Eating Around Allergies

The Cheese Tray: A Pot-Luck Strategy

2010-01-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

We spent a lovely holiday season catching up with various friends and relations. As usual, pot-lucks figured into more than one occasion. This year I tried something new: bringing a tray of cheeses for that pre-dinner wait that sometimes takes forever. Unlike fruitcake, this would work at any time of year.

For persons with multiple food allergies, pot-lucks can be trying. We check in advance with the hostess or other friends, to see what else will be served. Then I plan to bring one complementary dish that is "safe for James" and tasty for normals. This season, my contributions was a large platter featuring sheep and goat cheese, which he can have, along with cow cheese for comparison.

The presentation of the cheeses was instigated by finding adorable white ceramic figures of cows, sheep, and goats: two each plus a pen to write the variety in washable ink at the base of the figure. This led to interesting visits to cheese bars at several local stores featuring a variety of sheep and goat cheeses. You don't need a high-end store to find non-cow cheeses: Trader Joe's now stocks a good variety of Manchgo, Peccorino, Goat Brie, and other cheeses.

Overall, our best finds (all at Whole Foods) were a goat Fleurette, soft and delicious; a "Drunken Goat" with a Gouda-like texture, and a wonderful non-pasturized sheep Manchego. To go with them, I baked a gluten-free whole grain bread from Jacqueline Mallorca, or brought Nut Thins. The Trader Joe's Basque sheep cheese, Manchgo, and Goat Brie all turned out well too.

The reception varied with just how ravenous people were in the interval before dinner. The first attempt, at Thanksgiving, was devoured in 45 minutes. Other presentations were nibbled more discreetly. People enjoyed the animals, although the writing sometimes ran off into the cheese. Only one person flatly refused to go near anything from a sheep or goat, international prizes notwithstanding.

Watching how people deal with cheese, I realized it's not an affectation to use individual planes for each of the hard cheeses and soft knives and spreaders for the soft cheeses. The more expensive cheeses have wonderful, distinct flavors. A little taste goes a long way toward satisfaction.

The project was not as expensive as I'd feared: the cheeses averaged under $5 for a 3-5 ounce cut, which was enough to put out on a tray. And, as with buying wine, you can say up front what price range you are want and the counter person will be able to direct you.

I was happy with the experiment. We learned more about sheep and goat cheeses, most of our friends enjoyed trying some different, and I did not have to knock myself out in the kitchen. Options are good.

Gluten-Free Fair at Draeger's Market

2009-09-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Gluten-Free Fair at Draeger's Market in San Mateo last Sunday was a great success. There were just enough people to fill the classes and demo spaces but not such a crowd as to render things impassible.

Draeger's Mary Claire had lined up nearly 20 vendors that were scattered throughout the large 2-story building, dispensing bites of amazingly tasty fare. Some were disqualified for James by their buttery and chocolaty goodness; happily many items were dairy-free or vegan.

I'll add more complete details on the products later. Right now I want to be sure anyone who is interested in future meetups can sign up for themselves. So far events have been held at Blackhawk and San Mateo. Draeger's is not cheap but they give good value for your money.

Other great news is that Jacqueline Mallorca's new cookbook, Gluten-Free Italian is out! It was at Draeger's on Sunday and Amazon still thinks it's not released yet. Case in point. I've got my autographed copy in my hot little hand now. Some things are worth paying list price.

Photographic Evidence: These Cakes Are Good Eats

2009-09-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Since I honestly did not expect to win anything when I entered the cooking competition at the San Mateo County Fair, it was quite a pleasant shock to find a blue and a white ribbon gracing my cakes in the display case!

The carob-walnut torte, left, did not turn out as lofty as usual, but it tasted just fine, even after resting overnight. It's based on Jacqueline Mallorca's nifty four-ingredient chocolate-walnut cake in The Wheat-Free Cook, which is probably even better when using unsweetened natural cocoa powder as she specifies. I substitute the unsweetened natural carob powder from Bob's Red Mill, since James is highly allergic to chocolate. This is my go-to recipe when taking a dessert to share with others. It can be made ahead of time, it transports well, and can be cut into small pieces by people who want to sample everything on the buffet.

My adaptation of another recipe from The Wheat Free Cook took third place (left center). As you can see, these gluten-free cakes are not cake mix cover girls. They are low, plain cakes but they have a pleasing texture and good flavor. This is the cholesterol-free walnut-olive oil sponge cake. Jacqueline Mallorca specifies the zest of an orange as the accent flavor, but since James is allergic to citrus, I added chopped ginger instead.

The ribbons are objective testimony that you can eat well despite multiple food allergies, my reason for writing this blog. These recipes are real food that you can serve without qualms to your family and guests. You don't have to make separate food for the person with allergies. My aim in entering the fair was to get some recognition for special diet cooking as a category on its own. Instead, I would up proving my point that you can take these goodies anywhere, and they will be consumed with pleasure.

My other evidence is that James has to watch that the "normals" don't consume his dessert treat before he gets to it, as happened when I took the sherry-walnut cake to a tiki party a few weeks ago. That carob-walnut torte is going to The 25th Annual Gatsby Summer Afternoon this Sunday, along with its blue ribbon. What's a little bragging among friends? County fairs were quite the rage in the 1920s and '30s!

Eating Around Allergies: Gluten-Free Goes To The County Fair

2009-08-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Eating Around Allergies: Gluten-Free Goes To The County Fair

Woohoo! My "Cakes Other Than Layer" took first and third place! (Carob-Walnut Torte first and Walnut-Olive Oil Sponge third.) I'm still amazed since there were other entries, and this was in competition with "normals." Backs up my ongoing claim, you can take these pups anywhere without apology. And that Jacqueline Mallorca is a cookbook goddess!

Gluten-Free Goes To The County Fair

2009-08-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Every year, James and I enjoy the down-home ambiance of our San Mateo County Fair. We realize, as James says, that Maker Faire, filling the same venue, is probably more representative of what our county currently produces. But the quilts and goats and gardens all deserve our attention too. So does the food.

This year I took a deep breath and entered the culinary competition. In category "Other." There is no category for gluten-free or special diets. My hope is not to win anything other than recognition for the need for a "special diet" category. Let's face it, carob brownies aren't going to beat out real chocolate in a blind tasting. But on their own, they are a yummy treat, especially for someone who reacts severely to chocolate.

I'm taking four of what have become my "old reliables", with the various accommodations I make cooking for James. My point, as always, is that whatever your food restrictions are, you can find ways to eat well at home or while dining out or with friends.

CA - 232 - Quick Breads Class: 06
Description: Wheat-free: Rustic Seed Bread (no wheat flour or cows milk)
Recipe from The Wheat-Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca, substituting goat yogurt for cows.

CA - 233 - Cookies Class: 05
Description: Wheat-Free Barley Carob Brownies
The recipe from the back of Bob's Red Mill barley flour, substituting their excellent carob powder for the cocoa powder.

CA - 237 - Cakes Other Than Layer Class: 03
Description: Cholesterol-free, wheat-free torte made with walnuts, carob, liquid egg substitute, and sugar.
My version of Jacqueline Mallorca's "Four-Ingredient Chocolate-Walnut Cake" made using Bob's Red Mill carob powder for the natural cocoa powder.

CA - 237 - Cakes Other Than Layer Class: 05
Description: Walnut-olive oil sponge cake: no cholesterol, no wheat flour
Jacqueline Mallorca's version calls for zest of an orange. Since James is allergic to citrus, I add some powdered or chopped ginger -- Trader Joe has an unsugared version I like.

It's all rather exciting, made even more so when the entries are to be submitted between 7-9 this Thursday morning. Luckily these all hold well, because most of them are getting made Wednesday evening. There will be take-out salads for dinner, and many leftover desserts for us -- regulations call for half a cake or loaf.

Do support your local county fair, wherever you are!

Sugar Blues?

2009-07-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

One commenter asked about substitutes for sugar. Sugar is a tricky thing to substitute, particularly in baking. So much of baking is a science. Recipes assume certain chemical reactions, much as they presume one is not cooking at high altitude.
Thinking of this, I created a minor culinary disaster on Sunday morning. We had wonderful ripe peaches, courtesy of SPUD, that were at use-it-or-lose-it status. They were perfect just as they were. Did not need to be turned into clafoutis!
So I thought, let's try them on pancakes, with just a touch of maple syrup at the table. My favorite pancake recipe, from The Wheat-Free Cook, is elegant in its simplicity, and works every time. It called for 1 teaspoon of sugar. Not much. Let's substitute agave syrup, which is claimed to be easier on the body than sugar, adding it to the wet rather than the dry ingredients. So far, so good.

I'm not sure what happened, as it all was so fast. But I scorched the pancakes! They cooked up so fast. I think the griddle might have been hotter than usual; it's cast iron over gas burners, no thermostats to reckon by. I just fling drops of water on the griddle like my mom and gramma did. (And, to be honest, I was still a bit foggy from the previous day's Bay Cruise on the Jeremiah O'Brien.)

I barely finished dishing out the tablespoonfuls of batter -- these are small pancakes -- when the air filled with smoke. The pancakes were burning and sticking to the grill, faster than I could flip them. I was able to rescue most of them but a grim note of charcoal remained. We added more maple syrup than I'd anticipated.

The quickness with which these pancakes burned makes me suspect that the agave syrup cooked more quickly. Regular sugar would take a bit longer to melt. I have found the agave syrup to be an excellent sweetener, when you don't want flavors such as maple or molasses or honey. But for baking, caution is needed. Maybe if I tried a lower temp on griddle...

Clafoutis! Clafoutis! Clafoutis!

2009-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's cherry time, and some of us are thinking ahead to a River City picnic, inspired by "The Music Man." This brings to mind Gluten-Free Girl's post linking clafoutis to the "Shapoopi" number.

When I posted on Facebook that I was preparing clafoutis for breakfast, I got quite a few responses, indicating that (a) my Facebook friends enjoy eating well and (b) some people have not heard of clafoutis.

There are numerous versions of clafoutis around nowadays. It's one of those thrifty French recipes that took fruit that was less than perfect and cooked it into a dessert somewhere between pudding and cake. It's a homey treat, not something you find on many menus.

Our clafoutis is based on ace food writer John Thorne's account in Outlaw Cook (1992), adapted to work around James' food allergies and use up any fruit that's gone slightly over-ripe. Like Thorne, we think it's a super treat for a weekend breakfast.

We first heard of John Thorne via the irrepressible Alton Brown, whose "Good Eats" show on the Food Network is an unceasing delight. [If you have not seen this show, you should be warned. Halfway into his first season, Alton discovered he had a big fan base among school kids, who loved his blend of food history, chemistry, theatrical improv, and rowdy sock puppets -- the belching yeasts doing their Busby Berkeley routine as the microscope zoomed in on them had me in fits of laughter. The shows can get zany, but Alton always delivers good information and painless food science. When Alton in print cited John Thorne as one of his great influences, we thought, better check this one out.

John Thorne is a delightful writer, full of wonderfully crafted sentences that keep you on the edge of your seat wondering where this particular saga will take you. Before there were blogs or the internet, Thorne was supporting himself through a subscription newsletter. His accounts follow history and nature into the particulars of how he and his wife Matt actually create the dish, for which the recipe is an approximation, not a formula.

"Winter has set in since I started writing, and the only strictly local fruit still available is a few forlorn apples clinging to the bare boughs of the apple trees, bright, rare posts of color in a world of spruce and snow."
Writing geeks -- you know who you are -- will appreciate how every word hangs together in that sentence, like a piece of Shaker furniture. Some of Thorne's books are making it back into print; they are well worth hunting down if you enjoy great food writing.

Our clafoutis -- Thorne says this is the correct singular but that Americans are dropping the final "s" because people assume a noun ending in "s" is plural -- our clafoutis has the additional burden of avoiding wheat flour, cow's milk, and lemon peel called for in his recipe.

Since I'm all about substitutions -- your allergies may be diametrically opposed to my husband's, but you could still derive benefit from reading these posts -- here's how I do it.

Clafoutis is traditionally a pudding, more than a cake. It's made with 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of flour, a little salt, and two eggs. I substitute almond or goat milk for the cow's milk, and for the flour, a blend of teff and brown rice flour.

For experimental purposes, I've tried adding baking powder and xanthan gum, which gives more poof and cake-like texture. We find the pudding texture comforting, so I tend to skip the poof.

This is one of those multi-stage concoctions that comes together quickly, so I like to stage ingredients. (This also helps as I'm still metabolizing my coffee and the brain is not fully in gear.)

1. Prep: Set oven to 425 degrees. Make seasoned sugar. Thorne calls for lemon peel; I grate some fresh nutmeg to avoid the lemon, since nutmeg has some of that tangy chameleon quality of lemon, going with sweet or savory. Peel and cut up your fruit of choice, stonefruit or berries being good choices. The French do not pit the cherries as it's considered more flavorful that way. When the cook is wielding a cast-iron skillet, I dare say the diners agree.

2. Assemble the batter, adding the dry ingredients into the wet a little at a time, ending with the seasoned sugar. Let batter rest while you prepare the fruit.

3. In a large heavy skillet, saute the fruit in butter (we use goat butter for special occasions like this). Add sugar to taste. Fruit should cook lightly and juices coalesce.

4. Carefully pour or ladle batter onto fruit. Pop in oven for 25 minutes.

5. Serve in bowls with cool milk-like substance of choice.

So that's the story behind one of our weekend brunch treats, plus links to a couple of fine food writers to consult for your own inspiration. Try a clafoutis of your own with this summer's stonefruits!

Note: the pictured clafouti is not in the skillet because it was Gluten-Free Girl's recipe, which was more of a cake and looks better in photographs. It was yummy, but the pudding sits well for breakfast. Did I mention she is also a fine writer? Fine food writers make you appreciate just how important food is in our lives, and that your efforts to cook and eat well are worthwhile.

Gluten-Free Dining Now on the Zagat Radar!

2009-06-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Good news for dining out! Zagat.com has a feature article on chefs addressing the needs of those who must dine gluten-free.

Includes several SF area restaurants with gluten-free items. Let's hope this visibility keeps increasing.
Gluten lurks in so many food substances that it's difficult to avoid. How wonderful to have items on the menu that don't have hidden pitfalls.

I'll use this bully pulpit to lobby for one simple improvement: listing ingredients in each dish. This is so helpful for anyone with food allergies, and must save the wait staff hours of reciting or making trips to the kitchen with your questions. It gives the regular diner a quick picture of what a creative dish might be like, and the allergic person is forwarned. (We steer clear of dishes like the Martha Stewart pineapple-chocolate cheesecake with mint -- our all-time winner for combining foods to which James is allergic.)

When You Don't Feel Like Cooking

2009-06-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

There are times you don't feel like cooking. It's too much work, too much thought, too much preparation and planning.

Perhaps you never really learned to cook. There was always someone to cook for you, or a series of favorite take-out counters. Or, if you have dietary considerations, the burden of having to demystify general advice made your brain want to explode. (Tomatoes! Why does every recipe have tomatoes, when they make my sweetie ill?)

I must digress to our favorite tomato story, when James and I sang madrigals at Renaissance Faire years ago. We had stopped for lunch at a booth offering toasted sandwiches. Like all the regulars who worked and played there, we had undergone weeks of training to speak and think in Elizabethan terms. Did the sandwich have tomatoes, James asked. "Oh, no sarrrh," replied the horrified serving wench in her finest BFA (Basic Faire Accent --just think pirate if you have never been to a Renaissance Faire, it's the same corner of Southwest England). "Everyone knows that tomatoes be poisonous!" "To me, they are," James replied. It was a fine moment of intersection of history with personal diet, and we all had a most hearty laugh.

Tomatoes are one of the hardest ingredients to substitute. When a recipe calls for a dash of tomato, I can substitute Avgar, a traditional Middle Eastern blend of eggplant and red pepper now available at Trader Joes and other places. But the great can of tomatoes called for in so many recipes--I throw up my hands in dispair.

So I am at a loss to cook from my latest find on the internet: The Three-Dollar Dinner (found at www.ThreeDollarDinner.com). Television producer Jerry Kolber has written an engaging forward about how people ate when he was growing up, and the lessons this has for us in today's economy. For anyone who's not allergic to tomatoes, it is an excellent resource on how to prepare, shop for, and cook simple, healthy meals. Tomatoes are a cheap nutritional powerhouse, so they appear in about half of the recipes.

Our personal considerations aside, there is much to enjoy in this lively, engaging ebook. (Did I mention that it is a mere $6 download?) Here's a sample of Kolber's brash, positive attitude:

This is a new kind of cookbook, perhaps the first of its kind, focused on showing you how to make fresh food that is better than most restaurants will serve you, for well under three dollars per person. It’s about reconnecting with the joy of homemade meals while recognizing that no matter what your situation is you probably don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen. This book is for:
• One income or no income families with two, three, four or more mouths to feed
• Cool kids doing what they love in the big city and getting paid next to nothing (or nothing – thanks internship!) – but who still want to nourish their bodies and souls with fantastic organic meals for around $20 a week or less each.
• People who are trying to get out of debt but don’t want to eat rice & beans every day
• Grandmas and grandpas who want to eat well on a limited income
• People who don’t have a lot of time or money but want to eat well
• Anyone who wants to impress a date with a fantastic romantic home cooked meal
• Anyone who thinks it’s cheaper and easier to eat fast food than to cook at home--I’ll prove you wrong!

I've not yet tested the handful of recipes that did not have tomatoes as a key ingredient. (It won't be soon. This week I'm determined to work through the four recipes Jacqueline Mallorca is demonstrating this Saturday at Draegers.) I figured the advice alone was worth the price. There is a great divide today between the "healthy" nation and the "unhealthy" that mirrors the great cultural divide of the late 19th Century, when the newly rich robber barons appropriated "culture" as too good for the masses, who had been enjoying Shakespeare and opera just as much as the wealthy, thank you very much. Kolber addresses the current tendency to make healthy eating the province of the elite, and seizes it for the rest of us.

And, if you suddenly find yourself cooking for the first time, Kolber's little ebook is a fine place to start. Two weeks of healthy meal planning spelled out in detail, and recipes that come together easily. And cheap. Aside from the tomatoes, what's not to like?

[Thanks to spisharam for the wonderful tomato photo and this sassy quotation that fits Kolber's spirit: Someone smart said "If organic farming is the natural way, shouldn't organic produce just be called "produce" and make the pesticide-laden stuff take the burden of an adjective? " ]

Live and In Person: Jacqueline Mallorca at Draeger's in June

2009-05-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Great news in the mailbox supermarket flyers this week.

The author of my favorite cookbook -- The Wheat-Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca -- is coming to Draeger's Market in San Mateo on June 13, and I'm signed up for her class. Tah-Dah!

I've raved previously about this cookbook. Now I've got to whip up the recipes she'll be demonstrating, so I can concentrate on the subtle things she does that make a difference.

As I've noted before, every little detail in Mallorca's recipes is there for a reason, and one ignores them at one's peril. Having to make substitutions to avoid my husband's allergies to major food groups does not get me off the hook.

In other exciting news, Mallorca has a new book coming out this fall: Gluten-Free Italian: Over 150 Recipes without Wheat--from Crostini to Tiramisu (Paperback). Available for preorder on Amazon. Yum! My enthusiasm for cooking may be coming back.

More about the Draeger's classes here. If you've never seen a Draeger's Market, consider it a field trip for any serious foodie. Yes, there are plenty of high-end luxury items, and the average prices are slightly higher than Whole Paycheck. But there's excellent fresh produce at reasonable prices, a bakery with exquisite pastries, a vast deli section, superb meats, and, a Gluten-Free section. Our store also has housewares, cookbooks, wines, greeting cards, and a coffee bar.

Winter Warmers: The Alice B. Toklas Fudge

2009-01-22T22:37:00.001-08:00

It's the stuff of legend, at least in hippie-dippy Berkeley: the Alice B. Toklas brownies with the magic ingredient, hashish. I needed a treat for a dessert buffet, we had the book, James found the recipe, and the fudge sounded like a great winter snack, even without the active ingredient, that contained none of his food allergens.

The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book was published in 1954 by friends to assist Alice financially in her later years. Her writings are quite interesting, especially those recounting the time she and Gertrude Stein spent in rural France under the Nazi occupation, and how people survived.

The infamous recipe is actually for fudge, which is not necessarily chocolate, as we think today. "Fudge" refers to things smooshed together, hence the expression "fudging it." Found in a late chapter added to Alice's own writings as "Recipes from Friends", it was contributed by one Brian Gysen, under the title "HASCHISCH FUDGE (which anyone could whip up on a rainy day)". There's an impish quality to the writing, with lines like "it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies' Bridge Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR".

Internet research points to Brion Gysin (1916-1986) as the artist who provided the puckish text. There's a wonderful website, Calligraffiti of Fire, showing his work over a long career, and a short biography. He moved from England to study at the Sorbonne in 1934, and lived in Morocco during the early 1950s. The fudge, he says, is based on a Moroccan recipe to ward off the cold in damp winter weather. It is heavily laden with two spices found in the Ayurvedic tea we are enjoying this winter: black pepper and cinnamon, plus coriander and nutmeg. Some internet accounts indicate that Gysin sent in the recipe as a prank and was surprised to have it included in the final book.

In a prankish spirit, I made up my own version of the fudge, minus the "active ingredient." It turned out to be quite tasty, getting better over time. It can be made in advance; it makes up in easily consumed pieces; and it's not likely to be brought to the buffet by anyone else.

Grind together (I use a dedicated coffee grinder for spices):
1 tsp. black peppercorns
4 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp. coriander seed
1 nutmeg.

Chop and mix together 3/4 cup each of dates, figs, peanuts, and almonds. (I set the food processor on chop and added the spice mixture).

Melt 1/4 cup butter or margerine over low heat, and add 1 cup sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the sugar mixture to the rest of the mix and blend until the mixture is slightly sticky. Turn the mixture out into an 8" square pan and press down. Let rest before cutting into small pieces. It can also be rolled into small balls, more the size of brandy balls than meat balls.

It's a fine treat for a winter evening, a good conversation starter, and an example of the great tastes that can be found without resorting to chocolate.

Another Great Gluten-Free Blog

2009-01-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

My work is done. Just kidding; as long as I'm cooking for someone with food sensitivities, I'll be blogging about it.
But I would be sadly remiss not to share a wonderful treatise on food substitutions from Gluten-Free Goddess. And I'm adding her blog, which is a finalist for best food blog of 2008, to my rolling list of Foodie Favorites in the left hand column. Woops, better finish this before a blogger outage is scheduled today.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:49:00.001-08:00

We're enjoying what may be our new New Year's Breakfast. On a recent trip to Harley Farms in Pescadero, we scored some goat Fromage Blanc. As I suspected, it went superbly with smoked salmon, GF toast triangles, and capers. Divertimento had some chilled champagne -- LaCheteau (sic) Vouvrais from TJ -- about $10 -- with those Asti Spumante good-for-brunch qualities. Worth keeping in the fridge just in case. Next year, we hit the Coastside and pick up the local smoked salmon along with the local goat cheese.

While at Harley Farms, in the expanded gift shop and tasting room, we also picked up some goat ricotta. That went into some blintzes (using the rice crepe recipe from The Wheat Free Cook). Served with the Fromage Blanc and some lingonberry jelly -- mmmm!

Ricotta in hand, we made up the totally fake lasagne that's safe for James. He's allergic to cow's milk, tomatoes, and wheat, which renders normal lasagne completely off limits. We found a great rice pasta made as lasagne noodles, DeBoles Rice Lasagne. I followed the recipe on the package because you don't precook this pasta.

For the three-cheese mix of mozarella, ricotta, and parmesan, I substituted the goat ricotta, some fresh goat peccorino we purchased at Harley Farms, and some soy mozarella (think goat gouda would have been better). For spaghetti sauce, I substituted Avjar, a Middle Eastern blend of roasted red peppers and eggplant that we've found in glass jars at various places, including Trader Joe's and Long's Drugstores. (It could have been kicked up a notch with some simmering with leftover red wine, herbs and garlic. But we were hungry.) We threw in mushrooms and olives because James wanted them. It was good, and even better on subsequent days.

If you can't have cow's milk, and even if you can--check out the superb goat cheeses on the market now. Harley Farms makes some of the best and they are getting national and international recognition. We still are waiting to unwrap the goat cheese coated with chives that took international first in Dublin, and from my tasting room experience, deserved it! We'd planned to have it as a centerpiece of a goat tasting platter that would go to parties -- given my strategy of taking something safe for James and tasty for normals -- but have had to cancel due to a lingering cold. Perhaps it can go to a 12th Night party along next week with Andrew Weil's caponata that was such a hit at Thanksgiving.

Substitutions: Tamarind for Citrus

2008-12-27T21:03:00.001-08:00

It's been a croupy December for the two of us, as we succumbed in succession to the bug du jour. Thankfully it's only wheezing and sneezing, but enough to keep us from much holiday partying. We've been grateful for an Ayurvedic winter tea passed on by our wonderful yoga instructor. Designed as a warming drink, it calls for fresh ginger, star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel boiled for ten minutes and strained. No sugar needed--it's delicious. And a daily dose seems to help my winter circulation. Much less cold in hands and feet now, after a week of sipping this.

Orange peel is one of those iffy items for James -- it's less loaded with citric acid than oranges per se, but he'd still rather avoid it. Substituting for citrus is always difficult. There are so few foodstuffs with the same zing. Verjus, rice wine vinegar, cider vinegar, booze -- there are a range of possibilities but few with the tang of oranges.

Tamarind came to mind. At Trader Joe's we found an excellent dried (but soft) version seasoned with peppers that had just the spark we wanted. So we are happily sipping our tea, hoping to outlast the colds, and enjoying one more discovering in the world of culinary substitutions.

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Inspiration

2008-11-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Some great inspirational holiday ideas for the gluten-intolerant on Gluten-Free Girl, one of my favorite foodie blogs. A permanent link to this and other inspirational food blogs is at left.

So much of coping with food intolerances is about attitude. Think of all the things you can eat, rather than focusing on the ones you can't. Enjoy what you can, and learn ways to adapt your old favorites to your new lifestyle.

For example, we won't be attempting the luscious chocolate cupcakes shown on Gluten-Free Girl since chocolate is a severe allergen for James--technically it's a nerve poison. We get our chocolate fix from the Barley Brownies on Bob's Red Mill website. They're quick, easy, and yummy. The cupcakes call for many ingredients on his allergy list -- dairy, lemon, chocolate -- and baking is a precise art. We are better off looking at other flavors.

Tomorrow I'll be trying two new recipes to transport to a group Thanksgiving: a eggplant-pepper Caponata from Dr. Andrew Weil that's completely safe for James as written, and a sweet potato-pecan pie adapted from John Thorne's Outlaw Cook. For the pie, the only substitution will be using non-dairy milk. I'm going to try cocoanut. And either making a gluten-free crust, or simply baking the pie as a pudding. More on Friday about how these turn out!

Labels: A Good Thing

2008-11-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

One considerate hostess we know -- with food sensitives among her family and friends -- goes all out for ingredient listing. These small, elegant signs accompanied each item on her buffet.

From BAERS Russian Tea

A special plate with its own ingredient label, was set aside for James. (There is sometimes a problem when the special food is TOO yummy and gets eaten by the normals before the allergic ones get to the buffet.)

Holiday Cheer: Dealing with Parties

2008-11-16T15:31:00.001-08:00

Parties can be torment for the food-group challenged. Fortunately so many people now have dietary restrictions that few hosts insist on everyone consuming what is set before them. (If you do encounter someone who is old school on this subject, use all your assertiveness training.)

You can help by checking in advance with your host. If food is a major part of the evening, explain the food allergies involved and offer to bring something for the buffet. Since most desserts are toxic to James, and I welcome the chance to make something new, I generally volunteer for sweets.

From Clafouti &c

Here are some photos of our fall favorites at some parties. Learning as I go, I now cut the cakes into bite size pieces and arrange them on a plate I won't miss if it's left behind. I'm stocking up on classy paper plates for the winter gatherings.

From Clafouti &c

I'm also looking into appetizers. There's a caponata that's safe for James as is in the latest newsletter from Dr. Andrew Weil. It is so going to Thanksgiving.

Holiday Cheer: Inventing A New Drink

2008-11-16T15:20:00.001-08:00

The weather was cold and damp, it was late at night, and James wanted an eggnog-like drink. Since he's allergic to cow dairy, he thought of almond milk and brandy. We had some Korbel spiced brandy on hand for cooking, and a jigger of that in 3/4 cup warm almond milk, with some grated nutmeg on top, was celebratory enough for us.

Goats Are Our Friends

2008-10-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

Allergic to cow's milk? Goats (and the occasional sheep) may be your friends as well.

Goat and sheep cheeses have long been staples in areas like Greece and Spain, where rugged country makes dairy cows impractical. In recent years goat cheese has gone from a gourmet treat to a mainstream staple. The new cheeses are light, fresh, and less "goat-y" in flavor. Even hard cheeses can be found in gourmet sections.

Goat and sheep cheese make wonderful substitutions as well as treats on their own. The simple log chevre can stand in for cream cheese, neufchatel, or cottage cheese in recipes. Peccorino romano, in the pint bin from Trader Joe's, substitutes handily for parmesan. These are widely available. For more specialized varieties, like goat ricotta, you must seek out an upscale market, cheese store, or mail order. Or go directly to the source.

Fortunately we live in foodie central, Northern California. One of the nation's finest goat farms is just "over the hill" on the coast, near Pescadero. Harley Farms produces wonderful cheeses, and it is a joy to visit. The cheese shop is open 7 days a week, with varieties like the ricotta that aren't always in the market. You can step upstairs to the great room overlooking the farm. Flower beds grow the edible flowers that adorn the charming Monet cheeses. The goats, under the watchful eye of their guard llamas, come tumbling in for milking in the late afternoon.

We were pleasantly surprised when Sunset Magazine included Harley Farms, and a photo of their wonderful "upper room" in the August issue.

Goat are a full-service dairy animal. They also provide milk, long considered superior to cow's milk for children and invalids, and easier to digest. Goat milk is a natural substitute for recipes where milky goodness is called upon, such as white sauce, bisque, or baking.

And miracle of miracles, we do find goat butter now and then. It's almost $10 a pound, so we use it sparingly. There is nothing quite like butter on toast or baked potatoes. Goat butter tastes slightly "off" compared to butter, as if the cows had gotten into the silage after eating fresh grass all summer. But I prefer it to all the chemical substitutes.

Substitutions: The Key to Sanity

2008-09-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

When cooking for someone with multiple food allergies, there will be no one cookbook you can follow exactly. Special cookbooks eliminate one or more allergens, or avoid food groups such as meat or dairy. There's nothing on the market --- yet --- for someone avoiding bovine dairy, citrus, tomatoes, pineapple, mint, chocolate, and cola.

Luckily nowadays many of us are foodies, and options are available. Here are some of my favorite ways to substitute.

Find recipes that eliminate allergens. Start with cookbooks that avoid gluten or dairy. Find cuisines that don't rely on food you must avoid. Vegetarian or kosher cooking might have some ideas.

Look at traditional cuisines. Alsatian food, for example, uses German ingredients with French flair, and much less use of the butter, cream, and tomatoes we avoid.

Can't eat citrus? Find other tastes with zing to replace lemons, lime and oranges. Consider using ginger, nutmeg, fine vinegars, or liqueurs like kirsch as seasoning accents. Learn to love stonefruit in its seasonal variety instead of oranges.

Be an Iron Chef. We fell for this show in the Japanese version before it had subtitles, making it something from a parallel universe. The chefs must create four new dishes using the theme ingredient within one hour. When cooking for the allergic, one must be just as creative at home. Try something new! Be free to invent your own variations. Be glad you are not competing in Kitchen Stadium.

Don't attempt the impossible. Sometimes the real taste just can't be replicated. You are better off learning to enjoy new tastes than to feel frustrated or cheated by an inadequate replica. If the recipe you want relies on primary ingredients you can't have, look for another recipe.

Keep a sense of humor. We joke about recipes combining all James' allergens. Martha Stewart's pineapple-chocolate cheesecake with mint is one of the all-time winners in the "death to James" category.

Enjoy. It's food, it's nourishing, it's an adventure.

Desserts: Wheat-free Sherry Walnut Cake

2008-09-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

From Clafouti &c

Last Saturday I tried another recipe from The Wheat-Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca (my review here -- and don't hesitate to buy this book as it's now remaindered at Hamilton). The cake was wheat-free, cholesterol-free, and happily consumed by a picnic of costumers in 1920s vintage. Considering it shared the dessert table with a fabulous rum-drenched chocolate cake from a professional bakery, that was compliment enough for me. The simple cake was particularly with a bowl of late season peaches from the farmers market that morning.

From Clafouti &c

In Mallorca's innovative style, the cake uses eggbeaters, not real eggs, with dry sherry and finely chopped walnuts giving the flavor. She calls for orange zest, to which James is allergic, so I let the sugar sit with fresh grated nutmeg instead. (Seemed to go with the Spanish theme -- heart-healthy olive oil is the fat.)

I'm not sure how old the technique of beating eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage is, but a simple cake like this is certainly good for The Gatsby (1920s), impressionist dinners (1890s), and won't be out of place for an English Regency Russian tea later this month. It requires no refrigeration, travels well, and needs only a touch of powdered sugar and an attractive serving plate to appear in the best company. As the photos attest, the cake was well-received at some fine costumed events.

Shortcuts: Taking The Easy Way

2008-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's all too much. Cooking from scratch and intelligent food shopping take time, and they can go out the window when priorities collide.

Help is available for those avoiding food allergens.

For the gluten-intolerant, there are more and more products coming on the market. We are impressed by Glutino projects -- see www.glutino.com for details. Their corn bread (which tastes like a good white bread, not what Americans call corn bread) has a permanent home in our freezer. It's milk- and casein-free, with no hydrogenated oil or refined sugar. (There are gluten-free goodies that are full of buttery goodness, which makes them unsuitable for the dairy-intolerant.)

Glutino breads are imported from Canada, so the flabby dollar makes them pricey even by Drager's standards. With the freezing and the sturdiness of the bread -- some brands fall apart in the process -- I think we are getting our money's worth. (In defense of Draeger's, a high-end grocery shopping experience in the Bay Area along the lines of Harrod's in London, they offer an astounding variety of foodstuffs, the produce and meats are impeccable, and you can find moderate seasonal values.)

Another great service arrived this morning. I'm a subscriber to spud! (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery). Spud! replaced our former vegetable delivery service, which I suspected of purchasing organic veggies just prior to the leftovers being set aside for senior centers. Spud! uses sturdy Rubbermaid bins for the delivery, which keep cool on our porch until I'm home.

Best of all, you can customize your deliveries online. I'm set up for a bi-weekly organic Fresh Harvest Box. I can exclude specific fruits (ixnay on the inapple-pay), tweak my order in advance, or add grocery items. A blessing indeed if you are busy, housebound, or trying to drive less. We get the organic produce that's better for us and for the planet.

In my fantasies, I'm shopping the farmer's market twice a week like a sagacious French housewife. Or whipping up brilliant creations from the mystery boxes dropped off from the local CSAs -- Community Supported Agriculture boxes that give you whatever is freshest at farms that supply the likes of Chez Panisse and Boulevard.

In reality, we're lucky to have something fresh and nutritious at home at all. So I'm grateful for the shortcuts that help us eat sensibly at home.

N.B. You can get $25 off on your first 4 deliveries with Spud! if you use my code, CR5-992696 when you sign up.

Adapting: Inspirations from today's Chron

2008-07-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Lots of inspiration for the gluten-free and allergy-prone in today's food section of the SF Chronicle.

In Sweet and low, Marlene Sorosky Gray mentions several desserts that adapt well for special dietary needs (as well as for dieters). Ripe fruit, baked or poached fruit, and meringue are flexible and gluten-free by nature. (Just avoid fruits to which you are allergic.) Sorbets can be made at home. You can take a pie recipe and turn it into a crisp, sprinkling the filling with a gluten-free topping. Out of five published recipes, I can use two as written (the poached peaches and meringue torte), two with mild modifications (my apricot-cherry crisp would use teff or buckwheat flour, my melon sorbet would substitute ginger for mint), and the last by turning the pie into a crisp or trying one of the crusts in The Wheat Free Cook. Mmm.

Amanda Berne's The Accidental Vegetarian reminds me of two good inspirations for cooking around allergies. First, vegan recipes can be a great resource for avoiding dairy. One of these days I will review the Veganomicon, an excellent book for those who are daunted by new ingredients, such as beans that don't come from a can. (Note: the authors have a keen web site, the PostPunk Kitchen.) Second, the pasta salad suggestions can all be made up with the new gluten-free pastas on the shelf in many markets. I've not seen orecchiette so far, but this would be tasty using elbow or spiral brown rice pasta.

Marlene Spieler's Roving Feast features salade nicoise, another taste delight that is safe for James. His tomatoes are flung onto my plate as soon as his arrives, and we're both happy.

Gear: Prep Bowls

2008-07-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Cooking with gluten-free flours involves more measuring than conventional recipes. Typical gluten-free recipes will replace 1 cup of regular flour with 1/2 cup of heavy non-wheat flour (sorghum, rice, corn, etc.) and 1/2 cup of light flour (potato flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch), plus the pricey but invaluable xanthan gum that keeps your baked good from collapsing like an overdone souffle.

Let's just say, it's easy for me to lose track of where I am in the measuring process. So these handy little prep bowls have been a great help. Designed by television chef Mario Batali, these five nesting bowls have two measurements inside, one for the full cup and one for the half. You can measure and prep at the same time.

They work well for other ingredients besides flour, and can go to the everyday table with condiments for tacos.

Technique: Why Bother?

2008-07-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Excellent article in the Wednesday Food section of the SF Chronicle, preserved on the sfgate website, on Kitchen Essentials: 10 techniques every cook should know.

Understanding cooking technique has been most helpful to me in coping with the substitutions and in reviewing potential recipes.

Of the techniques covered in this article, folding has been my favorite for years, even before wheat departed my cooking. When you can't rely on wheat to hold up your baking, eggs can step in to save the day. In searching for recipes that will work for us, I know those with beaten eggs can survive my rampant substitutions because the egg whites will do the heavy lifting.

Dining Out: Pick A Cuisine

2008-07-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Dining out becomes a nightmare for the food sensitive. Luckily many restaurants are posting ingredients as a matter of course. We praise this trend lavishly, as it saves cross-examining the wait staff. Also, the mere mention of food allergies now brings prompt attention, as so many people have potentially fatal allergies to foods such as peanuts. Responsible restaurants prefer customers who are not rendered comatose by the food.

One way to smooth dining out with allergies is to check out various national cuisines. Oriental food, for example, is less apt to have many of James' known offenders. This involves some research and questioning about typical food preparation for Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, or Malaysian dishes. Fortunately restaurant staff are usually patient, polite, knowledgeable, and at worst, willing to find someone who can answer your questions. (Our rule of thumb for ethnic cuisine: the good restaurants have a high proportion of diners of a corresponding ethnicity. Bonus points if the menu is dual-language.)

So, for example, we learn that soba noodles have wheat, but rice noodles do not. Inventive dessert treats can be made with rice flour and bean paste. Sweet and sour sauce gets its zing from tomatoes and pineapple, so I wait 'til I'm dining with girlfriends and we order all the yummies our men eschew for their various reasons. Other strategies: Food that is cooked to order can often be made without the offending ingredients. Sauces can be put on the side. Yes, you do have to ask for special treatment, but this is the assertiveness 1A. Polite requests are rarely a problem, and when they are, you have the power to never darken their door again. (That's another post.)

Our latest oriental restaurant find is Banana Island Restaurant in Daly City, a crossroads of Thai-Malaysian-Singapore cuisine. Tucked away inside the Westlake Mall, Banana Island survived a prolonged isolation during the construction of a garage that blocked its only entrance. Business was apparently not harmed, as the place was always busy but not packed. The menu is vast and colorful. The Singapore tofu is ethereal; they make it there. In the center kitchen, you can watch chefs stretching and folding a rice flour bread that comes with a yummy curry dipping sauce. Coconut milk is used instead of cow dairy. Prices are moderate. Service is prompt and efficient, whether you are a large group or a twosome. I found no web page for Banana Island but two pages of restaurant reviews come up when you google it. Yum!

IN REVIEW: The Wheat-Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca

2008-06-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

"Make every recipe in this book!" was James' enthusiastic endorsement when I showed him a copy of "The Wheat-Free Cook: Gluten-Free Recipes for Everyone" by Jacqueline Mallorca [Morrow, 2007]. With nearly 200 pages of recipes, I've kitchen-tested only about a quarter so far. After trying a dozen gluten-free cookbooks, this is by far my favorite. It got rave reviews during a recent vacation where I whipped up gluten-free breadstuffs every day for our hostess, who had recently joined the ranks of the wheat-intolerant. Even the omnivorous Marin foodies were impressed.

There's a lot to like. Unlike other gluten-free cookbooks, there is little redundancy in content or technique. Each recipe delivers something different and distinct in taste and ingredients. A certified foodie herself, Mallorca worked as assistant to James Beard and helped Chuck Williams with the first Williams Sonoma catalog. This gal knows her way around a kitchen, and was not about to take a diagnosis of gluten-intolerance as the end of her eating adventures. She's created simple, easy-to-prepare dishes that will please anyone's palate. Yes, there is a gourmet sensibility at work here. She pays attention to ingredients, and sun-dried tomatoes and saffron are not in every larder. But these are not daunting recipes, just what I'd imagine a professional cook might whip up at home when she wants to spend most of her evening relaxing with friends over a glass of wine.

As an amateur cooking historian, I'm blown away by Mallorca's ability to use a range of culinary techniques. One surefire success was the four-ingredient chocolate-walnut cake on page 191, which replaced an abandoned favorite picnic treat in my repertoire. (Since James is extremely allergic to chocolate, I substitute the carob powder from Bob's Red Mill for the natural cocoa powder, and it's still very tasty, happily consumed by the "normals".) Mallorca calls for walnuts, pulsed with the cocoa in the food processor. Then she beats Eggbeaters with a cups of sugar, until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage. The Eggbeaters thicken more quickly than eggs, besides having less cholesterol. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Voila! An elegant torte that can go to the finest of events.

Pay attention to her every instruction or your results will be less perfect than they might have been. When she says, roll the teaspoon of canola oil around your preheated skillet, don't use cooking spray on an unheated one as I recently did. The flaxmeal skillet bread on page 143 still turned out but did not have as nice a color or crust.

And, with a nod to fine purveyors of kitchen equipment like Williams-Sonoma, Mallorca explains just why you might want to acquire a specific piece. Perhaps the buckwheat spaetzle on page 81 will turn out better if I get the spaetzle press. They were tasty home fare but a bit blobby for company.

I gravitate to the breads and desserts because they are hardest to fake with the substitute flours. The book does contain tasty main dishes. Rice spaghetti alla carbonara on page 69, which uses up the Eggbeaters left over from the chocolate-walnut torte, and the rice spirals with asparagus featured on the cover are regulars at our dinner table, along with the goat cheese pizza with the rice flour crust on page 137.

The yogurt-rice flour pancakes on page 21 are our new breakfast treat. Yogurt is a magic ingredient in many breads. Ground blanched almonds appear in others. They both add a substance I find missing in other gluten-free recipes. Since James is allergic to cow dairy, we substitute goat yogurt and soy or goat milk.

I can go on and on. Just get the book and try for yourself.

The Joy of Food Allergies: A Love Story

2008-06-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

I met Mr. Wonderful in 1986. James was perfect for me in many ways, but a challenge to my culinary abilities. He came with food allergies to citrus fruit, bovine dairy, chocolate, cola, tomato, pineapple, mint, and asprin. Several years ago, he realized he was healthier avoiding wheat gluten as well. Since I particularly prided myself on my baking skills, this was a deep blow indeed.

But what can he eat, people exclaim--especially the unwitting who invite us for dinner. "The Joy of Food Allergies" was a title James envisioned for a book on how he coped with food allergies. Diagnosed at age twenty, he finally had a road map for the chronic malaise that had plagued him during his childhood. In typical resolute fashion, he set out to explore various world cuisines, and what they offered. He learned what goes into a typical sauce, or a classic food preparation (skip, for example, Chinese sweet and sour sauce with its tomato and pineapple).

I became his unofficial taster, ferreting out "buttery goodness" in baked goods or entrees, and gently luring him away from Mexican treats featuring lard. In gratitude for his boundless cheerfulness, I've tried my hand at substituting ingredients he can have in numerous recipes. After 22 years, I'm pretty good at this, and upon encouragement from my gluten-intolerant friends, I'm ready to blog about it.

So I'll be blogging about making food substitutions, my favorite recipe books, helpful equipment, useful web sites, and more. If I can stop to measure, I'll include some of my own creations, like the lasagna for which the egg was the only original ingredient. It did taste like lasagna, but was not better the next day, as a true lasagna should be.