random thoughts from yours truly

If you’re ever in Montreal and can only have one meal, this is where you should go.  Never mind the fact that we had dinner surrounded by Chuck Hughes, Edward Sharpe, and Billy Talent we should probably discuss this caesar:

it was basically a meal in itself, two crab legs, fresh horseradish, and celery in a giant glass.  No caesar will ever compare, ever.

Now, onto the second appetizer:

salmon on salmon on salmon.  Salmon sashimi with salmon jerky smothered in deliciousness (aka what I believe to have been butter and olive oil).  The sashimi melted in your mouth and the jerky had a perfect crisp to compliment it.  This dish was a win for me.

I’m not going to lie - by the time we got to the entree’s I was already at a point that was passed full but we were committed.  Not to mention that when someone places a lobster risotto like the the one below in front of my face its hard to know when to stop.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t finish it - I’m sorry Chuck, it was so amazing, I just needed two stomachs to fit it all in.  I did eat every lobster piece out of there in an attempt not to waste.

Dan’s meal: Ribs & onion rings, a meal fit for men.  There was cheese melted on the ribs and based on this, i probably don’t need to say much more.

I would fly back for dinner if I could.

Yes… It’s gluten-free!

“What the f***, this is gluten-free?” is the best compliment anyone can give you when you’re baking gluten-free.  That’s when you know you’ve done a good job.

And yes, that is the kind of compliment this pie gets but that’s likely because it was adapted from the one and only Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen.  Find the original pie here and original crust here.

Gluten-Free, All Butter Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold diced into 1.5 inch pieces

Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside.  In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar and salt.

Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with a pastry blender.  When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop.

Drizzle 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes) over the butter and flour mixture.  Using a rubber or silicon spatula (or… your hands!), gather the dough together.  Slowly add additional cold water to bring it all together (use as little of the residual water as possible).  Gather the clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.

Divide the dough in half and wrap in saran wrap.

Refrigerate for minimally one hour - the longer you wait the easier your dough will be to work with.

Pie Filling
3 1/2 cups rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced if big
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca (I used cornstarch as that was all I had but I trust that Deb was on to something when she swore by tapioca… my pie did leak everywhere when I tried to transport it)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Gluten-free flour for rolling dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate (If you end up with holes in your crust just add left over dough to cover them up)

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca (or cornstarch) in a large bowl. Pour filling inside bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter. Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle and cut decorative slits in it or cut it into strips and criss-cross it. Move the dough on top of the pie filling. Arrange edges of crust to be they way you want.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet and brush egg yolk mixture over dough. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to wire rack to cool.

Adapted from Martha, obviously.

Yield: 12 small scones

Preheat oven to 400 degress

Ingredients:

Adapted from food.com

Before I give you the recipe I’d like to point out that scones are dead easy and a delightful treat with your dinner (or for breakfast!).

Yield: 16 small scones

This passed weekend I really wanted to bake everything and anything. So I did just that.  I forget, too easily, how much I love it.  I think I fell out of it a bit when I discovered that I was allergic to wheat; I mean baking without flour? How is that possible?  I’ve since realized, it’s all by trial and error.  I’ve stopped looking up gluten free or wheat free recipes. People tend to believe that if you’re looking for gluten free you automatically want it to be healthy… Seriously, I’m baking, load up on the sugars and butter.

So here’s what I made:

Cheddar Cheese & Chive Scones, Apple and Oat Scones, Banana Bread, and Salted Caramel Brownies.  Recipes to follow.