Why Foodies Should Care About Wheat/Gluten Food Labeling.

http://www.1in133.org/

Wheat and Gluten are hot topics when it comes to food.  Yeah, it is a fad.  But for some of us, it is more serious.

I avoid some of the gluten-free events at the local Whole Paycheck simply because I'm not even-tempered enough to not have stabby thoughts overhearing conversations of people who are gluten-free as a fad, people who can fall off the wagon without a lot of ill effects.

You're making it harder for the world to take those of us who CAN NOT have wheat or gluten a lot harder.

In the gluten-free world, there was recently a kerfuffle over an idiot cook who posted on his Facebook page that he served regular pasta to people and told them it was "gluten-free".  And yes, for people who do it as a fad, they may not notice.  Do that to me?  I'd be sick for days.

Wheat/gluten allergies and celiac tend to fall somewhere between the extremes of peanut allergies and general food intolerance.  Most of us are not going to die if we accidentially have some exposure to wheat, but there is a reason we avoid the stuff.  I don't need to feel like I have hundreds of tiny mosquito bites on my hands (one thing that happens to me after I have wheat).  It does not kill me, but it is damned uncomfortable.

I've been doing this since September of last year.  And although I read labels and do my best... I have a reaction to something almost every week.  Flour is not always clearly labeled on food.  If the people making a product are lax with their vendors, they might be getting spices that are "stretched" with flour.  I have huge problems with candies that don't contain wheat but are also processed on the same equipment as candies with wheat ingredients.  I have two stainless steel pots that I can no longer use for myself since they have pretty much only been used to cook pasta for the past 15 years.

I would really, really like the FDA to step up and set some guidelines for gluten-free labeling.  It's not hard to figure out if something is gluten-free.  If you, as a producer, know all the sources and you know how your product is produced, it's not hard to determine if it is gluten-free or not.  If it is?  Great.  If it's not?  I really would rather know something is NOT safe even if it means I can no longer eat it.

Trader Joes used to be a favorite store of mine.  Not so much anymore.  To the fad gluten-free people or those who do not totally understand, it looks like they have a lot of gluten-free products because they stick a "no gluten ingredients" label on every product that they can.  Well, good, you didn't use wheat flour.  But did anyone make sure there were no grains of wheat in the lentils used to make this?  (Wheat grains in dried lentils happen)  Was this soup cooked in a pot that is also used to cook a soup with wheat noodles?  Are the sources of cornmeal and oats for this gluten-free?  (Those are two things notorious for getting contaminated during processing)  "No gluten ingredients" does not always mean gluten-free.  And labeling like that is NOT helping.

I just want food to be labeled as clearly as for other allergens.  And you should want it to.  Unless you're cooking totally from scratch, there are things in your food that they are not telling you about.  And it should make you mad, too.

Happy Cinco de Mayo - Celebrate with Duck Carnitas!

It started with this recipe.

When I saw Rick Bayless do Duck Carnitas on his PBS show, my immediate cry was "I Want To Go To There!" ala Liz Lemon.

And boy, do you want to go to there too.

I did play around with the recipe a bit... I used a single whole duck (I find a whole duck usually feeds about 3 people).  If I wanted more meat,  I'd probably throw in a couple of extra duck legs with the whole duck.

I skipped the pork fat and went with a whole duck instead.  You can get a LOT of fat out of a whole duck, and frankly, with this wheat allergy thing, I was a bit uncomfortable trying to buy pork fat at the market.  I know they have it... they make their own pork carnitas on the weekend.  But I'm just paranoid that there could have been some wheat contamination I didn't know about.  Easier to just do my own whole duck and skip the pork fat.

On Tuesday night I quarted the duck and seasoned it with oregano, half the salt that is listed in the recipe, and some pepper.  Last night, I threw all the duck parts into the slow cooker, along with a handful of garlic cloves, set it to low, and let it cook overnight.

This morning, I fished out the duck parts and drained the liquid into another container, then stashed it all in the fridge.

Got home from work, then as carefully as I could, I peeled off the skin, and then pulled the meat apart into large chunks.  Then the magic really started.

You throw the skin into a skillet with a little duck fat, and let that crisp up.

Oh yeah... that is what I am talking about....

I had to drain off even more duck fat that rendered out of the skin, and then I tossed in the shredded meat and cooked that until it got all nice & brown & crispy on the edges....

Then it is just a matter of putting it on some corn tortillas with your favorite toppings (I went with some queso fresco, green taco sauce and some pickled shallot).

SO GOOD.

Really.... oh so very good.

Even better when washed down with a margarita.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

It's a gluten-free desert that anyone can make.  And you don't even need fancy gluten-free flours to do it.  You might want to have a stand mixer, though.

And the tech writer in me TOTALLY needs to re-order this recipe.  It is one of those recipes that might be written in an order that makes sense in the fact you deal with one element at a time, but that means you spend very few minutes doing stuff and way too much time waiting.

The recipe is from Chuck Hughes from the show Chuck's Day Off.  Don't let the tattoos and goofy Canadian accent throw you - the guy does some good, easy to make at home food.

Do the ganche for the chocolate mousse first.  I let that stuff cool for an hour, and it still was warm enough to make my mousse runny on the first go.  But that was easy enough to fix - stuck the runny stuff in the fridge for an hour, then re-whipped it and got it fluffy, then let that go into the fridge for another half hour before I assembled.

Basically, the recipe is two chocolate souffles with chocolate mousse and berries in the middle.  I used a mix of berries sine raspberries were apparently in short supply in the Chicagoland area this Easter.

You whip 12 egg whites...

Then you take your twelve egg yolks...

If you are smarter than me, you'll pay attention to the recipe and NOT add the cocoa powder right away.  If you are like me, at least the recipe is nice enough to tell you how long you're supposed to beat them so it doesn't matter too much anyway (good technical instruction - sometimes it's best to give multiple instructions because even tech writers don't always follow directions).

At this point I was juggling some other stuff, so peekytures stopped happening.  But basically, you mix the egg whites and yolks together, put it in two greased springform pans (note - if you are doing this for someone who needs no wheat or no gluten, line the whole pan with parchment paper if you've baked wheat-things like other cakes or cheesecakes in your pans before - better safe than sorry!).

And they come out of the oven all puffy and wonderful.

And then they totally deflate as they cool.  That is what souffles do.  Don't sweat it.

My ganache was apparently still too hot when I started the mousse and it was originally a runny mess - if that happens, just throw it in the fridge and let it cool, then give it a go again.  I probably could have had a fluffier mouse, but it was still pretty good.

To assemble, you plop one cake down, load it with half the mousse (and there is a LOT) and then add your berries, then plop on the second cake, add the rest of the mousse, and the berries.  I kinda ended up doing the berries on the side since they were making more of a mess than anything else when I tried to add them.  If you also need to watch the seeds, something like fresh cherries mixed with some cherry jam (or even melted cherry jam) would be awesome.

It's not cake - it's still eggy (which isn't exactly a bad thing) but it is tasty.  And rich.  And chocolatey. 

Oh... and also a note for gluten-free - read the labels on the chocolate you use.  Hershey's chip chocolates are usually OK, and I used some dark Lindt bar chocolate (their plain chocolates seem to be fine but others can have wheat-cross contamination, I've discovered). 

Ingredients


Chocolate Cake

12 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar (250 ml)

1/3 cup cocoa (80 ml)

Raspberry Filling

1 cup raspberry jam (250 ml)

4 cups fresh raspberries (1 L)

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups 35% cream (500 ml)

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped (375 ml)

1/4 cup soft butter (60 ml)

5 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar (60 ml)



Directions

Chocolate Cake

1.For the chocolate cake batter, preheat oven at 350F (180C). Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (about 2 inches deep) and line bottom with a round of parchment paper.

2.Beat the egg yolks with sugar until thick and pale, about 3 minutes using a hand or stand mixer. Sift and fold in the cocoa using a spatula.

3.Beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Slowly add the egg whites to the chocolate mixture in three times.

4.Divide the batter in the pans lined with parchment paper and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until it spring back with the touch of your fingers. Let cool slightly and unmold. Cool off completely.

Raspberry Filling

1.Melt the raspberry jam in a small saucepan. Transfer jam to a bowl and add the fresh raspberries. Stir delicately to coat the raspberries with the jam. Keep aside.

Chocolate Mousse

1.In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and remove from heat. Pour on chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Whisk ganache until smooth. Add butter and let cool at room temperature for about half an hour.

2.Beat the egg whites to soft peak. Add the sugar and continue beating until firm peaks form. Slowly add the meringue in three times to the chocolate ganache. Keep in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Assemble

1.Remove parchment paper from cake and invert one layer onto a plate. Spread half of the chocolate mousse and garnish with the raspberry mixture. Place the second layer of cake on top. Spread the remaining mousse and garnish with fresh raspberries. Top with chocolate shavings and sprinkle with powder sugar.

Risotto in a rice cooker. It is that easy.

If I could leagally marry my rice cooker, I might just do that.  I love it that much.

When you're denied pasta... risotto comes to mind.

I suck at risotto.  I've tried.  And usually had to resort to packaged risotto mixes and they've always been just as bad... as just as attention-consuming.  Always too dry or rice too hard  or just not what I expected.

Not so with the rice cooker.

You start off... put some butter and shallots in your rice cooker, and crank it to high/boil.  I was making a mushroom risotto tonight, so I also added some sliced mushrooms.

Let those cook.  Then add a 1 cup measure from your rice cooker measuring thingy plus and extra 2 tablespoons of rice.

Let that cook for a couple of minutes.  Then add 3 cups (using the trusty rice cooker measuring cup) of stock.  I'm a fan of the Kitchen Basics boxed stuff.  Don't use a real measuring cup for the liquid... use the rice cooker measurer. 

Let that boil away.....

I've found I usually need to start checking rice for done-ness around the 15 minute mark.  It might take up to 25 minutes for the rice to be cooked to your liking.

Add some parm at the end. Because parm is pretty much good on anything.

Lovely, not a lot of fuss risotto.  Yes, you need to  do the chopping of the shallot and the pre-stock steps. but it takes care of itself after that.



The things you miss... (and why I love my rice cooker even more)

"Blue box" mac and cheese.

I know.

I know.

It's so not gourmet... it's trash.... but some days, when you have thunk all you can at work and you have to come home and still come up with something for dinner, it is comforting to know that if you bring a pot of water to boil, about 9 minutes later (after mixing it up) you'll have food.

And I think not only is the pasta a no-no when you need to avoid wheat... they might also put it in the seasoning packet.

I was making some for the hubby, and I wanted to make myself some kind of cheesy rice to try and make myself happy.

I've tried a couple of cheesy rice things off the 'net.... cook your rice and add a couple of slices of processed cheese... and they have not been good.

So I thought.  To make a good homemade mac & cheese (which I actually prefer over the boxed stuff) you cook your pasta, make a white sauce, add cheese to the white sauce and then mix it all.

But.... wait a sec.

I can use my rice cooker to make it's OWN starchy white sauce.

One cup plus 2 tablespoons of sushi rice (it was the only short grain rice I had on hand) plus three cups of chicken stock went into my rice cooker.

And after about 25 minutes you get a lovely risotto (seriously... the price of a rice cooker is worth it for a no-fuss risotto alone....)

Dumped some shredded cheddar and some grated parm.....

And OMG... what a reward.....

Lovely rice.  Cheesy goodness.  Unlike the boxed stuff... it was CHEESE.  And some nice starchy rice.  And just awesomeness. 

I will happily buy another 6-pack of the boxed blue stuff so I can make that for the hubby, and have this working its magic on the countertop for my enjoyment alone.  Blue Box is one of his favorite things.  I am more than happy to not share my rice with his.



Happy Fat Tuesday!!! (and why you need a rice cooker)

Happy Fat Tuesday!!

And Happy Paczki Day!

And considering they brought in the most wonderful looking and smelling paczki at work today and I managed to not stab anyone since I can no longer eat them... I consider the day a success.

This is the first Tuesday before lent in probably the 40 years of his life, my husband has not had a paczki.  His mom usually brings us a couple... she didn't this year.  And I am glad, because I would have made the hubby eat them in a different room than I was in.  Or... you know... stabby thoughts.

In any case... I can still make a good Crawfish Creole for dinner.

First part... that used to be the hardest for me... the rice.

 I love my new rice cooker.

Not only is it red, to match my Kitchen Aid and the one wall in my kitchen, it is the best appliance I have purchased in a LONG time.

I suck at making rice.  Dude... it took me ten minutes to make Minute Rice last week.  Seriously.  So I finally broke down, and went and spent $30 on a rice cooker (you can get an off-brand at Target for half that price).

You put in rice.  (And if you are me, you rinse your rice like 4 times just to be extrasupersure there is nothing "wheat" hanging on to it).

You put in water.

You turn it on.

It turns to warm when it is done.

And you have the most perfect, amazing, fluffy rice.

As for the Crawfish Creole.... I sliced some leeks, a red pepper, green pepper and a yellow pepper and got that cooking.....

Dump in a large can of diced tomatoes...

Add some sliced sausage, frozen okra and garlic and let that simmer away.....

Then throw in a pound of crawfish tails and let it heat thru.

Yum.

An actual gluten-free baking success

Chocolate-banana bundt cake.  From the Cuilinary Institute of America's Gluten-Free Baking book.

It actually worked.

Baking has been the hardest thing about dropping the wheat.  Ina Garen's "Outrageous Brownies" were the first thing I ever tried just using some Bob's Red Mill GF Baking Flour mix... and that was not a surprise since that recipe relies on the eggs and chocolate and butter to hold it all together.

There was then the Christmas cookie disaster.

Failed creme puffs (burned on the bottom and raw in the center).

Corn muffins that looked fab on top, and were black on the bottom.

I think my problems may have been silicone pans and my silpat... just get too hot and not good in gluten-free baking.

This time... I used the bundt pan I have used for ONE other cake before, and while it was a bit dense (think banana bread) it was still tasty.

I made the cake for my 35th birthday.  I have to get used to that... if I want cake on my birthday, I gotta make it myself.  I'm fine with that.

Especially now that I found a recipe that I could actually make.


We'll see how the next scheduled attempt - soda bread - goes.