Harry Olson's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘gluten free’

D’lish
Their motto is VeryVegetarian. And they are. I’m not a vegetarian myself, but I enjoyed my meal at D’lish. I had a hummus wrap with beets, carrots and spinach and when cut in half, made a very pretty presentation. My wife ordered the grilled Seitan sandwich which was absolutely delicious. If you don’t know what Seitan is ask the staff. They know. Its an involved process with wet flour that gets rinsed over and over again until your left with a clear substance that is 90% gluten, or something like that. So, if you’re allergic to gluten, don’t order this! Anyway, this clear substance is then smoked to add flavor, then thin slices of it are grilled, adding even more flavor. Its deleicious. If you didn’t know what you were eating, you’d swear it was some kind of meat! Funny how vegetarians always try to come up with dishes that taste like meat. I guess it reminds them of their days before vegetarianism. Or something. Anyway, back to the food. I had the soup of the day which I think was potato onion. It was good and served with a delicious piece of dense wheat bread that had to be homemade. At first I thought the prices were kind of high, but what prices aren’t high in Sedona? And when you think about good vegetarian food made by people who are devoted to the cause, it was well worth it!

Yes, Hummus! Don’t ya just love it? Its a spread made with garbanzo beans processed with sesame seed paste (Tahini), lemon juice, cumin, garlic, salt a little olive oil and water. You can eat it with just a pita warmed and toasted. Or how about those deliciously healthy Terra Chips made of different root vegetables? But it doesn’t stop there. How about hummus spread in a pita pocket, then fill the pita with a variety of vegetables, cooked or raw? Add some chicken or turkey strips, or some grilled strips of portabello mushrooms. Instead of in a pita pocket, use flatbread. Use it as a healthy sandwich spread instead of mayo and/or ketchup. So how does one make this stuff. Well, here’s how I do it.

Ingredients:

• 1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed - This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein and Copper, and a very good source of Folate and Manganese.
• 2 cloves garlic – Lowers triglycerides, risks of cancer, heart disease and stroke
• 1/4 cup sesame paste (Tahini) – This food is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Phosphorus, Copper and Manganese.
• 2 tsps cumin - It is a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Phosphorus, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Manganese.
• Juice from half a lemon - It is also a good source of Folate and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C which helps prevent cancer and heart disease.
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil – low in Cholesterol and Sodium, helps lower risks of cancers and heart disease

Procedure:

Put the garlic in a food processor and process until finely minced. Add the garbanzo beans, sesame paste, cumin, lemon juice, water and salt. Turn the food processor on and while running add the olive oil.

How to serve:

What we did in our restaurant was put an 8 ounce portion of hummus in a glass cup, drizzle a little olive oil on it and dust it with some smoked paprika. It looked pretty and tasted great. We served it with two grilled pitas cut into eight pieces each, or with Terra Chips or a combination of the two. We would also create sandwich specials that were usually vegetarian in nature. Some were grilled vegetable sandwiches, portobello mushroom sandwiches, or a combination, usually in a toasted pita pocket that was coated with some of the hummus. Of course, if customers wanted they could add grilled chicken strips, shrimp or turkey to these sandwiches. And since hummus is a Middle Eastern thing, serving a sandwich made with it with a side of a cold couscous salad with golden raisins, toasted pine nuts, cilantro, coriander, currants, dried apricots was incredible good and authentic! Enjoy!

Well, I made a flourless chocolate cake. No gluten! And its kind of easy to do. Preheat your oven to 350 and butter a 9 inch spring form pan. Here’s the ingredients.

12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 pound unsalted butter

5 eggs

5 tbls powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Put chocolate and butter in glass bowl and microwave until melted.  I do one minute at a time and stir. You don’t want to burn your chocolate, so be careful. When the chocolate is fully melted, add the vanilla and stir until a smooth chocolaty consistency is achieved.

Meanwhile separate the egg whites from the yolks. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time.

Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg yolks and stir to combine. Fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture a third at a time. Be careful not to beat out the air that’s been incorporated into the egg whites. You want to end up with a very fluffy chocolate batter.

Pour the batter into the buttered spring form pan. Put the spring form pan on a sheet pan and put in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes.

Take out of the oven and let rest for 30 minutes. It will settle.

Before you release the spring form’s side, take a knife and run it around the edge of the pan between the pan and the cake just to make sure the cake doesn’t stick to the pan when you release the spring. alright, release the hounds, er I mean the spring form from the cake. The next step is tricky. Get a platter that fits the cake. With a long knife, separate the cake from the bottom of the spring form pan and slide it onto the platter. Be careful! Its very delicate! Just like me.

OK! You’re ready to eat! Cut into 8 slices. You could get 12 out of it if you have to. I garnish mine with Raspberry Sauce, whipped cream and powdered sugar. A scoop or two of vanilla ice cream is a nice touch too.