Gluten Free in DC Heads South

This summer has been a time of change and transition for David and me. In May David completed law school and in June I finished up teaching for the summer. While David buckled down to study for the Bar, I prepared for our move to Atlanta. Yes, that’s right. We’re heading south! We’re moving to Georgia for a year and then the plan is that we’ll be back in DC in September 2010.

I moved our stuff to Atlanta in mid-July while David took the Virginia Bar. I flew back up to DC after the Bar and we’ve had some great mini-trips with lots of delicious food between then and now. I’ll be blogging about some of these feasts throughout Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia soon.

My plan for the next 12 months is to continue updating on Gluten Free in DC as both of our families and many friends are still in the Washington area so we’ll be making trips back to the District and the Commonwealth of Virginia throughout the year.

While in Atlanta I’ll also be blogging at a new address:

www.GlutenFreedomAtlanta.blogspot.com


Please check out the new blog and pass it along to friends that in the Atlanta area.
Thanks for continuing to follow Gluten Free in DC!

Pete's APizza in DC Offers GF crust

On Sunday night, David and I had dinner with our friends, Chris and Molly at their DC home. Molly and Chris are always eager to try new gluten free options and they had discovered that Pete's New Haven Style Apizza (located near the Columbia Heights metro) offers a gluten free crust.

When we called to ask about the preparation of the crust and pizza, they were very knowledgeable about contamination, telling us that the pizza crust is cooked halfway in a separate oven and then when a GF crust is ordered, they put it in the oven with the other pizzas, but on a special baking stone for just GF orders. (It always makes me feel better and more confident in the food when the manager clearly understands the need to be cautious in preparing the food, not just the ingredients.)

The pizza was delivered to Molly and Chris' house and we thoroughly enjoyed the crispy crust. Pete's gluten free crust is a thinner, crispier crust with a great crunch. The only problem is there are so many topping options to choose. The only toppings that contain gluten are the fried eggplant and meatballs, but the rest are gluten free friendly. David and I shared the Nighthawk pizza which is topped with basil pesto, grilled chicken, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions and mozzarella. Delicious! I look forward to trying the New Haven Green (artichoke hearts, oven dried tomatoes, sauteed spinach and olives) next time!

Pete's New Haven APizza

1400 Irving Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-332-PETE (7383)

Cooking with Summer Squash

One of my favorite summer foods is squash. You can find squash easily and in great quantities during Washington, D.C. summers. Last summer I shared a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with my sister-in-law, Alden, and we were blessed with all of the squash and zucchini we could imagine.

If you love fresh vegetables and fruit, a CSA is a great idea for the summer. You get a delivery each week from the same farm of whatever vegetables are growing on that farm at that moment. It forced me to cook and experiment with unfamiliar produce such as bok choy but I also learned to make my own pesto (due to the unlimited basil we received for a few weeks) and gluten free zucchini bread. I would recommend sharing a CSA with a good friend because then you don't feel as if you're wasting food when you're out of town on vacation and it's a fun excuse to cook together!

When joining a CSA or going to a local farmer's market, you're guaranteed to encounter plenty of squash. There are many ways to cook squash but today I wanted to share two delicious squash dishes that are family favorites. Both of these dishes are great for entertaining because they don't require much hands on attention once the cooking process begins.

Simple Roasted Summer Squash: This dish is very simple, easy and flavorful and you can make it in small or large quantities (sometimes a CSA will only give you one piece of squash which can be difficult to find a recipe and use for just one).

Ingredients:
Summer squash, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
Onion, sliced
Olive oil
Salt/pepper
parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Slice squash into 1/2 inch round pieces. (If it's a larger squash/zucchini, I then cut the rounds in half.)
3. Slice up an onion.
4. Place onion and squash on cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Mix up onions and squash in olive oil. Lay onions and squash flat on cookie sheet.
5. Cook for 15 minutes then using a spatula, flip onions and squash and cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 2 minutes.
(Note: I like the squash to be nice a browned before taking them out of the oven, but they also taste good when not browned.)

Dot's Squash Casserole: This recipe is my grandmother, Dot's, old recipe. My mom made it last week and I'm going to make it today using squash from my in-law's garden in Linden, VA that is overflowing with summer vegetables right now!

Ingredients:
3 pounds summer squash, chunked
3 medium onions, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
(the original recipe also calls for crumbled crackers on top but we just skip that step now to make it GF! I think it tastes better without it anyways)

Directions:
1. Cook squash & onions with water, sugar, salt and pepper until mashable (about 45 minutes).
2. Beat two eggs lightly.
3. Add milk to eggs and mix well with squash. Add butter and mix.
4. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes.
This recipe freezes well also!

Enjoy the abundance of squash during the last month of summer! Feel free to add your own squash recipes.

Cherry Blossom Cakes

This cake maker was featured yesterday in Daily Candy and in May's Gluten Free Examiner. The cakes look yummy and they got rave reviews from non-gluten free eaters as well! I haven't yet tried one of these cakes but hope to soon. I'm always thrilled to see more gluten free options in the DC area.

(Photo from DC Gluten Free Examiner, May 2009)

Cherry Blossom Cakes

Zeer.com: A new way to shop for Gluten Free Foods

Zeer.com is a website that has over 30,000 products and lists their 'gluten free safety status.' The website has four categories to label foods: labeled as gluten free, contains gluten, appears gluten free, and may contain gluten. When you click on a product, it will tell you the status as well as provide you with products that are similar and gluten free. Zeer.com claims to be very up to date on the latest information regarding celiac disease and the gluten free diet.

There is a monthly subscription fee to Zeer.com and I haven't decided yet if I want to pay for the subscription, but the website is definitely worth checking out. They let you access some of the website without paying the fee so you can get an idea of what it's all about.

Zeer.com

Farm Table Celebration at Evening Star

When David graduated from law school this spring, we wanted to find a place to celebrate with our families and share a delicious meal together. The owners of Evening Star in Del Ray (one of our favorite restaurants) also own a wine shop next door, called Planet Wine. This shop is beautiful, with dark wood shelves and wines displayed throughout and covering the walls. The owners have put a huge table in Planet Wine, naming it Farm Table. You can reserve the Farm Table for a night and get a special meal created by Evening Star chef, Will Artley, composed of seasonally fresh and local food.

David and I decided to see if we could get a gluten free Farm Table meal for our family during his graduation weekend. I contacted Clare Parker, who organizes reservations for Farm Table and she assured us that Will would be happy to create a gluten free meal for our law school celebration. Clare was super friendly and helpful throughout the reservation and menu planning process.

On Saturday, May 16th we arrived at Planet Wine with parents, brothers, sisters and spouses, and shared an absolutely delicious meal. Even though the meal was over a month ago, I remember it so well. The flavors came together perfectly and we had a great evening of food and togetherness. I have to tell you about the food itself, but just writing about it, will not sufficiently explain just how good it was.

We started with champagne and a canapé of Virginia Oysters on the half shell and beef tartare with spicy jicama and crispy yucca. I must admit that I was a little nervous about beef tartare but it was delicious and the different flavors and textures were perfect. The jicama and yucca acted like a crisp cracker that held the beef tartare.

After the canapé, we sat down and Chef Will Artley came out to chat with us and introduce the meal to us. The first course was a bibb salad with grilled asparagus, caramelized shallots and pancetta deviled egg. Wow! The deviled egg flavor was strong but went perfectly when combined with the asparagus.

For the main course, diners had the two options: grilled sea scallops with spring succotash and carrot emulsion or forever braised lamb shanks with fava bean ristotto. mushrooms and green peppercorn sauce. I went with the lamb shanks and it was quite possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Will did a nice job of providing two very different options, so that everyone could find something they would enjoy.

The best part of the meal was dessert, which was of course gluten free! The baker at Buzz made strawberry rhubarb shortcake with vanilla ice cream. What a great finish to the meal!

So now that David’s buried in his study for the Bar Exam, I can’t help but think back to what a fun night we had at Farm Table. A meal made of fresh, delicious, gluten free food and our families together in one place. I love how food brings people together and Farm Table provided the perfect back drop for an evening of celebration.

Thai Shirlington Offers Many GF Options

Thai Shirlington is another wonderful discovery in the gluten free dining world! The other night I decided to call the restaurant and see if they were familiar with a gluten free diet. Tthe manager I spoke with on the phone told me that they had many gluten free diners and she assured me that they could accommodate my diet.

Thrilled by this news, my friends and I went to Thai Shirlington that evening and the manager was so helpful. She took me through every item on the menu and told me what I could and couldn't have. This was so helpful and it allowed me to know what all of my options were from the beginning. I went with the Panang Perfect and it was delicious as well as naturally gluten free. This meal comes with rice, but their rice noodles are also gluten free. She also knew that soy sauce has gluten in it. Some of the other gluten free items on the menu that I'm eager to try are the green curry chicken and chicken pad thai.

If you go to Thai Shirlington, and I encourage you to do so, just ask for the manager to help you through the menu. They're extremely friendly and the manager assured me that once the waiter took my order, she would follow up with the kitchen.

My friends have gone to many restaurants with me since I started my gluten free life, and one of my friends who was at dinner with me commented that this was one of the best and most helpful restaurants she'd been to with me and she's right! I highly recommend Thai Shirlington if you're in the mood for yummy (and reliably gluten free) Thai food at a very reasonable price!

Thai Shirlington Website

THAI in Shirlington
4029 Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206

703.931.3203

Making Trash with Gluten Free Chex

Good news! Rice Chex are now officially gluten free, as General Mills has replaced barley malt with molasses in the recipe. Chex also mentions on their website that they actively prevent cross contamination and have tested their Rice Chex for gluten. Thank you, General Mills!

While it’s always nice to have yet another cereal option, I’m even more excited about the fact that I can make one of my favorite and easy to makesweet snacks: Trash.

Yes, the name is a bit odd, but it’s oh so good! You may remember this chocolate, peanut butter, crunchy treat from your childhood, but if you’re not familiar with this simple recipe, you should definitely try it.

Recipe for Trash:

1 stick butter
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter
9 c. Gluten Free Rice Chex
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 white kitchen trash bag (new & clean)

Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter in 3 quart saucepan. Pour cereal into a large bowl. Pour chocolate mixture slowly over cereal. Gently fold mixture over until all the cereal is covered.

In a medium size trash bag pour 1/2 of the powdered sugar. Put cereal mixture on it and pour in the rest of the powdered sugar. Tie top of bag securely and gently shake bag until each cereal is covered with powdered sugar and chocolate. After cooling, place in an airtight container. Will keep for several weeks.

Enjoy!

A Local Treat: The Dairy Godmother

Today I was craving a delicious frozen treat and I remembered a cute and yummy frozen custard shop in Del Ray called the Dairy Godmother. Since I hadn’t been to the Dairy Godmother since I was diagnosed with celiac, I wasn’t sure exactly what ingredients go into the custard so I decided to email them directly. Within 15 minutes, I had a response from the Dairy Godmother and it was great news!

Here’s the email I received directly from Liz, the owner of the Dairy Godmother:

The custard and sorbets ARE gluten-free.We often have gluten-free cookies such as macaroons and marshmallows that we make.We usually have gluten-free cones as well.

My kids could not have dairy or gluten when they were small so I am very conscious of having something for everyone.

I have quite a few requests for gluten free items. Sometimes the flavor of the day has cake or something with gluten in it so the customer should ask if it has gluten but the gluten is not hidden. It will say "with vanilla wafers" so that people who are used to checking will not be surprised.

Thanks a bunch for asking, Liz

I always love such a confident and thoughtful response! Needless to say I went to the Dairy Godmother last night and it was just as delicious as I remember from my pre-celiac days. I kept it simple, ordering just the chocolate and I brought my own homemade gluten free granola as my topping. While they have M&Ms as a topping I think I’ll just bring my own, out of fear of cross contamination with other toppings. The marshmallows and macaroons looked yummy so I’ll have to go back and try them!

Every day The Dairy Godmother serves chocolate and vanilla custard, but you can check out their adorable website for the flavor of the day. The Dairy Godmother is a great local spot with lots of personality. When you’re looking for a summer treat, The Dairy Godmother is the perfect stop, regardless of whether or not you’re gluten free!

www.thedairygodmother.com

The Dairy Godmother
2310 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
703.683.7767

Founding Farmers: Bringing local food to the DC restaurant scene

Having only been open for the past four months, Founding Farmers is already getting a lot of attention from DC diners. I read and heard a lot about Founding Farmers, which boasts its connection to the farmers that harvest the restaurant’s food as well as being a LEED Certified Green Restaurant. When I first learned about Founding Farmers, I knew I wanted to check it out and learn more about their goals as well as sample their potentially celiac-friendly food.

I love the idea of knowing where my food comes from and how an entrée literally gets ‘from farm to table.’ I’m definitely one of those suckers for books like Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver) and my dream is to start a restaurant/gluten free bakery in Charlottesville or Linden, VA that only uses local produce and meat. So Founding Farmers is the fancy-urbanite version of my dream life.

My love for things natural and local definitely became much more pronounced after my celiac diagnosis because I immediately began to think more about:

1. What was in my food
2. Where my food came from
3. The flavors of the food I could eat

Upon learning about Founding Farmers, my hope was that they would be able and willing to accommodate my gluten free diet. I figured anyone who cares so much about ingredients and farms should be willing to make adjustments for those with allergies and be knowledgeable about the ingredients in their dishes. Fortunately, my assumption was correct!

David called early in the week to make reservations for Friday night. They only offered 5:30 and 9:00 reservations so we decided just to go without reservations and we were seated in under 30 minutes. We had a drink at the bar while we waited and it was very crowded and a bit difficult to get a drink, but not obnoxiously crowded and everyone was friendly so I didn’t mind too much. All of FF’s wines are organic and they have a lot of fun drinks. They even serve absinthe…I didn’t know if that was gluten free or not. An added bonus about Founding Farmers is that it was easy to find street parking, which is not always the case when going to DC restaurants.

Despite it being a busy Friday night, the wait staff was extremely friendly and chatty. I definitely felt good about their knowledge of gluten as well as their understanding of what was in the food. For example, the waiter immediately knew that I could not have the tomato soup. Our waiter(s) encouraged me to choose what I wanted and they would work hard to make changes to it so that it could be gluten free. I always love that response!

For a fancy restaurant, the menu is quite large and there are overwhelmingly, many options from which to choose. The menu also changes frequently so you’ll just have to communicate with the waiter about your options, but I can guarantee you there will be plenty of choices for entrees. (Appetizers were a bit more limited.) I selected the lemon meuniere diver scallops with pumpkin risotto for my dinner and I was not disappointed. The only change the chef had to make was not to use flour when searing the scallops. The sauce was naturally GF as was the risotto! The sauce was full of flavor and it mixed perfectly with the risotto. I ate every bite of my dish but did not feel too full when I finished.

I strongly recommend Founding Farmers as the staff was extremely friendly and willing to provide me with the food I wanted to eat. We had multiple waiters over the course of the evening but they all knew my dietary needs and didn’t seem to mind, despite it being a busy night. Some people have criticized the menu being too big, but I think a lengthy menu is a good thing for gluten free diners because it gives us more options!

And of course the "wanna be, organic farmer/baker" in me loves the idea of natural and simple foods that haven’t traveled across the globe to get to my plate.
Enjoy Founding Farmers for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Founding Farmers:

1924 Pennsylvania Ave, NW (IMF HQ2)
Washington DC 20006
202.822.TRUE (8783)

www.wearefoundingfarmers.com