your guests can eat dairy products.

For a one-crust pie:

1 cup finely ground brown rice flour

1/3 cup corn starch

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

8 Tablespoons unsalted cold butter (1 “stick”)

2 Tablespoons gluten free cream cheese (cold)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon or lime juice

1 Tablespoon beaten egg white

Using a food processor, mix the dry ingredients (brown rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt and baking powder) just until mixed.  Add the butter, cream cheese and lemon juice and mix until the mixture is crumbly.  Dribble in the egg white while mixing, just until everything comes together in to a ball.  A tiny bit more egg white may be required to get it to come together.  Adjust the egg white as necessary.

Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper.  There is no need to chill before rolling.

To make a pre-baked shell, line a 9-10″ glass pie plate with the rolled out pastry, then bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until browned slightly but remove it from the oven if it starts to crack.  Unlike wheat crusts, this crust does not need to be filled with pie weights when baking a pre-cooked shell.

Make sure to use all gluten free ingredients, and, if you are cooking for a gluten free friend and you don’t keep a gluten free kitchen, make sure the ingredients are not contaminated with wheat flour from your other cooking adventures.

Homemade Vinegar

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Homemade vinegar is easy to make – it kind of makes itself under the right conditions – and we have been making our own for 25 years.  The vinegar you buy in the grocery store (white, cider, wine) is sharp tasting and thin in flavor compared to the rich complexity of a homemade vinegar.  Make your own vinegar and you will become a fan!  Also, with your own homemade vinegar there is no need to read labels looking for gluten-containing items. The test of a delicious vinegar is this: sip up a teaspoon of the vinegar and you should want more! You will not want to waste this homemade vinegar making those baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that are so popular in elementary and middle school classes.

You will need:

  • Leftover Wine diluted with unchlorinated water
  • Vinegar culture (a bacterial culture, check with the manufacturer and do NOT use malt vinegar culture)
  • a wide-mouthed glass or stoneware container
  • Cheesecloth to keep fruit flies out of the vinegar while allowing air to enter the container
  • Room temperature (68-96 degrees)
  • surgical hemostat clamp (a ten dollar item) for easily removing old vinegar mother

If you really get in to making homemade vinegar, you may want to invest in a handy vinegar crock with a spigot, or an oak vinegar barrel.  Bear in mind that it is not safe to use homemade vinegar in home canning or pickling,  unless you are a talented chemist who can accurately test the acidity of your finished product.  For pickling, you need 5% acidity.

Coyote Vinegar Crock gfzing.com square
Gfzing.com uses a vinegar crock with spigot - made by Clay Coyote Gallery

To make Vinegar:

Choose what kind of vinegar you are making: red, white, cider.  Dilute leftover wine or hard cider with unchlorinated water, about 2 parts of wine to one part of water.  Put about a quart of diluted wine in to a cleaned large mouth jar or bowl, or vinegar crock.  We use C-brite to clean the container.  Add the starter culture. Stir with a clean spoon; cover the container with cheesecloth secured with a rubber band (keeps out fruit flies while allowing air to enter).  Store the crock at the back of the counter in your kitchen, where the vinegar will remain largely in the dark and at 68-96 degrees.  In about 4 weeks the first vinegar should be ready to use in salad dressings and sauces. Pour off some of the vinegar,  taste it and dilute it with additional water if it tastes too strong, then bottle it in sterilized bottles and cork the bottles.

Now add more diluted wine to your crock – this is called “feeding” your vinegar and let it go.    Each time you get ready to bottle some vinegar, taste the finished product to see if it is ready for bottling, and add water if the flavor is too strong.  Since this is a trial-and-error, imprecise method for achieving the final product, you will not know the final Ph of the homemade vinegar and cannot use this vinegar to make pickles or preserves that are not refrigerated.

Vinegar Culture:

To make vinegar, you add a starter culture of acetic acid bacteria to an alcohol base (like wine or hard cider).  For the starter culture, you can use some vinegar from a friend’s vinegar crock, or you can buy a culture. For gluten free vinegar, do not use malt vinegar culture.

Vinegar Mother:

Vinegar mother is a thick cellulose material created by the vinegar bacteria.  People who have never handled vinegar mother call it “slimy” but that is not a good description.  The material is strong, thick and fibrous, stretchy, slippery and somewhat leathery – like the covering on a papaya seed, or a sort of fibrous jelly. It can break cleanly in to clumps when you pull on it. The mother accumulates in your crock or barrel, and eventually some of it needs to be removed to make room for more wine.  The mother is not necessary to the formation of new vinegar – what you need is the bacteria.  So, if you have a friend who makes good vinegar and does not pasteurize it, ask for a sample of their vinegar and you are ready to go.

Vinegar Barrels:

A word about vinegar barrels – the oak vinegar barrel adds a strong oak flavor to a red wine vinegar, and we use one for this purpose.  However, the home vinegar maker should be forewarned about a couple of things. 1) The vinegar barrel should be soaked before using, to prevent leaking.  2) Unless the barrel has a large opening at one end, removing old vinegar mother from your vinegar barrel requires two people, because most of these barrels only have small holes through which to remove the mother.  One person holds the barrel so that a hole is facing downwards (the largest hole is the air hole at the top) and the other person uses a surgical hemostat clamp to grab bits of the mother and pull them through the hole. This is a messy process.

Vinegar Crock and Barrel from GFZINGdotcom
Gfzing.com uses the Vinegar Crock for cider vinegar and an Oak Vinegar Barrel for red wine vinegar

Bottling:

We bottle the vinegar without pasteurizing it.

Homemade Vinegar and Pickling:

  • Do not use homemade vinegar for making pickles. Vinegar used in pickling must be of a certain Ph, or you can have spoilage and dangerous bacteria can grow in the pickles.

More Instructions:

Further instructions for making your own vinegar are available here: http://www.claycoyote.com/blog//SunsetMagazine_Vinegar.pdf

homemade vinegar gfzing dotcom

Thai Cucumber Salad Dressing

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Salad is the BFF (best friend forever) of seasoned gluten free eaters. Here is another simple, inexpensive gluten free dressing that can be used on many different kinds of fresh vegetable.  In this case, we used English cucumbers – those long, long cucumbers that are often sold mysteriously laminated but have the advantage of holding few seeds.

To make attractive edges on the cucumber, increase the fiber in the finished dish, and avoid peeling, we use a fork to deeply score a cucumber from end to end, on all sides.  Scoring the cucumber in this way breaks up the peel so the diner does not have to masticate like a herbivore.  Then we cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then sliced it crosswise into moon shapes. If you use a standard American cucumber, after halving it remove the seeds by scooping them out with a spoon.

Put the cucumber slices (or grated carrot, daikon radish or whatever vegetable you want to lightly pickle) in to a glass bowl.  A fancy bowl is not required – any glass bowl will do.

Thai Cucumber Salad gfzing.com birdseyeview

Mix up the following dressing, pour it over the cucumber slices, stir and chill:

  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar (homemade is best)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium shallot, peeled and minced
  • 1 dried cayenne pepper, minced (or 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
  • fresh ground black pepper (optional)

You can add more cucumbers to the leftover dressing and serve the same salad again the next day.

A note for the wheat-eater who is serving a gluten free diner: be cautious with the sugar container.  Sometimes a tired baker scoops up some flour from the flour container and then uses the same measuring cup to scoop up some sugar.  If that’s something you tend to do, use a fresh container of sugar to make this dressing for your gluten free friend.

Thai Cucumber Salad gfzing.com web