Carol's Culinary Cues Febuary 2007

(c) Carol Fenster, Ph.D. - President, Savory Palate, Inc.

8174 South Holly St., #404, Centennial, CO  80122

800.741.5418

ISSN 14244


IN THIS ISSUE:

Taping PBS Shows

Earlier this month, I taped 4 TV shows. They will be aired next fall/winter on "Creative Living with Sheryl Borden," a magazine-formatted "how-to" show carried in 40 states and 118 markets on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Produced by KENW-TV, Portales, NM, the show is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The show is distributed via satellite by Westlink in Albuquerque, NM, and fed to PBS affiliates on Sundays. Check with your local PBS station to see the specific date and time the show airs in your area each week. If you don't have it, ask your local PBS station to carry it.


Quinoa Tabbouleh

On my goals is to increase my daily intake of fiber and I use whole grains to help accomplish this goal. In fact, the Whole Grains Council recommends 3 servings of whole grains per day.

On the show, I demonstrated the versatility and ease of preparing whole grain quinoa for  Tabbouleh, a Mediterranean dish that typically uses bulgur wheat. I used the Quinoa Tabbouleh recipe from Wheat-Recipes and Menus. I also demonstrated how to make quinoa flour by grinding the grains in your spice or coffee grinder.

Carol's Pizza Crust

Another recipe that I demonstrated was my favorite pizza crust. This recipe, which is in all of my cookbooks, has received national acclaim and is one of my all-time favorites. I baked the crust ahead of time and carried it (on the pizza pan) in my checked baggage. It arrived in great shape and worked perfectly. The crew in the studio loved it.

 

I used this recipe to demonstrate how we blend certain flours to achieve our goals. In this case, I used sorghum flour for its mild taste and protein; I used tapioca flour for the crispiness it lends to the crust. I pointed out that the pizza dough will be much softer than regular pizza dough, and we handle it by sprinkling rice flour over it to prevent our hands sticking to the dough while we pat it out onto the pizza pan.


Flourless Chocolate Cake

 This recipe is in Gluten-Free 101 and shows that we don't need flour to make a great cake. It uses ground almonds instead of flour and eggs provide the leavening. I baked this cake ahead of time, froze it, and carried it in my checked baggage. We made the batter during the taping to show how easy it is to make a cake in a food processor that first grinds the almonds and then mixes the batter---all in the same food processor bowl..

 

I nestled the cake on a bed of chocolate syrup, then topped the cake with cherry pie filling and a dollop of whipped cream. It made an especially pretty picture for the TV cameras.

 

I often serve this cake to company because it is so easy and everyone loves it. It can be dressed up with powdered sugar, fresh raspberries or strawberries, and I often like to add a chocolate-covered espresso bean or two as a garnish.


No-Cook Cereal Balls

The final recipe I demonstrated was No-Cook Cereal Balls, which will appear in my forthcoming book, Gluten-Free Quick and Easy (Avery/Penguin Group) late this summer. It uses wonderful "O-shaped" cereals (Heartland's Finest Ingredients Cero's or Perky O's, for example,) plus some nuts and peanut butter. They are held together in balls by a sugar/corn syrup mixture. They make a great breakfast on the go or an afternoon snack after school. You can vary what you put into them. We used dried cranberries and raisins but you could also use other dried fruit or add more healthy items like flax meal, etc.

 

I had some leftover cereal balls after the show and took them with me to the airport. My flight was delayed and I was starving since I missed lunch. I ate these balls, along with some peanut butter, and that filled me up.


Thanks to my Special Stage Hands

Not only was the hostess, Sheryl Borden, a wonderful help and fun to work with but I also had wonderful "stage hands." Members of the High Plains Celiac Group in Portales, NM Genevieve Potts and Virginia Schmuck live near the studio and helped me prepare the food prior to taping. Once we were on the set, they were ready with the right spatula , opening a can, wiping up flour spills, or running to the grocery store for last minute items so we could proceed smoothly with the taping. They are both celiacs and are happy to share what they've learned about living gluten-free.  Their e-mails are auntie@yucca.net and blackbeltnana@yucca.net. Thanks to these wonderful ladies for their help. I couldn't have done it without them.


Food for Thought

“If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”---Dolly Parton


Where in the World is Carol?

No travel in February, but I am one of the featured speakers at the Gluten-Free Lecture Series on February 20, 2007 at the historic Phipps Mansion in Denver, CO. I'll discuss gluten-free flours and this lecture forms the basis for many of the future sessions in this year-long series. For more information, go to www.theglutenfreelifestyle.com.