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.

Cherry Lime Pie (Party)

Cherry Lime Pie

I’m a sloppy cook and a risky baker. I like to follow the Creativity Trail, even if that means straying rather far from a recipe’s sure path. There’s a unique thrill to bringing ingredients together in new ways or methods. Or simply tasting something I’ve never before tasted.

Call it Kitchen Cliff-Jumping.

When I heard about Gluten-free Girl’s #pieparty, I knew I’d soon be standing in the kitchen with some grand idea, hoping it would turn out delicious. Fortunately, pies are forgiving.

Most cooks and bakers will caution you against using the pith—that white part just beneath the zest—of citrus. However, a recent recipe post to Food52.com got me thinking about its possibilities. I love pie, but so many recipes pile on sweetness and ignore the fruit within. I wanted a way to kick the cherry flavor of my pie up a notch without disguising it in sugar. The blended whole limes in this recipe give the pie a lovely tartness that buoys up the cherries. It’s almost savory, if you use two limes as I did.

I admit the tartness here is a bit much for some people. I love it, as did a number of my friends; however, not everyone was quite as enthused. If you like your pies very sweet, use one lime. If you’re adventurous, kick the flavor up a notch with two. You’ll find the pie at the bottom of the cliff is delicious.

For this pie, I used Gluten-free Girl’s recipe for pie crust. I highly recommend it.

Cherry Lime Pie

Makes 1 pie

Crust:

175g Aherns’ all-purpose flour mix (see my version below)

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick vegan butter

1/4 cup ice water, more as needed

Filling:

2 cups (320g/12oz) pitted and chopped Rainier cherries

1 nectarine, chopped

1-2 limes (100g-200g), depending on how tart you like it

1 cup (220g) white sugar

1/2 cup (90g) brown sugar

1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

pinch salt

Topping:

1/2 cup (60g) gluten-free oats

1/4 cup (30g) Aherns’ all-purpose flour

3 Tbls (40g) vegan butter

1/3 cup (50g) brown sugar

If your oven takes a half hour to heat up like mine does, start it preheating now to 425F.

Sift flour and salt into food processor. Pulse twice to aerate. Cut very cold butter into small cubes. Add butter to the food processor and pulse 10 times. Add ice water and pulse 5 times. Add more ice water as needed to make the texture somewhat like cottage cheese (with large lumps of butter still throughout the dough). Form quickly into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes while you make the filling. For Gluten-free Girl’s full instructions, see the link here.

Chop whole lime(s), removing tops and any seeds, and whirl in blender or food processor about 2 minutes, or until it blends like a smoothie. In a large bowl, toss chopped and pitted cherries, nectarine, and lime pulp together. Add sugars, cornstarch, spices, and salt, and mix well. Set aside.

Roll out pie crust on a piece of parchment paper dusted with sweet rice flour. When it's the proper size for your pie dish, slide a cookie sheet beneath it, place your pie dish upside down on top, then flip in one smooth motion. Settle crust into pie dish, repairing as needed. Flute edges as desired. Store in fridge until ready to fill.

For the topping, mix together all ingredients and cut in cold butter until it's nice and crumbly.

Pour filling into crust, then top with crumble topping. Bake for 10 minutes at 425F, then lower heat to 375F. Bake for another 45-60 minutes, or until crust's edges are browned and pie has set. (It's okay if it's still a bit wiggly.) Cool at least 1 hour before serving so pie enough time to fully set up.

My version of Aherns’ all-purpose flour mix:

150g brown rice flour

100g sorghum flour

50g potato flour

250g sweet rice flour

50g amaranth flour

50g millet flour

150g potato starch

55g cornstarch

145g tapioca starch

#pieparty

Did your mom ever do this? You know--roll out the pie crust scraps, brush them with butter, dust them with sugar (cinnamon or vanilla), bake them while the pie bubbles in the oven, then munch them with you while you both watch the oven impatiently?

My mom did.

I'm attending the Pie Party on July 5, and today I made my pie. I won't tell you what it is until Tuesday, but I will tell you I used Gluten-Free Girl's pie crust recipe this time. Wow, it's good. Especially when it's cut into strips, brushed with butter, dusted with sugar, baked, and munched on while watching the oven impatiently.

Cucumber Summer

Seattle’s weather finally caught up with the rest of the country! Summer is streaming through the trees outside our apartment, bouncing all shades of green and gold down to the street. The snap peas birthed plump 3-inch pods overnight, the jalapeno has tiny nubs of sets, and the fennel is mimicking the trees across the way.

It’s time to taste the green.

This drink can be made as either a cocktail or a refreshing afternoon soda. The frozen blueberries will keep it colder longer, adding their sweetness gradually to the drink as they thaw. They make a fun crunch to nibble when you're finished! I prefer this more savory, with club soda, but ginger ale adds a nice sweetness.

Cucumber-Fennel Fizz

Cucumber-Fennel Fizz

Makes 2 tall glasses

1 English cucumber

1/4 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce unfiltered apple cider vinegar

4 ice cubes

1 inch fresh fennel (more as desired)

2 ounces gin (optional)

1 can club soda or ginger ale

2 short stalks fresh fennel for garnish

10 frozen blueberries

Skin cucumber, cut into 4 chunks, and toss into blender. Add lime juice, apple cider vinegar, ice, and 1-inch stalk fresh fennel. Add gin if desired. Blend until smooth and foamy, about 2 minutes. Don't be tempted to add more liquid unless your cucumber is exceptionally dry and it refuses to blend. (In which case add a dash of soda.)

Share the cucumber mix between two glasses, adding either club soda or ginger ale in a 1:1 ratio. Add 5 frozen blueberries to each glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh fennel.

Portland

Vancouver, B.C.: my husband and I were all ready to drive up for the weekend when I discovered, to my utter astonishment, that my passport had recently expired. I felt stupid. All our plans, from visiting a gluten-free bakery to him showing me his old university campus (peppered with pointed hints about a certain nude beach), suddenly stopped.

I don't do well with plans that stop.

Though I was all ready to stay home and "save money" (pout), my excellent husband announced we'd go to Portland instead. I have nothing against Portland, but it's not Out of the Country. Still: we went to Portland.

This story has a predictable ending. Of course we had an incredible time! We love to travel together because once we get on the road, anything goes. We don't have to have a plan--just excellent smart phones. (But this isn't a phone commercial.)

At Bushwhacker Cider

Our trips usually focus on one or both of two things: gaming and food. In Portland, we ate. We started at Bushwhacker Cider, which housed more varieties of hard cider than I've ever seen in a single shop. They had a number of ciders on tap as well, so we shared a sampler between us while sitting in the sun discussing which bottles to buy. These three were the highlights of our tasting:

Blue Mountain's Dry Creek: So dry, it's almost champagne; but this champagne twinkles with apples.

Blue Mountain's Cherry: Bright red and juicy, this cider's only sweetness comes from the fruit; it isn't syrupy by any means. I bought a bottle that has a dark chocolate torte in its pairing future.

Tieton's Apricot Cider: My favorite, this is utterly refreshing with a perfect balance between sweet and dry. When this is available in the bottle, I'll be hard-pressed to avoid buying a case.

After wandering around the old town area, drifting through Powell's for a quick graphic novel, and ducking under the eaves from a Spontaneous Northwest Shower, we got a table at Deschutes Brewery. Normally at a brewery, I expect to dine on French fries and--if I'm lucky--not feel the effects of gluten cross-contamination. This brewery got me in the door by promising a gluten-free menu, which they delivered along with the announcement that they now make gluten-free beer. I didn't stop smiling the entire evening.

Deshutes' Gluten-free Menu

Deschutes' gluten-free menu is one of the best I've seen (if a mite unhealthy). They didn't force me to eat salad while hungrily eyeing my husband's plate. I had an excellent gluten-free grilled cheese sandwich with sweet potato fries, which they happily made low-dairy at my request. Delicious!

Their gluten-free beer is also the best I've tasted. It actually tastes like beer--even my husband agreed and he's the first one to look at me askance when I insist on trying some new gluten-free product I didn't make myself. But the best part? I didn't feel even slightly ill later.

We went back for lunch the next day. Portland may not be Out of the Country, but it knows good gluten-free food when it has it. We'll be back soon, I hope.

I'm still getting my passport renewed.

Sunflower Cakes

Usually I love Seattle’s weather. Cold, grey, rainy days are perfect for baking and listening to Bon Iver or the Fleet Foxes, sipping a hot cup of coffee as I turn the pages of my recipes. But it’s June: I want the sun’s heat to ripen the little buds on my tomatoes, to kiss my jalapeño plant hello, and to tell my cilantro, “It’s okay, don’t fret, I’m here now.”

It’s been a long cold spring.

After work today, all I really wanted was to bake up something warm and sunny—to turn on the oven and cozy up my apartment with Concentrated Summer. It had to be yellow, edible, and new. Cornmeal is the right color and my latest favorite ingredient is sunflower seeds… et voilà! Sunflower Cakes.

They just happen to go perfectly alongside my Asparagus Sunflower Soup. And as I write, the evening sun has poked out and turned my tomatoes and snap peas a summery shade of chartreuse. The weather here really is perfect for baking.

Sunflower Cakes, hanging out in the garden

Sunflower Cakes

Makes 8-12 muffins, depending on size

1 cup (145g) yellow cornmeal

1 Tbls baking powder

½ cup (75g) sweet rice flour

¼ cup (30g) amaranth flour

2 Tbls (15g) tapioca starch

¼ cup (35g) brown sugar

¼ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds, shelled and ground

½ tsp sea salt

1/3 cup canola oil

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

½ cup vegetable broth or soymilk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin tin or crumpet rings. If using crumpet rings, arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together cornmeal and baking powder so there are no lump of baking powder. Add the other flours, tapioca starch, and brown sugar. Stir in ground sunflower seeds and salt.

In a separate bowl, measure out oil, vinegar, and broth or soymilk. Beat in egg. Pour this wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix quickly but well. Spoon batter into muffin tin or crumpet rings. Sprinkle over with more roasted salted sunflower seeds.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes before removing from rings.

Coconut Macaroons

I’ve been playing with a new favorite flour lately: amaranth. It’s high in protein and iron, with a slightly nutty flavor, which makes it both healthy and fun for experiments. I love how amaranth lends a multigrain aspect to breads and cookies without becoming intrusively flavorful, like buckwheat or quinoa. This means it’s perfect for even lighter baked goods, such as macaroons. If you serve buckwheat macaroons to guests who lack a health food background, they’re probably not going to like them. Amaranth is Stealth Health.

These macaroons don’t contain enough amaranth flour to really claim they’re “healthy.” However, they are gluten-free, vegan, and chewy, and will be snatched up by your guests quicker than you can elaborate on any of their other qualities. The amaranth contrasts light nuttiness to the vanilla and coconut, providing these macaroons with a gorgeous flavor both basic and complex.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

Makes about 40

3/4 cup vanilla sugar

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 Tbls maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp sea salt

3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/4 cup amaranth flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Coconut oil parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Mix together sugar, coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and sea salt. Stir in coconut until well-coated. Add flours and mix very well, using your hands if needed. Mix until uniform.

Using a 1-inch scoop or 1 Tbls measuring spoon, scoop macaroons into small domes, forming with your hands if needed. Be sure to pack the coconut mixture into the scoop hard or the macaroons may crumble later after baking.

Arrange on cookie sheet closely together, but not touching. They grow only slightly. Bake about 15-20 minutes, rotating cookie sheet once halfway through. Macaroons are done when they're golden all over. Be careful not to burn the bottoms.

Serve warm or room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.