Schmoozing, Noshing, and Kibbitzing at entre-SLAM

I attended the latest entre-SLAM last Thursday evening, and had a wonderful time meeting new friends and visiting with old ones.  I even missed the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee for this ... wow!

Jeremy was shocked to hear I was going out that night; he knows I'm a nerdy girl who actually listens to the preliminaries at work, since I can't be home to watch them live.  And I always watch the final round, trying to see how many of the words I can spell myself.  (Very few in the later hours, I have to admit, despite my English degree, despite being a naturally good speller, and despite having studied French, Latin, Italian, Russian, and Hebrew.  I have immense admiration for the kids who excel at this event!)

But spelling bee or not, I had such a good time at the April slam that my friend Marcie Greenfield (hostess extraordinaire of the walking tour company Savor Ann Arbor) and I signed up not only to attend the May session, but also to partake of the pre-event dinner with items that could be ordered and delivered from Mark's Carts.

Now, I could tell you that there were fabulous stories, inspirational stories, heartwarming stories, funny stories, and all sorts of other stories about entrepreneurs living the night's theme of "The Show Must Go On" ... and there were wonderful speakers, absolutely, sharing their experiences in the wild and wooly world of business ownership.  But you know me - I'm all about the food.  And there was plenty of it, including some amazing samples from some of the slam's sponsors.

So let's start with dinner, shall we? 

I visited Mark's Carts last summer, during their inaugural season; but there are new vendors at the food cart courtyard this summer - The Beet Box and A2 Pizza Pi among them.  And there's also Cheese Dream, whose "You Donno Jack" sandwich was calling to me as I perused the menu trying to determine what to order while registering for the slam.  This was a grilled cheese, nicely toasted and crisp, filled with Monterey Jack cheese, poblanos, and a generous helping of corn relish.  With this option, I could eat my comfort food and still get a serving of vegetables, too!

For dessert, I'd ordered a Mexican hot chocolate cookie from The Lunch Room, the vegan cart.  Jeremy and I had attended their pie party this past winter, so I can personally attest to how fabulous their desserts are.  And this crisp, chewy, spicy, rich, delicious cookie was just as amazing as every other treat I've enjoyed from them.  (It's pictured on a plate because I took it home - there were so many goodies that I simply couldn't eat everything in one evening.)

Marcie, who unfortunately suffers from a number of food issues, was giddy to have The Lunch Room's ice cream sandwich: decadent chocolate cookies filled with strawberry-flavored coconut milk ice cream that accommodated both her gluten and dairy intolerances.  She absolutely loved it, and insisted upon my taking its picture and showing it off in all its glory.

Hut-K Chaats, which offers "nutrilicious" Indian street food - healthier, with less fat and sugar than traditional recipes - was one of entre-SLAM's sponsors.  Owner Dr. Mahaveer Swaroop Bhojani, a cancer researcher whose passion is to feed people food that can also help to heal, was offering samples of Shanu Chaats: a fabulous, slightly spicy chickpea and potato dish topped with crispy rice noodles and multigrain chips.  I went back for seconds ... after eating dinner.  And Dr. Bhojani very sweetly made a special sample cup for Marcie, leaving the problematic chips out of the mix so that she could enjoy the rest of the dish.

I was also able to taste two treats from "The Kosher King of Ann Arbor," Emil Boch - another sponsor, with his catering company From the Hearth Food.  Emil and his beautiful and wonderfully friendly wife, Monica, were offering two delicious items, one savory and one sweet.  The former were small crisp and chewy breads topped with blue cheese (one of my very favorite foods) and arugula, which were wonderful!  The flavors weren't overpowering, and they blended very well together; even people who admitted to not being aficionados of blue cheese found these were deliciously addictive.  The sweet option, unfortunately, didn't photograph well in the - shall we say? - romantic lighting; but it was luscious enough to compensate for its lack of photogenic qualities.  It was a soft, biscuit-like shortbread topped with a white chocolate whipped cream and fresh strawberries ... sigh.

I was also thrilled to get more tastes of my beloved Iorio's gelato, which I'd just written up for a Frugal Floozie Friday post a few weeks ago.  This gave me a much-anticipated opportunity to meet owner Mary Lemmer (Iorio's Gelateria was another sponsor) and her friend Carrie, a fabulously enthusiastic store employee who even filled in for an absentee storyteller and participated in the slam.  I couldn't resist the dark chocolate variety, and Marcie was able to taste both the vibrant and luscious mango as well as another wonderfully fresh dairy-free offering - cucumber watermelon.

So, at entre-SLAM I met great new people, lined up a future interview, visited with friends, ate exceptionally well, and was highly entertained ... a great night, even if it didn't involve any spelling!  (And no, despite having been fluent in French before I proved the truth of "use it or lose it," I couldn't spell the winning word: guetapens.  A huge mazal tov to Snigdha Nandipati for being able to do so!)

It's not too early to sign up for the next entre-SLAM at Live Ann Arbor and to join founders Christa Chambers-Price and Jeannie Ballew for another fabulous evening of networking and encouragement on Thursday, June 28.  You can register here and choose whether to watch the festivities, tell a story, co-sponsor the event, partake of dinner, or some combination thereof.  entre-SLAM is a great local event supporting the community, nurturing businesses, and fostering friendships.

And the food is fabulous!

Gluten-Free Sweet 'n' Salty Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Gluten-free products ain't what they used to be!  In the not so olden days, these items were fair-to-poor approximations of foods that those who can't eat gluten would endure simply to have some form of baked good.  But the situation has improved considerably, and there are lots of really great products that let you have your cake and eat it too!

Manischewitz has developed a number of new gluten-free products, including yellow and chocolate cake mixes; both include a foil baking dish and even a frosting packet for the sake of convenience.

I was very happy to receive an incredibly generous box of goodies to play with recently, a lovely marketing gift from the Bender Hammerling Group which handles public relations and marketing for several food producers.  This assortment also included several bags of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips, in addition to a sample of the above-mentioned chocolate cake mix.

Sweet and salty is a flavor combination which is always popular, so I wanted to somehow combine the cake mix and the potato chips ... not the Luau BBQ flavor, I admit!  But some combination was calling to me.

And so, I made mini chocolate cupcakes - entirely gluten-free - and topped them with a brown sugar and crushed potato chip streusel that offered flavor and texture contrasts.  Then, instead of just letting the frosting packet loiter on my pantry shelf, I thinned it with coffee to make a glaze.

Chocolate cake, but with a bit of flair!


Gluten-Free Sweet 'n' Salty Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 15-ounce package Manischewitz Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Streusel:
1 cup Hawaiian Kettle Style Original Flavor Potato Chips, crushed fine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping:
frosting packet included with cake mix
2 tablespoons freshly brewed coffee


Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup mini cupcake tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and oil; beat until thoroughly mixed.  Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with the batter.

In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients. Place a heaping 1/4 teaspoon-ful into the center of each cupcake.

Bake cupcakes for 12 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean; let rest for 2 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and place on a rack.  Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.  Let cupcakes cool completely.

Combine frosting packet and coffee; mix thoroughly with a fork until smooth.  Drizzle over the cupcakes and let glaze set.

Makes 30 mini cupcakes.

Gluten-Free Pasta with a Gremolata Gratin

Pasta ... and pasta with a bread crumb topping, no less.  Heartbreaking, torturous temptation to someone who needs to eat a gluten-free diet.

And yet, this dish is entirely without gluten, thanks to nuts, garlic, cheese, parsley, and a couple of specialty ingredients from the thoughtful folks at Mishpacha and Manischewitz!  Manischewitz is now offering spiral- and shell-shaped gluten-free pastas, which were certified kosher for Passover and will also be available year-round; and Mishpacha, distributed by Manischewitz, has over a dozen new products including gluten-free bread crumbs.

I was very happy to receive an incredibly generous box of goodies to play with recently, a lovely marketing gift from the Bender Hammerling Group which handles public relations and marketing for a number of food producers.  And so, I decided that my first recipe showcasing these items should be a dish to offer comfort in a meal which is often verboten to many.  That items such as pasta and bread crumbs can be both gluten-free and delicious is a fabulous thing!

A gremolata is a topping of garlic, parsley, and lemon zest; a gratin is a dish topped with a browned bread crumb crust.  Combine them, and the bread crumbs and pistachios offer crunch while the parsley, garlic and lemon provide tremendous flavor.

So whether you need to be careful in eating a specialized diet, or you're trying to use up Passover products now that the holiday has ended, or you're just looking for a fabulous new way to prepare pasta, this recipe has it all!

Gluten-Free Pasta with a Gremolata Gratin

1 12-ounce package Manischewitz gluten-free pasta shells
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 very large garlic cloves, minced
zest of 1 lemon, finely minced
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped
1/4 cup Mishpacha gluten-free coating crumbs
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
shredded Parmesan cheese, for serving

Bring 5 quarts of water to boil; add the shells and cook for 7-8 minutes until just done.

While pasta cooks, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet.  Add the garlic, lemon zest, pistachios, coating crumbs, and salt; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.  Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the saucepan; stir in the remaining oil.  Place onto a serving platter and top with the pistachio mixture.  Serve with Parmesan.

Serves 4-6.

"Chopped" Challenge - Red Pepper, Spinach and Feta Risotto

My fabulous blogging buddies Judee (Gluten-Free A-Z Blog) and Judy (Cranberry Morning) suggested feta cheese and basil pesto, respectively, as items they wanted me to use in creating an appetizer for my "Chopped" challenge, in which I had asked readers to suggest ingredients that I would then have to use in creating something wonderful to eat.

In addition to sharing a name, despite the spelling variation, they also both eat gluten-free diets.  So I thought that this was a match made in cyber-Heaven and that I should unite my friends' items into one great dish!

I didn't want to offer a recipe for pizza or noodles or anything that could contain gluten.  Sure, there are breads and pastas which would accommodate this dietary restriction; but there are also so many, many foods without gluten that it seemed better to showcase them rather than to use substitutions.

The ingredients I was challenged to use made my thoughts immediately travel to the Mediterranean.  In Italy, it is customary to eat dishes in succession, with pasta or rice - a "primo piatto," or first course - served before the main meat dish.  So a creamy risotto, enhanced with the vibrant flavor of pesto and the zesty addition of Feta, sounded like the perfect antidote to a winter day.

I must say, this dish is simply, richly, and addictively delicious; I was so disappointed when I finished the last of it!  And isn't flavor the most important ingredient in any dish?


Red Pepper, Spinach and Feta Risotto

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup Arborio rice (the high starch content contributes to the creamy texture of the dish)
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
2" rind of Parmesan cheese (see note below)
3 tablespoons basil pesto
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Feta cheese, divided
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan.  Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the rice in the oil.

Heat the stock and the wine.  Add the liquid to the saucepan in small increments, stirring the rice until the liquid is mostly absorbed and then adding a bit more liquid.  When half of the liquid has been added, add the salt, pepper, Parmesan rind, and pesto.  Continue to add liquid to the rice, stirring constantly, until the liquid has been used up.  Test the rice to make sure it is just tender; if it's a bit on the crunchy side still, add a bit more liquid and continue to stir.

Once the liquid has been almost entirely absorbed and the rice is creamy, remove the Parmesan rind.  Stir in the lemon zest, 3/4 of the Feta, the red peppers, and the spinach; cook just until the spinach is wilted.

Place onto small serving dishes and sprinkle the remaining Feta on top.

Serves 4-6.

Note: Buy hunks of good Parmesan cheese, and always save the rinds!  With the last scraps of cheese on them that are beyond being grated, they add flavor and creaminess to risotto, to sauces, and to soups.