Gluten Free Beer Review: New Planet

 The last few years have been good to us gluten free beer drinkers.  I'll be perfectly honest, I miss the ability to drink a freshly poured Guinness stout at the local pub. I miss it each and every time I sip on any gluten free beer anywhere I am.  It sucks that my options for beer drinking pleasure are severely limited.  But it would suck even more if I couldn't drink beer at all.  Thankfully, there are a growing number of breweries that are cooking up some fine GF brewski.

Take New Planet Gluten Free Beers for example.  I stopped by Pinocchio's Beer Garden in Media PA. I heard that they had a pretty good GF beer selection.  And they did.  They even have a separate cooler just for gluten free beers and ciders!  I immediately noticed two new GF beer brands; New Planet and Dogfish Head (which I'll get to later).  New Planet had three options: Raspberry Ale, Off Grid Pale Ale, and Tread Lightly Ale.  I picked them all up.  Let me start with the Raspberry Ale...

The Raspberry Ale was interesting. Made with sorghum and corn, it was like a Redbridge without the syrupy sweetness, with the additional tarty tang of a raspberry aftertaste.  It wasn't bad, but I don't think I'll be stocking my fridge with it.

On to Off Grid Pale Ale...

New Planet's Off Grid Pale Ale is made with sorghum and brown rice.  It has a complex taste yet went down smoothly.  A bit darker than the Tread Lightly Ale, I found this beer to full bodied and satisfying.

The Tread Lightly Ale was my favorite of the three; very light and refreshing. Like the Raspberry Ale, it was made from sorghum and corn.  I really enjoyed this beer! I can see myself loading up a cooler of this brew; kicking back in the summertime, relaxing next to water skipping stones...  Yeah, that'll be nice.

Philadelphia's Gluten Free Bread Paradise - Tote Gluten Free Bakery & Store

I was recently playing tour guide with my visiting mom.  We were enjoying the brisk weather as we wandered in and out of the small delicatessens, butchers, spice dealers and cafes that line 9th street in  Philadelphia's Italian Market. As we were nearly about half-way through our walking loop I noticed a sign at a place called "Tote" (pronounced "totay") that stated "Gluten Free Bread." I walked in and noticed a table loaded with samples of baked goodies.  I asked the proprietor if I could see his gluten free breads, to which he replied, "everything here is gluten free!"  Talk about music to my ears!  I  immediately turned around and headed straight back to the sample table to sample absolutely everything... all really good!

Before leaving I asked a lot of questions and left giddy with a freshly baked loaf of Quinoa bread, a crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside baguette, and a beautifully bronzed role.  On the way back to our car I found myself in bready bliss as I tore bite-sized chunks of buttery, rosemary kissed GF baguette goodness! Yum:)

Seriously, you have to check this place out.  The breads are so good!  And there's a lot more than just bread to choose from. The owner/baker has Celiac Disease himself, so he makes sure everything he does is strictly GF-certified.  I found it completely worth the cheddar at about $8 a loaf, and $3.50 a baguette. Store bought GF bread, which costs nearly the same, doesn't hold a candle to the quality you get at Tote!  The place has only been around less than a month so far, so support it in order to make sure it's here to stay.

Here's the Website: totebakery.com

1024 South 9th Street
215-551-5511
Open Tuesday - Sunday
10am - 6pm

Gluten Free Ginger Curried Cabbage

This weekend was all fun in the sun:)  It was bright, cool, and the sun illuminated the foliage beautifully.  Looking across the colorful autumn landscape I immediately imagined all the leaves gone, snow on the ground and flakes lazily meandering down from their places of birth high over my head.  But not yet.  Now is the time to enjoy the colors, smells and foods of the Fall.
 
This dish is the perfect thing for a crisp autumn night. I went a little overboard on this one by adding a cup of chopped bacon to my version the first time, but rest assured, bacon or no bacon, this is an excellent dish!  It has just the right level of spiciness, is super easy to make, and is actually quite healthy (that is if you use olive oil and not butter, and of course no bacon!:).  The ginger gives this dish its defining flavor, so feel free to increase its amount to taste.  Remember when slicing and dicing hot peppers to wash your hands thoroughly after, or even better, wear disposable latex gloves.  Nothing is worse than rubbing your eyes or nose with jalapeno juice all over your hands!

Ingredients

• 1/2 large head of cabbage (chopped)
• 3/4 cups peas (or carrots, or corn)
• 1 to 1 1/2 inch ginger (pealed and diced)
• 1/2 green chili (finely diced)
• 1/4 cup butter, olive oil, or ghee 
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• (1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon = optional)

 Cooking Directions

1. Heat up your oil, butter or ghee over medium high heat.
2. Add the diced ginger and stir frequently for 30 seconds.
3. Add the diced chili pepper and stir frequently for 30 seconds.
4. Add cumin and stir to incorporate.
5. Add coriander, turmeric and chili powder. Mix well.
6. Add the chopped cabbage, the peas, (bacon = optional), and the salt.  Mix together everything, keep the heat on medium-high, put a lid on the pot and set the timer for 10 minutes.
7. When the 10 minute timer goes off, take the lid off the pot and stir everything up thoroughly.
8. Lower heat to low and cook longer if you feel the cabbage is still too hard.  Otherwise, serve it up an enjoy!