Photo: ©Lara Ferroni, reprinted with permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A Love Story with 100 Tempting Recipes

Saying yes to food instead of just no to gluten
(and finding romance, to boot!)

BY MAGAZINE COO MARGO MAIER-MOUL

Cooking is a way of paying attention, of really being in this world. When you look closely at a mango and inhale its scent, everything else stops. Life feels rich and easy.
~Shauna Ahern

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef is a life-affirming celebration of good food and an unabashedly romantic chronicle of loving a chef. Memoir and cookbook dance in perfect harmony much the way Shauna James Ahern describes her relationship with husband-chef Daniel.

This book will please both gluten and gluten-free eaters alike. We can all share in the decision to embrace the possibilities of what can be rather than suffer the denial of what cannot. As Shauna tells it

After I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I said yes to food, with great enthusiasm. Told I should never eat gluten again if I wanted to save my life, I vowed to taste everything I could eat, rather than focusing on what I could not.

Any notion that living gluten-free means deprivation is utterly dispelled!

One of my favorite things about the book how it reads much like a novel. I’m as happy curled up on the sofa devouring Shauna’s vignettes about farmer’s markets and restaurant life as I am browsing recipes and finding inspiration for dinner. The book is structured by the chronology of the courtship rather than conventionally by food categories, but there is both a list of recipes and an excellent index in the back of the book, so finding (and browsing) recipes is a breeze.

In addition to delightful stories and delicious recipes, there is also plenty of solid culinary instruction here. Shauna observes Daniel’s skills and obsession with food and cooking first with girlish admiration and self-deprecation, then with aspiration and drive. She and Daniel become partners in the kitchen as Shauna’s already formidable knowledge and confidence increase. They share professional tips in informative sidebars throughout the book, including “the importance of mis en place,” “why dicing vegetables correctly matters,” and “how to choose the best ingredients.”

Recipes are clearly written, chef-tested and will make you want to get into the kitchen and start cooking with someone you love. Here’s one for a blustery autumn supper:

Photo: ©Lara Ferroni, reprinted with permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Pasta with Anchovies, Lemon, and Olives

Reprinted with permission, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

People are afraid of anchovies. They remember super-fishy bites from Caesar salads or bad chain pizza. But eating a good anchovy is a different experience than you imagine. Anchovies are distinctively fishy, but the texture is more like a meat than a fish. They are as salty as the sea, but more like the ocean water around ports. This is the food of a working man in a cloth cap taking a lunch break.

Anchovies are perfect for making a pasta dish, because the oil they are packed in helps to flavor the sauce. You won’t be eating chunks of fish, because the anchovies will melt away in the hot pasta. You’ll just have that indelible taste of the Mediterranean, indolent summer warmed by the sun.

Feeds 4

1 pound uncooked fresh gluten-free fettuccine or 1 pound dried gluten-free fettuccine
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup pitted mixed Greek olives, roughly chopped
2 ounces anchovies, chopped, oil reserved
¼ cup capers
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
¼ cup dry white wine
2 lemons, zest grated and juiced
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup pine nuts, roasted
1 tablespoon chiffonade fresh sorrel or basil

Cooking the pasta Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Toss in the pasta. Cook until the pasta is slightly al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta well, then toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Set aside.

Sauteing the vegetables Set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallots are softened and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.

Making the sauce Toss in the olives, anchovies, and reserved anchovy oil and stir. After a moment, add the capers and pepper to the pan and cook, stirring, until everything releases its smells, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the goodness from the bottom. Squeeze in the lemon juice and simmer until the liquid is reduced by about a third of its volume, about 1 minute. Swirl in the butter, which will emulsify the sauce.

Tossing with the pasta Add the pasta to the sauce. Toss with tongs until the pasta is hot and coated with the sauce. Remove from the heat. Add the pine nuts, lemon zest, and sorrel and stir just a bit before serving.

Variations If you cannot eat dairy, you can substitute a nondairy spread for the butter. Any combination of olives will do well here– find your favorites.

Suggestions This sauce is also good with grilled or roasted chicken, smoked salmon, or seared prawns.

© 2011, The Magazine of Yoga, LLC.