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06/02/2022 12:01 AMWhen people learn I eat a gluten-free diet, sometimes they gently mock me. More often they often express condolences. I get the mockery; some consider it to be a fad. The condolences are welcome—it’s vexing to have to forever go without great bagels and perfect pizza.
Those two dishes aside, there is so much you can eat if, like me, you suffer from this oft-misunderstood malady. That is nowhere more true than in The Gluten-Free Cookbook by Christian Broglia, recently published by Phaidon. I picked it up on a whim while on a recent vacation. I have purchased several gluten-free cookbooks over the years and this is the best of the lot.
As Broglia explains in his introduction, all of these recipes, sourced from all over the world, are naturally gluten free. So there are no weird substitutions or tortured imitations.
“Some may think gluten-free cooking is not very interesting because of what it excludes,” he writes. “On the contrary, gluten-free cuisine is not boring at all and you can find lots of variety.”
The cookbook proves that point with its 350 recipes. The recipes come from Albania, Japan, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, India, Korea, Ethiopia, Bolivia, and other countries. Creole jambalaya, cheese breads, injera, Irish beef stew, shrimp and grits, egg-topped buckwheat galettes with ham and cheese, ceviche, papadum, steamed rice dumplings, latkes, paella, grilled fish, fudge, and steamed layer cake are among the recipes.
This recipe for steak with chimichurri sauce is from Argentina. It makes good use of all of the freshly grown parsley we soon will have. And it goes great with a steak on the grill, so is perfect for this time of year. I might serve it with hallacas, a Venezuelan-style tamale, as a starter, with an Australian pavlova studded with fresh summer berries for dessert. Both of those are in this cookbook as well.
And, of course, because it’s Phaidon, the recipes are clear, the photos are gorgeous, and the book is a beauty. I read it while visiting my sister Melissa, who is gluten full, and she happened to pick it up and she wanted one, too.
Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Adapted from a recipe in The Gluten-Free Cookbook By Christian Broglia
Ingredients for sauce:
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 shallots, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon minced fresh chili pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
For the steaks:
4 beef strip/Porterhouse (sirloin) steaks,
about 5 ounces each
Directions
Make the chimichurri sauce: In a food processor, combine the parsley, oregano, garlic, and shallots and pulse to just combine. Add the chili, oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Process to a smooth sauce.
For the steak: Preheat a grill pan, griddle pan, or grill. Rub the meat with a little sauce and place on the hot pan or grill for three minutes each side or more, according to taste. Plate the steaks and drizzle the sauce over them.
The cookbook also offers a recipe for Ecuadorian churrasco: Take 4 pork sausages, 4 pork ribs, a five-ounce pork loin cut into four slices, a five-ounce beer sirloin, 4 beef ribs. In a large bowl, toss all of the meat with 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons paprika, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Refrigerate for three hours to marinate, then one hour at room temperature. Grill. Serve with chimichurri sauce.