The Orange Walnut Biscotti Test

(This was a post I published in January 2010 on the Gluten Free Cary blog. The content, including photographs, is copyrighted to me.)

My homemade Gluten-Free biscotti:

If you've ever wanted to travel back in time to Ancient Rome, try dunking a piece of biscotti in wine. (Well, it works for me). I don't know if there is sound archaeological evidence of the ancients dipping cookies in wine -- if you've got proof please tell me. The ancient origins of the word biscotti, however, are free for the taking. From the Latin -bis meaning twice and coctum meaning cooked.

Now if only some Roman baker imagined me, two thousand years later in my middle class 21st- century American kitchen (actually it's still a 20th-century kitchen, alas), twice-baking my own biscotti GLUTEN-FREE. That would be a mind-blower. The original, crunchy, golden brown cookie made without wheat? How could it be? And by the way, Tiberius, we still use aqueducts. And when you see steam rising from Vesuvius, you might want to evacuate.

So, I really enjoy biscotti with my coffee and it isn't an indulgence I want to give up now that we've gone gluten-free. As I mentioned in the carrot cake post, Rebecca Reilly's Gluten-Free Baking includes six GF biscotti recipes, with variations given for each recipe. For my first attempt, I chose the Walnut Orange biscotti. People with other sensitivities should note that this recipe is gluten-free, but contains DAIRY, NUTS, EGGS and SUGAR.

The first few steps are familiar to anyone who's baked: combine the dry ingredients; whip the butter, sugar and wet ingredients; combine the wet and dry ingredients. Voila--dough. I'll focus here on the twice-baked part which is crucial to biscotti.

After the prepared dough is chilled, roll it into logs:




Bake the logs.

This is what they looked like after the first baking:




Next, slice the baked logs:




As you can see, the result was extra crumbly.
Spread the baked slices on a cookie sheet and rebake.
Here they are just out of the oven:



Seriously, can you tell these are gluten-free? Yum!

Restaurant Review: Pei Wei Asian Diner

(This is a review I wrote in January 2010 for Gluten Free Cary)

Restaurant Review: Pei Wei Asian Diner

P.F. Changs' unfussy younger brother, Pei Wei Asian Bistro, has 150 locations throughout the U.S., including one on Walnut Street in Cary, adjacent to Cary Towne Center. The big draw here is price and convenience; the chain boasts every item on the pan-Asian menu costs less than $10. This isn't relaxed dining, it's order-at-the-counter fast-casual, and it gets the job done without the frills.

Since Pei Wei is owned by P.F. Changs, a popular choice among gluten-free diners, we thought we'd check out the offerings at Pei Wei. But whereas Changs has a whopping 17 gluten-free choices, Pei Wei has a menu of just five items they call "Recommended for Gluten Intolerant diets." Three of those items are incarnations of chicken salad: Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls (order without the Thai peanut sauce), Asian Chopped Chicken Salad (substitute lime vinaigrette dressing and no wonton strips), and Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Salad (shrimp can be substituted). The other two recommended items are Pei Wei Spicy and Pei Wei Sweet and Sour, with a choice of chicken or shrimp in either dish.

Note the disclaimer at the bottom of the menu which reads, "Products containing gluten are prepared in our kitchen." In other words, BEWARE if cross-contamination is a concern. The good news is: the kitchen is open and visible from the dining area, so vigilant diners can keep a close eye on food preparation.

Ordering at the counter, it was evident that the staff had received training on Pei Wei's gluten free options. The woman we spoke with was able to answer specific gluten questions about each dish. When the computerized order went through, we could hear shouts of "Gluten-Free!" coming from the kitchen, as the information passed among the food preparers.

Even though my daughter is the one who MUST eat gluten-free, all three of us ordered off the gluten-free menu, in order to get a true idea of options. When I ordered, I asked that the non-gluten-free Thai peanut sauce be served on the side of my Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls. When our server brought the food to the table, he warned me that the side of sauce wasn't gluten-free, and asked if I wanted him to bring it back to the kitchen -- another sign of good staff training. The Chicken Salad rolls were tasty, if funny looking, and I skipped the peanut sauce altogether: chicken, fresh lettuce, mint, vermicelli thin rice noodles, and lime vinaigrette packaged in chewy rice paper. The rolls seemed a lighter option than the syrupy, sauce-laden dishes, all too prevalent at Amer-Asian restaurants.

My daughter chose the Pei Wei Sweet and Sour Chicken without the sauce (see above. Although rest easy, the GF sweet and sour sauce is gluten-free). The chicken arrived at the table breaded, despite the menu description as "non-battered chicken." When I inquired about the batter, I was quickly reassured that the GF chicken is breaded with potato starch, and is gluten-free. It was a comfort that all three of the staff members I interacted with were fully informed about the requirements of a gluten-free diet.

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of Pei Wei Asian Diner in Cary, as we experienced it:

PROS

* Quick, cheap and convenient dining option.
* Staff well trained in gluten-free dietary requirements.
* Kitchen visible from dining area.

CONS

* Risk of cross-contamination due to mixed kitchen.
* Limited gluten-free menu selection.


All in all, we plan to return to Pei Wei in the future, but with caution.

Gluten Free Cary: Challenge 1: Baking a Gluten-Free Cake

Gluten Free Cary: Challenge 1: Baking a Gluten-Free Cake
This was a post a wrote in January 2010 for Gluten Free Cary.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Challenge 1: Baking a Gluten-Free Cake

Gluten, a composite of gliadin and glutenin, is the protein in wheat grain, the elastic that binds together ingredients in dough. To bake without gluten is like trying to get two pieces of paper to stick to each other without glue. You can use tape; you can use paperclips or staples, but the end result is going to be different. Yesterday, I set out to use paperclips but make them act like glue.

V requested we bake a carrot cake and that seemed like an easier apprenticeship into gluten-free baking than, say, chocolate croissants.

I chose a carrot cake recipe from Rebecca Reilly's GLUTEN-FREE BAKING. Reilly is a graduate of LeNotre and Cordon Bleu cooking schools in Paris, so she knows how to bake, but here's the real sell for me: her book contains recipes for six different kinds of gluten-free biscotti. I have a *thing* for biscotti, so I'm looking forward to sampling homemade GF biscotti with my coffee.

Here are the ingredients I used to bake the carrot cake:





As you can see, it takes many ingredients to approximate the power of wheat gluten. Reilly's carrot cake is also dairy-free, egg-free, and sugar-free so it is great for people who have multiple sensitivities.

The cream cheese icing, on the other hand, is mostly dairy and sugar. So skip the icing if you are lactose intolerant or diabetic.





This is what it my dry and wet ingredients looked like before combining:




The house smelled divine while the cake was baking--a great sign!







Just out of the oven, you can see that the cake hardly rose. This is a dense dessert.

Here, I whipped up the cream cheese icing:





I'm not the world's best cake icer, but I thought the finished product looked pretty good, except for being really short:





Okay, so how about taste?

V loves it; I had to stop her from having too much. I like it, but would prefer using egg instead of tofu, if I can figure out how to make the substitution. Embracing my inner Betty Draper just a bit, I do believe the carrot cake passed the ultimate test. My husband, who is not on a gluten-free (or any other) diet took a piece with him to work. While I was writing this entry, he sent me the following text:

The carrot cake is totally yummy. It got me through the morning. No small feat.

If only "mission accomplished" weren't relegated to the linguistic trash-bin....
I'll have to settle for "challenge met".

Gluten Free Cary: Tom Yum Thai -- Restaurant Review

(This is an old review that I wrote in December 2011 for the blog, Gluten Free Cary)

Tom Yum Thai -- Restaurant Review by Joan Conwell 

For over a year I've been meaning to share this hidden gem with Cary celiacs and their families. Located in the Village Square Shopping Center on Cary Towne Blvd., near the mall and Cary High School, Tom Yum Thai has no gluten free menu, but the friendly and attentive owner will recommend dishes and ensure your food is prepared with gluten free soy sauce, if you speak with him directly. The pleasing atmosphere, with dark cherry and jade colored furnishings, soothing East Asian background music and nature sounds, and plenty of room between tables, makes for an enjoyable business lunch or dinner out before movies at the neighboring Galaxy Cinema.

Our family had dined at Tom Yum in pre-diagnosis years, and shortly after my daughter received her celiac diagnosis we brought our own bottle of gluten free soy sauce and cautiously asked the owner if there was anything he could prepare without wheat. As always, we explained that even the smallest amount of cross-contamination would make her sick. Tom Yum, it turned out, had another customer who was also gluten free, and the owner was familiar with the intolerance. He recommended several of the stir-fry dishes (available with a choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu, vegetables, or shrimp), which he said he could prepare with the gluten free soy sauce. For months, we brought our own gluten free soy sauce with us each time we went to Tom Yum, but now the restaurant keeps gluten free soy sauce in stock especially for their GF clientele.

Our daughter has stuck mostly to two dishes she loves: chicken with fresh ginger shreds prepared with chicken, peppers, baby corn, mushrooms, onions, scallions, carrots, and ginger; and chicken with Thai cashew nuts, made with chicken, scallions, carrots, peppers, nuts, and celery. Non-celiacs would be remiss not to try some of the delicious but non gluten-free curries and authentic Thai soups, but I think it's important to say that we've been to other restaurants that have promised to prepare gluten free food and our daughter has gotten violently ill from hidden gluten or cross-contamination. We've been to Tom Yum once or twice a month for almost two years, and she's never gotten sick afterwards. What's more, we've always enjoyed our meals there.

Tom Yum Thai

Village Square Shopping Center

685 Cary Towne Blvd.

Cary, NC 27511

919-463-5523

www.tomyumthaicary.com

Hours

Monday-Thursday	11:00AM - 2:30PM 5:00PM - 9:30PM
Friday	11:00AM - 2:30PM 5:00PM - 10:00PM
Saturday	12:00PM - 3:00PM 5:00PM - 10:00PM
Sunday	5:00PM - 9:30PM

Directions

Gluten Free Cary: Tom Yum Thai -- Restaurant Review

Gluten Free. Bakery. Paris. What could sound sweeter?

Amazing news for celiacs traveling to the City of Light! Helmut Newcake, the first entirely gluten free bakery in Paris, has opened in the 10th Arrondissement. This alone warrants a trip to France!

Do you travel with food allergies?

After the joys and hassles of another international trip in gluten free style, I want to know how others handle traveling with dietary restrictions.

I'm not a group tour kind of girl, but was surprised to find out there are Gluten Free travel tours available. This could be a great solution for some, but does not address the needs of business or independent travelers, or people traveling out of necessity.

Yesterday, I met a woman at the health food store whose son has autism and can't eat gluten or casein. They don't do much traveling, which she said would be overwhelming, but have to make a regular five-hour car trip. She packs sandwiches for him and they have a restaurant en route that takes extra care in preparing her son's food.

If you travel with a limited diet, do you pack everything you will need from home, plan out your stops in advance, or use phone apps to find restaurants?

I actually brought a portable electric burner with me to the Caribbean, but this did not turn out to be such a good idea.

Have you ever stayed at home because of dietary restrictions?

Do you have tips that would make life easier for others traveling with food allergies or sensitivities?

Please leave a comment or email me at joanie.conwell@gmail.com and tell me what kind of traveling you do and how you do it.

Medical News: AAAAI: Travel Difficult for People with Food Allergies - in Meeting Coverage, AAAAI from MedPage Today

This is not exactly shocking news, but some of the statistics are interesting:
Medical News: AAAAI: Travel Difficult for People with Food Allergies - in Meeting Coverage, AAAAI from MedPage Today