Vicky Pearl

Hamentaschen

February 11, 2014

Author: Vicky Pearl

You know, I never tire of hearing stories about the past. Whether they’re stories about what life was like for my relatives in the Old Country or what travails they faced when they arrived in the United States. Many of these stories, it seems to me, also revolve around food. For example, there is a lovely story about my great-great grandmother’s jelly cookies. First, you have to understand that my great-great grandmother was famous for her cookies. Friends and neighbors would rave about them. Once, or so my great grandmother has told me, she was serving them to her guests who simply couldn’t believe that she had made themselves herself and informed her that she must have in reality gone out and purchased them at a local bakery. They were that good!!

So good, in fact, that for years, my own grandmother kept the recipe a secret. For years and years she kept it a secret. That is, until about 18 years ago, when she decided to share it with me. Since then, I deemed it my mission to replicate these delicacies for a gluten-free lifestyle. No easy matter, let me tell you. Although my grandmother recited the recipe to me verbatim over the phone, she is a “touchy-feely” baker. That is to say, she knows merely by feeling the dough and by the temperature in the room, whether it needs a bit more flour or a bit more moisture. My goal, of course, was to make the dough replicable in any kitchen using the alternative flours that were available to me. The recipe that follows is my imitation of the original dough. It is the dough that I use not only for my Hamantashen, but also for my jelly cookies and for Chanukah shaped cookies.

Ingredients:

¾ cup potato starch

¾ cup brown rice flour

½ cup sweet rice flour

½ cup tapioca flour

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

½ tsp kosher salt (do not double when you double the recipe)

1 cup trans-fat-free margarine, room temperature (2 sticks)

½ cup xylitol or granulated sugar

1 large egg

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

approximately 1 jar apricot jam

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, stir together potato starch, rice and tapioca flours, xanthan gum, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat margarine and sugar together for 2 minutes, or until somewhat combined. Add egg and vanilla; mix for 1 minute.

4. Add dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. If the dough is sticky, flour the baking surface and rolling pin with rice flour.

5. Divide dough in half. Roll dough, one piece at a time, between 2 pieces of parchment paper until ¼-inch thick. Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter or glass to form circles.

6. Place ¼–½ tsp apricot jam in the center of each circle.

7. Bring 2 side arcs toward the center, overlapping them on top to form a point. Then bring bottom arc to center, creating a secure pocket of jam. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.

8. Bake in center of preheated oven for 17 to 18 minutes or until tips are slightly golden.

Remove pan to rack to cool completely.

Cookies freeze very well for up to 4 months.

Yield: 30 hamentashen.

Sidebar: This is a great classic cookie dough. It’s used below in the jelly or shaped cookies. It freezes beautifully and is handy to have on hand to turn into an afternoon event with your children. It’s very easy to work with and would be lovely simply baked with multicolored sprinkles on top. You’ll notice that this is one recipe where agave is not given as an option. This is because the cookies need to be a touch crispy, so xylitol (or sugar) is the ideal sweetener.

Originally published in Gluten-Free Goes Gourmet.

 

 

 

Kreplach

February 10, 2014

Author: Vicky Pearl

My grandmother, who lives in Brooklyn not far from my own home, is well-known for her cooking and baking prowess. Her jelly cookies are the arbiter by which all other cookies made or consumed by my family are measured. But if you ask me, it is her kreplach that stand out. They are truly the gold standard. I can’t tell you how lucky my family and I feel when she serves them up to us on special occasions such as Purim, Erev Yom Kippur, and Hashano Rabba.

So I was a little hesitant when I set out to make these wonderful gems in my gluten-free kitchen. Would I be able to capture the soft in the mouth, not too heavy in texture pillows without all-purpose flour? I can tell you I was a little more than surprised when, after my first try (which, in all honesty have to admit is not always the case), actually achieved the consistency I wanted to reproduce. At first glance I thought I had failed. The kreplach seemed a bit thicker than I would have hoped. However, once they had a leisurely soak in the soup as it rewarmed, they were the perfect texture and I felt I had a winner. I can’t tell you how happy I was – not only because I had reproduced my grandmother’s recipe and could enjoy it without any wheat, but also because I had truly done justice to the original. It wasn’t just my word either. I offered some to my family and friends who eat wheat. As I stood in anticipation, they heartily enjoyed the soup and announced, to my pleasure, that it was the best kreplach they had ever had. I felt I had just won first prize in some national contest!!

So it is with great pleasure that I share with you this recipe for kreplach, made with brown rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

½ cup potato starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

2 large eggs

½ cup water

½ cup oil

pinch of kosher salt

Filling:

5 chicken patties, mashed

Preparation:

1. In a mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together dough ingredients until well combined.

2. Roll dough between two well-floured pieces of parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut

into 3×3-inch squares.

3. Place 1 heaping tsp of filling onto each square. Fold dough over filling, forming a triangle.

Press edges with the tines of a fork to seal.

4. Fill an 8-quart pot to a little bit more than ¾ full with water; bring to a boil over high heat.

Add 1/8 tsp salt.

5. One at a time, add kreplach to boiling water. Return to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-

low. Cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

6. Without letting kreplach fall out, pour out hot water from pot. Refill with cold water, making

sure that the water completely covers all the kreplach. Allow kreplach to cool in water. Remove

using a slotted spoon.

7. Add to soup, heat thoroughly, and enjoy.

These freeze very well for up to 6 months. Chill before freezing and thaw in refrigerator.

Yield: 18 to 20 kreplach.

Note: Brown rice flour works best for this recipe. It gives it a fine consistency, and will not taste

grainy as it is being cooked.

Sidebar: Doughs made with gluten-free flours tend to be a touch more sensitive than regular wheat-flour doughs. It’s important to get to know the brands of flour that you work with. Sometimes you will need to add a bit more liquid, sometimes less. If your dough is a bit sticky, flour your parchment paper with a dusting of sweet rice flour. For kreplach, it doesn’t matter if the dough has a little bit of extra flour on top or inside of it. The dough should be pliable without being dry.

This recipe comes from Gluten Free Goes Gourmet.