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May 2014 – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Month: May 2014

  • Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)

    Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)
    Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)

    As some of you know, I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free sourdough breads. And since I have gluten-free sourdough starter that I now need to use because you have to keep feeding it to keep it alive, and there’s only so much bread one person can eat as my husband is diabetic and gluten-free bread is not particularly helpful to his blood sugar, I need to find other ways to use it up. Someone in one of the fermenting groups on Facebook recently mentioned sourdough starter waffles, and I was off and running. I found a couple of recipes, but many of them had things I can’t have, so I’ve played around and substituted until I’ve gotten something I’m pretty happy with. Also, as a side note, these freeze great. You can make up a batch and when they cool, put a layer of parchment paper or plastic wrap in between them, put them in a gallon size zip top freezer bag, and put them in the freezer. You can warm them up in a toaster or in the oven on a baking rack when you’re ready to eat them.

    You do have to make the starter ahead of time. I used this post from Art of Gluten-Free Baking to begin my starter. I started using sorghum flour when I was making the bread, but I had moved over to feeding it oat flour before making these waffles (I was running out of sorghum). Also, I cheated and didn’t do the cabbage leaf thing to get wild yeast, I just used a pinch of a safe for me commercial yeast. It worked fine, but do what makes you happy.

    If you don’t have safe oat flour, you can take gluten-free certified oats and grind them in a blender or food processor.

    Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)

    Makes 6-7 waffles.

    • 1 cup of gluten-free sourdough starter
    • 1 cup of non-dairy milk (I used homemade brown rice milk)
    • 2 Tablespoons of grape seed or olive oil
    • 1/4 cup of applesauce
    • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (Here’s a bunch of recipes for vanilla extract, make sure to use safe alcohol if corn or wheat are an issue for you. I used Luksusowa Vodka because it’s made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)
    • 1/2 cup of oat flour
    • 1/2 cup of glutinous rice flour
    • 1/4 cup of tapioca starch
    • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon of baking powder (For corn free baking powder you can use this recipe)
    • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
    • 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
    • 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
    • 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

    Plug in your waffle iron and pre-heat it.  If it has a temperature setting, I find that the highest temperature works best for gluten-free.

    Add oat flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to a mixing bowl and whisk it until thoroughly mixed. Now add your wet ingredients, the sourdough starter, non-dairy milk, grape seed oil, applesauce and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix until well combined, but there will be a few lumps.

    Batter, mixed but not too mixed.
    Batter, mixed but not too mixed.

    Pour the appropriate amount batter on your waffle iron, for mine it’s between a 1/3 and a 1/2 cup of batter, and cook according to your waffle iron’s directions. But I do find that I like to let it go a little longer after the indicator light has gone out until the steam stops to get nice really crispy waffles.

    Hope you enjoy them!

    Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)
    Sourdough Waffles (Gluten-free & Vegan)

     

  • Bacon "Cheddar" Muffins (Gluten-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free)

    Allergy-friendly bacon "cheddar" muffins. Photo by J. Andrews
    Allergy-friendly bacon “cheddar” muffins. Photo by J. Andrews

    I started baking with cakes; it was my first form of cooking. I worked my way through the fancy cakes in my mother’s Southern Living cookbooks from age 10 until the end of college, so as a housewarming present for my first apartment, she bought me the newest version of the cookbook — it’s pretty good for basics, with some cook-to-impress recipes, and it’s chock full of desserts. However, as much as I love cake, as an adult who was suddenly in charge of feeding myself three meals a day, I pretty quickly discovered muffins. They’re pretty much breakfast cupcakes, right? Our college snack bar had really good biscuits, with every possible permutation of the classic breakfast ingredients — eggs, bacon, cheese, sausage. Between the SL cookbook and the biscuits, I can definitely forgive the southern version of green beans (which, in my totally untrained culinary opinion, are just boiled beyond death). Anyway, a savory breakfast muffin is almost the best of all breakfast worlds — like a breakfast biscuit, but in portable, make-ahead for the week form. All it needs for absolute perfection is some way to incorporate hash browns.

    Geez. All that rambling to say that, basically, this is an awesome breakfast that, once I remembered it existed, I really needed to reform the recipe in order to make it safe for me to eat today. In order to make this one, you need to have safe-for-you versions of bacon, cheddar cheese, and non-dairy milk. I have never used Bac-Os, and I could not find an ingredient list on that page, but I seem to recall them featured in an “Accidentally Vegan” column in Veg News a few years ago, and they are soy-based. In a quick glance at the website, it appears you can bake with them. I think they might work in this recipe, and that would make these muffins vegan, but not soy-free. If anyone tries that, will you please let me know?

     

    All the magic is in the crumbs. Photo by J. Andrews
    All the magic is in the crumbs. Photo by J. Andrews

    Allergy-Friendly Bacon “Cheddar” Muffins

    Makes 10 muffins and probably a bit more than double the amount of flour mix you need for this recipe.

    First, make a flour mix by weight. This one is based on the Gluten-Free Girl’s Whole Grain Flour Mix formula (and just in case you think it might also be the magic muffin solution, it doesn’t work well for blueberry muffins. I tried it and was disappointed. It is perfect for these savory muffins, though.):

    • 110 g sorghum flour
    • 115 g quinoa flour
    • 125 g brown rice flour
    • 75 g tapioca starch
    • 75 g potato starch

    Cook about 10 strips of bacon (or, if you’re me, fill your cast iron skillet, and call it good. That’s between 5 and 8 strips of bacon, depending on how wide they are and how creative I can arrange them).

    Mix the dry ingredients:

    • 1 3/4 cups flour mix
    • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 Tablespoons sugar
    • 1/2 cup Daiya cheddar cheese shreds
    • 10 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

    Mix thoroughly and make a well in the center of the dry mix. Then, separately, mix the wet ingredients:

    • 1 chia egg (1Tablespoon of ground chia seeds and 3 Tablespoons of water — mix these first)
    • 3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I generally use almond)
    • 1/3 cup oil (I used canola)

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until well-combined.

    Scoop into lined muffin tins, and bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center of a muffin clean. Goes well with coffee. Store loosely covered for up to 3 days, or freeze to keep longer.

    I'm just putting this photo out there because I kind of love it. Photo by J. Andrews
    I’m just putting this photo out there because I kind of love it. Photo by J. Andrews

  • Cure Your Own Salt Pork

    Two of three ingredients needed to cure salt pork - because uncooked salt pork isn't that attractive
    Two of three ingredients needed to cure salt pork – because uncooked salt pork isn’t that attractive

    Since the corn allergy apocalypse, I’ve been making my own baked beans and pressure canning them so they will be relatively free of corn ingredients. Except I’ve been cheating a bit *hangs head in shame* — I’ve been using salt pork from the grocery store which has dextrose and sodium erythorbate, which are corn ingredients. I figured it was only a little bit in each jar (dumb, dumb, please don’t follow my example). But after learning how to cure bacon, I thought, hey, salt pork can’t be that hard right? And then I did some Google-fu and found out that, in fact, making some salt pork would be easier than making the bacon. So I had to do it, because the cleaner I eat, the less full my allergy bucket is, and the better off I am when I have a bigger exposure to something, and the healthier I feel.

    Salt Pork

    • 1 pound boneless pork belly cut into half inch thick slices, between 1-2 inches long (I removed the skin, but it’s up to you)
    • 1/2 cup kosher or non-iodized salt (the stuff they use to iodize the salt is dextrose, a.k.a. corn, get stuff with no other ingredients but salt.)
    • 2 Tablespoons cane sugar

    Mix the salt and the sugar in a bowl.

    Pork belly sliced into half inch thick pieces
    Pork belly sliced into half inch thick pieces

    Use some of the salt and sugar mixture to rub or dredge the pork belly slices.

    Pork belly slices dredged in salt and sugar mixture
    Pork belly slices dredged in salt and sugar mixture

    In a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel container (I used Pyrex), spread a layer of the salt and sugar mixture. Place a layer of the sugar and salt coated pork belly sliced on top of the layer of the salt and sugar mixture.

    Dredged pork belly slices on salt and sugar mixture layer
    Dredged pork belly slices on salt and sugar mixture layer

    Sprinkle more of the salt and sugar mixture on top and add another layer of pork belly slices. Continue alternating the pork and salt and sugar mixture until you don’t have any pork belly slices left. Sprinkle the remaining salt and sugar mixture over the top of the pork belly slices.

    Completed layers of pork belly slices and salt and sugar mixture
    Completed layers of pork belly slices and salt and sugar mixture

    Cover the container with a lid or some plastic wrap and refrigerate it. The pork belly slices will be cured and ready to use in 2-3 days.

    Pork belly slices after curing for 2 days in fridge
    Pork belly slices after curing for 2 days in fridge

    Rinse the salt and sugar mixture off of the salt pork slices. Pat them dry with a paper towel.

    Salt pork rinsed and patted dry on paper towels
    Salt pork rinsed and patted dry on paper towels

    They are now ready to use in your beans, chowders (non-dairy of course) or stews, or you can store them in a resealable plastic bag in your freezer.

    Salt pork in a resealable plastic bag ready to go into the freezer
    Salt pork in a resealable plastic bag ready to go into the freezer

    Enjoy!

  • Bison Chili

    Bison Chili with sliced avocado -- keeping you warm until spring really shows up
    Bison Chili with sliced avocado — keeping you warm until spring really shows up

    I know, I know, I know. It’s MAY. Which is more than officially spring. I should be posting fresh asparagus recipes, or greener than green salads, or something fresh and colorful, right? Instead, I have chili. Seriously? In May?

    But yes, chili. See spring is a rather evil season in most of the northern part of the US, especially this year. It’s been a fickle and bitchy season — teasing, taunting, and often freezing. So after spending a few days outside last week in this capricious weather, I am offering a mild and tasty chili (no 18 types of peppers in this version), made lighter with lean bison rather than beef, with a good mix of spices to warm you up and yet not remind you of winter. Hopefully.

    Oh, and if you want to vegetarianize the basic chili spice recipe here, I think TVP reanimated with mushroom broth might make a good substitute, but I didn’t try it because of the soy allergy. If you give it a go, will you let us know in the comments?

     

    Mmmm, spring chili. Why not?
    Mmmm, spring chili. Why not?

    Bison Chili

    • 2 Tablespoons oil
    • 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 1/2 medium onions)
    • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 lb. ground bison
    • 2 Italian peppers, cleaned and chopped (these are more sweet than spicy, long and green)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
    • 4 teaspoons chili powder
    • 1 can of chili beans (I’ve been using a can of mixed types of beans, which I kind of love)
    • 1 teaspoon fresh, minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon zatar blend spice**
    • 1-24 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes (or two smaller cans, or your own cooked tomatoes)
    • Optional toppings: avocado, diced tomatoes, crushed corn chips, non-dairy cheese

    Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and let it heat until shimmering.

    Add the onion and salt, cook until translucent. Then add the peppers, cook for another minute or two, then add the garlic if you’re using fresh garlic. Stir well.

    Add the meat and break it up as it cooks. When the meat is broken up well and mostly cooked, add the dried seasoning (add garlic powder here if you’re using that).

    Add the beans, stir well, and then add the tomatoes. When the mixture is at a low boil, turn it down to low and simmer it for at least 40 minutes.

    Add toppings and serve! This chili really benefits from a little avocado on top — I think the richness and “green” flavor compliments the lean meat (add just a pinch of kosher salt to the avocado to make its flavor really pop). Leftovers are pretty great over baked sweet potato.

    **This spice blend contains sesame. You can leave it out.