BAKERY - Mariposa Baking Co in Oakland, CA

For those of you that religiously follow my tweets (@gfmf_nyc) you know that I recently visited the creme de la creme of gluten free-dom. Say "hello" to Mariposa Baking Company in Oakland, CA.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Mariposa:

1. It feels like the Willy Wonka factory for gluten free goods. You can see straight into the bakery and see all the bakers and staff bakin' up some magic.

2. Fresh. Baked. Gluten Free. Bread. The best I've ever tried.

3. They ship across the country. Shipping is a little pricey, but it's worth it.

4. Gluten free "rye" bread. Didn't get a chance to try it, but not for lack of trying.

5. All the customers in there have the expression of a 5-year old waiting to get into Disney. 

The only thing that brought us back to reality was the bagel. Compared to everything else, it was sub-par. Not so much of a chewy bagel as a dense, cornbread-like good. Still good, don't get me wrong, just not as good as everything else. 

Now, time for some food porn courtesy of Eric Van't Zelfden... You might want to pause and get a tissue before scrolling down...

Everything Bagel

Room Temp Section

Fresh Baked Breads!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cookies!

Chilled Section

RECIPE - Gluten Free Chicken Fajitas w/ Fresh Corn Salsa

Beat the heat... with this spicy dish!?! It may sound odd, but eating hot and spicy foods in the summer actually helps you stay cool. The spicy food helps you sweat, and the more you sweat, the better your body can cool off. And for me, making this dish is a much better (and tastier!) idea than turning off the AC.

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I recommend slicing in half "hamburger" style so they are thinner, cook faster, and have more surface area for those spices)
2 tbsp mexican spice blend (mine contains cumin, garlic, onion, oregano, chili powder, and a little cinnamon)
2 tbsp canola oil
2 zucchinis
2 bell peppers
1 red onion
corn tortillas (read the label and make sure you are not getting any wheat in your corn tortillas)
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh corn salsa (see recipe below)
toppings: sour cream, guacamole, chopped tomatoes, and chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a Ziploc bag, add the chicken, 1 tbsp canola oil, a little salt and pepper, and spice blend. Close the bag and mix around until the chicken is coated with the spices. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes.

Heat your grill or grill pan until it's very hot. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, slice the onion in half, and slice the peppers into quarters. Drizzle with a little canola oil and salt, and grill until about 2/3 of the way cooked. Remove from heat and cover with foil to let steam finish cooking the veggies.

Add the chicken to the grill and cook for about 4-6 minutes per side, depending on how thick your chicken is. In the meantime, warm the corn tortillas on a gas burner or in a toaster oven. If you has a gas stove, simply turn a burner on low, throw the tortilla on, and flip once the tortilla is warm and gets a little char (about 10-15 seconds).

Slice chicken into thin slices, chop the veggies, and assemble your fajitas!



Fresh Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn
1 tomato, chopped
1 jalapeno
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/4 grilled red onion (from recipe above)
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp agave syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Remove husks, add a little canola oil, and grill the corn for a few minutes until it starts to get charred. Slice the jalapeno in half and grill. Chop the jalapeno and remove seeds for a more mild heat.

Once cooled, remove the kernels from the corn, and mix in a bowl with the chopped grilled jalapeno, chopped tomato, chopped grilled red onion (reserved from recipe above), lime juice, olive oil, agave, and salt and pepper. Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes. Mix again and taste for seasoning.

Serve with the fajitas above or with any other Mexican dish!

RECIPE - Gluten Free Garlic Bread

Even vampires would have trouble resisting this delicious, toasty, gluten free garlic bread!

Try this at home! The hardest part is making the bread! The rest is easy, and a great way to enhance the bread you've baked. Especially useful for stale bread, just add a few drops of water onto the bread before the oil and garlic.

Ingredients:

1 large loaf of gluten free French/Italian bread from "Gluten Free Baking Classics" by Annalise Roberts. Check out her website here. Purchase the book on Amazon here.
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or through a garlic press
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp italian seasoning (mixture of basil, parsley, oregano)
salt and black pepper
1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Let your freshly baked loaf of gluten free bread cool. Try to resist the temptation of nibbling.

Slice bread in half "hamburger" style and lay flat. Mix together olive oil, garlic and spices. Slather on bread halves.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the bread starts to get toasty. Add mozzarella cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until cheese melts. Slice and serve!

RECIPE - Grilled Chicken w/ Pineapple Salsa

Not to toot my own horn, but I have to admit this dish is definitely in the top 10 healthiest meals I've concocted! Michelle Obama would be proud. Paula Deen probably would not be.

I realized after typing out the recipe that this plate perfectly follows the new USDA food guidelines for a healthy meal, called MyPlate (see NYT article here). No more silly food pyramid! This new guide shows us an actual plate, sectioned off to show how much fruits, veggies, grains, and protein we should be eating.

So, apparently here's how we should be eating. 1/2 of our plate (however big it may be) should be fruits and veggies (but it looks like slightly more veggies than fruits). The rest should be split between grains and protein (more grains than protein, tho). All topped off by a side of dairy. And, you only get a fork. No knife or spoon.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Even though this is lightyears better than our old friend the food pyramid, there's still a lot to be desired.

- There is no guide as to how big the plate should be. There's really no mention of serving size at all. All they say is "enjoy your food, but eat less" (NOTE: this is an actual quote)
- Under suggestions for your "dairy" circle are chocolate milk, strawberry milk, pudding, ice cream, and American cheese. Seriously?!?
- Under suggestion for your "fruit" corner they have fruit cocktail. This is not fruit, it's canned fruit remnants with sugar water.

Honestly, though, I was very surprised that these were the only items on their page that made me cringe. Otherwise, this website is a very useful guide to healthy eating. They talk about legumes, nuts, fats as a healthy part of your diet (whoulda thunk?), empty calories, and reducing sodium intake.

Now there's no excuse. Mrs. Obama is telling you to eat better, and you have to listen to her. She's like the nation's mom now, don't disappoint her!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (or 2 large ones cut in half hamburger style)
1 cup yellow rice or brown rice)
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
2 zucchinis, sliced
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 tbsp of your favorite spice blend (mine just has garlic, salt, pepper, paprika)

Directions:

Place chicken into a plastic ziploc bag. Add 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil and spice blend. Seal bag and mix around until chicken is fully coated. Let marinade for about 20-30 minutes.

To make the salsa, mix pineapple and tomato in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add avocado and squeeze lime juice on top. Add cilantro and mix very gently, being careful not to mush the avocado. Let sit while the chicken is marinading and cooking. Stir again before serving.

Make the rice according to package directions.

Slice the zucchini, rub with a little canola oil, and sprinkle w/ salt and pepper. Grill the zucchini for about 3 minutes per side. They should be about 2/3 of the way cooked. Remove and cover tightly with tin foil to finish cooking.

Shake off excess oil and grill the chicken until cooked, time varies depending on grill and how thick your chicken is.

PRODUCT REVIEW - Immaculate Baking Co GF Cookie Dough

I was inspired to buy this awesomely-convenient refrigerated gluten free cookie dough from this commercial:

That is some fine advertising. And, if you put lots of veggies on your pizza like I do (see recipe here), you can almost consider your meal healthy.

Not to take a total commercial detour, I do want to share this commercial with ya'll. It's pretty much the best thing I've seen on TV in a long while. At least since Dexter was last on.

Anyways, I found this mix by Immaculate Baking Co. at our BRAND NEW Khim's Millenium Market on Myrtle Ave. A bit pricey, I think $6 for the 12 cookies, but definitely worth a try. The cookies are HUGE, you'll be fine with just one.

I was pleasantly surprised with the cookies, they were soft, chewy, and had a nice texture. Even 3 days later the leftover cookies were soft. That's something that even wheat-filled cookies oftentimes can't match. And you can't beat the convenience.

Now, Immaculate Baking Co., time to make some of your other products gluten free!!