Gluten Free

My entrance into the world of gluten free has been a slow one and a learning experience for me in the kitchen. Gluten free baking is becoming a part of my work in providing some of the baked goods for the Deli.

Even my Gluten Free vocabulary and knowledge is expanding with the different types of flours, starches and even using Xantham gum, which holds the dough and mixture together.

I even know what grocery store carries the gluten free products that I need to use in my baking. I usually have no trouble finding these products at Whole Foods, which has a really good selection. Even Soergel’s Farm Market carries these products.

The Gluten Free products are kept separate from the other regular products and I usually set aside a day to make strictly gluten free baked goods.

I never imagined I would become an aficionado of Gluten Free but I have. It is easy and everything that I have tackled so far has been a welcome seller at the Deli, like the scones, peanut butter cookies, blueberry loaf cake and Liz’s Brownies. I am looking forward to making more gluten free products.

A Brownie with a Kick!

Aaron Sanchez’s Mexican Brownies

For Cinco de May, I found an interesting recipe for Mexican Brownies. The recipe was by a food chef, Aaron Sanchez.

Making the brownie from scratch was simple and fun. What made the brownie delicious were the Mexican cinnamon and the cayenne pepper, which the recipe called for. Chili powder could be used instead of the cayenne pepper. I didn’t have Mexican cinnamon, either, so I used Vietnamese Cinnamon, which was close in taste to the Mexican one. The brownies turned out nice and moist and had a bit of a kick to them, which made them even better.

The first day my daughter put the brownies out to sell at her Deli, she sold 8! I definitely knew that I needed to bake more.

When I sampled a brownie, all I could think of was Mucho Gracias, Aaron Sanchez, and then I promptly made two more trays of the brownies. The brownies are a welcome change at the Deli and they are steadily selling out.

Liz's Gluten Free Brownies

Sometimes, I find myself dragging my feet when I am asked to make a certain recipe. I don’t know if making something new scares me, or I just want to do what I am used to doing. My daughter, the Chef, asked me to make gluten free brownies and I kept putting it off. Then she sent me a hand written recipe and I printed it out and I would bring it into the kitchen.

My daughter told me that she promised the man who gave her the recipe that she would have them baked and brought into her Deli the next day. Before I could tackle the brownies, I needed to purchase potato starch and rice flour. I already had the Xanthan gum that I needed. I found the two products at Whole Foods and promptly drove to the Kitchen to start my baking.

The customer who gave my daughter the recipe assured her that it was the best brownie that he had ever eaten. His wife, Liz, perfected the recipe. Besides following the recipe correctly, he gave us three rules to follow...only make a single recipe, use an 8x8 baking pan, and when the browies were  sold in the Deli to call them  -  Liz’s Brownies.

I read and reread the directions and placed everything on my prep table that I would need. I sprayed the pan, mixed the ingredients, and baked the brownies. When the brownies had cooled, my daughter cut them and both of us sampled a piece. Oh yeah!

            ...they were chocolatey!

...they were moist!

...they were delicious!

I           ...and they were one of the best brownies that we had ever ate!

My only hope was that I did justice to Liz’s Gluten Free Brownies!

Baking Lessons Learned in the Catering Kitchen

There are a number of lessons that I have learned while baking in the catering kitchen. I try to follow them but there are times I don't. But if I did follow them to a T...it would definitely make my life easier.

1.  Keep the kitchen spotless.

2.  Read and re-read recipes and directions.

3.  Get out all ingredients and place on the prep table.

4.  Make sure to level the sugar and flour.

5.  Use softened butter for cookies, not melted butter, unless specified.

6.  If using fruits in scones, squeeze out all juice.

7.  Wipe down counter, containers, and put things away after using,

8.  Be careful with giant mixer. Treat it gently.

9.  Mix all ingredients well. Don’t over beat.

10. Refrigerate cookies or scones after putting them on a sheet tray. Makes baking better.

11. Clean up.

12. Cool cookies and wrap.

13. Place scones into freezer to set the icing or drizzle.

14. Always clean up so the owner or boss doesn’t get angry with your mess.

15. Leave kitchen feeling good about baked products.

Mr. McChrystal's Bagpipes

Mr. McChrystal's Bagpipes

Every St. Patrick's Day, I remember my next door neighborhood. His name was Mr. McChrystal and he practiced on his bagpipes, every day. On St. Patrick's Day, I watched him in the parade, wearing his kilt and playing his bagpipes. He was a sweet man and that was my first introduction into the world of bagpipes. I am sure that he is up in heaven entertaining God and everyone else!

This was my homage to him, published in 2014...

With the approaching of St. Patrick’s Day, I started to think about my old grade school, in Cleveland Ohio. St. Patrick’s was an old Irish parish located on the West Side of Cleveland, not too far from the downtown area.

The Church was old and beautiful and still exists today. A few years ago my oldest daughter got married in that church. The church hasn’t changed and looked exactly like I remembered when I was in grade school in the 50s and 60s. The school is no longer behind the church.

I especially remembered St. Patrick’s feast day. That was the day that everyone became Irish. That included my full blooded, 100% Italian family, which the pastor dubbed as the O’Aiello family. During the St. Patrick’s Day Mass, everyone sang the religious song,Faith of Our Fathers normally. But everyone belted out the hymn All Praise to St. Patrick! Our voices and the organ filled our cavernous church.

Then afterwards, we lined up on the curb of the street in front of our church and enjoyed the Irish band blowing loudly on their bagpipes. In the parade was my neighbor, who lived in the apartment across from us. Mr. McChrystal walked by and I waved and shouted out his name. I could see his twinkly blue eyes and a small smile appear.

I didn’t know Mr. McChrystal that well but we would always greet one another. He was a slender short man with white hair, blue eyes and an Irish brogue. I would listen to him practice on his bagpipes in the afternoons. They were loud and cool and no one ever complained.

Now, there he was walking with the other bagpipers, playing an Irish song.

It has been a long time since I thought of Mr. McChrystal. He has been dead for over 50 years. But I remember his brogue and smile and playing the bagpipes. Mr. McChrysatl was the first musician I ever met. He was also the first man I ever met who wore a skirt – or rather a kilt.

I still remember how sweet he looked in his kilt and hat, and the plaid scarf wrapped and pinned to his shoulder. But I also remember how cute his knees looked, when the wind whipped up his kilt.

Aloe Vera to the Rescue

 Thank heavens I had brought in an Aloe Vera plant to the catering kitchen. The Aloe Vera plant is small, green, and a succulent that doesn’t need to be watered, often, and the thick leaves, which contain a sticky substance that can be used for medicinal purposes.

I seldom burn myself. But the past two weeks, I managed to burn my left arm and then my right arm. Both burns hurt and after I swore, and saw stars, I cracked open one of the fat stems and rubbed the gooey substance heavily on my burns. I did this throughout the work day and it helped the burning sensation. Eventually, the red marks went away without leaving a scar.

I hate burns! When I mentioned that to the Chef, my daughter, she suggested that I wear long sleeves. My thought was maybe I should wear armor on my arms but that would be difficult, bulky, hot, and uncomfortable.

Maybe being more careful and having an Aloe Vera plant close at hand is sufficient enough.

Hey, I'm a Plumber, too!

Cooking or baking in the catering kitchen can be busy as well as interesting. When everything is going well…it is great. But, sometimes, a cooking or baking problem might occur. And sometimes a non-cooking problem can arise when you least expect it.

There was a time when the oven doors stuck and we needed to use a flat headed screw driver to open the oven door. This became a pain, especially when the food or baking was done and the trays needed to be pulled out. This problem went on for a long time until it was taken care of by Chef Jeff, who came to work in the kitchen. Chef Jeff always carried a tool box in the back of his truck and he fixed our problem. That tool box came in handy as well as the chef knives that he carried with him.

Then there was the time that I had to figure out how to re-light the pilot light that went out, under the commercial ovens. I hate gas stoves for this reason. This is a minor problem but I hate doing this job, and I hate lighting matches as well.  But it can be remedied by not using the exhaust fans and sweating in the kitchen.

Finally, I put on my plumber’s hat, when the dishwasher wouldn’t fill up. I remembered my daughter telling me how she fixed it. So, I poured a bucket of water down the dishwasher’s drain and pulled the plunger up and down a few times and hoped for the best. I pressed the fill button for the water and, voila, to my utter amazement…it worked!

Oh yeah…I now have earned my plumber’s badge and can add it to my expanding resume!