Fairs, Planes and Cupcakes - oh my!

What a busy weekend - happy Monday, everyone! So much to tell you about today, including a recap of the Nature's Market 8th Annual Gluten Free Fair!

The Fair, hosted by Nature's Market in Kent, is a two-day gluten free extravaganza! With more than two dozen vendors sampling their wares, almost every gluten free product was on sale. From soups and pastas to seasoning salts and salad dressings, ice creams and dairy alternatives to convenience foods -- like our burritos and granola! We spent the day at the Market, hanging out with Zing! Bars, Enjoy Life, Kettle Cuisine, Amy's, Sunny Valley Wheat Free and many others. All of the vendors are kind beyond words and their products speak for themselves!

Positioned between Zing Bars and Lulu's Granola, we spent the morning sampling our Chicken & Cheese and Vegetarian Bean & Cheese Burritos as well as each of the three flavors of our granola: Apple Almond, Raisin Almond and Cranberry Cashew. We connected with so many wonderful individuals and families, some seasoned gluten free consumers (some going on 20+ years) and others who have only recently been diagnosed as gluten-intolerant (three weeks ago!).

On a related note, we also had the opportunity to do some product sampling while we at the Market - most notably, of Julie's new ice cream sandwiches featuring lemon frozen yogurt sandwiched between two of Glutenfreeda's vanilla cookies! Amazing! Just sweet enough, perfectly tangy and absolutely refreshing, another fantastic dessert from Julie's!


On another note, over the weekend, one of the Glutenfreeda teams (car #60) in the Peking to Paris motor challenge is in Istanbul, Turkey! After another broken axle en route to Samarkand to rejoin the group, it became clear that the safest choice would be to fly the car to Istanbul for more lasting repairs and better road conditions. After a day-long layover in Moscow, Douglas and Anastasia are now safely in Istanbul, working on repairing the car. The rest of the groups passed through Turkmenistan over the weekend - covering more than 1,550km/963miles! After a rest-day in Samarkand, the teams left Uzbekistan on Saturday and drove over across Turkmenistan, arriving in Gorgan, Iran this evening. With only one more scheduled rest day, the race will soon move into Turkey and the Central Asian chapter will come to close. From that point, the teams will move from Turkey to Greece, into Italy and through France on the way to Paris -- all in the next 12 days!

Don't forget, October is Cupcake Month over atGlutenfreeda.com! With cupcake ideas for everyone, we are featuring several fantastic recipes: our Chocolate Mousse Grand Marnier and Carrot Spice, just to highlight a few!

Surrounded by Land, Surrounded by Land...

Today, the race entered Uzbekistan, traveling 260km/160mi from Shymkent, Kazakhstan to Tashkent (the capital city of Uzbekistan) along a mountainous route bordered by lush national forests and parks. Uzbekistan, one of six Turkic states, is one of two doubly landlocked nations in the world (i.e. a landlocked state surrounded by other landlocked states; the other is Liechtenstein), sharing its borders with five other countries. Formed in 1747 and recognized as independent in 1991, has a population of 27.6 million and is the third largest producer of cotton in the world.

Car #60 suffered another broken axle last night and spent the night in a repair shop, replacing the old shaft (which had broken and was welded back together in Almaty over the weekend) with a brand new one, ground to specification instead of welded. Hopefully this will hold a while longer than its predecessor and we can catch up to the pack!

Should your travels ever take you to Uzbekistan, Celiac Travel has a Celiac travel card in Uzbek to help facilitate safe eating!

Рогалики на сметане
Croissants with Cream

These traditional pastries from Uzbekistan, also known as the "lazy man's croissant", come together quickly and relatively easily for a wonderful result! Due to the authenticity of this recipe, measurements are initially provided in metric (grams), and while a scale would come in handy (much more accurate to measure ingredients by weight versus volume) I have converted the measurements to ounces for convenience.

Ingredients
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. sugar
250 grams (just over 8oz) butter, melted
250 grams (just over 8oz) sour cream
2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
Pinch of salt

Filling
200 g (7oz) strawberry preserves
200 g (7oz) walnuts, finely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.

Beat egg yolk and sugar with an electric mixer. Add sour cream and melted butter, mixing well to combine. Slowly add flour and salt until the dough forms a ball.

On a floured surface, knead the dough into a ball -- it will be very soft. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm. While the dough is chilling, make the filling.

Place strawberry preserves in a fine sieve or in cheese cloth suspended over a bowl and allow the liquid to drain off. If large pieces of fruit remain, you can mash with a fork or put the mixture into the food processor. Add chopped walnuts and mix well to combine.

Divide dough into 5 parts (approximately 70 grams or 2.5oz). Roll out each piece on a well-floured surface, until dough forms a disk, 1/4 inch thick. Cut each disk into 8 equal, triangular pieces (think pizza) -- 40 in total.

Put 1 Tbsp. of the topping mixture 1-inch in from the base of each triangular piece. Fold in edges and roll up like a croissant. Bake at 400F until golden brown. To serve, dust with powdered sugar!

Recipe from Cook Eat Share
Image from Nasekomoe

From the Road: A Rally Update

Car #60 (Dough and Anastasia) on the road in rural Mongolia last week

Today marks the end of the longest scheduled break during the Peking to Paris motor challenge: 48 hours of free time in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Although it was replaced as the capitol city by Astana in 1997, Almaty remains the largest commercial center in the country. Leaving early in the morning, the teams will set out on a 700km/430mi journey across Kazakhstan!



Dozens of teams have required repairs in the past week, with issues ranging from headlights bouncing off along the unpaved route to engine fires -- a competitor's car ultimately burned to the ground and #60 (seen above) suffered a similar, but much smaller, fire as well. Because all of the vehicles are vintage, repairing and replacing parts is challenging, especially in rural central Asia. We hope that the next leg of the journey will be a smooth (and safe!) one, with only paved roads for 400km of the 700km route - yikes!

Total distance travelled: 5,578 kilometers / 3,466 miles
Total distance remaining: 8,782 kilometers / 5,456 miles

Coming to you from Kazakhstan, a Manti Recipe!

We would first like to give a brief shout-out to a few stores who have recently begun carrying products from the Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. line:

Atkinson's Markets in Idaho are now carrying our burritos! Find them at Giacobbi Square in Ketchum, Alturas Plaza in Hailey and at the Valley Market in Bellevue!

Broulim's will now be carrying our oatmeal and burritos. Find them on South Main street in Driggs, ID.

Dan's Supermarkets in North Dakota are now carrying the burritos as well! Dan's has three locations in Bismarck, two in Dickinson and one in Mandan, ND - check them out today!

We join the Peking to Paris challengers along the route between Semey and Usharal in Kazakhstan. Today, I am sharing a traditional dumpling recipe for manti (plural of manta), a typical main course from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Armenia. While a truly authentic recreation of this recipe would likely include horse meat (a Kazakhstan staple), this recipe calls for ground beef or lamb instead.

Manta Recipe

Ingredients
3 cups all- purpose gluten free flour
1 cup water
1 large egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

For the Filling
250g (one-half pound) ground beef or lamb
1 large onion (chopped in very small pieces)
Salt and black pepper

Yogurt Sauce
2 cups plain yogurt
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour, water, egg, olive oil and salt. Kneading well to form a smooth, but not sticky, ball of dough. If it is too sticky, add more flour until the dough is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand, at room temperature, for one hour.

While the dough is standing, prepare the filling: in a medium bowl, combine chopped onion, ground meat, salt and pepper until well mixed.

Lightly dust a board or countertop and rolling pin with flour. Divide the dough into four equal sections, rolling out each piece as thinly as possible without tearing.

Cut each sheet into equal squares (about 1.5" by 1.5") Put a teaspoon of filling at the center of each square until you run out of dough or filling.

To fold the dumplings: fold diagonally to form a triangle. Press edges firmly together to seal the dumplings (if necessary, use a little bit of water on the inside edge to help the pieces stick together.) Take the two corners (connected by the longest, folded side) and pull together until corners overlap - pinch together (it will look like a floppy brimmed hat -- see image here.)

In a large pot, boil the water and add a little bit salt, olive oil. Add the dumplings and stir, cooking for approximately 15 minutes, until the dumplings rise to the surface. Periodically test filling for doneness and be careful not to overcook. While the dumplings are cooking, prepare the yogurt sauce.

Yogurt sauce: place the minced garlic, yogurt, water and salt in a small bowl, mixing well until combined.

When the dumplings are done, drain with a slotted spoon. Serve warm with yogurt and hot pepper sauce.

Image from Anna's Recipe Box

Border Crossing & A Traditional Russian Recipe

We rejoin the Peking to Paris motor challenge in southern Russia today as the teams race between Mongolia and Kazakhstan! No news is good news in terms of mechanical issues (yay!). It seems that more than a few competitors had to fly in replacement parts from the nearest dealership (even as far away as Australia!) and others were forced to load their vintage vehicles onto a truck until the road conditions improve - yikes!

Basically, blini (plural of blin) are Russian pancakes, most similar to crepes. The primary differences is the occasional inclusion of yeast in blin recipes, as well as some recipes which call for buckwheat flour (naturally gluten free) instead of a wheat-based batter. Here, we simply substituted a gluten free all-purpose baking mix instead. Traditionally, blinis can be either sweet or savory, served with sour cream and red caviar or fruit preserves and powdered sugar.

Gluten Free Blini with Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon water
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons gluten free all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup créme fraiche or sour cream
1 recipe of Pico de Gallo

Directions

Heat the milk and water to 110°F in a small saucepan. Pour the milk mixture into a medium bowl. Mix in sugar and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine gf flour, cornmeal and salt. Stir in yeast mixture. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until mixture is spongy.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into cornmeal mixture.

Preheat oven to 250°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, drop batter by tablespoons into the skillet (they will resemble small pancakes). Cook until golden on the bottom and bubbles break on the surface. Flip the blini and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to oven to keep warm. Repeat process with remaining batter.

To serve, spread a small amount of creme fraiche or sour cream over each blini and top with fresh Pico de Gallo.

Tip: You can make the blinis up to 8 hours in advance. Allow to cool before covering with plastic wrap and storing in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, reheat the blini, uncovered, in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

1/2 small white or red onion or 8 slender scallions finely chopped, rinsed, and drained
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 large ripe tomatoes, finely diced
1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Tip: Jalapeño juice can burn your skin, you may want to use surgical gloves, (available at grocery stores) to protect your hands! Also, be very careful not to touch your face, especially mouth or eyes, before washing your hands!

**Blini image from Stephanie Lim @ stephanie.posterous.com **