Featured Author:

Suzanne Bowland,
Author of "The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book"
Creator of The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit

Featured Recipes: Honey Pecan Tart Christmas Beer Cake Interview with Suzanne Bowland and Marlisa Brown Biography

Featured Recipes

Recipe 1: Honey Pecan Tart with Gingerbread Crust

Recipe created by Chef Dean Lavornia of Johnson & Wales University (Providence) and demonstrated at The Third Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit™ presented in Providence, RI on September 19-21, 2008. Used with permission from GF Culinary Productions, Inc.

Yield: Varies depending on use

Method of Preparation:
Sift all dry ingredients together. Cut margarine into dry ingredients and rub by hand until it resembles coarse sand. Add remaining ingredients, mix until dough comes together, being careful to not over mix. Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to 1/8” thick. Remove top piece of plastic wrap and flip dough into 10” tart or pie pan. Bake in 350F oven until dry to the touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Variation-Graham Crackers - Omit Nutmeg and Ginger and use honey in place of molasses. Roll out to 1/8” thickness and cut into squares and bake until golden brown.

Method of Preparation:
Combine butter, sugars and honey in pot and bring to a boil. Cook at a rapid boil for 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and zest, stir to combine. Fold in pecans to coat completely with caramel. Pour into par baked gingerbread crust. Bake at 350F until filling is bubbling and pecans are golden brown. Allow to cool 15-20 minutes and remove from tart pan while still warm.

Note:
Gingerbread dough can be used for cookie cut outs as well as the production of gingerbread houses.

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Recipe 2: Christmas Beer Cake

Recipe created by Chef Renee Zonka of Kendall College (Chicago) and demonstrated at The Second Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit™ presented in Denver, CO on August 17 – 19, 2007. Used with permission from GF Culinary Productions, Inc.

Yield: 1 10” Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups Sorghum Flour
  
• ½ cup Tapioca Flour
  
• ½ cup Potato Starch
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
  
• ¾ cup butter, softened
  
• 1 ½ cup sugar
  
• 3 ea eggs, large
• \1 ½ cup sour cream
  
• ½ cup beer, gluten free*
  
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
  

Filling and Topping

• ½ cup sugar
  
• 2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
2. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum in large bowls.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, beer and vanilla. Mix for about 2 minutes. Add to dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
5. Spoon one-third of cake batter into greased 10-inch tube. Sprinkle on one-third of filling. Spoon on another third of cake batter and again sprinkle on a third of filling. Spoon on remaining third of batter and sprinkle remainder of cinnamon mixture on top. Bake 55-65 minutes until brown and cake tester comes out clean.

*Note:
If beer is not desired, then use sparkling water.

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Interview with Suzanne Bowland and Marlisa Brown MS RD CDE CDN Creator of Gluten Free Easy and Author of Gluten-Free Hassle Free

Question: When did you first get interested in gluten-free cuisine and why?

Answer:I have worked in numerous areas of the food and beverage industry with a particular emphasis on the gourmet side for the past 18 years. When I discovered my intolerance to gluten in March 2001, it gave me a new-found appreciation for cuisine that is naturally gluten-free and I was inspired to branch out to find new and exciting ingredients to use in gourmet cooking and baking. Chebe Bread was actually one of my first gluten-free product discoveries which utilizes manioc (tapioca) to make those absolutely scrumptious Brazilian cheese bread rolls! I’d say that recipe/product in particular ignited my passion for gluten-free cuisine and took me down many paths. People can learn about the Brazilian cheese bread rolls by visiting www.chebe.com. They can get the product there and the recipe is on the package instructions.

Question: Tell us a little about why you started The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit?

Answer: I wanted to take the gluten-free lifestyle to the next level of awareness and tasting enjoyment via a top notch culinary education program featuring a wide array of culinary experts in a signature production format. Before The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit was launched in 2006, there was not a culinary conference that focused strictly on GF food. I wanted to bring a new educational format and incredibly empowering and enlightening tasting experience focusing on gluten-free cuisine that did not exist prior to the Summit. I was driven to extol the abundance and very delicious aspects of gluten-free living with this program at a time when lack and depravation seemed to be the adjectives used to describe gluten-free living. I wanted to help the industry break out of that very limiting bubble! And I have always been of the opinion that gluten-free cuisine opens many doors for anyone whether they are gluten-intolerant or not. We focus only on the food and leave the medical aspects of gluten-intolerance and celiac disease to the other national conferences.

Question: How have you been able to find so many terrific gf restaurants, chefs and hotels that have been willing to work with you?

Answer: It’s been a combination of creative focus, passion, hard work and in many cases serendipity. I’m incredibly grateful for the connections I’ve made and look forward to the many roads ahead!

Question: What is the biggest challenge in choosing a summit location?
Answer: Numerous factors are involved naturally, but good instincts and passion behind the project makes everything fall into place and the “challenges” are in my mind simply opportunities.

Question: What have you found to be the greatest rewards of the summit?

Answer: An incredible community of like-minded individuals who make up our annual casts of presenters at the Summit. They are so passionate about gluten-free cuisine and their energy and creativity are contagious! They each give their all to helping Summit attendees discover the delicious wonders of gluten-free cuisine and the skills behind the art & science of it. It’s like one big family. And when attendees come up to me and say things like “I’ve renewed my vows with food because of this program,” it touches my heart. When attendees go back home each year feeling joyfully empowered, optimistic, and delighted with the options they can enjoy on their own personal journey of gluten-free living – that is an incredible reward.

Question: What do you see for the future in gluten-free cusine?

Answer: Millions more will certainly be enjoying it! I see gluten-free cuisine as being the catalyst for broadening our home pantries, restaurant kitchens, and cooking schools as a nation in ways far beyond than what we have seen yet even though an incredible amount of progress has been made thus far. We’ve really only begun to tap into its power. While the gluten-free food movement was started out of medical necessity, its breadth of power to change the way America eats is far more reaching and we have really just started to see the benefits. So much more lies ahead and GF Culinary Productions, Inc. plans to continue its trailblazing efforts in this regard.

Question: What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of gluten-free cooking and dining out?

Answer: The most challenging aspect of gluten-free cooking can be the trial and error process. If you’ve never tasted and cooked with gluten-free grains such as teff, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, and quinoa it can take some getting used to particularly if you are crafting gluten-free recipes on your own. If you don’t like how a GF grain tastes the first time in a recipe, don’t give up and conclude you don’t like the grain. Try it in other recipes! Regarding the dining scene, not all restaurants offer gluten-free options and are not as aware of the gluten-free diet as others. I would say the most challenging aspect is finding something GF on a menu that you want to pay good money for. And the key word is want. There can be GF items on a menu that you don’t care for even if they are gluten-free! You want to love the GF food you eat! Also, it always takes additional effort in analyzing a menu to find something you can eat that is GF. When you have a dietary restriction to avoid, I don’t think the “challenge” ever goes away.

Question: What would be your best gluten-free culinary tips?

Answer: I’m not a chef by trade and prefer to leave the culinary tips up to our Summit presenters and other experts in the industry. But I would like to say that “experimentation” reigns supreme in the world of gluten-free cooking and baking. Without experimentation and might I add patience, the movement dies.

Question: What were some of the great gluten-free restaurants you have found during your work with the summit?

Answer: Just some of the many fantastic restaurants I’ve worked with include Panzano (Denver), Walter’s (Providence), Grille on Main (Providence), Charles Court (Colorado Springs), Vesta Dipping Grill (Denver), Opus (Denver), and Walt Disney World (Florida).

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Biography:

Suzanne Bowland
Author of “The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book”
and
Creator of the Gluten Free Culinary Summitt

Suzanne Bowland is Founder and Executive Producer of GF Culinary Productions, Inc., a trail blazing company for the gluten-free food movement that specializes in developing and presenting unique and leading gluten-free culinary education special events for the public and trade featuring notable culinary institute chef-instructors, restaurant chefs, bakers, cookbook authors, and industry experts from across the country.

Devoted to building awareness of the gluten-free lifestyle nationwide from the perspective of abundant options, great taste, and sound nutrition, GF Culinary Productions, Inc. produces the following family of events:

• The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit™
• The Art & Science of Gluten-Free Gastronomy™ Lecture Series
• The GF Baking Invitational™

Bowland is also author of The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book: Practical Answers to 275 of Your Most Pressing Questions (Published by Sourcebooks, Inc. 2008) The book is available in bookstores everywhere. Written with the gluten-free living beginner in mind, this book covers the lifestyle in an easy-to-read question and answer format - the only book available to present the gluten-free lifestyle in this type of must-have reference structure. Arranged in 17 distinct categories, the book provides a wealth of tips, tools, solutions, and strategies for realistically and successfully living a gluten-free life.

If you or anyone you know is just beginning to live the gluten-free lifestyle, The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book covers the gamut of pressing topics including tackling the kitchen and stocking the pantry, grocery shopping & label reading, gluten-free staples, baking & cooking, food products and mystery ingredients, ethnic cuisine, dining in restaurants, traveling, family & friends, the medicine cabinet, health & nutrition, psychology, and much more.

Suzanne Bowland is a food aficionado and industry expert who has been living the gluten-free lifestyle for nearly eight years since she discovered her intolerance to gluten in March 2001. To learn more about GF Culinary Productions, Inc. and its special gluten-free culinary education events, please visit www.theglutenfreelifestyle.com.


To be notified on the latest details about The Fourth Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit to be presented in 2009, please make a request by emailing us at info@prchefs.com.

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Past Featured Authors/Chefs:
Chef Walter Gualtiero Potenzaor	Scott Uehlein, Corporate Chef at Canyon Ranch & Author of Canyon Ranch Nourish	John Passafiume Owner and Chef of Mama's Italian Restaurant Oakdale, NY	Robert Landolphi Chef and Author of Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook
Shelley Case, BSc., RD "North America’s Celiac Nutrition Expert"	Carol Fenster Author of 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes (Wiley, 2009)	Chef Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE Associate Dean of Culinary Arts at Kendall College	Suzanne Bowland, Author of "The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book" Creator of The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit
Richard J. Coppedge, Jr. Professor in Baking and Pastry Arts, The CIA Author of "Gluten Free Baking"	Jacqueline Mallorca Author of "The Wheat-Free Cook, Gluten-Free Recipes for Everyone"

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