Saporific

Pad Thai

Alisa Stutzbach — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:59:21 +0000

A couple weeks ago, I took one of the most energizing classes I’ve yet to experience. Sorry, library school, but my Southeast Asian street food cooking class at Tante Marie’s was more exciting than User Needs and Behavior in Theory and Practice (which, um, actually was one of my favorite classes—yeah, I realize that makes me a nerd).

Clockwise from bottom left: Turmeric root, galangal, Vietnamese coriander, serrano peppers and bird's eye chili peppers

At the start of the class, our instructor, Jen Knapp, gave us a great intro to the standard South Asian ingredients we’d be using, including Vietnamese coriander, turmeric root, shrimp paste, lemongrass, dried shrimp, tamarind, and palm sugar, just to name a handful.

Following Jen’s intro to ingredients and assignment of recipes, a temporary span of organized chaos ensued when she set us free with, “Okay, find your ingredients and a work space!” I’ll admit this was daunting at first (huh? where are the knives in this kitchen I’ve never been in before?), but we all figured things out pretty quickly with the help of Jen and her assistant. Throughout the class—incidentally, the speediest passing of five hours I’ve experienced in a long time!—Jen called everyone over to watch techniques that weren’t necessarily obvious from the recipe (e.g., rolling spring rolls, deveining shrimp, making tamarind pulp, the quick succession of Pad Thai stir frying). Even though we all only made one or two things ourselves, I feel confident about attempting any or all of the recipes at home.

As one might expect, eating the food we cooked was the highlight of the day. Every dish that was prepared was distinctive, yet contained all of the elements of the region’s cooking (salty, sweet, sour, hot) that makes southeast Asian food so intensely flavorful. After all the cooking was done, we all sat down, poured some wine, and tried all of our food creations, finishing off with my favorite Thai dessert of sticky rice with mango. We sat there stuffing ourselves, dreaming of starting food carts, and wishing we had more room in our stomachs…

Pad Thai

Pad Thai was the recipe I ended up being responsible for in the class, I think because I mentioned that my husband has been on a quest of his own to make perfect Pad Thai. Since the name basically means “Thai noodles” there’s no definitive recipe, I suppose. I can say for the record that this recipe is by far my favorite, and I have tried many a version at excellent Thai restaurants (and some excellent attempts by Dan!). I’ve now made this three times on my own, even transporting the difficult-to-find ingredients to North Carolina to make it for my mom and sister! I’ve tweaked it just a little from the recipe in class, but everyone I’ve made it for thus far has been pretty smitten with it. My friend Jon, who experienced my first home attempt (in which I even forgot the bean sprouts), said that he never orders Pad Thai at restaurants, not because he doesn’t like it, but because he enjoys other Thai dishes more. This version, however, he says he’d order!

Recipe: Pad Thai (or Padd Thai)

Summary: adapted from Jen Knapp’s adaptation of a recipe from Chez Pim

Ingredients

For the sauce:

3/4 cup tamarind pulp (see Notes below)
3/4 cup fish sauce
3/4 cup palm sugar, chopped
1-2 tsp chili powder, such as Thai chili or chile de arbol (not to be confused with the spice blend you’d put in chili or tacos)

For the noodles:

16 oz dried 1/4-inch wide rice noodles, soaked for 10-15 minutes in hot water until al dente, then drain and coat with a little vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together
vegetable oil, for stir frying
1 package extra firm tofu (or super firm, if you can find it), drained, pressed (if necessary), and cut into thin, bite-sized pieces
6 eggs
6 tbsp garlic, minced
6 tbsp chopped pickled turnips (optional, but awesome if you can find them)
6 tbsp unsalted, dry roasted peanuts, chopped (plus more for garnish)
6-8 tsp dried shrimp, pounded with mortar and pestle until fluffy
6 cups bean sprouts
2 cups garlic chives (or regular chives if you can’t find garlic chives), cut into 2-inch strips
1-2 limes, cut into wedges (for garnish)

Instructions

The key to this dish is getting everything prepped in little bowls right next to your wok, since you’ll want to just throw in ingredients in quick succession once the wok is super hot. Don’t worry about measuring exactly—just try to make sure you use about the same amount in each batch so that everyone gets all the ingredients! By the time you’ve made the last serving, you’ll be a pro!

For the sauce:

In a medium saucepan, cook the tamarind pulp, fish sauce, and palm sugar over medium heat until the ingredients have melted together (i.e., the palm sugar has dissolved).
Add the chili powder a little bit at a time, until it is spicy enough for your tastes. The sauce will be super concentrated—it will be mixed with very bland noodles, so don’t fret if it’s crazy potent!—and you should taste it as salty, mildly sour, then a little sweet, and then a bit hot.

For the noodles (best made in individual servings):

Heat the wok over high heat, then add a splash of vegetable oil (which will smoke slightly if the wok is hot enough). Immediately add a sixth of the tofu and about a tablespoon of sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until tofu is slightly brown and crisp (a couple minutes).
Brace yourself for some rapid-fire cooking! Add a large handful of noodles to the wok, as well as 1/4 cup of sauce. Stir vigorously in order to keep the noodles from sticking, continuously moving everything in the wok. If the noodles are still a little undercooked or if the sauce evaporates too quickly, add a splash of water to help them cook. Once the noodles are cooked (which should only take about a minute), push everything over to one side of the wok and crack an egg in the middle. Mix the egg up a little bit, and after it’s mostly cooked (about 10 seconds or so), mix the noodles and egg together.
Add 1 tablespoon each of garlic, pickled turnips, and chopped peanuts, a teaspoon of dried, pounded shrimp, a handful of bean sprouts and about a quarter cup garlic chives. Add a little more sauce if you like.
Cook very briefly, just long enough to heat through and toss everything together. Turn off the heat and serve immediately, garnished with chopped peanuts and wedges of lime.
Wipe any largish bits of food out of the wok, and repeat with remaining ingredients. Make sure to taste the first batch so you know if it’s any good (and so you can tweak proportions to your taste as necessary).

Notes

There are many tamarind products available, including tamarind paste (which is super concentrated and may need to be diluted to be the ideal concentration). To make tamarind pulp from moist-but-dried tamarind (found in a block at Asian grocery stores), pull off about 3/4 cup of the tamarind from the block and place it in a small bowl. Just barely cover the tamarind in boiling water and let sit for about 15 minutes. Once it’s tolerably cool enough to touch, grab a handful of the tamarind and squish it through your fingers to separate the seeds from the pulp. (It’s definitely messy, but totally fun!) After squishing it as much as you can, press the pulp and liquid through a coarse sieve to separate out the seeds. Voilà! The liquid pulp is ready to use, and you have super messy but tasty fingers.

Variations

The recipe I made at Tante Marie’s included using 1 1/2 pounds of fresh shrimp, which you throw in and cook early on with the tofu. My husband isn’t a seafood fan—and I’m not much of a fan of peeling and deveining shrimp, as it turns out—so I like just using tofu. You could also use bite-sized pieces of chicken or other meat of your choice, as well.

The original recipe calls for more of the dried shrimp as well, but when making it without the fresh shrimp, too much of the dried shrimp made the dish taste a little too “fishy.” Play with proportions to suit your tastes, though!

Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Cooking time: 5 minute(s) per serving

Number of servings (yield): 6

Tart Citrus Tart

Alisa Stutzbach — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:55:10 +0000

Meyer lemon tart

Having been born and raised in Florida, I guess it’s pretty much inevitable that Key lime pie is one of my ideal desserts. I’m not talking about the cloyingly sweet custard kind that sticks to your teeth, though, and definitely not the fake green kind. (If you’re ever served bright green Key lime pie, just run away! I know it’s just food coloring, but seriously people…really?) My ideal is the kind my aunt, Jojo, in Miami introduced me to, which is perfect on a hot summer day, perhaps primarily because it doesn’t even involve turning on the oven unless you need to prebake the crust. (One of my most treasured memories is when I made this key lime pie for a party about ten years ago, and my friend’s very quiet son confessed to her, “I could write a song about that pie. A love song…”)

The fall and winter, though, are when so many other amazing tart citrus fruits are in season, so my family has adapted this pie to be perfect for all seasons. In November, I jumped on a Freecycle offer for someone’s excess calamansi fruit (I grew up knowing them as calamondins), juiced a ton of them, and made my mom’s version of this tart. Unprompted, my husband decreed that it was “what Creamsicles bow down and worship as a god.” Perhaps it’s an exaggeration—or perhaps Penzeys’ double strength vanilla extract has mystical powers—but I’ll take it!

Today was my first attempt at making a Meyer lemon version as part of my quest to keep my Meyer lemon tree from thinking that its overflow of fruit isn’t appreciated. I tried infusing the lemon juice with a bit of rosemary, but in my attempt to not overdo the rosemary, the herb pretty much went undetected. (I’m going to try again though!) The resulting tart had a perfect blend of sweetness and tartness, though, and the Tahitian vanilla extract I used was a bit more subtle than in the calamondin version. (I also carefully peeled the rind off of ten of the lemons and have them infusing in vodka for limoncello, so the Meyer lemon tree is definitely feeling the love now!)

Recipe: Tart Citrus Tart

Summary: easiest, no-fail, no-bake key lime (or any tart citrus!) pie/tart

Ingredients

prepared tart shell or graham cracker crust
1 package (8 oz.) neufchatel (light cream cheese)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup tart citrus juice (e.g., Key lime, Meyer lemon, calamondin/calamansi), preferably fresh
1-2 tsp zest of said citrus
1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Blend cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, juice, zest, and vanilla in blender or food processor until smooth and slightly fluffy (a minute or two), scraping down the sides occasionally.
Pour filling into prepared tart or pie crust, smoothing it out evenly in the crust.
Chill for a couple hours so the filling can thicken a bit, then gleefully serve.

Variations

You can use regular cream cheese, of course, but it’s so good as a lighter version that I don’t know why you would. If you want a few more fat calories, serve the pie topped with some whipped cream!

Number of servings (yield): 12

This recipe has been written on so many napkins and been relayed over innumerable phone calls among my family, so while it may not be the original, it’s definitely been thoroughly tested!

Christopher Elbow Caramels and Chocolates

Alisa Stutzbach — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:45:38 +0000

It is so hard to find a good caramel. One that makes your eyes soften, your shoulders relax, and provokes an involuntary exhale as the caramel is released from its thin chocolate shell. One that melts like butter when it hits your tongue and engulfs your whole body in blissful warmth as the flavors dance upon your taste buds. To be honest, I don’t think I knew that caramels this good existed before now, though I’d certainly hoped. Christopher Elbow, you are now one of my food heroes.

After having my first San Francisco food truck experience a couple Wednesdays ago (after which I definitely recommend Deconstructed Samosas from Curry Up Now!), my friend Anna and I passed by the chocolate shop on Hayes St., which she highly recommended for a special occasion. (Thank you, Anna!) Since it was just a few days before Valentine’s Day, we decided the occasion was special enough to go pick out a few little chocolates for our Daniels. (This makes four friends of mine married to or otherwise involved with men named Daniel, all of whom are engineers of some sort. Any hypotheses about this?) After my experiences with these chocolates, I’m pretty sure I need to make up some more special occasions, like “Hooray, it’s Wednesday!” or “I am within a few blocks of the chocolate shop.”

Since my Dan is into whiskey and scotch, I automatically chose the Whiskey Walnut (“walnut marzipan topped with a whiskey ganache”) and Single Malt Scotch (“dark chocolate ganache infused with 12 year old single malt scotch”). Incapable of choosing between any of the other beautiful morsels in front of me, I asked the salesperson which ones were her favorite, thus ending up with Black Currant (“black currant paté de fruit topped with dark chocolate ganache and cassis”), Caramel with Fleur de Sel (“a soft caramel ganache made with French sea salt”), and a heart-shaped Passion Fruit caramel (“caramel made with the tropical taste of passion fruit”) to top it off.

All of the chocolates had an incredibly smooth texture, especially the single malt scotch, which was silky with just a subtle hint of scotch. The black currant contrasted the dark chocolate with wonderful, slightly tart berry flavor. Alas, neither of us could really taste the whiskey in the whiskey walnut one, but I certainly can’t say it wasn’t still tasty! (It could have been the wine and very garlicky pizza we had for dinner immediately beforehand, though, so perhaps we’ll simply just have to try it again.) As you’ve probably figured out by now, though, the caramels were our favorite. Incredibly smooth, with not even a hint of the usual stick-to-your-teeth quality of most caramels. My next trip to the shop will definitely entail trying each and every caramel—starting with the rosemary and lavender ones—in order to determine whether this bliss is sustainable. Someone has to do it, right?

Savory Stir Fry Sauces

Alisa Stutzbach — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:43:17 +0000

Stir fry is one of those meals that withstands—and even relishes—improvisation. Pretty much any vegetable or protein is fair game, and you can nearly throw the kitchen sink into the sauce. It’s become one of the go-to meals my husband gravitates towards when it’s his turn to cook, and I must admit that he has become quite the masterful stir fry sauce creator. After desperate pleas to let me write down the ingredients of his sauces so my friends and I might have some chance of recreating some of his most flavorful sauces (usually he just throws things in without measuring), I managed to snag two, now tested on numerous occasions.

Broccoli and tofu stir fry, photo by Jon Haupt

The first sauce has an amazing complexity of flavors; it’s salty, tart, spicy, sweet, fatty/meaty/savory (let’s call it umami-y?), and complements broccoli particularly well. As a matter of fact, my friend Jon’s seven-year-old son, Simon, has recently decided that stir fry is his favorite food, largely owing to his love of this sauce. The first time Jon made the stir fry with tofu and broccoli he told me that he let Simon (then six) try a bite, asking him if he still liked the sauce. Simon replied, “Oh. Yeah. I like this sauce. I think it really makes the stir fry.” I love you, Simon.

The tamarind and grenadine were surprising ingredients to me, and I would imagine this sauce would still be tasty without either of the ingredients. But, as Dan put
it, he added the grenadine to balance out the tartness of the tamarind (which he was apparently determined to include). The inclusion of all these ingredients is how a simple stir fry results in the aforementioned long list of adjectives.

Recipe: Savory Stir Fry Sauce No. 1

Ingredients

2 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp grenadine
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

Prepare sauce before cooking any of the vegetables.
Stir fry your choice of protein and vegetables (preferably with a lot of minced garlic) in about a tablespoon of oil.
Once everything is cooked, add the sauce to the pan and stir, cooking for about one minute to let the flavors meld.
Serve over rice as desired.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Sugar snap pea stir fry with ground sage

The second sauce was Dan’s response to my hope for a stir fry with less sodium than is usually found in stir fry sauces. Ironically, it turns out this sauce has the same amount of light soy sauce as the first sauce! I’m still glad I asked for something “different,” though, because it resulted in a delightfully rich and flavorful sauce. (Don’t get me wrong. These sauces are still not low sodium sauces. They are, however, less than usual and definitely less sodium than you’d find in prepared foods.) The balsamic vinegar adds both a little sweetness and tartness, and the ground spices add an earthy depth.

Recipe: Savory Stir Fry Sauce No. 2

Ingredients

2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp molasses
a “decent squirt” of Sriracha (preferably the brand with the rooster on it)
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground sage
a few squirts Vietnamese fish sauce (I think we used vegetarian “food” sauce)

Instructions

Prepare sauce in advance of cooking anything, since time is of the essence once stir frying.
Stir fry your choice of vegetables and protein. When veggies are almost cooked, add sauce, toss to coat thoroughly, and cover for a minute or so. Test doneness and repeat stirring and covering until vegetables are cooked.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Since there is raw garlic in the sauce, you do need to cook this sauce a little bit more than Sauce No. 1, making it important to add the sauce while the veggies are still just slightly undercooked (unless you like raw garlic, of course!).

New Year’s Eve Cheese Fondue

Alisa Stutzbach — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:00:22 +0000

Our New Year’s tradition—”tradition” being now a four year streak—is a very late night cheese fondue with the Haupts prepared after my New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas. Since the concert usually ends after 10pm, dinner ends up being right before midnight, just in time for toasts!

We’ve tried out versions with many different cheeses (mmmm…cheese!), but we decided that this one is our preference. This year we tried not to go overboard (since there are only four of us, and we try to learn from our mistakes), so we cut the recipe to two-thirds and only prepped steamed broccoli and bread for dipping. This meant that, for the first time ever, we actually had room for dessert. Yay! Happy New Year, everybody!

Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Alisa Stutzbach — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:19:36 +0000

If my husband had his way, I’m pretty sure he’d want apple pie–with vanilla ice cream, of course–for every meal. Alas, since our physical hearts probably can’t take it (although our metaphorical hearts would be in heaven!), I try to limit apple pies in the house to Dan’s birthday and Thanksgiving. (Thanksgiving conveniently falls around his half-birthday. Coincidence? I think not!)

I attempted my first gluten-free pie crust in April as Dan’s Celebratory Birthday Month. (Though his birthday’s in late March, I was out of town playing a gig. He was very understanding, but my guilt warranted a whole month of celebration. Besides, birthdays are simply more fun if extended!)

Having no inkling that the gluten-free pie crust would actually be better than a wheat crust (I kid you not, it really is!), I told Dan I’d make him another “normal” apple pie if this one didn’t suit his tastes, which of course resulted in him saying before even tasting it, “Well, I clearly don’t like this one then. I think we’ll need a second pie.” D’oh! Didn’t quite think that through before saying the offer out loud! Anyway, thankfully, this pie crust was so flaky and crispy–even the next day, when a wheat crust would be soggy!–Dan conceded that we could wait until Thanksgiving for the next one. So, just in time, I’m sharing how to make it!

After getting pie apple recommendations from my mom (whose mother–whom we called Mimi–made notoriously fabulous apple pies), I went with half late-season Rome apples and half Granny Smith apples, all organic. The Rome apples were a bit soft due to the late season (it was April, after all), but their sweet softness played off the tart, crisp Granny Smiths really well. For the filling, I followed Mimi’s recipe (basically just apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and butter—mmm…butter…). For the fall we’ll be getting the nicest tart apples we can find in North Carolina.

Recipe: Gluten-free Apple Pie

Summary: Yet another awesome recipe based on Annalise G. Roberts’ Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 cup plus 2 tbs brown rice flour mix
2 tbs sweet rice flour
1 tbs granulated sugar
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs cold, unsalted butter
1 large egg
2 tsp orange or lemon juice

For the filling:

6 cups thinly sliced tart apples
1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you like your filling)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs corn starch
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs butter, for dotting on top of filling

For the crumb topping:

3/4 c brown rice flour mix
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/3 c unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Coat a 9-inch pie or tart pan with cooking spray, and generously dust with rice flour. (I find it easier to dust with a flour sifter, since it seems to clump a little.)
Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl of an electric mixer. Add butter pieces and mix until the the mixture resembles a crumbly, coarse meal.
Add the egg and juice, mixing on low speed until the dough sticks together. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and place on wax paper. Top with another sheet of wax paper.
Gently and evenly roll out the dough to the desired diameter. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and invert the dough into the pie or tart pan. Remove the other sheet of wax paper and crimp edges. To prevent the crust from bubbling up, poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork (or possibly use pie weights, though I somehow don’t have those!)
Partially bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Cool on rack while preparing the filling and topping. Turn up the oven to 400 degrees.
For the filling, slice apples into large bowl and toss with lemon juice. In small bowl, mix dry ingredients, sprinkle over the apples, and toss. Mound the apples into the prebaked crust and dot the top with small pieces of butter.
For the topping, combine dry ingredients, then cut in the cold butter until it resembles cornmeal. Spoon over the apple filling and pat down so it doesn’t fall off.
Cover pie with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes in the center of the oven.
Remove foil and turn the oven temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes more, until filling is bubbling and top is golden. If the edges are browning too quickly, cover just the edges with a pie shield or thin strips of foil. Cool on a rack before serving.

Variations

If you like nutmeg, you can add 1/2 tsp to the filling. I like my apple pie unadulterated with just really high quality cinnamon.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 10 minute(s)

Diet type: Vegetarian

Diet tags: Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 8

Vegetarian Taco Salad

Alisa Stutzbach — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:35:07 +0000

Sometimes you really just need tequila. And sometimes you need food to go with it. Here’s my favorite taco salad for tequila-necessary days. It’s pretty simple, but you can make it more complicated if you want to by adding more variations.

Vegetarian Taco Salad and Sotol

Recipe: Vegetarian Taco Salad

Ingredients

1 tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 package veggie crumbles (equivalent to 1 lb ground beef)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 serrano peppers, stemmed and chopped (seeds removed or not, depending on desired spiciness)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder (Penzeys, or some other high-quality brand)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup water
tortilla chips (or taco shells)
fresh chopped lettuce, preferably green or red leaf
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
roasted corn (optional)
roasted bell pepper, chopped (optional)
avocado, sliced or chopped (optional)
salsa (optional)
fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the onions, garlic, and peppers for a few minutes, until the onions just start to caramelize.
Add salt, chili powder, black pepper, and cumin, stirring briefly to let the spices cook a bit. Then add veggie crumbles and water. Mix well, and reduce heat to a simmer. If adding additional ingredients that need heating (roasted corn, roasted bell pepper, etc.), now’s the time. Simmer for five minutes or so, until the veggie crumbles are heated through and most of the liquid has evaporated.
To assemble, layer tortilla chips and lettuce on individual plates, followed by cooked mixture and fresh toppings as desired.

Notes

I’ve tried many veggie ground beef substitutes, and my favorite for this recipe is Morningstar Farms. Regarding spiciness, I usually leave all the seeds in the peppers, but it sometimes verges on a little too much heat if the peppers are particularly potent. If you don’t like things very spicy, serranos are pretty mild if you remove all the seeds.

Variations

I like to add whatever Southwesterny food I might have on hand, like some roasted bell peppers and fresh or roasted corn, both of which add some sweetness to counterbalance the spicy peppers. Fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado are always nice, or guacamole…yum…

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 10 minute(s)

Diet type: Vegetarian

Number of servings (yield): 4

Luscious Gluten-Free Fresh Berry Tart

Alisa Stutzbach — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:35:32 +0000

This week was the last week for blueberries at the farmers’ market, and considering how much joy they’ve brought me this summer, I felt like they deserved an honorable send-off for the season. Little did I know that a gluten-free tart crust would actually make me love tarts even more than I already did. Unlike some wheat tarts I’ve had where the crust is so thick in places that it’s hard to bite into, let alone cut, even the thickest parts of this gluten-free crust are light, flaky, and crispy—even the next day. And then when you fill it with creamy, delicious vanilla custard and top it with fresh berries…well, it’s simply heavenly. This tart elicited the highest compliment from my usually understated engineer of a husband (who doesn’t even tend to like sweets): “You can make this any time!”

Recipe: Luscious Gluten-Free Fresh Berry Tart

Summary: adapted from Annalise G. Roberts’s Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 cup brown rice flour mix
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the vanilla custard filling:

4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs pure vanilla extract (preferably Tahitian)

For the top:

1 1/2 cups fresh berries, rinsed and dry

Instructions

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch tart or pie pan with cooking spray, and dust with rice flour.
In a food processor or mixer, combine flour, sugar, and xanthan gum. Add butter and pulse or mix on low speed until the texture is crumb-like. Add the vanilla and mix well.
Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.
Bake on center oven rack for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack in pan. (Remove sides only after completely cooled, preferably after being filled.)

For the vanilla custard filling:

In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg yolks at medium high speed until they’re foamy. Add sugar a little bit at a time while mixer is running, until the mixture is thick and light yellow. Lower speed, add salt and corn starch, and then beat until well blended.
Meanwhile, bring milk to a boil in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Once milk has barely boiled, gradually add the milk to the egg mixture while the mixer is on low. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then mix on medium speed until well blended.
Return the milk and egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. (It may get foamy, but don’t worry.) Once it comes to a boil and thickens, lower the heat and cook on low heat for one more minute, while still continuously stirring. (The foam should miraculously disappear into the now-thick custard.) Remove custard from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Taste it, because it’s yummy.
Transfer custard to a bowl to cool, covering the custard with wax paper or plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface. Cool in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble, evenly spread cooled vanilla custard into cooled tart crust. Arrange berries on top however it pleases you.

Notes

The original recipe included a glaze for the top of the berries consisting of 1/2 cup jelly and 1 tbs cognac or brandy, which is simmered until the jelly is dissolved and slightly thickened. I couldn’t find any jelly that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup in it, and then it turned out our berries were so sweet that we couldn’t imagine the tart needing the glaze. However, I think I may have a little glass of cognac on the side…mmm…

Variations

The original recipe for the filling called for whole milk, but I only had 1% on hand. I also couldn’t bear the thought of subjecting my heart to 4 egg yolks, butter, and also whole milk. The custard probably turned out lighter than it would have, but I can’t imagine it being any more tasty, honestly.

Number of servings (yield): 8

Gigantic blueberry from the Mountain View Farmers' Market

This picture here is another reason the blueberries deserved a farewell party. Dan and I actually split it, and it was still more than a little taste! (I swear I did not alter this picture in any way.) Hooray for the Mountain View Farmers’ Market!

Variations on Basil Pesto

Alisa Stutzbach — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:29:04 +0000

As summer begins to draw to a close, it’s time for me to share my main weapon for taming a basil forest (and also impressing guests with a fresh but simple summertime meal): basil pesto. It’s amazing as a base for pizza, or tossed together with warm pasta and grilled or sauteed veggies. I even sometimes just throw resilient veggies (like broccoli and carrots) into the cooking pasta during the last few minutes to blanch them, and, lo and behold, there’s a vibrant and quick summertime dinner!

My old basil pot in Dallas, now Jon's (Courtesy of Jon Haupt)

I’ve found that homegrown basil is often really pungent, and the addition of spinach to the pesto calms down the sometimes overwhelming bitterness of the basil. The store-bought basil I’ve had lately has the opposite problem, so I’ve had success adding arugula instead, which gives it a bit more bite. Another bonus to adding one of these greens is that it seems to slow down the rate in which the pesto turns brown.

Regarding nuts, any nut will do really—pine nuts are more traditional, but I’ve had excellent results with both walnuts and almonds. My most recent batch was with arugula, walnuts, and extra garlic. Mmm…

Though I haven’t yet perfected growing basil in Northern California (definitely need to plant the seeds earlier!), my friends in Dallas are swimming in basil. So here you go, guys!

Recipe: Variations on Basil Pesto

Ingredients

1 cup firmly packed basil leaves
1/2 cup firmly packed spinach or arugula (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
1/4 pine nuts, walnuts, or almonds
1-2 large cloves garlic, quartered
1/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Blend all ingredients except olive oil into a blender or food processor, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides.
Once everything is about a uniform size and paste-like, slowly pour in olive oil while blade is running, until the pesto has a smooth consistency.

Notes

Taste the basil before choosing whether to add spinach or arugula (or neither). Also, don’t skimp on the salt unless you have to—it’s necessary to meld the strong flavors together.

Variations

For a lower-fat version that works especially well on pasta, use only 1/4 cup cheese and replace half of the oil with water when blending the pesto.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time:

Diet type: Vegetarian

Diet tags: Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 12

Una Pizza Napoletana

Alisa Stutzbach — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:53:27 +0000

Margherita and Ilaria pizzas

Since April or so, I’ve been volunteering at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in their archives. I’ve spent most of my Wednesdays since then driving about halfway up the peninsula to San Bruno, parking my car, taking the BART into the city, walking to SFCM, working, then reversing that trip (often doubling the trip length due to rush hour). Today, however, a new era began in which Tessa (a.k.a. archivist extraordinaire) and I decided to come to work later and treat ourselves with dinner and drinks after working. After all, we’re volunteers in a city renowned as a foodie’s haven, so we deserve some fun, right?

A quick look on Yelp resulted in the most fabulous find: Una Pizza Napoletana is only a .3 mile walk from SFCM and had already been on my radar (thanks to my pizza connoisseur friends). Well, yum. You walk into this place and it’s not too long until you realize that this place is about pizza and pizza only. Well, and drinks. Pretty nice drinks. But mostly about the pizza.

Beautiful, piping hot pizzas

The minimalist restaurant centers around the most beautiful, turquoise-tiled, wood-burning pizza oven and Anthony Mangieri’s steady rhythm of pizza-making (three pizzas in the oven at a time). The food on the menu consists of five pizzas, with a total of ten ingredients between them (including sea salt and olive oil). So it’s not much of a stretch to believe that all five might be excellent. We had the Margherita (the salt, basil, and buffalo mozzarella really just make it sublime) and the Ilaria (smoked mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and baby arugula sprinkled over the top of the piping hot pizza) which, as Tessa put it, “was the perfect combination of flavors.” The sea salt on both pizzas really just pushed the flavors over the top. The crust was a bit thicker and fluffier than most Neapolitan pizza I’ve had, but it was excellent and moist, with big, crusty bubbles from the hot wood-fired oven.

Tessa enjoying some scrumptious pizza

I can’t help contrasting this place with Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, which has an overwhelmingly large and detailed menu (complete with the type of dough, temperature of each oven, origin of ingredients…you get the picture) and spectacular pizza. I admit that my hips would probably prefer it if Una Pizza had a salad on the menu (half a pizza between two of us would have been too little on its own, but two pizzas was probably a tad too much). I guess I’ll just have to try both places a few more times before I can justify picking a favorite, though.