What’s your favorite kind of pizza crust? Weigh in so my new cookbook can satisfy pizza lovers of every stripe.

I never had a problem with acne growing up, but I was getting a few break outs that were way beyond my “normal” range. Giant swells were emerging on my cheeks, never in giant clusters, but in single, angry mounds. They would always begin the same. The irritated area would itch and then a hard lump would form. I would do everything I could not to touch it so that it would heal faster, but the fascination of seeing what would happen if I popped it always got the better of me. I’d slather Neosporin on the wound and I’d lovingly doctor it, but it would take sometimes two weeks for a single offense to die down so my skin could fade from infected red to the creamy glow I’m so used to.

That’s when I knew something was not right. I’ve always been a quick healer, so for it to take over two weeks for my body to heal a popped pimple was alarming. But I was assured by the nurse at the front desk, the physician’s assistant, and the physician himself, that the products I was using were gluten-free. My dermatologist is considered one of the very best in town and has been on Texas Monthly’s Super Doctor List for years. When you go to doctors that are given super status, it’s very easy to assume that they are up to speed on the latest forms of skin care–including the gluten-free side of things. When my face refused to improve, however, I decided to call Image Skin Care myself to see if their Vital-C Hydrating Cream was in fact gluten-free.

“No ma’am, I am sorry but none of our products are gluten-free. There is a specialized form of oat that we use in each of our products.”

After my chin rebounded from the floor, I kindly thanked the voice on the other end. In situations like this, I usually hit the ceiling and blow up like a powder keg, but this time, I remained oddly calm, but I could feel the steam building in my ears, so I called my doctor and spoke with the nurse, explaining my situation. She said she was sorry and that she would speak with Dr. R and get right back to me.

The next day she called and said that “Dr. X didn’t see a problem because skin care products do not effect people with celiac disease. The gluten has to come into direct contact with the gastro-intestinal tract to warrant a response.”

I cut her off. “No ma’am. That is incorrect. Our skin is the largest organ on our bodies—so don’t you think it foolish to believe that gluten containing beauty products will not be absorbed into the body?”

“Oh really? We have never heard that in our offices before,” she replied. Dr. X has been a dermatologist for 35 years.

“Well, how about we make an appointment for you to see Dr. X,” she twanged?

“That would be great,” I flatly replied.

“Okay, well, Dr. X is getting married in two weeks, so I don’t think he can see you until June, but let me see if I can squeeze you in…hang on just a second,” The line went to elevator music and then the sweet southern voice came back and said, “how about May 14 at 1:40pm?”

“I’ll take it,” I replied, even flatter than before.

I arrived at the gleaming office right on time and quietly waited in the waiting room, bursting with leather furniture and freezing cold. My name was called and the nurse gave me the look that only a nurse will give you when they know they have a heap of trouble on their hands. I feigned ignorance and followed her through the immaculate office.

She ran me through the questions and I dryly repeated what I had told the nurse on the phone. In a second, her demeanor softened completely and she looked at me with sad, heavy eyes, “how did you know you had a problem with gluten?”

I told her my story and then she said, “I’ve been having trouble with my stomach for years and my boyfriend told me I should get tested.” I patiently listened to her condition and suggested that she just do a food elimination diet and see if she feels better. “May I have one of your cards?” My daughter has the same problems as I do.”

“Oh, and I’ve never heard of gluten being in skin care products. I never would of guessed,” she sighed.

“It’s even in dark colored sodas,” I said. She froze.

“WHAT?”
“Yes, it’s in the caramel color in dark colored sodas. It’s in everything from ketchup to shampoo.”

“The doctor will be with your shortly,” she frowned and quietly clicked the door shut. The look on her face was a mixture of shock, shame and guilt, so rather than feeling angry, I felt for her. It wasn’t quite empathy, but it was darn close.

As the door closed, I was left in a cold square of a room filled with expensive art on the walls and a freakishly perfect uncreased paper liner on the patient table. In the center of all that precision was me and my pregnant fear that no one in this office knew a thing about gluten except that it is in food and that it can make some people very very sick.

I waited a good twenty minutes before Dr. X glided in. He sat down and said, “so you are the gluten patient. Let’s have a look at your face, shall we? He sat on his roll-y stool and wheeled within inches of my face. He cradled my chin on the tip of his fingers and turned my face from side to side. Without batting an eye “looks like acne to me.”

He rolled to the other side of the room and click his pen and began writing what I imagined to be a series of annoyed observations like “Damn, she didn’t even wear a spot of fucking make-up to make it look worse—-and she has on flip flops! Typical.”

After what seemed like a couple of minutes, he finally looked up “after you called, I got on the internet and looked to see if there have been any studies to link gluten to skin disease and I found nothing, so you are incorrect to say that the lotion I gave you caused your acne.”

“Actually, Dr. X, just because you could not find a case study does not mean I am incorrect. I stopped using the lotion you gave me a week ago and my skin has vastly improved since then. When you have celiac disease, anything with gluten in it causes an inflammatory response. I never said the lotion was causing my acne, but it definitely prolonged the healing process, which lead to scarring.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of anyone making that connection before,” he smugly replied. “I’m living proof of that connection,” I pointed out. No response. To him, I was speaking in a foreign language.

“How did you find out that Vital-C had gluten in it in the first place,” he curtly inquired?

“I called the company.” I said, deadpan.

“That’s it? You just called them up?”
“Yeah, I just called them up.”

“That’s interesting. Well, did you know that gluten is in over 95% of all beauty products out there” he replied. “Even the make-up you put on your face has gluten in it.”

“Yes, I did. It’s in just about everything. What I’m concerned about is that everyone in your office, including you, told me that Vital-C was gluten-free and it is not. Did you know that Chanel is one of the only brand-name make up lines that is almost entirely gluten-free?”

“Well, that is because no one has ever asked before and no, I did not know that about Chanel,” he replied, looking really interested now. “How did you find that out?”

“I just called the company,” I said again.

“Really, you just called Chanel and they told you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I really do not think the products I gave you caused the scarring or any kind of inflammation,” he smiled, “but I’ll be sure to tell my daughter about the Chanel. “Do you have normal periods?”

“Yes. I disagree with you, Dr. X,” I began.
“Here is a prescription for an anti-biotic and a really expensive acne cream,” he cut me off and just kept talking.
“But 95% of anti-biotics are manufactured with wheat; I don’t think I can take that” I replied.
“Come back to see me in six weeks. We’ll get you fixed up,” he smiled. “Oh, and here is a coupon for the acne cream. I don’t want you to die of sticker shock.”

He handed me a plastic bag filled with vials of the “really expensive” acne cream and not one, but two coupons for the prescription, along with the little slips of paper instructing me on how to take the drugs, and when to apply the “really expensive” cream to my face.

Rather than having a visit to “fix the problem,” I ended up being handed a pharmaceutical bag more than likely filled with gasoline, by a doctor, encouraging me to pour it on raging fire.

Photo by Russell Lee
Billboard, New Iberia, Lousiana, 1938.

Above:
Alfred Stielglitz, 1864-1946
Georgia O’Keffe, 1921
Palladium Print
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I took my time wandering through their heavenly pantry, wishing my own looked so radiantly perfect, and chose the ingredients I would use to incorporate into the demonstration. I grabbed a box of bittersweet Guittard chocolate, a jar or Chardonnay wine jelly, and a bottle of lavender lemon simple syrup. I went home buzzing.

Williams-Sonoma, for me, was always been a place where I would go to daydream and fantasize about cooking in a kitchen stocked just so; writing copious wish lists for different tools and machines that I wanted when I got older. I started doing this when I was 14 years old.

Well, a few days ago, one of my fantasies came true. I got to cook in a Williams-Sonoma kitchen with crowds of people gathered around me wanting to learn how to make my gluten-free lavender-lemon cream puffs and my chardonnay wine jelly chantilly cream profiteroles with bourbon chocolate sauce.

The two hours flew by— my cookbooks flew off the shelves as the cream puffs and profiteroles disappeared as quickly as I put them on the cake stand in front of me. My incredible assistant Abbie and I couldn’t stop smiling at the reception. There would be intervals during the demonstration where Abbie and I wouldn’t say a word, but the glance emoted the core of what it felt like to be there.

Everyone asked questions, gluten-free or not, and no one could believe that they were eating gluten-free cream puffs. The really surprised ones came back for seconds and thirds.

See? Gluten-free is gourmet and Williams-Sonoma is one of the first to agree.

Interested in the recipe? Go to my facebook page and once I get 125 likes, I’ll share it!

Now that I am gluten free and have a son of my own, I love making these for the both of us so I can take a comforting trip down memory lane and tell him how on cold days I loved to wrap the warm pop tart in a cotton handkerchief and hold it between my hands as I walked to the bus stop.

I amped these pop tarts up a bit, making them far better than any store bought version, so get your mixing bowls ready, because you guys are in for a real treat! The one thing I hated about the store bought variety is that there was never enough icing or filling, so I made sure that there was a generous helping of both and make sure you use cultured butter for the flakiest dough if possible.

These Pop Tarts store beautifully once the icing has set, so you can serve them all week if you have a busy one ahead of you. For all the gluten free mothers out there, I hope you enjoy these decadent pop-tarts with your children as much as I have. It’s been comforting to connect with my son through dishes I enjoyed as a child. Something deep and unspoken occurs that draws you closer to one another, making Mother’s Day all the sweeter.

Raspberry Pop-Tarts with Cardamom-Lemon Buttercream

For the pate brisée

¼ cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
¾ cup tapioca flour (starch)
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons potato starch
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons castor sugar
1 1⁄2 teaspoons guar gum
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks cultured butter diced
3 eggs

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Add the diced butter and mix until the dough looks like damp soil. Add the eggs and mix on medium high until the dough pulls in on itself. Transfer to a counter dusted with glutinous rice flour. knead just until smooth. Form into a ball, cut in half and gently shape each half into a 6-7”disk. Wrap each disk in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.

For the Cardamom-Lemon Buttercream

4 whole cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
1 cup cane sugar
¼ cup water

1 ½ sticks or 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Head the cardamom pods with the cloves in a skillet over high heat until the cadamom pods begin to pop. Remove from the heat.

Melt the sugar with the water in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Swirl the pan a few times to ensure the sugar has melted evenly. Bring the syrup to a boil and then add the cardamom and cloves. Boil for 1 minutes and then remove from the heat and allow the cardamom and cloves to infuse the syrup for 30 minutes more. Spoon out the cardamom pods and cloves.

Cover the bowl with saran wrap to prevent the icing from forming a crust.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and no lumps remain. Add the confectioner’s sugar and 3 tablespoons of the simple syrup. Mix on high until very smooth. Using a micro-grater, zest in the skin of one whole lemon. Mix just until combined.

1 cup raspberry preserves, like Bonne Maman

To Assemble the Pop-Tarts

Preheat oven to 400°F. Position the oven racks to the middle and lower positon.

Lightly dust your counter with glutinous rice flour and then knead your dough until very uniform and smooth, about 8 turns. Shape the dough into two rectangles 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. Maintaining the rectangular shape, roll your dough out to a ¼ inch thickness.

Using a very sharp knife and a ruler, trim each rectangle to 14 inches long by 8 inches wide.

Cut 4 rectangles from each half. Spoon two generous tablespoons
of the raspberry preserves into the middle of four rectangles, being sure to keep a boarder of at least 1 ½ inches on all sides.

Wet the dough around the preserves with your finger and top with one of the plain rectangles. Trim the dough with a very sharp knife to seal. Dip the tines of a fork in glutinous rice flour and press all the way around the pop tart to seal completely.

Repeat until all your pop tarts are made. Use a spatula to transfer the pop tarts to your unlined jellyroll sheet pan. Stagger four per pan.

Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes and the pop tarts are browned on the edges. Rotate the pans from top to bottom halfway through the baking time.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the pan.

Generously ice each pop tart in the design that makes you the happiest. I smeared the edges with icing so that there was icing in every bite. Plus, I love the way the icing looks in the indentations of the golden brown dough.

PS: The first time I made these, I happened to have a business meeting that day and brought them along. They were inhaled in minutes, so you might want to make more than one batch if you have a big family!

I awoke in sheets tangled and damp with sweat, my cotton nightgown soaked through, pillow drenched. The pain was so sharp I could have sworn someone was stabbing me. I opened my eyes but no one was there, just the dull darkness, littered with millions of invisible predators, devouring my abdomen. I pulled my knees to my chest and breathed deeply in an attempt to take the edge off, but the pain just came rushing back more intensely than before. My back seized and my legs tingled with near numbness. I lulled from sides to side; I laid on my stomach, but no shift in position made anything better, only worse. I was shivering, but I had no fever and was buried beneath a down comforter. I rolled over, dragged my feet to the floor and slowly dialed the switch on my bedside lamp until the light clicked on. I dry heaved. I crawled to my bathroom, collapsed on the bathmat, and lost consciousness.

When I came to, I grabbed the edge of my sink and pulled myself up until I was standing upright enough to push the light on. My hair was matted to my forehead and the little knots of the bath mat left pockmarks on my cheek like ancient acne scars. My skin was so pale, the veins seemed to glow a gray blue and my lips were mere ashes of their former selves; a sharp breath would have reduced them to dust. I fumbled in my drawer for an anti-inflammatory. My hands were so stiff and swollen, I could barely open the bottle. I dosed myself with 6 ibuprofen followed by 6 calcium tablets to calm the inferno that was raging inside me. I lay on the floor, dragged a towel over me, and drifted back out of my body.

I awoke, unmoved, and the pain was still there. Hot, but not white hot, as before. I choked down a few gulps of water, and attempted to stand. My limbs were feeble, but I was up; pain soon doubled me over. I held onto the wall, and slowly fumbled back to my bed, folding myself first into the covers and then into the fetal position, closed my eyes, and begged for the pain to stop. By the next morning, the pain had significantly subsided, but I was still a far weaker version of my usual self.

Although I am superstitious, it was not the powers of the mystical super moon that brought this gut wrenching event upon me, it was the direct result of me ingesting gluten, the protein found in wheat, oats, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and a laundry list of mass produced products.

I have been gluten free for over a decade and up to this point, I have only had one other episode this bad and it was because I consciously decided to eat gluten just see what it would do to me. It was after I took a cooking class with Anne Willan and I simply had to try her chocolate merlot cake. Let’s just say I was so terrified of what was happening to me, I came within a hairs breath of calling the EMS. This time, however, I had no idea that I had ingested gluten, but because my reaction was the exact same as the evening of the chocolate merlot cake, I knew that I had unwittingly ingested gluten. For someone with celiac disease, this is like drinking a bottle of battery acid.

Biologically, what was occurring was an auto-immune response in which the body attacks itself —in this, the delicate hair-like villi that are responsible for nutrient absorption in the intestines were systematically destroyed. On the cellular level, I experienced a nuclear event and the lining of my gut is more or less scorched. It will take three very long months for my body to re-grew these precious villi so that my body can properly absorb the essential minerals and nutrients essential to everyday living. The side effects of this include anemia, potassium deficiency (which can lead to heart tremors), elevated blood pressure, bone loss and depression.

One can’t help but realize that this is a perfect example of one of the darkest realities that those of us living the gluten-free lifestyle have to face daily. Even though we are being told that certain items are gluten-free, one has to ask, are they really? How do we know for sure? With no official restaurant regulations currently in place, how do those of us with far less cooking knowledge protect ourselves when going out if the servers themselves don’t really know what they are talking about?

There is definitely a long list of establishments that I know and trust as “safe” places to dine at with ease, so please note that this last experience was an exception, because it was a new restaurant that I have never been to, and I had not asked any friends if it was “safe” to eat there, so I take responsibility for not double checking. HOWEVER, this sheds light on a far bigger problem and it is this: the server that was helping me was CONVINCED that what he was serving me was gluten-free, so whose to blame? The server, the kitchen, or both? I mean, just how gluten-free are we, really?

It’s a microcosm in the gluten-free world that I see time and time again, and it’s across the board. From the most expensive restaurants in the world to the everyday establishment, the confusion surrounding gluten-free ingredients is universal.

While I was dining at a very pricy restaurant in Chicago a few weeks ago, (I have decided to refrain from publicly naming names, but if you e-mail me, I’ll be happy to let you know) my waiter was slack jawed when I informed him that I could not accept the root beer float he placed in front of me, “compliments of the chef” because the caramel color in the root beer was not gluten-free. After he closed his mouth and swallowed, he simply said, “I’m sorry to hear that, ma’am.” Believe me honey, so am I.

In the case of my last exposure, my impression was an across the board lack of gluten-free education, and in a fit of impatience, or perhaps basic annoyance, they told me what I wanted to hear because they didn’t want to take the time to find out the truth. Well, the truth is, due to a lazy, apathetic establishment, I became very sick and will be for the next three months.

No one was more surprised than me, because when I dine out, I have a functioning set of questions that I ask once I have chosen a dish I would like to try, so that I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I have exhausted all possibilities so that if I do get sick, the onus is on me. If I suspect that the dish has a white sauce, for example, I always ask, “Does your white sauce have a rue base?” or “Is there soy sauce in your marinade?, “Do you put flour in your re-fried beans?” and “Which of your sauces are gluten free?” “Do you dust your fish with flour or cornstarch before pan frying it?” or “Is your fryer gluten-free?” “Is your katsup homemade?” and “Do you make your own salad dressings?”

I asked almost all of these questions at the establishment that I had the sorry chance to encounter, but I still got sick, no matter how many times they reassured me that everything was gluten-free.

When an estimated 28 million Americans suffer from either gluten intolerance and or celiac disease, I find what happened to me to be emblematic of the over-arching attitudes about the gluten-free movement; that it’s no big deal and that most people go gluten-free just because they feel like it. I am gluten-free because I have to be and I lovingly embrace it. I’m a gluten-free pastry chef, and the gluten free expert to Whole Foods Market after all. Nonetheless, regulations need to be put into place, but first and foremost, the chefs that create the menus and the waiters that serve the food have to take the initiative to educate themselves and actually give a damn that what they are doing really does make a difference.

Luckily, incredible organizations like the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness have initiated their GREAT or Gluten-Free Restaurant Education and Awareness Program, which “empowers the food industry to provide safe gluten-free options for individuals and institutions,” to help avoid these kinds of situations from ever occurring, but we still have a long way to go.

If only we could make things happen faster. I am seeing gluten-free menus pop up everywhere I turn, making eating out far easier than it was ten years ago, but until national gluten-free regulations are set, we have to take responsibility for ourselves and ask all the questions we can while we are out on the town. Take it from me, if there is even the slightest doubt that the server may not know what he or she is talking about, then you might want to stick to the steamed vegetables and chicken breast.

picture above
Eduardo Arroyo, b. 1937
Hope and Dispair of Angel Ganivet, 1977
Oil on Canvas, 146 cm x 114 cm
Spanish Pop-Inspired Painter

To submit recipes, please click on the CONTACT tab below and let me know that you would like to participate in the Celiac Awareness Month of Sharing and I will then respond to you requesting the photos, the name of the recipe you baked and your story. Then, for the entire month of May, I will post a new story and a new photo each and every day. At the end of the month, I will then have a drawing and the winner will get a signed copy of my book!

As I always say, share yourself, just hold the gluten! I love being gluten free because it’s better than what came before.

Above photo by,
Camille Soulayrol and Edouard Chauvin
La Tarte aux Pommes, 2003
France

That pretty much melted my chocolate heart. Who needs a chocolate bunny when you can have Easter fritters? I don’t know about you, but I’m filling my Easter basket with these.

Baked gluten free donuts are easy and now, yeast risen fried donuts are easy too.

Easter Hot Cross Bun Fritters

1 cup or 106 g. sorghum flour
½ + 1/3 cup or 76 g. gluten free oat flour
½ cup or 70 g. potato starch flour
½ cup or 53 g. glutinous rice flour
¼ cup or 25 g. tapioca flour
2 ½ teaspoons psyllium husks powder
2 teaspoons guar gum
2 tablespoon sugar
1 packet + 1 teaspoon gluten free instant yeast (highly active yeast)

2/3 cup 2% milk
1/3 + ¼ cup water
2 tablespoons orange blossom honey

2 tablespoons pure olive oil
2 whole eggs ∼ ½ cup

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 ¾ teaspoons kosher salt

1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons packed lemon zest
1/3 cup diced candied orange peel, diced
1/3 cup currents

Preheat oven to 300°F.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients, including the yeast, and mix on the lowest speed to amalgamate.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and honey. Heat just until the honey is melted and steam lifts off the surface of the liquids—this is the visual clue that precludes boiling and you do not want to boil the mixture, so be sure to remove the pan from the heat the moment you notice this. Stir with a whisk a few times to insure the honey has melted.

Remove from the heat and pour into a very clean glass bowl. Allow to cool until it registers 105°F on your thermometer. Any hotter and you will kill the yeast. Don’t be a killer.

While the milk is cooling, whisk the eggs and the oil until very smooth.

Turn the mixer on the lowest setting and add the milk mixture first, immediately followed by the egg mixture. Mix until you can no longer see separation of the ingredients, about 1 minute. Turn the mixer off and add the vinegar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and mix for 1 minute and the dough is very tacky. Using a pastry scrapper, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the salt and mix on high for 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using the pastry scraper, form the dough into a manageable ball while still in the mixing bowl. The dough will be sticky, which is perfect.

Add all the spices and dried fruits, mixing just until combined.

For the Fritters: transfer the dough to a well greased glass bowl. Place on a warm oven and cover with a large aluminum bowl to rise for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Make the lemon glaze before you begin frying so you can immediately glaze them.

Lemon Glaze

2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
4 tablespoons strained lemon juice
pinch of kosher salt

Whisk all the ingredients together to the ribbon or a long strand of glaze falls off the tip of you whisk. Set aside.

Heat either peanut oil or pure olive oil to 360°F. Carefully spoon the batter in 2-tablespoon sized portions into the hot oil. I like to use two rubber spatulas so I don’t have to touch the dough at all. Fry for 2 minutes per side and the fritters are copper colored. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper lined plate to drain. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Place a fritter on the tines of a fork and dip into the lemon glaze. Allow to set on a wire rack set over a sheet pan to catch any run off. Serve while warm.

Makes 36 fritters

Since I am writing a cookbook about comfort foods, I couldn’t help but focus on the pasta, even though it is Easter. Sure, I could of made a slew of traditional sweet treats, but I narrowed my selection down to two very good Easter recipes, the first of which is of the pasta variety. So I set my focus to gluten free pasta making and hot cross buns (that recipe will be posted in a couple of days, so worry not). I tinkered with savory sweet raviolis but my ingredients kept wandering into Poland, so I caved and admitted that I was in fact not making raviolis, I was making perogies. Rest assured, the food snob in me just couldn’t let a traditional perogie fly onto the Easter table; the Easter bunny would wonder if I suddenly fell and hit my head. So I didn’t. I made batch after batch of perogies until the pasta was perfect and the filling sang a harmonious rendition of “who needs gluten when you have these?”

The pasta dough is everything its contemporary is: elastic, workable and versatile. YES! you can make just about anything with this dough and I know this for a fact because over the course of the last week and half, I have successfully tested this pasta recipe by serving cheese ravioli, spaghetti carbonara, ciccatelli (my grandmother’s favorite hand rolled pasta), wild dill pressed handkerchiefs bathed in beurre blanc, and steamed pork dumplings. In all cookery, the foundation pieces mean the most and this recipe is no exception. For every gluten free recipe I create, in this case, the gluten free pasta, I always strive to leave the door open for at least a dozen to stand behind it. Think of my recipes as starting points, so as you read, think of the possibilities and dream; dream big like me.

After the pasta recipe was all said and done, I turned my attention to the filling. For any filled creation, I like to imagine the surprise of the person eating it. Will they smile? Will they grin? Will they close their eyes and be unable to speak but manage a deep “mmmmmmmmm?”

Yes, they will do some or all of these things when you serve these perogies. They are filled with candied bacon, chevre, buttered potatoes, sautéed onions and fig preserves. The moment they are plated, you glaze them with browned butter, say nothing and wait. Your fast is over; their fasting is done, and now you can all gather around the table, position your elbows just so, and feast on gluten free perogies so delicious, no one will know the difference.

Easter Perogies
with Chevre, fig preserves, candied bacon and browned butter

For the filling:

1 cup mashed potatoes (recipe below)

1 cup skinned and diced butter potatoes
3 tablespoons salted butter
additional salt to taste
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and pass through a food mill. Stir in the butter and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Salt to taste. If the potatoes are too thick to stir, add more cream in small increments until thick but very smooth. Set aside to cool.

3 thick slices of peppered bacon, cut into lardons
1 ½ tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon castor sugar

Fry the lardons for 2 minutes over medium high heat and they have released a nice amount of fat. Add the dark brown and castor sugars. Stir to melt the sugars and evenly coat the bacon. Fry until the sugars caramelize and the lardons are cooked through, about 2-3 minutes more. Pour the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool on the pan. The mixture should be perfectly caramelized and still tacky.

½ cup diced white onion
2 tablespoons good fig preserves
2 tablespoons good chevre

Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter to the pan with that you cooked your bacon in and when it foams, add ½ cup diced onions. Sauté until the onions are translucent and have a very subtle golden color.

Stir the onions into the reserved potatoes. Stir in the goat cheese and fig preserves, followed by the caramelized lardons. Season with additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

For the dough:

¼ cup or 24 g. sorghum flour
¾ cup or 78 g. glutinous rice flour
½ cup or 56 g. tapioca flour
¼ cup or 38 g. potato starch
1/3 cup or 45 g. cornstarch
3 teaspoons guar gum
¾ kosher salt

¼ cup luke warm water
3 whole eggs ∼ ¾ cup
2 tablespoons good PURE olive oil

Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix to amalgamate.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, eggs and olive oil. With the mixer on the lowest setting, add the wet ingredients and mix for 30 seconds until the dry ingredients are evenly coated, then increase the mixer speed to high and mix for 1-2 minutes and the dough sticks to the sides and bottom of the bowl. The dough should be very sticky. Allow the dough to sit for 2 minutes more, then remove the bowl from the stand and knead the dough in the bowl with your hand until a smooth as a leather ball. If the dough is very sticky, this just means you had extra large eggs, so lightly dust with some additional glutinous rice flour and keep kneading until no longer sticky.

Lightly dust your very clean counter with glutinous rice flour and then shape your dough into a rectangle. Divide the dough into fourths and dust any sticky edges with additional flour. Reshape each piece into a small rectangle.

Lightly dust each piece. Pass through your pasta machine on setting one twice and then on setting two once. Repeat with each section of dough. Cut the dough into 4” squares.

Take one square, and place a 2 teaspoon sized round of the filling. Wet all edges of the dough with water and fold the square over to enrobe the filling. Trim the edge into a half moon shape with a ravioli cutter. Press the edges together the the tines of a fork. Repeat until all of you perogies are done.

Serve with browned butter.

Makes 3 dozen perogies.

You can make them ahead of time as they refrigerate beautifully for up to three days, and freeze, double wrapped to prevent freezer burn, for up to one month.

I can’t wait to see their first article discussing the gluten free revolution.