El Arbol - Austin

There has been talk, talk, talk about the Latin American restaurant El Arbol since it opened last year.  I have been looking forward to exploring and seeing if I can make it work gluten-free.

It is a beautiful place with a large, old, interesting tree in the center.  Hence, the name.  The building is an interesting mix of early 60s mode and the 70s cement building it was created from.

We got a large cushy booth big enough for 4.  That was nice!

The menu was quite appetizing.  I perused it for a while finding many things that looked promising for GF.

When I told the waitress I was gluten-free, she was right on it.  The waitress knew right off the top of her head what was safe and what wasn't.  She rattled it off like a pro.  Though I could not have my top pick (I was eyeing the pork belly.  Boo gluten! ), there were many things I could.

All the appetizers except the obvious ones with bread were safe.
Half of the 6 entrees were safe : the scallops, the grouper and the short ribs.
All of the steaks were safe and all the the appetizers except the 2 with pasta were safe.
There were a lot of options, actually.




We started with drinks of course.

Italiano!

For appetizer we shared the Pulpo al la Parrilla, oak grilled octopus with charred fennel, roasted potato and salmorra (I ate that and still don't know what it is).  The dish was actually very good.  Flavorful with a little kick.

For blogging sake, I should have tried one of the entrees but the scallops came with brussel sprouts (my only hated veggie), grouper is on my "you are killing the earth if you eat this fish" list and the short ribs came with a poached egg.  Our chickens have bumped production up to 4 eggs a day recently and I just couldn't eat another egg.  So,  I went with a good, ol' steak.  The Bife de Lomo, an 8 oz tenderloin, medium.

Pay no attention to the glutinous pork belly.  I'm sure it was awful!

It came with an excellent chimichurri sauce.  I ordered purple whipped potatoes and sauteed wild Texas mushrooms on the side.  It was tasty.  The steak was cooked perfectly and the flavors went well together.

I feeling a little ill at this point but, I pushed through for the sake of research and ordered dessert.


There were many gluten free options.  It was decided that the Coconut Dulce de Leche was the one for us to share.  This was sea salt caramel gelato with a flourless chocolate cake topped with a coconut custard and toasted coconut.  There was a little cacao nib brittle that was not gluten free but, that was left on the side for my gluten consuming companion.

I was highly disappointed with this superficially sinful dessert.  My companion agreed stating that the best part was the brittle that I couldn't have.  The sea salt caramel gelato was much too salty. The flourless chocolate cake was okay but could have used a lot more chocolate, or maybe vanilla even.  The real ruin of this was the "coconut custard".  It was so bad that I didn't even realize it was supposed to be custard until I looked it up for this blog.  I am a science nerd so, I am very familiar with agar.  Do you remember this stuff from science class?  It was like hard jello you put in a clear plate to grow bacteria on.  It has a distinct odor due to the nutrients placed in it.  Well, the "custard" basically tasted and felt like agar with a little coconut oil in it.  It was on the verge of inedible.  Definitely not worth the calories or the money.

Overall, it was a successful gluten free outing.  I was impressed with the options, the service, the environment and the company.  The food was good.  Some of it very good.  The dessert was disastrous.
The meal was expensive.

The final verdict is 4/5 stars for gluten friendly but that there are a lot of places in town I would pick first before going to El Arbol.  As my companion said, it left me "uninspired".

Gluten Free Week - Kitchn.com

Though I am officially a blogger now, I am not the kind of person spends hours a day looking through various sites.  I do my needed research and move on.  I do have my favorite site that I check every day:

thekitchn.com

It is a fun sight with a lot of food and cooking items to ogle over.  It makes me want to quit my job, cook and bake all day and get fat, fat, fat.

To add to the growing layer of central adipose... it is Gluten Free Week on Kitchn!!!!

They often have a weekly theme but this is a most useful one.  Check it out!  I'll be there making shopping lists and thinking to stay at home and cook all day.  In a cute dress. ;)

Airports - Everywhere

Okay,  there are very few benefits to being stuck in an airport.  Especially one like Rochester.  If you have a book store, some yummy restaurants and a mini mall that's one thing.  Thankfully, they all have bars and gin and tonic is gluten free.  Yipee!!!

Stuck in Rochacha!  

It's all good!  More later...

Le Paris Creperie - Austin, TX

Crepes.

For many years crepes were a weekly event.  A relaxing walk through the city to the local crepe shop for a slow, savory crepe and mimosa brunch. Reading the paper, enjoying the company, the neighborhood and the light, sweet, savory taste of a crepe.  Then celiac. Boo!  Omelets, eggs, oh, and more omelets.  Well, NO MORE!!!  Enter from stage left... Le Paris Creperie.

Hidden in a little trailer park on South 1st is my return the the world of crepes.  Savory crepes, sweet crepes, Gluten Free crepes!!

My first trip was in a moment of pre-work night shift hunger.  Since I needed a dinner-like protein filled meal to get through the night I tried the Chicken Pesto crepe, large.  Lesson learned.  A large is definitely big enough to share.  But good, really good.

Now, I was really hungry.  Anything would have been good at that point.  It needed a repeat testing for sure!

So, second try.  (A scientist must be able to replicate the results or any experiment for validity.)

This time I brought a gluten eater with me for some comparative taste testing.  We each got a small savory crepe and shared a gluten free dessert crepe.  It was real, it really was good.  My second crepe was Chicken Florentine.  Swiss cheese and spinach goodness wrapped in a golden, buttery envelope of yum.  My gluten consuming friend agreed. (she tried all)  She said she could definitely taste the difference but is was still quality stuff.  For the sweet stuff we stayed with traditional butter, sugar and lemon.  It was sweet, sweet heaven.

Who would have thought I would ever go out for crepes again.  We are really making this living GF this do-able.  Yeah us! Yeah Le Paris Creperie!

Lemon Butter Bars

Okay, I am not a very diligent blogger.    I have had many new and repeat GF food experiences worth blogging about recently.  I will get to them all ... eventually.

Tonight, (drum roll)  LEMON BARS.  I am in NY visiting my parents so the diet is on hold and the baking is back to top priority.

I have been holding onto this recipe for a month or so, dying to try it. While making it I was a bit skeptical, it seemed to have way to little lemon but I gave it a shot  and resolved to make it again if necessary.  I can admit when I am wrong - it is super yummy! The lemon is the perfect amount. I did make some minor changes though.  First being making it gluten free.  I used Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend Flour and xanathan gum to replace the evil flour. (Sent to my parents house ahead of me to assure the chance of safe baked goods.)  I used turbinado sugar, because, well,  that is what they had.  Lastly, I used Meyer lemons instead of regular.  It made it much more sweet than tart.  I think I will try again with regular lemons but this was pretty darn great.

The original recipe was found on the website kitchn.  They got it from epicurious.  Here is the original Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar recipe.  Credit given where credit is due!

Here is my version:

The Ultimate Gluten Free Lemon Bars:

Do they still count as bars if you just eat them out of the pan with a fork?

Ingredients:


Shortbread Base


10 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup Authentic GF Classical Blend flour
1 tsp xantham gum


Lemon Curd Topping

4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 fluid ounces (use a liquid measuring cup) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest (finely grated)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting


EQUIPMENT:

8-inch by 8-inch by 2-inch baking pan, preferably metal (if using a glass pan, lower the oven temperature 25°F.), bottom and 2 sides lined with an 8-inch by 16-inch strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

SHORTBREAD BASE

Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it, and refrigerate.

In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for 1 minute or so, until the sugar is very fine.
Add the butter and pulse in until the sugar disappears.
Add the flour and xantham gum and pulse in until there are a lot of little moist crumbly pieces and no dry flour particles remain.
Knead it lightly in bowl (without the blade), until it holds together.

Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Pat the dough into the prepared pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over.

Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is pale golden (do not brown).

While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Lemon Curd Topping.


LEMON CURD TOPPING

Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range.

In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended.
Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)

When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue.
Stir in the lemon zest.

When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes.

Cool the lemon curd–topped shortbread completely in the pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting into bars. Place the powdered sugar in a strainer and tap the strainer with a spoon to sprinkle a thick, even coating, entirely covering the lemon.

Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the pastry on the 2 sides without the aluminum foil. Use the foil to lift out the lemon curd–covered shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread first in thirds, then in half the other way, and then each half in thirds. Wipe the blade after each cut.

The powdered sugar will start to be absorbed into the lemon curd after several hours, but it can be reapplied before serving.

HAPPY BAKING!


1/20/10 ADDENDUM:


I actually did make these again.  The second time I used regular white sugar and regular lemons.  The lemon topping was decadent.  Definitely better.  There was a much better sweet/tart quality.  
With the white sugar the shortbread was a little lighter but I like the taste of the shortbread with turbinado sugar better.  It felt warmer.  More of a caramel, refined taste.  


That's what I know!