Ginger Biscuits with Candied Rhubarb

Strawberry shortcake is all over picnic tables. I love strawberries: their plumping red hearts herald summer’s beginning every year. I’m still that grinning 2-year-old with a mouth full of mashed berry.

But this year I’m also a rhubarb girl.

I think it started a couple of weeks ago at the farmer’s market. Those brilliant red stalks, stacked high like culinary tinker toys, spoke of new desserts. I made a lot of biscuits for those stalks until I found a method that finally worked. All my biscuit trials over the years came to this: the gluten-free vegan ginger biscuit, designed for a candied rhubarb crown. It’s like strawberry shortcake grew up and bought a leopard-print bra.

Bacon & Leek Quiche

Life is green.

We moved to a new apartment where I have space for a little greenhouse, just in time for spring to bubble up into Seattle with drizzly warm days and hot golden afternoons. I've packed the little greenhouse full of herbs: cilantro, rosemary, thyme, chives, sage, spearmint, peppermint, and even a strawberry and viola. It seems I must acquire a second greenhouse for the tomatoes and basil I'll cultivate in a few weeks. I can't help this plant addiction.

I also have a hopvine hanging in the corner. Yes, a hopvine in an apartment. Crazy, ill-advised, and basically bonkers? Yes. Beautiful? Oh yes.

I'm working on menus for when we open our gluten-free pub/cafe. We're a couple of years from opening our doors, but every new recipe makes it feel closer. Exciting. I found myself pondering what the spring equivalent of shepherd's pie might be. Frittatas are in the works. The quiche is nearly perfected.

Here it is, with bacon, leeks, and onions caramelized in bacon fat, smothered all over in cheddar, awaiting a deluge of beaten egg and soymilk.

It's as delicious as it sounds. It's also low-dairy: soymilk replaces the cream, vegan butter replaces the real butter in the crust, and the only dairy left is real cheddar. My next quiche will use Daiya's cheddar. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

What else should I put on our menu?

Black Tea Pumpkin Bread

My favorite black tea is Assam. It’s rich, with a dark earthy flavor that begs to stand alongside squash and warm spices. I’ve started using it instead of buttermilk or soymilk in my pumpkin bread to cut out dairy and soy. It enhances the pumpkin’s flavor without requiring center stage, the way bananas strut their big overripe muscles.

As I tested this recipe a final time, my husband announced he wanted pho—that deliciously simple Vietnamese soup whose broth brightens any grey Seattle day. I mixed the dry ingredients, set them aside, and out we ventured for lunch. We’re in the middle of packing for our move to Ballard, so this was a very welcome break from our box-filled weekend. I could finish my black tea pumpkin bread when we returned.

It’s best to avoid interruption while baking. You might leave out an ingredient—such as brown sugar.

I left out the brown sugar.

I whipped the batter from the oven, staring at it a moment in dismay. Then I shrugged, poured maple syrup over it, and baked it anyway.

It’s best not to take baking too seriously. Life's kitchen will throw you enough moths in the flour, mildewy undersinks, and rotting green onions at the back of the fridge; a single neglected ingredient is an adventure. If I’d thrown out the batter and started over, I never would have discovered this recipe works without sugar as well as it does with sugar. The flavor is different, of course, but delicious in its own way. Salt wanders the taste buds, bringing out the natural sweetness of pumpkin alongside a delicate maple crust. It’s a perfect option if you’re cutting back on sugar. Or if you get distracted mid-production when you really ought to have been packing pans in the first place, not making more of them dirty.

This recipe works with either pumpkin or sweet potato puree.

Black Tea Pumpkin Bread

Makes 1 loaf

160g (1 1/4 cup) sorghum or brown rice flour

125g (1 cup) sweet rice flour

40g (1/4 cup) tapioca starch

2 tsp baking soda

200g (1 cup) brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

50g (1/2 cup) ground pecans or walnuts

25g (3 Tbls) ground flax seeds

Pecan or walnut pieces, optional

2 eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 can (7.5oz) pumpkin or sweet potato puree

1/2 cup black Assam tea

1 Tbls molasses

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and sweet rice flour a 9-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

To make black tea, bring 3/4 - 1 cup water to boil. As soon as it boils, remove it from heat, add 2 tsp loose leaf black Assam tea and cover. Let steep for 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Uncover and strain into a cup or bowl to cool while you mix the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine flours, starch, baking soda, sugar, salt, spices, ground nuts, and flax seeds. Mix well so all clumping is broken up. In a separate bowl, beat eggs into oil, pumpkin puree, tea, molasses, vinegar, and lemon juice.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, mixing quickly but thoroughly. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, smooth top with back of spoon, and bake 45-60 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and top of loaf is well-browned. Let cool at least 5 minutes in the pan before removing and cutting. Store wrapped in plastic and/or aluminum foil in fridge up to 1 week.

Sugar-free variation: Make bread as directed, leaving out the brown sugar. Before baking, drizzle 1/4 cup maple syrup over top of batter. Bake 35-45 minutes.

Pine Nut Oatcakes

When I was growing up, my mother made oatcakes according to her own recipe every week. These were our breakfast, accompanied by tea, every morning for my entire childhood. Sometimes we'd come home from school to sheets of oatcakes fresh out of the oven; then, my mother would cover a few in chocolate chips and spread the chocolate all over as they melted.

Pine nuts are my own addition, inspired by the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. They add an earthy, savory element, redolent of rocky paths through mossy forests. It isn’t hard to imagine an epic trek over a wintry landscape, fueled by these hearty oatcakes. They certainly make a morning bus commute more fantastical.

Pine Nut Oatcakes

Makes about 2 dozen

60g (1/2 cup) sweet rice flour

60g (1/2 cup) sorghum, amaranth, or brown rice flour

110g (1 cup) gluten-free rolled oats

60g (1/2 cup) rice bran

60g (1/2 cup) almond meal, pecan meal, or other ground nuts*

30g (1/4 cup) ground flaxseeds

65g (1/2 cup) cane sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup shortening, palm oil, OR vegan butter (145g vegan butter)

1/4 cup boiling water, more as needed

50g (1/3 cup) raw pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together flours, oats, bran, almond meal, sugar, salt, baking soda, and ground flaxseeds.

Cut in shortening or palm oil or butter until dough resembles coarse meal. Add pine nuts if using. Pour boiling water over dough and mix in thoroughly, adding more as needed to form a solid dough that is damp but not too sticky to work with. (I usually add between 1/8 - 1/4 cup more, depending on the moisture in the air.) Add more amaranth flour if you make it too wet.

Dust a large flat surface with sweet rice flour. Split dough in half and roll out one section at a time till thin (about 1/8 - 1/4 inch). Cut into rectangles and arrange on a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until oatcakes are lightly browned on edges.

Serve plain or with peanut butter, jam, Nutella, vegetable spread, cheese, or anything else that strikes your fancy. Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. They keep well at room temperature up to 5 days or so.

Notes: If your dough is too dry, the oatcakes will be very delicate and crumbly. If it’s too wet, you’ll have a hard time working with it and they’ll bake very tough. You want the dough to be like pie crust. Don’t worry if the texture is off the first time you make them; they’ll still be enjoyable.

*If you want to make this recipe nut-free, add about 1/3 cup of another gluten-free flour in place of the almond meal: buckwheat, millet, and soy will all work. I’ve found teff to be too delicate for this recipe.

Focaccia

Snow in Seattle means muted footfalls and tire-swishing in the early morning. Buses sloosh cautiously along the streets: late, indifferent, and half full. The city stays home, eats soup, and plays board games.

We remember what it’s like to feel winter closing in around the walls.

I know. It’s a little silly. But to be fair, Seattle doesn’t have the equipment or preparations in place to function properly in snow the way other cities do. Last year, I had a job that wouldn’t let me be snowed in, even for a day. I had to push my way out, bundled and grumpy as an interrupted bear. This year I’m privileged.

So I allowed the snow to shut my door and my kitchen kept me warm.

There’s something luxurious and expansive about baking yeasted bread when there’s snow outside. I’m in no hurry and a slow hour of rising is pleasant as that fresh malty scent searches out every corner of the apartment. And with my good buttery olive oil? I swear I smelled the olive trees baking in their foreign heat.

Focaccia*

Makes 1 9x12-inch pan, about 8 slices

2 eggs

1 egg white

40g (1/3 cup) tapioca starch

20g (3 Tbls) potato starch

20g (3 Tbls) potato flour

50g (1/2 cup) sweet rice flour

60g (1/2 cup) sorghum or brown rice flour

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp dried basil, crushed

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

2 tsp brown sugar

2 Tbls golden flaxseeds, ground

2 Tbls good olive oil, additional for pan

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water (no warmer than 120F)

Warm oven slightly, then turn it off to provide a warm place for the bread to rise. Alternatively, prepare a warm space in your kitchen where it can rise undisturbed. Pour 1-2 Tbls olive oil into 9x12-inch pan and rub it all around, letting excess pool on the bottom. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), combine eggs and egg white. Start on a low setting for about 1 minute, then move it to medium, then run on high speed for 4-5 minutes, until eggs are airy and have doubled in volume.

While the eggs beat, combine flours, yeast, salt, herbs, and brown sugar in a separate bowl. In a small dish, stir together ground flaxseeds, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar.

When eggs are ready, turn mixer down to low and pour in olive oil mixture. While it runs, spoon in flour mixture and pour in some of the warm water. Depending on the moisture in your kitchen, you may use barely 1/2 cup water or a full 3/4 cup. You want the dough to be very wet and sticky, but not runny.

Scrape dough into oiled pan and gently nudge it out to the edges. It’s okay if it doesn’t quite make it to all the edges; as it rises, it’ll fill out. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel that can be secured so it doesn’t touch the top of the dough. Let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour or a little more.

When dough is ready, turn oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the focaccia, then sprinkle with a dusting of sea salt and/or more herbs. You can also set halved olives into the dough at this stage. When oven has heated, bake focaccia 20-30 minutes, until golden on top and browned on the edges. Serve warm or keep in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days.

This makes a spectacular grilled cheese sandwich.

*Adapted from Avec Baking’s Focaccia Bread

Pepparkakor, Portal 2 Style

You should know I like to play games. All types of video or board games. Portal 2 is one of my very favorites because it’s full of what I love: puzzles, lasers, a deranged robotic enemy, and

cooperative play. Games are more fun when you share them with other people.

Baking is a game. It has rules to follow (or break), puzzles to solve, sweet rewards, and it’s more fun when you share.

My good friend, Matt, gave me Portal 2 cookie cutters for Christmas. (I mean, seriously, how cool is that?) It doesn’t matter that the holidays have passed. There’s always room for one more batch of Pepparkakor when I have Portal 2 cookie cutters to use. Pepparkakor is the best cookie to make with these because the black pepper bites back—not unlike GLaDOS. Spicy and not too sweet, they’re a perfect post-holiday combination to pass around.

Pepparkakor

Makes 2-3 dozen

1/3 cup butter, real or vegan

120g brown sugar

75g white sugar (vanilla, if you have it)

1 tsp lemon zest

1 small egg

1/4 cup (100g) molasses

120g sorghum flour

100g sweet rice flour

60g tapioca flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Day 1

Cream together butter, sugars, and lemon zest. Beat in egg until smooth. Stir in molasses. Add all the dry ingredients and mix well into a uniform dough. It will be soft and sticky. Scoop out onto waxed paper, roll into a log, and refrigerate to roll out the next day. You may also freeze it; try to use the dough within about a month of making it.

Day 2

If your dough is frozen, let it rest at room temperature at least 1 hour before working with it. You may use it immediately from the fridge. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dust a smooth surface with sweet rice flour. Cut off about 1/4 – 1/3 of the dough to work with at a time. Form into a disk, dust with more sweet rice flour, and roll out very thin, about 1/8-inch. Cut into shapes and arrange on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. You may reform and roll out the scraps one time, but after that it’ll be too stiff with flour to bake a good cookie. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to brown at the edges. Cool completely before decorating with colored frosting or glaze.

Basic Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tsp lemon juice, Grand Marnier, or coconut milk (more as needed, depending on desired consistency)

Food coloring (optional)

Mix together powdered sugar and some liquid, stirring and adding liquid until all powdered sugar is incorporated and glaze is desired thickness. Drizzle from a fork or scoop into a plastic bag and snip off the tip to give a more controlled line.

Gingerbread

Gingerbread.

Everyone always thinks about the sassy little man who prances around in fairy tales, running from the baker or little old lady. They forget about the walls of the witch’s house. That thin crispy cookie couldn’t hold up a roof if his raisin-dotted buttons depended on it.

Fairy tale houses require thick molasses-dark slabs of hearty sweet cake. Dense, moist, and soaked with rich vanilla glaze, it’ll keep the deep woods lonely outside and your holiday fire burning bright against the night as you savor each bite. Even if the mini cakes are cute as a gingerbread man’s buttons.

Step into a vegan gluten-free fairy tale with me this holiday season. We shall feast.

Hot Frosted Gingerbread

Makes 2 dozen mini cakes

100g (½ cup) white sugar

50g sweet rice flour

30g sorghum flour

50g brown rice flour

20g potato flour

60g tapioca starch

2 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp sea salt

½ cup canola oil

½ cup strong coffee

1/3 cup molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ Tbls apple cider vinegar

Grated fresh ginger (1-inch long, 1.5-inch wide)

Glaze:

55g (½ cup) powdered sugar

1 Tbls coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 mini muffin tins with coconut oil, canola oil, or vegetable shortening. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flours, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, combine oil, coffee, molasses, vanilla, vinegar, and grated fresh ginger.  Stir wet into dry until thoroughly mixed and molasses is fully incorporated. Quickly spoon into prepared tins and pop into the hot oven.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. While they bake, stir together glaze and set aside. When gingerbread is done, remove from oven and immediately drizzle 

Taste PCC & Avec Baking

I attended Taste PCC in Issaquah a few weeks ago. It’s a fun little fair where local vendors who sell their products at PCC Natural Markets can hand out samples directly to customers. I came for work (we ran the Tony’s Coffees &Teas booth), but I took a little time out in the day to chat with vendors and taste some new gluten-free products. Here are the two products you shouldn’t miss.

Zing Nutrition Bar

5/5 Spoons

 These deserve some attention. Wheat-, gluten-, and soy-free, many of the flavors are also dairy-free. I’ve never had a nutrition bar that is so well-suited to my dietary needs and tastes so delicious! They’re relatively high in protein and prove an ideal airplane travel meal. You know: the food stash those of us with allergies generally bring along on our travels. Add it to your list.

Avec Baking Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix

5/5 Spoons

This is one of the best gluten-free all-purpose flour mixes I’ve tried. Denise Cooley, the creator, explained to me herself that she uses freshly ground flours from a mill in Bellingham, WA, and how this makes a huge difference in the flavor and function of the mix. It tastes wonderful, plus it includes whole grains such as sorghum and brown rice.

It passed my Fannie Farmer Biscuit Challenge. One of my favorite cookbooks is The Original Boston Cooking School Cook Book, published in 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer. I love seeing how recipes used to function closer to their original form. There are over 56,700,000 Google results for “biscuits,” but Fannie has only 3. They’re simple recipes—a great starting place for gluten-free experimentation. Making her biscuits gluten-free requires a truly stellar gluten-free flour mix. I change very little about the recipe, but use the weight equivalent of gluten-free mix where the recipe calls for regular flour. (I also sub vegan butter for the butter and lard, and replace the milk with soymilk and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to curdle it like buttermilk.) Only King Arthur Flour’s gluten-free mix passed it before. And I like the biscuits from Avec Baking’s mix better.

On the back of the Avec Baking mix, you’ll find a recipe for focaccia bread. This recipe includes xanthan and guar gums, but these are optional. You don’t need the gums, just some ground flaxseed. I’ve included the original Avec Baking focaccia recipe below, along with my own variation. I made it twice in a week and still can’t seem to keep it around more than a day. My husband, who digests gluten just fine, snatches it up the minute it emerges from the oven. Delicious.

Avec Baking Focaccia Bread

Makes 1 9x11-inch pan

1 ¼ tsp yeast

1 ½ cups Avec Baking Gluten Free Flour mix

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp guar gum

2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

½ tsp good salt

¼ cup apple juice

½ cup water less 2 Tbls

2 large eggs + 1 egg white

2 Tbls olive oil

½ tsp cider vinegar

Topping

2 Tbls olive oil, 1 12 tsp dried rosemary, sprinkle of good salt, kalamata olives cut in half. Optional: sprinkle of fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Prepare a 9x11 baking dish with a generous amount of olive oil and sprinkling of Avec Baking Gluten Free Flour Mix and set aside. Put eggs and egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the balloon whisk attachment. Begin on low and whip the eggs. As the eggs start to break down, slowly increase the speed up to high and continue for 3-5 minutes or until the eggs double in volume and become frothy and pale yellow. While the eggs are whisking, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and the remaining wet ingredients into another bowl. Once the eggs are done, turn mixer down to low and incorporate your wet and dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated and no lumps remain. Turn dough out to prepared pan. Using an offset spatula spread the dough evenly. The dough will be sticky so work quickly as to not lose the air you have work to incorporate. Cover with aluminum foil and let rise for about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F while dough is rising. Once dough has risen, remove foil and sprinkle with toppings. If using olives, place them gently on the surface without pressing them in too firmly. Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack and enjoy!

Beyond Celery Variation on Avec’s Focaccia

Makes 1 9x11-inch pan

1 ¼ tsp yeast

190g (1 ½ cups) Avec Baking Gluten Free Flour mix

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried rosemary

Slightly less than ¾ cup water

2 tsp brown sugar

2 eggs

1 egg white

2 Tbls olive oil

½ tsp cider vinegar

2 Tbls ground golden flaxseed

Follow directions as above, stirring the ground flaxseed and brown sugar into the wet ingredients. I find plastic wrap works better than aluminum foil when the dough is rising.

Beer-Battered Mesquite Onion Rings

I have a new toy: mesquite flour. A little sweet, a little nutty, and a little smoky, the moment I tasted it, I knew I’d make onion rings. Mesquite flour and onions gazed at each other across the kitchen and started to dance.

So what if they’re not the healthiest snack? I try not to deny my ingredients their whims. These make a wonderful spontaneous addition to a summer afternoon spent with friends in the sun.

This recipe is great with a yellow onion, but it’s awesome with a Walla Walla sweet onion. Try it. They’re in season right now. I also like to add a little coconut oil to my frying oil, in about a 1:4 ratio, coconut oil to canola oil. The coconut oil gives the onion rings just a hint of coconut, a sort of ghost in the background.

I’ve used Redbridge Sorghum beer with this recipe, but most recently made it with Estrella Damm Daura. (My husband surprised me with it one evening!) Any gluten-free beer will work, but Daura certainly gave the best flavor. Daura seems to be a little controversial among celiacs in the States, mainly because it’s made from barley and states on the bottle “Less Than 6 PPM Gluten.” We aren’t used to seeing gluten-free products claim to contain any amount of gluten, let alone be made from barley (usually off-limits), but the reality is that most gluten-free products are simply meeting guidelines for 20 ppm or less. Daura is significantly below that. Its brewing process strips the gluten protein from the barley, but leaves that true beer taste. Here's a review on celiac-disease.com, for more information. It’s delicious and I had no trouble whatsoever tolerating one. Individual reactions to gluten vary; however, Estrella Damm has done some very thorough research into this process to make their beer safe for celiacs. I encourage you to give it a chance.

Beer-Battered Mesquite Onion Rings

Makes about 30

1 yellow onion (Walla Walla or yellow)

60g (1/2 cup) sweet rice flour

60g (1/2 cup) mesquite flour

30g (1/4 cup) tapioca starch

30g (1/4 cup) amaranth flour, plus more as needed

1 Tbls brown sugar

1 tsp salt

dash black pepper (about 4-5 turns of a grinder)

12oz gluten-free beer

Canola and coconut oil for frying

Slice onion into 4-5 sections, depending on how thick you want the rings. Separate rings and set aside, discarding the onion center. Heat canola and coconut oil in a deep pot to medium-high heat. You'll need about 3 inches of oil.

In a medium bowl, combine all flours with sugar and salt. Gradually whisk in beer until the batter is the consistency of pancake batter. Add more amaranth flour as needed to create that consistency. The last inch or so of the beer is for the cook (you probably won’t quite use it all).

When oil is fully heated, dip onion rings in batter to coat and fry about 2 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. You don't want them to touch and stick together. Turn once while frying. Fry about 3 minutes total, or until rings are a deep golden brown. Lift out of the oil, shake off excess, and arrange on a plate covered in 1-2 paper towels. Dust with sea salt. Serve hot, while they're still crispy. The longer they sit, the more likely they are to get soggy.