Part of what makes invention potentially frustrating is the difficulty in recreating the results of successful experiments. Getting lucky once is fairly easy. Duplicating a method and seeing favorable outcomes feels like magic when lightning strikes twice. So tonight, when I attempted the high-degree-of-difficulty trick of preparing two of my new grain-free recipes that I invented last week, with my neighbor over to taste-test for me, I really didn't know what to expect. I had to time everything perfectly, while consulting my hand-written notes, and making the changes I thought of last time I made these unrelated food items. More than a week ago, I made beef stroganoff and I concocted a recipe for spatzle noodles that surprised even me. I decided that I needed to try it with schnitzel, and so tonight, we asked the neighbor to come over and evaluate my cooking from the perspective of someone who never tries gluten-free or grain-free cooking because he doesn't have to. (He is my complete opposite. He surrounds himself with grains, brewing beer every single Sunday.) I had a large family-pack of pork cutlets from Costco, and I had Mr X flatten them, in order to conserve my energy for the actual meal prep. The schnitzel was not grain-free -- I did use corn meal as a coating. It was an unusual splurge for me, but I wanted to focus on just the two new inventions, not add a third. While the pork fried, and a pot of green beans steamed, I mixed up a batch of the noodle batter almost exactly like the last time. I say almost, because where the first recipe had a half of a cup of cassava flour, this time I was out and used tapioca starch. They're made from the same plant, but use different prep methods (or so I have been told). I think the change may have been a happy accident, because the noodles had an even better texture than last time. Before he went home, my neighbor asked me to use them to make a macaroni and cheese dish for his superbowl party next week. When someone who has no reason to eat gluten-free asks you specifically to bring a GF dish to a potluck, you know you have done well.
The other recipe was for the ginger-molasses cookies I had warned my neighbor I'd be throwing at him. I mixed up the first batch early last week, and discovered that the dough needed time to condition as the days went by, to come out to the consistency of ginger snaps. Today I made it early in the day, using a tablespoon more coconut flour and adding baking powder in addition to baking soda. I let the dough chill for about 6 hours, and put cookies in the oven as soon as the neighbor came over. This time, I didn't have to wait days for the coconut flour to absorb extra moisture. They puffed up exactly right, and came out crispy and spicy, the perfect ginger snap, first day. Again, my test subject granted the seal of approval. I feel like a gymnast at the Olympics. I just performed a crazy-difficult vault and stuck the landing. Twice.
I need a favor from anyone and everyone who is willing to help out. For most of my grain-free cooking, I rely on two alternative flours: garbanzo bean and cassava. I have to buy them in very small amounts, the garbanzo at the grocery store, and the cassava I order from Amazon. I would give anything to be able to buy them in hoarding-for-the-next-great-depression sized bags at Costco, but they don't carry these things. If you are a member of Costco, would you go into your local store (or at least do this next time you're there) and request one or both of these flours? I went to the customer service desk at the one north of Denver last week and asked for garbanzo flour. I need to go to the other two locations I frequent, and ask it of them too. But it may take more than just my voice for them to see the need to source this stuff. Please join me in this request. And while you're at it, try a little of it in your own cooking. I am not kidding, this makes the best white cream gravy I have ever had, and as a woman of Oklahoma origin, this carries gravitas. However, don't expect to eat raw dough made from it. It has to cook -- has to, has to, has to. Raw garbanzo dough tastes weird and very disappointing, especially in sweet batters. Still, I highly recommend it.
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