A Community Dinner: One Dish at a Time

Buttermilk Biscuit Bites with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (recipe follows)

This post is about community, friends and family. And, yes, it’s about food. The kind of food that makes it easy to get together: Perfect One-Dish Dinners.

A while ago I mentioned having had the good fortune of meeting Pam, Maggy, and Sharon over at Three Many Cooks. Pam (Anderson) is the mom of the family and a cookbook author many times over. Her latest book, Perfect One-Dish Dinners, is the featured subject of blog posts appearing across the www today as a dozen or so food bloggers whip up one-dish dinners, enjoy them with friends and family, and then share them with you, dear readers.

Perfect One-Dish Dinners is not a gluten-free cookbook. It does have some naturally gluten-free recipes—like Shrimp Ceviche Dip, Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages and White Beans, and Ouzo-Flavored Blood Orange Sorbet. And, as I’ve found out, some of the remaining recipes can be easily converted to gluten-free goodness! A recipe for feta and sun dried tomato studded biscuits from Pam’s book—converted to gluten-free—follows this post.

There are two things I’d wish for you to walk away with from this post: don’t let food restrictions stop you from sharing time with your family and loved ones over a well-cooked meal and don’t be afraid to try to convert recipes to meet your food needs. Granted some recipes are just a “no go” but, there are many that just beg to be tried. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but sometimes you win…big time.

Assorted Olives and Orange & Wild Fennel Salame

My day with friends and family….

The mission, should we choose to accept it, was to make a beautiful, simple dish from Pam’s cookbook and  share that dinner and the evening with friends and family.

The timing couldn’t have been better in our home—the kid was home from college. His best bud, the son of my dear friend and her husband (who happens to be a childhood friend of the hubs!), lives next door. We’ve had many Sunday dinners over the years at one another’s houses but as the kids have grown life’s gotten busy and we’ve enjoyed those group dinners with less and less frequency. This seemed like a natural opportunity to reestablish our Sunday dinner tradition. So, that’s just what we did.

My neighbor, Kathy—both artsy and a foodie—loved the idea right away. We planned the day, the food, and threw in a little fun—a walk around the local annual art show. After gorging our eyes and brains with the wares of talented artisans we headed to a local farm for pumpkins, fresh vegetables, fruit, and a big old pumpkin pie.

Back at home I readied the kitchen for an onslaught of cooking and Kathy planted dozens of tulip bulbs in her garden. (Spring at her house will be quite beautiful.)  The appetizers were first up because we had to grab the afternoon light and take some good photos before the sun disappeared.

The apps were quickly ready because they were simple: prosciutto cups filled with caponata, manchego cheese, some beautiful olives from the local Italian delicatessen, and a lovely dried salumi from Boccalone in San Francisco. (I have no idea if Boccalone’s cured salumi is gluten-free.)

Arms filled with a tray loaded with all that good stuff I headed next door and spent the next hour with Kathy setting up and taking photos of the appetizers. So much fun!

Caponata in Crisp Proscuitto Cups

Then back to my house to make the dinner: Coq au Vin Blanc with Spring Vegetables, Buttermilk Biscuit Bites with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and a big bowl of organic greens with fresh vegetables and tossed with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Although we didn’t take photos throughout the evening here are the images that click through my mind as I remember our dinner:

My husband setting the table.

The boys heading out to pick up whipped cream for the pumpkin pie.

Carefully decorating the island with beautiful appetizers.

Old friends greeting us with smiles and beautiful hydrangeas in hand.

The clink of wine glasses. The smell of good food. The sound of camaraderie.

A steaming dish of coq au vin flanked by biscuits and organic greens.

Stories of the day—many laughs and good-natured banter among the kids.

My son’s smile.

The faces of my friends and husband—engaged in the enjoyment of the food and company.

Who wants pie? And, whipped cream.

Being thankful for such a wonderful day, wonderful friends, wonderful family, and the good food that graced our table.

Cleaning up, putting it all away and thinking about the next time we come together to keep our tradition of sharing a Sunday meal with those we cherish.

What a beautiful fall appetizer spread. Photo courtesy my friend Kathy.

Buttermilk Biscuit Bites with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Gluten-Free)

Adapted from Pam Anderson’s Perfect One-Dish Dinners

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Whisk together in a medium bowl:

2 cups gluten-free flour blend

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used one made from goat milk)

Coarsely grate and add to the flour mixture mixing together with a fork or your clean hands:

8 tablespoons frozen Earth Balance (or butter, if you prefer)

In a separate measuring cup, mix together with a fork:

1 cup cold hemp milk (or buttermilk)

1 teaspoon lemon juice (omit if you’re using buttermilk)

2 tablespoons minced sun-dried tomatoes

Continuing with the fork, mix the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until the dough comes together. Drop by round spoonfuls onto a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet. Press each biscuit lightly to flatten. Bake until just browned, about 10-12 minutes. Serve warm.

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Link Love

Here are links to the other blogs featuring Pam’s Perfect One-Dish Dinners:

Art of Gluten-Free Baking

Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef

Celiacs In The House

Dad Cooks Dinner

Recipe Girl

Kitchen Gadget Girl

My Baking Addiction

Wenderly

Bluebonnets and Brownies

What’s Cooking Blog

Two Peas and Their Pod

What’s Gaby Cooking

bell’alimento

Smith Bites

My Favorite Everything

Food For My Family

Savoring The Thyme

Dine and Dish

This Week For Dinner

What We’re Eating

She Wears Many Hats

Tickled Red

Picky Palate

Ivory Hut

Sugarcrafter

Good Life Eats

How To: Simplify

Rookie Moms

La Fuji Mama

The Steamy Kitchen on TLC

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Gluten-free biscuits are the new gluten-free bread.

I’ll admit I haven’t made GF bread—yet. And, I stay away from commercial GF breads because, well, do I need to explain why to you of all people? You know they’re not so great. OK for breadcrumbs, but not much else.

GF biscuits are another story. They’re divine—light, a little crumbly, savory not sweet. Perfect warm with fig jam. Ah, and they would make tasty little ham and cheese sandwiches. In fact, this recipe in Bon Apetit was the inspiration for The Sensitive Pantry’s version of Sweet Potato Biscuits. IMHO these little guys beat bread hands down.

I’m kind of excited because I found another wonderful way to serve them—topped with beef barbecue, Sloppy Joes, the kind with ground beef and barbecue sauce. You know, the kind the cafeteria ladies served in Middle School. (And maybe your Mom made them for you but I’m pretty sure my Italian-American Mom never even had a Sloppy Joe let alone actually made them!) Sloppy Joes really need a soft bun underneath them and I’ve yet to find soft GF buns on the grocery store shelves. But these Sweet Potato Biscuits are perfecto for Sloppy Joes!

If you’re up for a little reading on the subject of baking biscuits you might try Dorie Greenspan’s Biscuits on Parade: A Recipe + A Biscuit Tip-Sheet.

This recipe, along with Karina’s and other GF blogger Sweet Potato Biscuit recipes, are featured at the Gluten-free Goddess blog. Check them out and maybe try all four recipes!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cups GF flour blend*

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

8 tablespoons Earth Balance (cold)

1/2 cup rice or hemp milk (cold)

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (cold)

1 cup sweet potato puree (cold)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients (the first 8 listed above) together in a large bowl. I like to use a whisk for this.

Mix the cold milk and lemon juice then put it back in the fridge until needed.

Add the cold Earth Balance to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork or pastry blender. I usually start out with one of these tools and then abandon it for mixing with clean, dry hands. The dough should be a bit clumpy with the clumps about the size of peas.

Add half the milk mixture and the cup of sweet potato puree to the flour. (I used canned organic sweet potato puree that I picked up at Whole Foods. You can make your own by boiling and mashing fresh sweet potatoes. You may have to adjust the amount of milk you add to the dough to get the desired moisture and consistency.)

Stir everything together with a large spoon, adding more milk mixture as you go, until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Pull the dough together with your hands forming it into a ball. A note about the dough—it should be a medium-light weight dough and able to hold together. You may need to add more liquid or more flour at the end to reach the right consistency but avoid over-handling the dough.

Transfer the dough to a very lightly floured pastry mat. Press the ball down into a disk and place a piece of parchment or plastic wrap over top. Using a rolling pin gently roll it out to about 1/2 inch high.

Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough into 2 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Tip: dip the cutter in flour between cuts. And, if you don’t have a biscuit cutter you might try a sharp edged glass.

Pull the dough scraps together and repeat.

Place the rounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake about 15-18 minutes until they just begin to brown. Serve warm.

*Note: I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour. You could use your own GF flour blend or, if you don’t have any on hand, try subbing with brown rice flour + 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum.

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