OMG I have the biggest crush right now: The ONLY cookbook you'll ever need for gluten-free baking

 

If gluten-free baking has ever made you sad, I have the solution. 

As an intermittent subscriber to Cook’s Illustrated, I freely admit that I’m often so overwhelmed by their meticulous approach to absolutely everything* that I don’t often cook from the magazines. This is a shame, because the things I’ve made have basically been perfect and ought to become part of my regular rotation.

I also have several of their single-topic cookbooks (“Sous Vide for Everybody,” anyone?) and they’re similarly excellent, if a little intimidating. So I half-thought that the copy of The How Can It Be Gluten-Free Cookbook Collection that I was recently gifted with might be more of the same – I’d page through it, marvel at their precision and detail, and shelve it right next to the baking-only subset of this book, which I already own and haven’t touched.

Wrong! So, so, so wrong. First off, gluten-free baking is a continual source of disappointment for me; but I figured if anyone was going to get it right it was going to be America’s Test Kitchen. In the “Why This Recipe Works” section before each recipe, I actually understand the incremental changes they make; I’ve tried many of these adjustments myself and get how a teaspoon of psyllium husk, for instance, can make all the difference. Also it was a gift and I didn’t want to be ungrateful.

So in I dove. The first, crucial step is making the ATK all-purpose flour blend. The recipes include notes for subbing in King Arthur Flour’s All-Purpose flour mix and Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Flour Blend, but they rightly point out that (1) King Arthur’s turns out pretty well but just isn’t quite right and (2) Bob’s Red Mill stuff always tastes kind of beany. (Try that nasty-ass Chicka pasta monstrosity if you’re not sure what I mean by that.)

The first recipe I made was focaccia, because I crave it occasionally and it went well with dinner. The result was almost too fluffy – something I never in a million, billion years thought I would ever say about something gluten-free. My advice: oil the sides of the pan, because the dough is going to rise more than you expect and you don’t want the middle to look sunken when you pull the final product out of the oven; and pay close attention to the instructions about when exactly to put the baking stone in the oven so your temperatures are accurate. John has never had focaccia before and ate half of it. I consider it a great success.

The next challenge was pie crust. I’ve made the occasional GF pie crust and it’s never bad; in fact, it holds up better than regular pie crust in that it doesn’t get soggy overnight. It’s not tender and flaky, though, and it’s usually a little too gloppy to roll out nicely. Adding bench flour seems to make it tough.

Naturally, the ATK folks have experienced the same things. The resulting pie crust was relatively easy to roll out – I say relatively because I didn’t let it warm up enough before rolling it out and it was an absolute test of my upper-body strength. I was feeling very impatient. It was, however, my first-EVER double-crust pie and I was mostly pleased with it. The crust itself was great where it wasn’t too thin or too thick, because I really need some practice rolling; I’m going to get it when I roll out the crust for tonight’s dessert. Because it was so good and so easy that I’m actually making desserts. They have also thoughtfully provided separate recipes for single- and double-crust pies so I don’t have to do math in my head, a sure formula for not-nearly-as-much success (not an actual disaster, but certainly an inferior product).

Flush with success, I decided to tackle the Light and Fluffy Biscuits. As Anna said, “Holy fucking shit. This is gluten-free?!” which should give you an idea of how actually light and fluffy these were. They were amazing. I did notice a little bit of a tang from the yogurt but it wasn’t enough to take away from the absolute deliciousness – they were just the right amount of moist, the crumb was tender, they were fluffy; they even browned up! They were, in short, perfect. If you buy this cookbook for no other reason than this biscuit recipe, it would be well worth it.

By now my tub of flour mix was getting low. I used the last cup to improvise some self-rising cornmeal for a squash fritter recipe (from a different cookbook) (also delicious) (recipe to follow at some point) and now I need to make a grocery run to fill the tub up again. I’ll be making a double batch this time, since I’m apparently on a baking bender. I’d also like to try the whole grain version, as there’s a graham cracker recipe I’m feeling pretty optimistic about. It would be nice to have s’mores at the fire pit that are made from something other than Deb Perelman’s excellent cookie cake recipe, which is delightful but not really a proper s'more.

The How Can It Be Gluten-Free Cookbook Collection from America’s Test Kitchen. Rating: 5 out of 5. Would definitely recommend to anyone who’s ever felt sad about gluten-free baking. 

 *These are the cooks who will make 100 dozen sugar cookies “so you don’t have to.” Like I would ever make 100 dozen sugar cookies. They can tell you down to the increment of a teaspoon how much salt something needs. It’s insane.

Jen and the Giant Peach, Part 2: Pork Tacos and a Pet Peeve

The peach madness continued unabated in our house. The second-best dish of Peach Week (yes, they went that fast) was the pork tacos with peach salsa. While it seemed a bit of a shame to waste something so delicious on a salsa where it would be covered up with other flavors, I was wrong; I found myself wishing I’d made (more) extra to scoop up with chips the next day.

The real winner here is the spice rub: it’s going into my regular rotation as the perfect blend of spicy and whatever goes well with spicy that isn’t sweet. It made for some excellent tacos in which the meat was just as much a star as everything else, which is really saying something given the accessories these were sporting.

Using this even though Mark Harmon isn't very nice

This is another recipe I got from Pam (I really need to remember to ask her where these all came from…), and I’d like to find the authors and give them a friendly smack upside the head. What is the deal with putting ingredients in the wrong order? If you’re following the instructions, you read from top to bottom and work your way through the ingredient list. For some daft reason, they saw fit to put all sorts of things in all sorts of places – the yogurt after the tortillas when you’re clearly using them with the avocados, for instance, and spices split in half and scattered willy-nilly throughout the list. This is the only thing I’ve ever seen that’s more annoying than “Combine XYZ and next 6 ingredients” as the first instruction – like I want to be doing math (counting is math) while I cook!

For your considerably more convenience that I experienced, I’ve put the ingredients in the ACTUAL order in which you use them. I know you're not intimidated by how many ingredients there are, because you know by now that (1) I wouldn't do this unless it was worth it and (2) if it was a big bother, I would have warned you already and (3) I don't do hard things in the summer. 

Pork Chops with Peach Salsa with all the ingredients in a sensible, correct order

4 thin pork chops, or a few thick ones cut in half, or whatever combination of pork you come up with, as long as it's thin and flat enough to grill quickly

1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp coriander
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp allspice
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided 
 
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
5 Tbsp lime juice, divided 
 
3 peaches, diced
½ shallot, minced
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp sugar
 
Enough tortillas for the number of people you're feeding

 Combine the spices in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and rub this mixture over the pork chops. Start the grill.  

Blend the avocado, yogurt or sour cream, and 4 tablespoons lime juice together (use the food processor for optimal creaminess)(the yogurt would probably add a nice little tang but you know damn well I used the sour cream).

Combine the peaches, shallot, cilantro, sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl.

Grill the pork chops. Let them rest a couple of minutes, then slice into strips. Serve on the tortillas with the avocado cream and salsa. The salsa is great on chips the next day, should you happen to make extra. I forget what we repurposed the leftover avocado cream for, but it was delicious and not at all brown and scary like leftover avocado usually is. The pork is delicious eaten straight from the fridge in a fit of late-night protein craving.

Jen and the Giant Peach: Bougie Flatbreads Edition

(OK, not technically one gigantic peach – more like 25 pounds of smaller ones. But the comparison was practically begging to be made.) 

I ordered a shipment from The Peach Truck this year. What these peaches lacked in colossal size they more than made up for by being ridiculously good – I accrued some goodwill among my friends by delivering 6-count bags to quite a few porches around the area, and I still had plenty of peaches to each them at every single meal all week and still have some in the fridge to get me through the weekend. Whatever they put into them is clearly working, as I just ordered another 25 pounds from the August shipment in the throes of some kind of peach-induced madness. 

For the record, I’m not actually a big fan of Roald Dahl books – I find them creepy as hell, and not in a good way. However. I have very specific memories of one of my cousins reading “James and the Giant Peach” to her younger brother and I as a bedtime story. I’m 100% sure we were far too old for bedtime stories by this time, but it was a nightly ritual that I loved and looked forward to, and I’m also 100% sure that’s why my kids had such a long run of bedtime stories themselves. 

Actual conversation from this weekend: 

“I thought of you. I ordered 25 pounds of peaches and thought about you reading “James and the Giant Peach” every time we ate one.” 

“Jennifer, what do you even do with 25 pounds of peaches?” 

“I shared some. We ate a lot of them.” (lists all the recipes we cooked with the peaches) 

"That sounds delicious. How many do you have left?” 

“Four.” 

“Four pounds?"

“Um. Four peaches.” 

Silence. 

I prefer to think this was inspired by her awe at my peach-using ingenuity, but I think it was horror at the thought of someone actually eating all that fruit. In my defense, I had help. 

I’m reasonably sure by now you’re wondering how exactly one cooks with many peaches. Yes, when I list all the recipes I sound like Bubba from “Forrest Gump,” so I’ll spare you that. The hands-down favorites were the pork tacos with peach salsa and the flatbreads; and since they’re faster, easier, and something I’m probably going to make with one of the last 4 peaches, I’m sharing this recipe in the hopes that you too will have a craving for a bougie lunch. 

Also, I ordered another 25 pounds. 

(Shared by my friend Pam (who also ordered from the Peach Truck), so I have no idea where this recipe came from. I’ve cut it in half but it will easily scale up for as many bougie friends as you have. One flatbread per person really is enough. 

Jen and the Giant Peach Flatbread 

6 oz fresh mozzarella (or enough ricotta for a decent schmear on each piece of bread) 
2 mini naan flatbreads 
2 Tbsp olive oil 
1 peach, thinly sliced 
2 oz. prosciutto, cut into thin strips 
¼ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced 

Preheat the oven to 450. This will be worth turning your oven on, I promise. 

Place the naan on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Place 3 thick slices of mozzarella on each one (or the ricotta, if that’s how you roll), then layer with the peach slices, prosciutto, and 1 ½ tablespoons of basil for each one. Season with salt and pepper. 

Bake about 8 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese is melted. We ate these as-is, but it was suggested that a nice drizzle of balsamic vinegar would not go amiss. Next time.