Mindful eating DOES include Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars

I’ve been lucky, food-wise. I didn’t have any food allergies growing up, and don’t seem to have developed any as an adult. Just the usual stuff about getting older and being more careful about what I eat -- the results of a recent cholesterol test suggest that perhaps I be a bit more restrained on my intake of pork belly and foie gras -- but otherwise I’ve been able to amble quite happily through all kinds of eating. I haven’t had to structure my choices around shouldn’t or can’t; more likely it’s “I tried the tripe pho and it just really wasn’t my thing.”

Interesting, then, that within the last several weeks I’ve been spending time with two people for whom gluten intolerance is a real issue. My first thought was: Horrors! No bread or pasta? (and as a big baker…) No baked goods!? My first reaction was shouldn’t and can’t, when really it just means thinking a little bit more about what you’re eating -- not a bad thing for any of us. That might include seeking out restaurants with good wheat-free options, and as you might expect this is a task that I plan to embrace with great enthusiasm. Already we’ve had a great meal from the gluten-free menu at Tango on lower Capitol Hill. And I was impressed to learn, during dinner at Volterra in Ballard, that they have started making gluten-free pasta and you just need to let them know when making your reservation that you’re interested in said pasta. I also hear tell of a fantastic little spot in Greenwood called Wheatless in Seattle, though I have yet to check it out…

With my gluten antennae firmly in place, last week I moved to a more advanced level of food awareness when I, along with my visiting mother, moved in with my nieces for the week. I knew that the youngest had recently been put on a diet that excluded the broad categories of gluten and dairy, but when I arrived and read through the list of can’ts there were also things like onion and garlic. So I went back through the recipes I had carefully amassed to see what could work with these new restrictions and sure enough, I had to shift my thinking once again. It’s good for me, this business of eating mindfully. Or at least mindfully in a way that doesn’t just include appreciating fresh ingredients and careful preparation, but also the specific components of each meal.


I am pleased to report that this meal of marinated flank steak, roasted asparagus and red potatoes that look suspiciously Yukon Gold-y was a big hit, and was delicious (if I do say so myself) while meeting all dietary requirements. Luckily the hectic schedules of two very busy girls meant that someone else preparing the food was sometimes the better option, so the chicken teriyaki at Himitsu and gluten- and dairy-free pizza from Garlic Jim’s also figured prominently in my week.

Remember my initial reaction and the horror at no longer being able to bake if gluten-restricted? I had been doing some research over the last few weeks, reading about all of the ways to replace wheat flour in various recipes. While I may eventually make my own flour mixture, for the moment I’m using Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour with great results. One square of these Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars is about all my youngest niece can have for the moment, until dairy is less of an issue, but the successful substitution of the non-wheat-y flour means that they are good to go for the gluten intolerant of the world. And quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350°. Use cooking spray to coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line it with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 minutes. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into 32 bars.

[Thanks to Real Simple for the original, wheat-y version of this recipe]

Quick party turnaround

Hey Alix,

I am hoping you can help me with something:

We are having somewhat of a last minute “big wig” dinner on our boat for a group of eleven this Thursday! The higher ups from a large corporation are coming in from all over the nation -- including Hawaii -- for this occasion. I am thinking finger food and cocktails along with our tour. We have hired a captain but feel like we don’t need catering staff. Looking for Northwest-y food, artfully displayed.

Help!!!

- Happy Boater

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Dear Happy Boater,

A small event two days from now, and you want the party to have a Northwest flair? Here are a couple of options:

1. If you’re looking for easy, my first suggestion would be to call caterer Madres Kitchen and see if they can get something together this quickly. They are great -- two mothers own it (hence the name) -- and they are terrific to work with. They can likely put together lovely platters that they simply drop off, rather than having to hang around and be "cater-y."

2. Or, if you're up for a little bit of assembly and a little bit of cooking, how about the Whole Foods route? Their prepared food section would have a bunch of good options, including outstanding crab cakes if you have access to an oven. A quick bake and some bottled sauce, and you’re all set. Chicken and vegetable skewers can be done slightly in advance, so that you’re not slaving over the grill and trying to be hostess with the mostess at the same time. Add a couple of salads from that same section, maybe a shrimp something and whatever orzo variety they have on hand.

Elsewhere in the store, pick up packaged lox, cream cheese, capers and sliced tomato, along with thin rye toasts; such a Northwest kind of thing to serve. A cheese plate with a selection of two to three always helps to round out heavy hors d’oeuvres; Mt. Townsend’s Seastack is one of my favorites.

3. As for beverages, how about St. Germaine gin and tonics, made with gin from Spokane’s own Dry Fly Distilling. You might also want some beers on hand, and perhaps at the same Whole Foods you’ll be able to find some local options. Two of my personal favorites are made locally in Georgetown, Georgetown Brewing Company’s Manny’s Pale Ale and Baron Brewing Company’s Baron Pilsner.

4. For dessert, how about a tray of artfully broken up bars from Theo Chocolate or Fran's salted caramels -- both available at Whole Foods, I'm nearly certain. Add a couple of small bowls of different berries (strawberries and blueberries, say) and you're set.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an inordinate love for peanut butter, particularly desserts which contain this magical ingredient. On this post-Thanksgiving day, having just overindulged in turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, why not share a recipe? These bars got good reviews on their first public outing, and I promise that you will be well-received when you bring these along with you to your next holiday party.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Makes 48 bars

3 c powdered sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c softened butter
2 c crunchy peanut butter
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c milk

Beat together sugars and butter until blended; the mixture will be crumbly. Mix in peanut butter. With clean hands, press the mixture into an ungreased 9”x13” pan in a smooth layer. Melt the chocolate and milk together in a small pan on the stove, and spread over the peanut butter layer. Freeze until the bars begin to set (approximately 20 minutes), cut into 48 bars, then return to the freezer to continue to set. Bars can be stored in a sealed container in the freezer, and are tasty straight out of the freezer or allowed to warm up slightly.

Thanks, Joanna, for introducing us to this recipe and Mom, for bringing it back from your Australian visit. Ah, the extra special challenge of converting from metric…

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Honeybees -- who knew?

I went to a fantastic event this week downtown at the Palace Ballroom, part of “The Good Life” series from Kim Ricketts and interviewer extraordinaire, Warren Etheredge. The series features authors who have created for themselves this kind of life, and share with the rest of us how to do the same. Tuesday’s special guest was C. Marina Marchese, author of Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper and owner of Connecticut's Red Bee Artisanal Honey. I haven’t had a chance yet to read the book, but a couple of things from the conversation stuck out for me.

One is the concept of flower constancy and how it relates to flavors of honey. Apparently honeybees have a traveling radius of 2-3 miles, so that’s the area in which they seek out various flowers. And within that radius they return to the same flower time after time. It’s this pattern that allows beekeepers to produce honey with a consistent flavor profile. In order maintain that consistency, they track what is blooming at a particular time and stop harvesting the honey that their bees are producing 2-3 weeks after that flower stops blooming. And voila, you have lavender honey or wild raspberry honey or blueberry blossom honey, whatever is in season and within the honeybees’ nectar-gathering radius.

The second has to do with the traveling radius of a honeybee as well, but as it relates to what’s an organic product and what’s not. Because bees leave the hive and collect nectar from flowers within this 2-3 mile radius, it’s tough for a beekeeper to guarantee that nothing the bees come into contact with contains pesticides or other nasties, thus making the organic stamp of approval very difficult to attain. The good news is that if it’s challenging to buy organic honey, it’s really easy to buy honey blessed with our other current favorite stamp of approval: “produced locally.” And even better, eating this honey means that you’re ingesting allergens local to your particular environment, thus you’re less likely to suffer the effects of these same allergens when you breathe them in their flowering form. What a deal!

I’ve been meaning to attend a Kim Ricketts event for a while, and now that I’ve been to this one I’m looking forward to the Cooks and Books visiting chef series, particularly. Who wouldn’t love the pairing of interesting venue, fantastic food and entertaining personality?

[Photo courtesy of Red Bee Artisanal Honey]

On the blogs: Manhattan tree house, paper chandeliers, Blue C Sushi, healthcare reform

Like many of you, there are several blogs that I return to day after day (or subscribe to, or RSS, or whatever method you choose) to see what’s happening and what interesting things are on the radar. On my blog I’ve listed several of my favorites, but here are a few recent posts that I’ve enjoyed and think that you should check out as well:

The team at BUILD LLC posted photos of their recent Manhattan Tree House Pavilion, designed by BUILD in Seattle and constructed onsite for a Microsoft product launch in NYC. A fantastically modern interpretation of the traditional tree house.

Paper chandeliers? What the heck? It’s wacky ideas like this that make me check back regularly and see what’s new and inspiring on design*sponge.

In “Outpost”, Seattle Metropolitan’s Steve Wiecking gives us a very cleverly-written look into what’s happening in the cultural life of the city. I particularly his weekly Met Picks, a snapshot of all of the cool things coming up that we should check out.

Nancy Leson’s “All You Can Eat” is a must-read for me because in addition to sharing a recipe from time to time she talks about food from all different angles: Her travels around the Seattle area and often further afield; who is opening new restaurants and what makes them and the restaurant interesting (Blue C Sushi downtown -- excellent!); and happenings like this upcoming event at Town Hall about the politics of food.

On Rebekah Denn’s “Eat All About It” she recently talked about the future of restaurant criticism which as you might imagine hit close to home, given that I’m one of those who simply likes food but has no professional credentials. But dining and posting responsibly, I hope…

I don’t know if Margaret and Helen really ARE two grandmothers, but I choose to believe it so that I can really enjoy an introductory paragraph like this one from their recent post about healthcare reform: “Margaret, I know it has been a few years since we last made the trip across the pond, but I was wondering if anyone is still alive in Europe? I watched a little bit of Fox News this weekend and I’m afraid everyone in Europe might have died from lack of access to healthcare. What a shame. They had such delicious food and beautiful art.”

Comfort food

Last weekend I baked bread, which is not something I do very often. Hors d’oeuvres, soups, meats and of course dessert make much more frequent appearances on my cooking schedule. But something about baking bread hit just the right note for me. It has been a lot of out lately, and spending the afternoon in seemed very appealing. Maybe it was knowing that I would have to dig in and really use the heels of my hands to knead the dough, or maybe it was the line in the recipe that directed me to give the dough a couple of good whacks with the rolling pin. Both good for working out some of life’s stresses, and all part of the alchemy of comfort food.

Some of the joy of this bread is that it’s made from a recipe straightforwardly titled, “Mom’s White Bread.” This is the bread of my later childhood, when my mom did most of the baking of the bread we ate. It’s funny because my childhood and the one experienced by my older sisters seem to have been marked by different phases of domesticity for our mother; they got the seamstress and I got the bread baker. Picture this: In college when others were getting care packages of cookies I was getting care packages of bread. I must be harkening back to comfort food that is parent-related, in fact, because the day before I made pancakes, straight from the Biquick box, of course. This was the specialty of the house whenever my dad was making breakfast. No Mickey Mouse ears or other funny shapes, just darn tasty pancakes.

Comfort food is any of this, all of this. The very act of making it reminds you of good times. The second you taste it you’re hit with memories. The process fills a need (which in my case last weekend was whacking at something with intention). And sometimes it’s comfort food because it’s reliable; you know it’s going to taste good.

The bread I made took forever to rise as much as it did, and consequently it’s a petite loaf and a little more dense than it should be. But it was a beautiful golden brown, made my place smell like Macrina Bakery first thing in the morning and tasted none too shabby to boot.

Often it’s the act of someone preparing something for us that makes for the comfort in comfort food, but when that’s not an option -- when Mom isn’t knocking on my door with a pan of orange rolls fresh from the oven -- I go straight to the old standbys. For me, sometimes it’s food I make: vegetable barley soup, peanut butter pie, Japanese curry. And sometimes it must be acquired elsewhere: sushi from Musashi’s, pork vermicelli noodle bowl from Green Leaf, lamb burger from Matt’s in the Market. Bring on the new, interesting and inventive food most of the time, but there will always be a place for comfort food for me, sustenance of another kind.

Gateau de couscous

The other night I was at Café Presse on Capitol Hill -- previously recommended as a fun spot on Capitol Hill south -- and had the most interesting dessert. It should be known that we went to Café Presse for the express purpose of having dessert. This wasn’t one of those, “I’ve just had a fantastic meal of steak frites and how about some chocolat chaud to top it off” kinds of decisions. I had been to Café Presse a couple of weeks before and had one of the best sorts of cobbler-y dishes ever, so when tasked with finding somewhere with good non-chocolate options that’s what I chose.

So what was this noteworthy dessert, you ask? Gateau de couscous. I asked our server to repeat himself because surely he couldn’t have meant that tiny grain cropping up in savory dishes all over the place. But he sure did. It turned out to be a slice of something that looked much like fruitcake, no doubt because of the pieces of dried fruit, but lighter in color. It was as though the chef had mashed couscous together until it had a slightly gummy texture, then incorporated the dried fruit. I’ll admit that describing the texture as gummy doesn’t lead you to believe that I liked it, but not only was it interesting, it was decidedly tasty. Or maybe my assessment had something to do with what tasted like a crème anglaise under the slice of cake. What isn’t made better by heavy cream, egg yolks and sugar?

In looking for my own recipe to try most of the links I came across were in French. I decided to take this as a sign of the dessert’s rich cultural heritage, and not just the result of a search in which one of the terms was in French. My translation skills being as rusty as they are I couldn’t actually confirm that those recipes approximated the dessert I’d had at Café Presse, so I might have to concoct something on my own. Though in my search I did hit on this recipe for Olive Oil Couscous Cake with Crème Fraîche and Date Syrup on the Epicurious.com website. The preparation is much different than I experienced -- the couscous is cooked as part of the batter rather than pressed into form -- but I figure that anything with “cake” and “couscous” in the title has to be worth a try.