Amy the GF Chef
Want to book a consultation or buy a class or recipe? Contact us below. Scroll down to learn more about our founder, Amy.
It’s all about family…
Amy started her love of food and cooking while watching her mother, aunt, and grandmother working in the kitchen. Later, she honed her natural culinary skills while cooking next to her mother in New York. Her mom encouraged her to pursue a career in culinary.
Her Approach
“Use good techniques to make your food taste great.”
Long before gluten-free was part of her vocabulary, Amy’s best advice to her students was to use cooking techniques to maximize the flavor of food such as sautéing, braising, and roasting. Secondly, she taught them that something as simple as seasoning with salt and spices could make all of the difference between a good dish and a great one. In baking, it’s all about the balance of flavors. This is true for gluten-full or gluten-free which is why cooking has been her passion all of her life.
Her Gluten-Free Story
Food and Family Are at the Center
After being encouraged by her mother, Amy studied at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. She worked in both the culinary field as well as technololgy, learning everything from running a hospital kitchen to teaching customers how to use accounting software. Once her children were born, she merged careers to become a culinary instructor. She never thought her culinary skills would be necessary to manage her family’s special diet but has found her cooking knowledge to come in handy.
When she had to start cooking gluten-free and dairy-free for her daughter, she used her training and years of experience in the kitchen to teach herself a new way of cooking. She experimented with the ingredients and techniques necessary for recreating traditional dishes into equally delicious gluten-free and dairy-free versions. Most people say they can’t tell the difference.
After years of developing recipes and teaching classes, she published the award winning gluten-free cookbook, The Warm Kitchen: Gluten-Free Recipes Anyone Can Make and Everyone Will Love in 2013. She toured the country with various gluten-free expos, teaching attendees about the basics of gluten-free cooking and baking. In 2016, she worked with Cornell University’s campus dining (Cornell Dining) with their rollout of a 100% gluten-free dining hall on the campus.
In 2019, she founded a successful home based gluten-free bakery in the San Francisco Bay Area, Artisanal Delights by Amy. During this time, she perfected her baking skills, finally understanding why using a scale to measure ingredients is so important.
Since then, she has developed recipes for gluten-free bread, fried donuts, pastries, baked pretzels, scones, bagels, and more. Now, she is ready to impart her knowledge with the world. Are you a home baker? You might want to visit Amy’s blog or buy a recipe. Do you want to open your own bakery with tried and tested recipes? You might want a “bakery in a box”. If you are a foodservice establishment and need advice on how to serve gluten-free customers, check out Amy’s consulting page. And if you are Starbuck’s or Peet’s and want a gluten-free scone or rose cardamom donut on your menu, call her!
