Winter is the time for stew—especially when spontaneous snowstorms descend, such as recently happened in Seattle. Get snowed in with friends and family, chop up some vegetables, and crowd around the bubbling stew pot for stories and tantalizing aromas.

This stew is the latest recipe inspired by Jeffrey Overstreet’s book, Auralia’s Colors. When I created a recipe for nectarbread a couple of months ago, Jeffrey asked me when I’d make a stew worthy of Yawney, a resourceful Gatherer known for putting together tasty stews with the roots and forest foods that other Gatherers bring him. So here’s Yawney’s stew, in classic throw-whatever-you-have-into-the-pot stone soup style.

Yawney's Stew

No, not of actual monkey—but a pie a monkey might conceivably adore. A few weeks ago, my mom told me of a new taste sensation she experienced: praline cookies and a fresh banana. “You should do something with that,” she said. This pie is my answer to her suggestion.

I like it as a creative addition to conventional holiday fare. Together, bananas and pecans bring out each other’s tropical playfulness. The touch of cayenne (my friend Anne’s idea) rises slowly as a warm sun on the palette, but never flares too intense for the average tongue. If you can find them, very fresh pecans will add miles to the pie’s flavor.

Recommended music: Radio Retaliation, by Thievery Corporation

Banana Pecan Pie

Discovering imaginary food is a sort of hobby of mine. Fantasy authors are especially good sources, since an integral part of creating a new world is also creating new things for the people to eat. When my friend, Jeffrey Overstreet, published Cyndere’s Midnight, he did me the great favor of including this inspiring sentence: “She took a small bite of nectarbread, then shoved whole slices into her mouth, one after the other, closing her eyes and finding comfort in the food” (p.104). What incredible flavor must this nectarbread hold, to cause royalty to forgo conventional niceties for the pure pleasure of taste? I had to find out. 

Recommended music: Tigermilk, by Belle & Sebastian

Nectarbread

In my family, apple pie is an heirloom, the ingredients and methods of which are passed down the female line with as much care and delight as hand-painted china might inspire. Not that we have a secret family recipe—rather, our recipes exist in a constant state of creative flux. Is it a ginger sort of day, or one for nutmeg and cloves instead? My grandmother was a baker at heart, but she knew a good creative wave when she hit one and could ride it out in the kitchen like any young surfer in Santa Cruz.

I’ve taken something similar to her recipe and made it my own by removing the gluten, dairy, and cinnamon. Gravenstein apples give the best flavor. I recommend mounding the filling in the crust and running the risk of overflow to obtain that dense, apply inside. My family has always preferred a crumble topping for apple pies, rather than a top crust, but the crust recipe I’ve included below should work for a top as well as bottom. It holds together well if you treat it with a due measure of gentility and caution.

Recommended music: Martinis & Bikinis, by Sam Phillips

Apple Pie

When I get into the kitchen, I can be a little crazy. Recipes are nothing but a loose set of guidelines, anyway, right? So it’s a miracle my blackberry jam turned out so well last weekend, especially since it was the first time I’d ever set out to make jam. The blackberries from my vines aren’t exactly the best variety for eating right off the bush, but their flavor expands and pops with purple the minute they’re cooked. Jam seemed the perfect use, since I’d already decided pie crust was out of the question for a lazy weekend morning.

Working loosely off a recipe from the internet, I found a reasonable sugar-to-fruit ratio and the cooking time. From there, I got creative. Lemon juice enhances the flavor of most cooked fruit and works especially well with blackberries. Vanilla sugar brings subtle exotic tones to the palate. Xanthan gum replaces pectin in this recipe, since pectin is unsuitable for vegans (besides, I didn’t have any).

Recommended music: Classics, by Ratatat

Blackberry Jam

When I recently visited the Flying Apron, one of my favorite gluten-free Seattle haunts, I noticed an Amazake Rice Shake in their drink case. This flavor boasted Cool Coconut with Almonds (only a brief perusal of my website will testify how much I adore both). The hot summer afternoon shimmered and winked outside, so of course I bought one.

This shake’s superb flavor and sweetness are worth noting. While smooth and refreshing, the Cool Coconut also carries some nourishing bulk in its rice. This isn’t a thin juice you’ll gulp down quickly. It’s much closer to a milkshake, without the heaviness of rich dairy. I was surprised at how sweet it tasted, since there’s no mention of sugar in the ingredients. Drink it as a cool afternoon snack, or save it for dessert—it’s quite sweet enough to satisfy even the most stubborn sweet tooth.

Amazake Rice Shake Cool Coconut with Almonds
(GF, DF, Vegan)

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It’s about time someone used coconut milk as the base for a dairy-free “ice cream.” Coconut Bliss, a tasty dessert from the company Bliss Unlimited, is certified both organic and vegan. All ten of their flavors are also gluten-free.

I began with Vanilla Island, their simplest flavor besides Naked Coconut. The taste of coconut is very strong, but it blends well with the vanilla to give the dessert a pleasantly creamy finish. This rich, silky ice cream is certainly a far cry from other dairy-free frozen desserts. Those are almost watery in comparison. However, you’d better like coconut because there’s no hiding that distinct flavor.

Their velvety Dark Chocolate reminds me of a Mounds bar: dark chocolate wrapped around a burst of coconut. The creators, Luna Marcus and Larry Kaplowitz, used the natural flavors of coconut milk to their advantage as they created the varieties of Coconut Bliss. Chocolate, vanilla, and coconut have been friends to the taste buds for a long time, but I hadn’t considered adding coffee to the list. I’m excited to try the rest of their flavors: Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge, Cappuccino, Cherry Amaretto, Cinnamon Chocolate Flake, Strawberry Lemon Love, and Mint Galactica. Unfortunately, Mint Galactica and Cinnamon Chocolate Flake both include chocolate pieces that contain soy lecithin, so those flavors are off-limits for soy-free individuals. Despite this, the quality and variety of their flavors are both promising.

Coconut Bliss Vanilla Island &
Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate ice creams
(GF, DF, Vegan)

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The other day, I microwaved fresh orange zest to dry it out a little. It's an innocuous way to quickly evaporate some of its moisture, right? Of course, fresh orange zest can also be a source of essential oil. It took exactly 7 seconds to combust in the microwave and produce a tiny (but beautiful) flame, which I killed in its infancy. Only a small singe mark at the crest of the zest attested to its misadventure. One reason I love to cook and bake—I'm a pyro at heart.

I love the smell of fire, just as I enjoy the scents of my spice cupboard. When I last wandered down to Pike Place Market, I discovered a new favorite store, on Western Ave, just below the market: World Spice Merchants. They have an incredible selection of spices from around the world, ranging from chiles and sumac to their own masalas and blends. The spices line the walls, each in its own jar, which anyone is welcome to open for a sniff. I immediately fell in love with their Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt, which smells and tastes like a wet campfire on the beach. Another spice that intrigued me was Annatto Seed, which I'd never smelled before. I suspect it holds the secret to many a complex Latin American dish, though I haven’t used it yet. I also bought an ounce of Lemon Crystal, which is basically powdered lemon juice. Very tart, I find it's a fun addition to simple pasta dishes, with nutmeg, butter, and parmesan. I've also added it to my chipotle salt to give the smoky chipotles some tartness to chew on.

We all eat. Food is the most common element of humanity. A good meal brings people together, no matter our differences over type of food, manner of preparation, or style of eating.

We tend to treat food poorly in the States. Fast food aside, we eat quickly in front of the TV, grab energy bars between meetings, microwave packaged meals in lonely kitchens, and wash it all down with coffee or sodas. A great amount of our society is built on effective time management—which usually means that we eat into meal times with business and forget how to take leisurely lunches for the simple joy of friendship. Even when, as a culture, we say we’re obsessed with health, we pack vitamins into whole grain bars and water bottles, then continue to run on with our busy lives. Isn’t it healthier to eat a good meal slowly, savoring spices and textures, while laughing with your friends?

I think we often rush through meals as something utilitarian because we’ve forgotten that the art of food is more than providing nourishment—it’s the art of creating an experience. This is more complex than it seems. Color, arrangement, taste, texture, lighting, order, scent, company, and atmosphere all come under consideration. Yet, a meal can be as lovely as a Van Gogh landscape and well-scripted as a Tom Stoppard play, and still require some light-footed improvisation when the risotto takes an extra half hour or dessert begins to lean ominously to one side. In this way, great cooks ply their art on the tongues, stomachs, and smiles of their guests.

If you’re an avid reader of my opinions, you’ll remember that last year I reviewed the Flying Apron. (For those of you who aren’t, the Flying Apron is a fantastic vegan bakery in Seattle.) Though I don’t like to repeat myself, I thought I’d bring it to your attention once more, given their recent move from the University District to Fremont.

Last autumn, the Flying Apron closed its little basement window on Brooklyn Avenue and reopened as a full-fledged café on Fremont Avenue, complete with tables, coffee, and a long display case for goodies. Now there’s room to linger over your muffin, while you wait for a friend or relax after work. As always, the staff is helpful and friendly, which only adds to the welcoming atmosphere of this warm bakery.

I used to consider their bakery products good, though nothing spectacular. But it can’t be just the change of atmosphere that’s improved their pastries. Old favorites are now accompanied with a wider range of treats, both sweet and savory. The products are so fresh, most carry only the slightest hint of garbanzo bean flour. And you’d hardly guess that everything is vegan as well. In the move, the Flying Apron also became completely gluten-free, so there’s no longer any possibility of cross-contamination.

The move has done this bakery good. I’d now highly recommend it as a vegan and gluten-free part of your day, especially if you have time to sit down and digest its new environment. If a simple change in location can improve a bakery so much, I’m eager to taste the new heights to which it will soar.

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With winter clouding our skies and spring a distant promise not yet whispered, it’s good to find a cookie that still remembers the scent and flavor of sunshine. Good, sweet oranges aren’t always easy to buy this time of year, but these cookies make it worth the hunt and expense. Fresh orange juice and zest lend these cookies an aroma that cannot help but bring you back to long summer days spent with tall glasses of iced tea.

Italian Orange Cookies

It’s probably been awhile since you had a really delicious, dense, moist chocolate cake. A cake of the sort you’d find in upscale restaurants, sharing the dessert menu with tiramisu and crème brûlée. A cake usually chock full of gluten and dairy. I was tired of waiting for someone to create a cake this good that would be suitable for a gluten- and dairy-free diet, so I made my own. I think you’ll find it’s worth throwing a party just so you have an excuse to make it.

A crucial ingredient for this cake is a new product I discovered lately at my local PCC Natural Market: Soy Whip, by the Soyatoo! brand. This cream is completely dairy-free and can be whipped just like dairy-based cream. They also sell a pre-whipped variety in a can, but I like the versatility of buying the cream. By itself, it tastes lightly of coconut (it includes coconut fat), but you’ll never know the difference when you mix it with chocolate. In my recipe, I use this soy cream in place of real cream for the ganache. Unfortunately, I know of no substitute for this cream if you cannot find it in your local market. Soy milk alone does not give a satisfactory result.

Raspberry Decadence

One particularly delicious treat I enjoy making for the holidays is rum balls. Sweet and nutty, with the zing of rum, they’re a perfect cookie to serve at parties. They also keep well for a couple of weeks, so a large batch goes a long way. When the holidays have passed, they’re such fun to find secreted away in a container at the back of the refrigerator. Then, they complement strong coffee or tea in the evening.

Rum balls can seem daunting to make gluten- or dairy-free, since they require vanilla wafers. However, vanilla wafers are actually quite easy to make yourself and they will keep indefinitely when frozen. If you make a very large batch and freeze most of the wafers, you’ll always have them on hand to grind up for rum balls (or any other dessert that requires cookie crumbs).

Rum Balls

This is the time of year to bring out your best holiday recipes and show off your talents with sugar. At least, that’s what I like to do. It’s not as hard as you might think. Given the number of goodies you can buy from stores, almost anything homemade is welcomed with tingling taste buds and open mouths. We can buy some great treats at stores now, but I think the holiday season is also about spending time with friends and family. I find that making my holiday goodies myself brings the season into better focus.

I love to take time out from the frantic holiday “spirit” to spend time with friends making or decorating cookies. I haven’t found one person yet who doesn’t light up with child-like glee at the combination of blank cookies and tubes of colored frosting. For people with food allergies, homemade treats are all the more precious, since these are probably the only items in which they’ll be able to safely indulge.

Pepparkakor

Now that gluten-free oats are available, I make oatcakes every few weeks. They’re almost a substitute for bread, if you don’t mind your bread very flat and crunchy. Anything you put on regular bread can be eaten with oatcakes for delicious results. For a treat, scatter chocolate chips on an oatcake right out of the oven. When the chocolate is soft, spread it over the oatcake and eat it hot.

Oatcakes

Normally, I don’t publish a recipe here until I consider it perfect. This recipe, however, has become a special case because it’s very good, except that I intended the result to be scone-like. These "scones" come out a bit too chewy to be true scones, but they’re not exactly bread either. I think "Pumpkin Waybread" roughly describes both their flavor and use. Perfect for a mid-morning breakfast or meal on a hike, this waybread can be packed easily, carried long distances, and consumed by hungry travelers.

Pumpkin Waybread

Until a few years ago, I had never seen a naturally-occurring cranberry bog. Now, every November, I slip in quietly, watch where I step, and pick a few berries for my Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. Gathering berries is quiet, meditative work. When I haven’t been involved in their growth, each berry becomes a wonderful gift. I don’t deserve a single one, but the bog freely provides me with more than I could hope for. I’m careful to take only what I’ll use, and to leave plenty on the bushes for any squirrel or bird that might happen along.

I find great pleasure in gathering fruit by hand, then cooking and preserving it. There’s something beautiful when I take part in the whole process, instead of buying pre-made cranberry sauce in a can. As the world develops its cities and pushes suburbia up against the forests, natural areas disappear if they aren’t recognized and protected. How sad that this protection has to be enforced and does not grow in our hearts as naturally as cranberries grow in the bog.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Remember when I showed you how to make your own tomato paste? Now is the time to bring it out, because the finest examples of this curry I’ve ever made were accomplished with my own homemade tomato paste. But the real story of this curry begins about three years ago, when my mother was good friends with Kokila.

Kokila had lived in the States for a number of years, but she was born in India and that’s where her cooking continued to reside. She once mentioned to me an egg curry she made on days when her family wanted something vegetarian. I asked her for her recipe, as I was currently fed up with the Americanized versions that often populate the internet. She happily spouted off the ingredients and general method as I wrote them down; however, so much of her cooking relied on long years in her mother’s kitchen and the tastes and experiences she learned there, that the best I could do was put together an approximation of what she meant and hope I figured out the rest. This is still the most authentically Indian curry I make.

According to Kokila, the secret to a good curry is the oil: "Americans do not understand that the oil is what makes the flavor good—they just think it’s fattening." I agree with her, but I also recognize that not everyone can stomach large amounts of oil or butter when they aren’t used to it being a frequent part of their diet. As such, you can make this curry two ways: either with the large amount of clarified butter Kokila recommends, or with about ½-1 Tbls light olive oil. The butter makes a better curry, but most people won’t know the difference if you use olive oil—just don’t serve it to an Indian or you might land yourself a lesson in butter. Another note about the butter: if you know how to make ghee, use that. Otherwise, clarified butter is a good substitute.

Kokila's Egg Curry

During a recent rainy-day wander through Seattle’s Northgate Mall, I happened upon Pilgrim’s Natureway, a store that advertised gluten-free products. It was one of those vitamin shops that also carries food for “special diets”—the sort of place that makes you feel as if you should have a prescription just to pass through their doors. But I will say this for them: they stocked at least three or four promising products I’d never seen before.

I decided to try the Garlic & Onion Bread Sticks mix ($3.39) from Chebe Bread. It contains no gluten, soy, corn, rice, potato, yeast, nuts, lactose, or casein. To prepare the bread sticks, add oil, eggs, and liquid, roll them out, and bake. The ½-inch thick snakes of dough will puff up into soft, chewy bread sticks. They’re best warm, but can be kept overnight if needed. As they cool, they shrivel up and lose their nice appearance, though their flavor remains intact. These bread sticks turn out quite tasty, considering they don’t consist of anything more than tapioca flour, tapioca starch, salt, garlic, and onion. Mix in some parmesan cheese or dust with chipotle salt for variety.

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This is the real deal when it comes to taste and texture. If you’re on a gluten-free diet, you probably try not to get excited when someone raves about a new store or brand that provides gluten-free products. How often do these products actually taste like their wheat-based counterparts? But this company is one you can afford to get excited about. Based in Canada, Kinnikinnick Foods Inc. has taken the foods we miss and created products that taste as great as you hope they will.

My grandmother always kept English muffins in her cupboard. She could hardly pass a lunchtime without covering one in honey, jam, butter, cheese, or—my favorite—peanut butter. I remember sitting at her counter, biting into one of these hot, gooey English muffins. We always ended up laughing around our peanut butter lips.

It’s been a long time since I experienced a peanut butter English muffin like that, but I recently picked up a package of Kinnikinnick’s frozen English muffins ($5.09). I couldn’t help hoping they’d be good, even though I was skeptical. That first bite was better than good. It’s incredible how similar it tasted to the sort of English muffin I remembered from my grandmother. Delicious. Unfortunately, nearly all their products contain egg, so they are not appropriate for vegans, or anyone with an allergy to eggs.

Their other products are just as good. The Kinni-Kwik Bread & Bun Mix ($6.23) is really as easy as it sounds (just add water) and it tastes closer to bread than many other products. Substitute an egg for some of the water when making buns; it gives them a better texture and richer taste. Honey, custard, fruit, and any variety of spices can all be added to create sweet desserts or savory dinner rolls. For a different version of this mix, try the Kinni-Kwik Sunflower Flax Bread & Bun Mix ($6.23). The Pastry & Pie Crust Mix ($5.74) will expand the possibilities of your gluten-free kitchen. It’s a bit too salty for most desserts, but it pairs well with a quiche or other savory dish.

Kinnikinnick is so good, I’m amazed at how difficult it is to find in stores. You can search their website for a store near you that stocks some of their products. My experience proved disappointing at first: the only listed store near me wasn’t very close at all. Yet I discovered a great selection of their products at Manna Mills in Montlake Terrace, WA. Though this store isn’t listed on the Kinnikinnick website as carrying their products, they have a better selection than anywhere else I’ve found in the Seattle area.

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Trader Joe’s shows a lot of promise with their gluten-free products. After finding such a treat in their Gluten Free Ginger Snaps last week, I tasted their Gluten Free Granola with Fruit and Nuts. It’s quite good, even if it’s more like a trail mix breakfast cereal than what I usually consider "granola." The (very) small clusters are made mostly of seeds and rice, while the rest of its bulk consists of corn flakes, nuts, and dried fruit. Its fruity, honey-like sweetness is a little too sweet for my taste, but I usually like my granola hearty and simple.

I enjoyed eating this granola for breakfast, mixed with puffed rice and soymilk. The only drawback to eating it this way is that some of the dried fruit (apricots, especially) are so well-dried they’re nearly impossible to bite through. I solved the problem by picking the pesky fruits out instead of eating them. Occasionally, one of the large nuts will be over-salted and ruin the pleasant blend of flavors, but most of the nuts are just fine.

Overall, I like this granola well enough to snack on during a trip, when I don’t have time to make something of my own beforehand. At $4.29 per 12oz package, I think it’s a little expensive; however, the amount of dried fruits and whole nuts makes it worth the money. Despite its small flaws, this product shows that Trader Joe’s knows what it’s doing with gluten-free. I hope to see more gluten-free products from them soon!

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Trader Joe’s is a gourmet store: their juice, trail mix, cheese, prepared food, and snacks are all high-quality and delicious. Though their focus has never been on foods safe for people with food allergies, I think that’s beginning to change. When I saw the October Fearless Flyer newsletter, it advertised Trader Joe’s new Gluten Free Ginger Snaps. My skepticism about new gluten-free products is born of long and nasty experience, but I’m nevertheless a bit “fearless” when I see something new. I had to see if these cookies would truly be full of “that nice gingery bite ginger fans know and love,” as the ad brazenly claimed. For $1.99 a package, I could take the risk.

True to their word, Trader Joe’s packed a nice gingery bite into every gluten-free cookie. The best part? For all the ginger, you’d never guess they were gluten-free, or that chick pea flour is one of the ingredients. I was disappointed my cookies were a little burnt on the edges. Sometimes a slight burnt taste crept into the ginger; however, it didn’t ruin the overall glee with which I (and my friends) consumed them.

These cookies are definitely suited to ginger-loving taste buds; the bite might be a little strong for children (or adults) who aren’t used to much ginger in their snaps. But I found the flavor invigorating and more like fresh ginger than the weak powdered stuff even I usually use in my cookies. Trader Joe’s showed me ginger snaps could be a lot more fun than my grandmother ever considered. My next assignment: to see if Trader Joe’s has worked a similar gluten-free miracle with their Gluten Free Granola.

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One of my good friends told me recently that soaking a whole vanilla bean in a bottle of vodka will create homemade vanilla extract. Of course, I had to try it—inventing potions has been a favorite game of mine since I was big enough to pour water into a cup and pull up grass to soak in it. Vanilla extract has the added bonus of actually being useful.

Alas, I had a nasty surprise waiting for me at the liquor store. I thought that all vodka was distilled from potatoes, so I was shocked to see the words “distilled from grain” on the bottle of Absolut I’d intended to buy. I checked other brands and found that many, including the following, are distilled from wheat: Absolut, Grey Goose, Smirnoff, and Stolichnaya. Now, I’ve heard that some people who are allergic to gluten have no reaction to alcohol distilled from wheat. For myself, I won’t risk it; I’ve felt odd (and puzzled) too many times after consuming a drink that contained one of the above listed vodkas. Fortunately, there are a few brands of vodka that are gluten-free: Luksusowa, Ciroc, Chopin, VikingFjord, and others.

This adventure caused me to look up the alcohol used in commercial vanilla extracts. I emailed Kroger Co. about their imitation vanilla extract. One of their representatives assured me the alcohol they use in all their extracts is synthetic and not derived from grains, although they do not test for cross-contamination of gluten and therefore cannot be certain it is completely GF.

It’s been three weeks since I bottled my vanilla bean and I’m thrilled with the result. The vodka has actually begun to turn pale yellow and it smells just as strong as the vanilla extract I buy at the store! See the following recipe for my method. The best part is I won’t ever again wonder about the gluten content of my vanilla.

Vanilla Extract

I love to try new things, especially when they claim to be spectacular and gluten-free. Recently, a good friend of mine brought me a bag of GF flour to try out. It was a GF General Purpose Flour made by Sylvan Border Farm (ingredients: potato starch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, amaranth flour, quinoa flour, white cornmeal, garbanzo bean flour, soy flour). Normally, I refuse to try any flour mix that involves something bean-derived, no matter how slight the concentration may be; however, my friend said this flour gave good results without making her cookies taste like cooked beans. In the end, I really wasn’t all that hard to convince—I also love trials, no matter what they involve.

Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite way to test a new flour mix because they are simple, reliable, and fit well in a lunchbox. I mixed the dough with the mix, approved of the taste, and baked them. What I forgot to do was to read the instructions on the back of the package. The cookies melted flat and nearly ran right off the cookie sheet. According to a small note on the back of the package, “When baking, recipes require xanthan gum.” Oops. Alas, I do not stock xanthan gum in my kitchen because I find it too expensive. Sweet rice (mochi) flour does the same job for much less money. A quick addition of this flour to the rest of the dough salvaged the remaining cookies.

I take partial responsibility for the chocolate chip cookie mess, since I didn’t read the instructions they provided. But in my opinion, a “general purpose flour” should act like any regular flour and not require any specific instructions on how to use it. Sylvan Border Farm’s General Purpose Flour just doesn’t bake according to my rules. The taste, however, won some points. I don’t think they tasted as good as they might have without garbanzo bean flour, but they didn’t taste like baked beans.

Sylvan Border Farm General Purpose Flour
(GF, DF, Vegan)

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