Gluten-Free Breadsticks

Inspired by the Breadstick Success of Sea at Book of Yum and having hung onto the recipe from the fabulous gluten-free NYC shrine-restaurant, Risotteria, since forever, I decided to use my holy Day of Cooking (Sunday) to whip up a batch of breadsticks to accompany a homemade vat of vegetable soup.

My first batch was based on the Risotteria recipe, which we had ingested many samples of during our February pilgrimage to Gotham. Weirdly, the batter was thin and watery and I was barely able to dribble it into breadstick semblance. They never rose in the oven and were more like floppy crackers. They would never have stood proudly upright like a true breadstick without a good dose of Viagra. Dan, however, chowed them down and told me he appreciated my efforts despite their lack of curb appeal.

I went back to the venerated Book of Yum and found that she had used a modified version of the Risotteria recipe, and with a halving of the water and proofing of the yeast, I found edible architectural success. My breadsticks, while pointed from my inept Ziploc bag/pastry bag piping skills, are proudly upright and tasted great. Only two left today for lunch.

Here's the link to the modified breadstick recipe and here it is below as well. I sprinkled McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning on some of the sticks, and Gomashio (a spice blend of sesame seeds, sea weed and sea salt, much less salty) on the other sticks. Or you could try pressing in Italian parsley leaves into your sticks as Sea does for a really beautiful effect.

Recipe: Risotteria's Gluten-Free Breadstick (Revised version)

1-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1-1/2 cup organic brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
2 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon of dried herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
Nonstick spray or vegetable oil, for greasing baking sheet and breadsticks
Fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl fitted with standard beaters (not a dough hook), rice flour, tapioca starch, dry milk powder, xanthan gum, gelatin powder, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and herbes de Provence. Mix on low speed to blend. Put yeast in 1 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees) and add sugar. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Add to dry ingrediets with olive oil and vinegar. Increase speed to high, and beat 6 minutes. (Dough will stay very soft and should not pull off sides of bowl; if necessary, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough does not resist beaters.)

2. Liberally spray or oil a baking sheet, and set aside. Put dough into a large pastry bag with a plain round 1/2 -inch tip, and pipe 12-18 breadsticks about 8 inches long, leaving about 2 inches in between. Spray or brush tops of breadsticks liberally with oil, and salt generously with fleur de sel.

3. Bake breadsticks 10 minutes, turn and spray or brush again with oil. Continue to bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Serve warm.

Yield: 12-18 breadsticks.