Garlic cheddar bread mix

This is my very first post on a product rather than a restaurant - so it's useful to the gluten-intolerant all over rather than just local to where I am visiting. While at my dad's place during my visit to the North he decided to brave making some bread for me to have along with our standard lunch of cheese, cold meats and olives (and wine, let's be honest).

The box that he had purchased was from a company I had not ever tried before called Heartland Gourmet. The mix was for their gluten-free garlic cheddar bread and overall I was super happy with how it came out. Now, this recipe tells you to add 8 oz of water to the mix in warmer weather and 10 oz in colder. Given that it was being made in a 36th level condo in Ontario during a cold snap in February, we added the 10 oz right away - which was a mistake. I believe the 8 oz would have been enough even in these extreme cold circumstances. Despite our somewhat sticky dough experience, we managed to lump it on to a sheet tray and get it into the oven.

The bread baked up beautifully and was moist and flavorful without being too much. It also didn't have the heaviness that a lot of GF breads seem to be known for. Even the folks who are not gluten-intolerant were happy to nibble away at warm slices of this delicious bread.

I especially enjoyed it with a little butter and a pat of blue cheese melting on top. It was a perfect combination and I highly recommend it.

This bread was also great the next morning under the broiler with  some shredded cheese and sliced tomato. The tomato flavor in the bread played off the fresh cooked tomatoes perfectly and when the bread toasted it actually crisped nicely and took on some color. This may not seem especially important but a lot of gluten-free breads don't toast nicely or look especially appetizing when they come out of the oven.

This mix can be bought for $6 through the Heartland Gourmet website and I think once I have moved South it will be worth buying a few boxes for the pantry.

The Wheat-less White North

This past weekend my husband and I made a trip up to Ontario (Canada not California) to visit some family of mine. It was a crazy non-stop weekend of visiting, eating and drinks.

I used to be terrible about asking if a restaurant was capable of working around gluten-intolerance. No one wants to be the difficult person at the table but since I've started asking I've found people to be really helpful and friendly.

One morning we decided to stop for brunch with some friends and family at Pure Spirits Oyster House in Toronto's Distillery District. I have spent many years near Toronto and amazingly never visited this area. If industrial chic is a thing though, they are doing it well. It IS a thing right?

I was happy to see that right at the bottom of the menu they said that they would substitute in gluten-free pasta for any of their dishes at no additional cost. I am usually willing to pay the premium but I'm happy when I'm not forced to. I started my meal sharing an order of their PEI Mussels Provencal in white wine, tomatoes and fresh herbs with my husband. The mussels were beautifully cooked to a perfect tenderness and had no rubbery qualities to them.

Then, since I have always loved mac and cheese I decided to give theirs a go. It is called the Pure Mac 'n Cheese and is made with salmon, shrimp and mascarpone cheese and topped with a beautiful smoked salmon. It was very rich and even a small bowl was more than I could have wanted. Between this, the mussels and a Toasted Marshmallow Martini - although my husband says it's a vodka cocktail if there is no gin in it - I was more than satisfied. Also, I have never been served a drink with actual toasted marshmallows in it but I feel like it is a thing that needs to happen more often.

Although their dessert menu looked very interesting I decided to walk across the street and check out The Sweet Escape Patisserie whose chalk board told me they had many gluten-free options. They are a tiny place inside a hall of interesting shops but very quaint and welcoming. My husband and I picked up a chocolate mousse trio, some macaroons and a chocolate chip cookie - all helpfully listed as gluten-free on their signs. I was incredibly happy with all of these things.

The mousse had a cakey bottom layer with some wonderfully smooth middle layers and a topping of heavy chocolate ganache. The macaroons were crispy with a sweet cream center and the cookie was a bit crunchy with excellent flavor and very good quality chocolate chips. If I was more local I would certainly be a regular at this little shop. There is nothing I had from this place that I did not enjoy.

In the end, I have discovered that if you are in downtown Toronto and looking for some amazing gluten free food and drinks the distillery district has you covered.

You wouldn't think a place named after Barley would be Gluten-free...

 A few weekends ago my hubby, two friends and I decided to check out The Barley Vine. Any place named after one of the top three offenders on my allergy list is usually a no-go but I had heard good things about this place and there are so few nice restaurants in Bristol that we had to give it a try.

Barley Vine lists itself as a Gastropub and while the menu was small-ish,it was interestingly laid out. It had sections for air/land/sea and appetizers listed under sweet/salty/savory. I didn't see very many gluten-free options right off and it didn't specify on the menu but when I asked my waitress she seemed fairly well informed and, when she didn't know, was happy to check with the chef.

Another bonus for the waitress - she was happy to play along with my husbands shenanigans, which can get quite silly at times. Don't quote me on it but it's possible he claimed to be a "food wizard" at some point during the ordering process. She was such a good sport.

Anyhow, back to the menu... I decided for an appetizer I would try the orange marinated olives because I love olives and everyone else was having delicious looking soft pretzels with spicy mustard. I was very happy with the flavor of this dish, it was well-balanced and great to nibble away at while waiting for supper to come.

Since it's a gastro-pub I suppose I should mention that they had a very extensive beer menu. They had one type of hard cider (although I can't remember which) and two types of GF beer as well. I hadn't ever had either so of course I had to try them... both... for you of course. Because the waitress said they sold significantly more of the Lakefront New Grist beer, made of sorghum and rice, I had that one first. It was an extremely light Pilsner (5.1% alc/vol) with very little hoppiness but it was tasty and easy to drink. It tasted like beer, honestly, very light beer but beer - not fruit or molasses. I could see this being a beer I would enjoy in the summer time on a patio or by the pool. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to have breakables by the pool, I'll put it in a plastic sippy-cup to be safe.

Although I could have happily ordered another bottle of New Grist I decided to be adventurous and try the other GF option, Omission Pale Ale. I had heard of this beer several times both at restaurants and from friends who are interested in brewing but had never taken the leap to trying it. It is supposedly made with barley but put through a process that removed the gluten from the finished product. It sounds really cool right? I have to admit to you though, I was very disappointed by this beer. It had an okay front-flavor but it had a very bitter finish and I found myself sort of forcing it down. I have tasted this bitter-molasses flavor in other Gluten-free beers in the past and it's the thing I am always trying to avoid. I suppose if you're the type of person who really enjoys bitter flavors it may be for you but I found it a bit too much for my enjoyment.

Eventually I even got around to eating food at the Barley Vine. I promise drinking if not my only concern when going out - although don't ask my hubby, he may argue with me given my love of wine. There was only a few options for me here but they all (both?) sounded nice. The first thing I almost picked was the vegetarian "lasagna" which is made with eggplant slices in place of the pasta in a normal lasagna. I almost got this one but when I'm out drinking beers I just feel like eating meat so I had the waitress double-check with the chef and then bravely ordered the wild Texas boar ribs with ratatouille. I was, overall, fairly pleased with my meal if not blown away. The veggies were a bit soft for my taste but they were tasty and the ribs were falling off the bone. The biggest down side of the food was the lack of ANY dessert I could even try. Alas, my waistline at least was thankful for that.

I may go back to Barley Vine in the future, especially if looking for somewhere fairly nice and inside Bristol since choices there are limited but I'm not dying to get back. A few more GF options on the menu and maybe a little symbol showing me whats safe and I could easily be swayed though.