Food Allergies on the Fourth of July

Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth! As for the FAQ, the BF and I escaped the beach (where it seemed that everyone in LA decided to come) avoided the crowds and went the opposite way to the home of some friends to have a quiet bbq on their deck in a wooded area. Ah. It was warm and lovely. Just to see and hear animals in this town is such a treat! Hummingbirds were only feet away from us as we enjoyed our feast. My BF made some homemade sparklers, we laughed a lot and agreed that there's nothing better than sharing good food with good friends.

So what was on the menu? I brought some Texas caviar, which if you're not from the south (I'm not either but my sis is...I got this from her) is a dip made with beans, hominy, cilantro and lots of other goodies, served with corn chips. For the main meal, there was something for everyone! Swedish pork and potato sausages, chicken sausages, Southwest veggie burgers and the BEST hot dog find for me....Buffalo and Pork hot dogs from Broadleaf. Yes, buffalo. As in Home On the Range time. I've had buffalo before and enjoyed it, but these were something else. Dense, tender, juicy and DEE-LISH (no preservatives, no fillers, no dairy, no soy). They were a big hit, even by people who shall not be named who were scared of them. They come frozen, I bought them at Surfas (www.surfasonline.com) but despite being frozen they tasted super fresh and grilled up beautifully. To accompany them we had lots of condiments (relish, two mustards, two hot sauces, ketchup) to choose from, I went for hot sauce and mustard since I forgot to bring my own soy-free mayo. And went bunless and cheeseless, of course.

As a side dish, I also brought Indian-style fruit salad from Neela Batra's book "The Indian Vegetarian". I had the pleasure of taking one of her classes at the New School of Cooking a few years back and got over my fear of learning to cook exotic. This dish is simple and delicious -- sweet and a little spicy, and a nice change from regular potato salad or plain old fruit salad. It goes great with grilled meats, esp. when chilled. The one unusual but critical spice is Chaat Masala, available in any Indian store. It's inexpensive and makes this special. Try it!

Indian-style fruit salad
by Neelam Batra

6 cups mixed ripe fruits sliced or cut (mangoes and bananas especially, but you can also add guavas, peaches, apricots, kiwi...I added watermelon)
1 cup seedless grapes
1 cup fresh berries, any kind
1/4 c lime juice (I used champagne vinegar)
1-1/2 to 2 tsp. Chaat Masala (Indian spice)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Arrange all the fruits artistically on a platter. Top with lime juice, chaat masala and pepper, add more to taste. You can also toss it gently, if you like, but it won't be as pretty. It can be prepared 3-4 hours ahead and chilled.

Hope you celebrated your independence with your loved ones!

POM wonderful is....wonderful!

A few weeks ago, the nice folks at POM Wonderful (who follow my blog) kindly sent me some of their pomegranate juice to try and review. Note that I said this happened a few weeks ago....with apologies to the POM people, I would have posted sooner but must sheepishly report that my boyfriend loved the juice so much that he drank it ALL in a few days and I had to go out and buy more. Silly rabbit.

If you're not familiar with POM Wonderful, it's delicious 100% pomegranate juice, not made with fillers or preservatives. Prior to this, I had only known about its health properties, but had not tried it yet because it was pricey. I love fresh pomegranates, and am not allergic to them, so was looking forward to drinking and cooking with it as well. The juice is very fresh tasting, and has a considerably thicker texture than juices made from concentrate. It tastes healthy but not in a bad way -- not very sweet, fairly tart and full-bodied. It has been researched to be helpful for heart health, has a low glycemic index (good for diabetics) and has more antioxidants than red wine. All good.

My man thought it was too concentrated to drink as is, so he set about figuring out ways to mix it. At first he drank it with water over ice, then drank it with Seven Up and ice, then ended up replacing his cranberry/vodka cocktail with pomegranate juice. He's now a big fan.

As for me, because of its body and unique taste, I tried thinking of ways to use it in cooking. In the past, I've used a pomegranate/cherry juice as a replacement for beef broth in a meat sauce, which turned out well, but I wanted to expand a little further. So I made an Alton Brown pomegranate syrup recipe to use as a sauce to go with turkey. Yummy -- even though I overcooked it and it turned into candy when it cooled. However, the best surprise came when I used it in a recipe from Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken (the Two Hot Tamales) in place of wine to poach pears. I'm allergic to alcohol and also to sulfites, so cooking with red wine is touchy with me under the best circumstances. No more! These turned out gorgeously -- beautiful color, a perfect balance of flavors, with a little spiciness in these smooth cool fruits. These are elegant enough for a dinner party, yet super easy to make. POM also has recipes on their Web site, www.pomwonderful.com.

I'll continue to try to incorporate pomegranate juice into my cooking. Recipes for both of these here:

Pomegranate syrup
from Alton Brown

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used champagne vinegar)

Place the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice in a 4-quart saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, approximately 50 minutes. It should be the consistency of syrup. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the saucepan for 30 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar and allow to cool completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Pears Stewed in Pomegranate Syrup
c.1997, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved

2 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large pears
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Sweet yogurt cream, or whipped cream (I used cool whip!)
Toasted, chopped hazelnuts, for garnish
Directions

Combine pomegranate juice and sugar in a saucepan. Peel, halve and core the pears, and drop them into the pomegranate juice mixture. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice, cover the pan, and cook the pears gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they are tender.

Strain the syrup, discarding the cinnamon and cloves. Let pears cool in the liquid, then transfer pears to a bowl. Boil the liquid until reduced to 1 cup, about 20 minutes. Pour the syrup over the pears and chill.

To serve, drizzle a serving platter or individual plates with the syrup, place a pear half on each plate, drizzle with more syrup. Serve with a dollop of sweet yogurt cream and sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

FAQ Chewy chocolate chip cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free)! Yay!

Last week I did a free demonstration on cooking for food allergies at Surfas Gourmet Food & Restaurant supply in Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone who came out! In attendance were a few people who had gluten allergies, a few employees who had children with food allergies, and a few people who had no idea what food allergies were about but wanted to learn. When I present, I prefer to have interaction with an audience, so we had lots of good discussions/questions about cooking for food allergies. Some of the key points we discusssed were:

1. When making substitutions, be sure to replace both taste and function of the allergen. For example, eggs are both an emulsifier (keep liquids cohesive) and add structure to baking.

2. Specifically for replacing gluten, you must replace that chewy quality that wheat has since alternative flours have none. The current standard replacement is xanthan gum, although some people use guar gum.

3. Also consider that texture frequently gets lost in substitutions, so try to consider that as well when making replacements.

4. When cooking for others, keep the allergy-free area organized by designating cutting boards, knives, storage, etc. with either color-coding or labeling.

5. Be sure to clean your cooking surface often using vegetable-based cleaners to avoid the possibility of cross-contaminating your allergy-free food.

6. Be on the lookout for your food allergens in toiletries as well since they're not going to be labeled gluten-free, soy-free, etc.

Whew! This all sounds so ominous, but really wasn't. It was fun to share what I've learned for myself so far, and the audience had experiences to share as well. One lady who was recently diagnosed with celiacs asked if I had figured out how to make gluten-free flour tortillas, which I haven't yet, but I'll put it on my list.

But of course, the BEST part was eating warm chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven! I finally nailed a recipe to get the cookies to stay chewy and light and taste pretty darned close to the Nestle Toll House recipe. Gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, these chocolate chip cookies are unfortunately not soy-free since there is soy lecithin in the chocolate. My BF, who is my critic/main taste tester and has no food allergies, loves these and has been eating them every chance he gets.

For those in the LA area, I forgot to mention again in the demo (DUH) that I'm teaching a full-length class of cooking for food allergies at the New School of Cooking on SAT, JULY 25. More information and registration is available at www.newschoolofcooking.com where I'll share recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner items.

Enjoy!


Food Allergy Queen Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 72 2” cookies
Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free (not soy-free since most chocolate contains soy lecithin). I've since discovered that there is Enjoy Life soy-free chocolate chips, but have not tried them.

These are soft and chewy. My friends who are not gluten-free think they’re great too!

Ingredients
1 cup cocoa butter chips (available online and specialty shops), or dairy-free margarine if you can have it
3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose flour
2/3 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tsp. gluten-free baking powder (Clabber Girl or Rumsford)
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce, organic if possible
1 cup agave syrup sweetener (amber to dark)
2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla (Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon preferred, McCormicks is also gluten-free)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Callebaut Semi-sweet but check to ensure your chips have no dairy or modified food starch).

Equipment needed
Cookie sheets
Silpat or parchment paper
Cooling racks

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line cookie sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, melt the cocoa butter chips (or margarine) on low heat, taking care not to let them burn. Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and make a well in the middle. Add all the liquid ingredients, including the cocoa butter, into the well and blend well. When mixed, stir in chocolate chips. (Note: as dough cools, it will become stiffer due to the cocoa butter re-solidifying, so don’t be alarmed.)

Using a teaspoon, drop 1” dough balls onto the cookie sheet leaving a little room around for them to spread. If you like your cookies super thin, flatten them at this stage.

Bake cookies for 14-16 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Gluten-free baking ingredients

I had a minor freakout yesterday as I was preparing for my demo next week. I met the celiac wife of a chef who is doing a gluten-free demo on the same day as I am, and happened to have samples of the chocolate chip cookies I'm making. She wanted to try them, and as I handed one over I had a minor panic about whether ALL the ingredients were indeed gluten-free. As I've mentioned before, I'm allergic but not as sensitive to gluten as a celiac is, so I can handle a mishap or two. This poor lady (who is now healthy and vibrant) has had 35 SURGERIES on her stomach/intestines resulting from her celiac's so I certainly didn't want to be one of those who thoughtlessly included gluten! (Deep breathing...deep breathing....anyone got a paper bag?)

I ran through the ingredients in my head (promise I will post the recipe soon!)

cocoa butter
brown sugar
agave syrup
Bob's Mill gluten-free mix
baking powder
salt
xanthan gum
applesauce
vanilla
chocolate chips

This morning I did some quick research online since I was still worried about the iffy ingredients.

Baking powder: I've posted before that there could be gluten in baking powder, but confirmed this morning that in addition to the previous brands I listed, both Clabber Girl and Rumsford brands (available in most grocery stores) are indeed gluten-free.

Vanilla: luckily, I used Nielsen-Massey Madagascar which is the best vanilla by far (once you get away from McCormicks/Schilling you'll never go back! So much better-tasting and you can order online!). Nielsen-Massey states on their site that ALL their extracts are gluten-free. McCormick/Schilling's website said they are also gluten-free. From what I read, part of this is due to the distillation process as well as not using wheat-based alcohol in the extract.

Chocolate: I used Callebaut semisweet chocolate chips (if you have the chance to try something other than Nestle's, please do! Again, tastes SO much better, you can definitely tell the difference....). For cooking, I usually use Callebaut or occasionally Valrhona, which are Belgian and French chocolate, respectively. Neither of their sites indicated that they were gluten-free, however I inspected their ingredient list and they should technically be gluten free since their ingredients are as follows: cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar, soy lecithin and vanilla. Baker's brand chocolate listed the same ingredients, however the chocolate quality is not as good so I really don't recommend it. Also because it is part of the Kraft Foods conglomerate, I would imagine that there is greater risk for cross-contamination with other allergens.

Applesauce: the organic unsweetened version I used from Whole Foods is just apples and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Whew. So I think I'm in good shape, but I certainly feel better for doing the additional research. I'll say it again...I want to marry the Internet! How did we live without it before?

Eating Las Vegas for the FAQ

Just got back from a quick road trip to Las Vegas for my cousin's wedding. Short, but sweet. Boy is it tough to get a food-allergy friendly meal in a smoky casino/hotel! The trick for survival on the road is to plan ahead as much as possible.

Some food allergy travel tips:

1. Plan ahead and pack a variety of food allergy-friendly portable snacks so that you don't get too bored if you use it as a fallback all the time.
2. Map out your dining plans ahead of time where possible so you don't eat something bad because you're stuck somewhere, starving
3. When possible, talk to the staff about getting a special meal. Call ahead if you can so that you don't catch them by surprise during a heavy rush hour when they can't make the time to do something special.
4. In Vegas especially, if you are not sensitive to cross-contamination, go for buffets where you can pick your way around the menu

I packed car-friendly and travel-friendly FAQ snacks: dried fruit, dried nuts, juices, water, chocolate of course. We had In and Out burgers on the road (sorry, I think we only have these in California. Their burgers are 100% beef without fillers, unlike some of the other chains)...I usually order a double meat "protein style" burger (no bun, just wrapped in lettuce, some other restaurants do this now) with grilled onions and extra sauce. There's a little bit of tomato in there, but not enough to really get me so I seem to do okay with that. (The sauce is like Thousand Island, so if you have any issues with tomato, relish or mayo ingredients, skip it and get mustard.) I peel off the lettuce, rewrap the naked burger in the paper and go at it. It's not pretty, but it's doable.

We stayed at Bally's on the Central Strip. It's a huge huge huge hotel (we stayed on the 25th floor) that is being beaten down by the economy like the rest of Vegas. Not enough staff to take care of the guests who WERE there (it took 30 minutes to check in because there were only 2 desk clerks for 50+ people at MIDNIGHT for Pete's sake). Since Bally's is attached to the Paris Las Vegas hotel, we spent most of our free time there....breakfast was at La Creperie, and I ate only the insides out of the seafood crepe I ordered, without cheese. Pretty miserable. So I grabbed some coffee and went back to our room for nuts and fruit. Which was fine.

The wedding reception was at Maggiano's Little Italy, which is a chain restaurant. Luckily I knew this ahead of time, so made sure I ate something before we left -- in this case, the hotel shop had packaged raw almonds and Lay's Classic potato chips (as of this writing, they're one of the few large potato chip brands not fried in soy oil).

The reception menu unfortunately was completely off-limits for me: fried mozzarella sticks in tomato sauce, bruschetta, caesar salad, chopped salad with blue cheese, chicken parmigiana, chicken piccata, spaghetti and meatballs, cheesecake and creme brulee. Oy! My mom suggested getting an antipasto platter, but the lady server informed me that they didn't have olives or salami (hm!), but offered to send out the chef to come talk to me. Out came Chef Aaron, who basically asked what I COULD eat, and made a very plain, simple plate of grilled salmon, steamed spinach and roasted potatoes for me, without charge since we were having a full reception. I had to sit through all the appetizers with an empty plate before I was served, but luckily since I was already full of almonds and potato chips (!) I was not starving by the time it arrived. Big big thanks to Maggiano's for treating me with courtesy and respect to create a meal for me. I thanked them in person, and also wrote a note to their corporate office -- please be sure to thank people who go out of their way to accommodate you...we need to encourage those companies and staff as much as possible! Good karma should be spread around. :)

Dinner was practically inedible, we discovered that the Cafe Ile St. Louis restaurant we chose got its food from the hotel commissary to avoid the cost of a separate cooking staff. Ugh.

However, our breakfast buffet at Le Village Buffet was the highlight meal of the trip. Apparently it has been voted best buffet, for a good reason. Only $14.99 for breakfast before 11 a.m., it offered a TON of choices. The theme was the different regions of France (Normandy, Breton, Alsace, etc.), so there was a huge selection of fresh and cooked fruit, eggs every which way (scrambled, omelettes, benedict, frittata), sausages, crepes, yogurt, cheese and pates so that everyone could get what they wanted and no one had to feel put out in order to accommodate my food allergy needs. No waste, everyone was happy. And it was VERY well executed, the meal was delicious. Mom went back for seconds. With lots and lots of hot coffee, it made us happy and we felt fortified for the drive home.

And right before we blew out of town, I won $100 off a $2.50 bet at rapid roulette. So Vegas wasn't too much of a gamble after all. Ha.

The Food Allergy Queen is teaching in LA!

My little kitchen has been a beehive of activity for the past few weeks as I've just confirmed that I will be teaching about cooking with food allergies in two places in the next few weeks! It's very exciting.

First I will be doing a free one-hour demo at Surfas Gourmet Food & Restaurant Supply on Saturday, June 13 at noon. Go to the link and click on "Calendar" to see the schedule. I'll give a quick overview of cooking techniques to avoid the top 8 food allergens and then make gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free chocolate chip cookies.

On Saturday, July 25 from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., I will be teaching a recreational class at the New School of Cooking, in Culver City. The New School is fun because you don't just sit and listen to the teacher, you actually get to cook the dishes in teams like Iron Chef and then everyone shares their dishes at the end! The recipes for this class also avoid the top 8 US food allergens (wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and peanuts). The menu will include Breakfast Corn Muffins, Turkey "Katsu" Curry, Gnocchi with Pesto, Fake Pho and Pizza. The one-time class is $85, see the full class description here on page 11. I always take these classes with a friend, it's tons of fun for us as well as informative.

Whew! So I'm running around like a mad thing polishing up recipes that have been half-baked for a little while, and getting them ready to bring them out into the sunlight so that you can taste them instead of just looking at pictures. And then make them at home!

If you are (or interested friends and family) are in the Los Angeles area during either of these days, please come on out! I'd love to meet you!

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Battle, Round 1.5

As much as I love exotic and complex foods and flavors, sometimes I crave just the simple basics. Like really good bread with sweet butter. Or a cold refreshing glass of lemonade. Both of which are now off-limits to the Food Allergy Queen. Argh. Tonight I was craving a warm, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie after watching a movie where two people were sitting on a rooftop eating cookies and milk... and it just made me feel a little deprived being allergic to both. But not for long....

I've tried making chocolate chip cookies before using my go-to baking book, Gluten-Free Kitchen. They tasted good, but they looked so pathetic that I couldn't bring myself to shoot a picture of them. I only gave that effort a .5.

Tonight I adapted a recipe from Gluten-free Baking by Rebecca Reilly, who is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. Not surprisingly, her recipe worked better technically. The shape held up, but the flavor was a little bland, but considering the cookies were gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, they were good. I personally think they were a little thin on the chocolate chips, which is an arrestable crime in some countries. But still, it was preeettttyyy dang satisfying to cram them into my mouth as soon as they came out of the oven.

The Battle for the Ultimate Chocolate Chip recipe will continue. Many cookies enter, but "there can be only one"...chocolate chip cookie. I'll post the winning recipe when I get there. Stay tuned!