- BAKED -

- November 26th, 2020 -

If you are not from Canada, or even if you are, you probably are unfamiliar with what will become your most heart warming comfort food for Christmas' to come.

Allow me to introduce you to: Tourtiere.

This comfort food is a traditional French Canadian Christmas Eve pie. It's to make it from a combination of pork and beef, and traditionally with carrier pigeon. But to offer a heart healthy alternative I offer my version of this wonderful winter dish, with no pork just turkey. However, if you like pork go ahead and use half pork and half turkey!

This pie is best suited for the cold seasons because it's loaded with what are termed warming spices. Warming spices are those spices which actually do warm your blood. Here are some examples of warming spices: ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamon, allspice. I offer my humble alternate definition of warming spices: heart warming spices; i.e. those spices which a reminiscent of what mother used to make on a cold day (e.g. applesauce cake, gingerbread, and pumpkin pie)!

Between heart healthy festive turkey and heart warming spices this is a sure crowd pleaser.

The wonderful array of flavours all coalesce in this warming dish. The ingredients are many but the taste is divinely simple, and in fact the recipe is quite easy to compile.

Anyway enough of my chitter-chatter go ahead try the recipe for yourself, and please when you get a minute let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

Here are some of the best deals for ingredients and equipment relevant to this recipe. You will need these items for this recipe, so at now extra cost you, if you purchase one of these products then I earn a small commission that helps fund more posts like this one!

Note: If you cannot see the ad links above it is because your have an ad block or tracker program on. Temporarily disable them to be able to click the links.

#glutenfree #Christmasevetraditions #FrenchCanadian

1 recipe  good ‘n flakey pie dough (see previous post)

filling
1 medium  potato, cooked and mashed
900 grams  ground turkey
1 large     onion, finely diced
6 cloves  garlic, minced
2 ribs  celery, finely diced
1/2 litre     good turkey broth
10 millilitres/2 tsp  sage, ground
2 grams/1 tsp  cinnamon, ground
2 grams/1 tsp      nutmeg, ground
1 gram/1/2 tsp     cloves, ground
1 sprig     fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
50 grams  lightly packed, fresh gluten-free bread crumbs
to taste kosher salt and ground black peppercorn

egg wash
1 large     egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat an oven to 205°C (400°F). Roll the pastry dough into two equal-sized circles to fit a 23 centimetre (nine inch) pie pan. Line the bottom of the pie pan with one circle and set aside the prepared pie pan and remaining pastry for later.

2. Using a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the turkey, onion, garlic and celery until the vegetables are tender and the meat is mostly cooked.

3. Add the turkey gravy, herbs, and spices to the meat and vegetables; simmer the mixture over low-medium heat, covered, for about 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir the mashed potatoes and dry breadcrumbs into the mixture. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Allow the meat filling to cool. Spoon the filling into the prepared pie pan. Brush the rim of the pie with egg wash. Top with the remaining pastry dough. Crimp the dough shut, flute the edges, brush the top lightly the egg wash. Cut vents in the top, and bake the pie for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 350F and continue baking the pie for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

I am gluten-intolerant, allergic to cow's dairy (barring butter), allergic to shellfish, soy, mushrooms, and don't eat yeast. With all those dietary restrictions, many people jokingly ask can you eat anything?

Well when I first changed my diet I felt as if there was nothing I could eat. Perhaps that has been a mental/emotional blockage for to take that first step towards a healthier lifestyle.

All that being said I am living proof that yes there is food I can still eat, and thrive on; otherwise I wouldn't still be alive after all!

To illustrate what a day in the life a very dietary restricted person, I am going to share with you what I ate in a day:

If are finding meal planning difficult with your dietary restrictions leave a comment below, I'd love to send you a few ideas. Remember you do not have to be in this alone!

Mouth feel
Fluidity: Thick like hot chocolate 1/5

Flavour
Robust: Poor 1/5
Bitter/Roasted: Poor 1/5

Ease of Preparation
5/5

Value
Price Score: Fair value

Where can you buy this:

• That Health Food Store Whitby, ON, Canada
• Healthy Planet
  
• Amazon https://amzn.to/2IVpYVw amzn.to/2IVpYVw
  
• Walmart Online https://www.walmart.com/ip/Organic-Traditions-Macaccino-Drink-Mix-5-3oz/163388072www.walmart.com/ip/Organic-Traditions-Macaccino-Drink-Mix-5-3oz/163388072
• For many more locations see: https://ca.organictraditions.com/products/macaccino-drink-mix

You are travelling in Europe. This is it; your dream vacation and you want to enjoy the authentic Italian cuisine just like the natives do. But there is one tiny problem, you don’t speak the language, not an iota. It is okay though thousands of tourists order food from foreign countries every minute, every second and they don’t know the language either. But there is another tiny problem, actually a very big problem, you have dietary restrictions.

Now what, how do you tell your waiter/ess that you need gluten-free pasta? I mean how do you really break the language barrier to communicate the severity, the intensity of your reaction?

“What seems so simple in communicating your dietary restrictions, is unfortunately complicated.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kyle Dine, CEO Equal Eats (formerly “Allergy Transitions), Kingston this weekend. We agree hardily of the point of “what seems so simple in communicating your dietary restrictions, is unfortunately complicated.”

While I have been a professional chef for less than a decade, many a seasoned chef (a little pun) has asked me why everyone has allergies all of the sudden. To a chef who just wants to cook how he has always cooked, allergies may seem like a hip fad for picky eaters. There is a lot more too it.

“A dietary communication card can help convey a serious message in a credible, detailed and memorable way, reducing the chance of information falling through the cracks in busy food service settings.” Mr. Dine commented.

If you read my post Dining Out: Tips for Safely Staying Gluten-Free you will know I recommend allergy cards as the number #1 method of assuring a safe and satisfying meal out on the town.

Allergy cards don’t replace verbal communication with your server, however, from Kyle Dine’s experiences, from my own experiences, solely relying on verbal communication does not produce effect results.

Kyle Dine elaborated on this point, “Often it comes down to a game of food allergy broken telephone. When we looked at the statistics such as over three quarters of adults having allergic reactions when dining out, or oven 90% experiencing anxiety when eating outside the home, we can’t help but wonder if there could be a better way to stay safe and enjoy food. Dietary communication cards can add another layer of protection.”

Mr. Dine has a vested interest in these cards, he has had food allergies since the ‘80s. More than that his wife has celiac disease. Seeing the personal need for dietary communication cards within his own home, CEO Dine made the leap to launching Equal Eats, reasoning they weren’t the only dietary restricted persons in the world. They felt like they cannot simply enjoy food like everyone else, especially when traveling; that means that others and experiencing the same feelings, relating over the same need.

Since 2006, Mr. Dine has been providing a solution to those feelings, that need through this company Equal Eats, originally “Allergy Translations.”

The impact has been affirming, fulfilling. “Many grateful families have shared how our products have provided peace of mind when travelling, and for some, it was the catalyst for even booking the ticket to go.” Reports Kyle Dine. “Travelling should be enjoyable, and we try to help make it easier for people with dietary restrictions to have less stress and worry, so they can experience more joy abroad.”

Okay, so maybe you’ve read this far and are saying, “Okay this sounds great but I am not planning on travelling abroad anytime soon.” If that is you, I get it, I am not planning any trips either. But get this important point, this freeing point for the dietary restricted: allergy communication cards are usefully locally too!

Kyle Dine and I both have six allergens so I feel like he is speaking for both of us when he said (referencing his allergens), “I don’t expect any server to remember them, nor write them down 100% accurately unless they really make an attempt. Often, they think my peanut and tree nut allergy are one in the same, and [that] sets up a potential erroneous chain of communication. A dietary card lays out the exact allergy/avoidance's so the necessary information can be given to the kitchen staff. I don’t like feeling like a burden when dining out, and I feel my card actually makes their jobs easier – they truly appreciate the cards!”

Yes, Mr. Dine we (in the biz) truly do appreciate them.

Restaurants are busy places, your cooks are making ten, twenty meals all at once. Your server is handling five, ten tables each with two, five people seated. Take it from me, a cook, it is a struggle just to remember ingredients in a normal dish when the dining room is buzzing. When you start adding special requests, dietary restrictions your routine gets messed up, your memory forms gaps and that can lead to flukes causing allergic reactions.

The cross-contact message on Equal Eats cards provided and particularly beneficial facet as many wait staff and cooks are still very allergy illiterate. On their digital card pages they feature info on accidental contamination as well as helpful links to training resources.

I was really curious about the translation aspect of the cards. I my mind I imagined some stranger, dropping words into Google translate and presto you have a translation! I am relieved, encouraged that is not how Mr. Dine’s team operated. First of all, it is a team, not just one man who creates your card. Secondly it is a team of professionals.

“We hire outstanding translations agencies, then do a full proofread of all translations.” Kyle Dine continued highlighting this fact, “What sets Equal Eats apart, is that we do a full second proofread with native speakers to make sure nothing is missed, and that the translations work for everyday speakers [not just the academic].”

On their website, equaleats.com, they offer multiple formats: physical and digital. Digital based on a QR code system; offers you access to vastly more info, constantly updated info, than can fit on a business card physical card. The physical on the other hand carry a sense of seriousness about them and workers take note of.

For more information and chance to ask personalized questions of the service, I encourage you to visit equaleats.com

INSTAGRAM: @equal_eats

- STOVE TOP -

- November 19th, 2020 -

Sunday, November 15th, the power cuts out. The power comes back on. And the power rushes back out. "I wish the power would make up it's mind." Said I.

That second the power decidedly choose to remain off. That was no the outcome I nor 200,000 plus Ontarians were hoping for. Alas, it was out of my hands. But what was on my hands was a mess. What was I going to do with the two casserole dishes of cabbage rolls, the gingerbread cookies dough, the sweet potato loaf batter, the caramelizing onions, the chicken stock slowly reducing to a simmer on the back over the stove top, the 4 lb of ground meat read to be made into meatballs and meatloaf, and last but not least how was I to store all that food and the the 8 litres of chipotle lentil chili that was so happily bubbling away on my stove the second prior to the power outage.

I am happy to say no food went to waste. And I happily kept making food in my dark, quiet kitchen.

That night my family and I huddled around the table that was illuminated by a simple candle. We said grace and quietly enjoyed our bowls of still warm chili. Perhaps it was the warm, family atmosphere but that chili was the best I have had in years.

I hope you think so too when you make this hearty chili for you and your family!

Here are some of the best deals for ingredients and equipment relevant to this recipe. You will need these items for this recipe, so at now extra cost you, if you purchase one of these products then I earn a small commission that helps fund more posts like this one!

Note: If you cannot see the ad links above it is because your have an ad block or tracker program on. Temporarily disable them to be able to click the links.

#chililovers #lentilschili #sourceoffibre #lifeaftergluten

1. Over medium-high heat, in a large pot, saute the onions until golden, 10 minutes).

2. Add the celery and garlic. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in the the diced tomatoes, diced roasted pepper, tomato paste, beans in tomato sauce, black beans (in the liquid), low sodium lentils (in the liquid). Finely dice the chipotles. Add the chipotle in adobo sauce and chili powder. Reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer, uncovered for 1-2 hours. Stir occasionally.

4. Adjust seasoning with a salt and pepper. Adjust the consistency with broth as needed.

Mouth feel
Dough: Crispy dough 5/5
Filling: Sticky 1/5

Flavour
Dough: Good 3/5
Filling: Bland 1/5

Ease of Preparation
5/5

Value
Cost: $10 for bag of 20 pierogi's
Price Score: Fair value, rare product

Where can you buy this:

• That Health Food Store Whitby, ON, Canada
  
• Sobey's
  
• Thrifty Foods
  
• For many more locations see: https://www.stellasperogies.com/store-locator
  

- November 12, 2020 -

BAKED

Gingerbread... Is there a more iconic Christmas cookie? I mean I ask you?

A delicious firm crusted cookie with a soft-chewy interior. None of these cakey cookies. No way, not for a molasses rich gingerbread. These cookies has a deep ginger and spice flavour. Perfect with or without icing.

Here are some of the best deals for ingredients and equipment relevant to this recipe. You will need these items for this recipe, so at now extra cost you, if you purchase one of these products then I earn a small commission that helps fund more posts like this one!

Note: If you cannot see the ad links above it is because your have an ad block or tracker program on. Temporarily disable them to be able to click the links.

#gluten-free #gingerbread #christmascookies

90 grams  lastose-free unsalted butter, softened
100 grams  demerara style brown sugar
110 grams  blackstrap molasses
7.5 mL/1 1/2 tsp  balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 each  egg white, room temperature
300 grams  flour mix #3 (80 grams sweet rice flour, 80 grams brown rice flour, 40 grams arrowroot starch), plus more for dusting
50 grams  arrowroot starch/flour
5 mL/1 tsp  psyllium husk powder
10 mL/2 tsp  ginger powder
5 mL/1 tsp  cinnamon, ground
5 mL/1 tsp  nutmeg or all-spice
3.125 mL/3/4 tsp  blackpepper, ground (optional)
3.125 mL/3/4 tsp  baking soda
1.25 mL/1/2 tsp  kosher salt

Line two large or three medium sheetpans with parchment paper.
 
Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the molasses, balsamic vinegar and egg white.

In a separated bowl whisk to combine the remaining ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until the dough comes together. It will be slightly sticky. Flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for two hours or up to three days in the fridge.

Heat an oven to 190°C (375°F).

Dust the dough with flour. Place the cookie dough between two large sheets of parchment, or thick poly plastic, roll out the dough to a thickness of eight millimetres (1/4 inch). Peel back the paper/plastic and re-flour the dough, top and bottom, occasion-ally. Cut using your favourite Christmas time cookie cutter.

Arrange the prepared sheetpans. Chill your little gingerbread men in the freezer first for well defined shapes, about 15 to 30 minutes. They are at home in the winter so they won’t mind the cold.

Bake for five minutes, cookies will not bounce back when lightly touched with a fingertip. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before decorating.

Migraine. The word is right there in the name "mi-GRAIN-e." It is now small wonder that your-grain-es can be what are causing your unexplained migraines.

While there are many type so of headaches and migraines, one common cause is gluten intolerance or celiac disease. A study by Zis, Julian and Hadjivassiliou (see sources) found that 26% have headaches, most of which are migraines. They were often reported as the first or presenting symptoms. The incidence of headaches in gluten sensitivity appears to be similar at 25%.

Headaches are most often treated with pain killers and other prescription medications. However, these treatments never address the underlying problem. They cannot eliminate your triggers. Plus, there is a risk of addiction as well as other serious side effects. Not good.

In many ways pain killers are the easiest "solution" but haste makes waste. I don't know if emotional eating, or if simply habit, is the cause of this but I bet you that most people would rather take a pill to numb a problem than change their diet. However, there is undeniable evidence that gluten is associate with a long list of mental and cognitive symptoms and conditions. It not surprising than that migraines are among them.

There is a terrific info-graphic on My Gluten Miracle can summarized gluten and brain function as this:

Food: Gluten elimination often decreases or eliminates headache symptoms. But this is not always the case. Other foods are notorious for triggering migraines include chocolate, MSG, aspartame, aged cheeses, red wine, beer, and yeast. But, any food can be a trigger.

When my father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, he was given a meal log along with his blood test kit. For the first three months his general practitioner wanted him to journal his diet, blood sugar levels, and any noted symptoms.

I think that keeping a headache journal can give you deeper insight into your praticular migraine triggers. When you experience a migraine, keep a note of all the possibilities listed above and see if you can discover a pattern to your onset. Make sure to keep track of any other items of importance on your headache days.

I am not a health practitioner but these are the top tips I have found and round the internet, in books, and from personal experience. Of course there effectiveness will depend on the type of migraine you have. For more information of these tips see the sources below.

Ginger: Ginger works to alleviate nausea associated with migraines. It is available in raw form as a root – this can be made into a tea, or ginger tea can be purchased. It is also available in a chew form as a supplement, capsule, or tinctures.

Magnesium: Magnesium can be used preventatively or as a treatment. It can also be used safely in pregnancy. Please consult your obstetrician before use if you are pregnant.

Chiropractic: Manipulation may decrease the frequency, severity, and duration of migraines.

Acupuncture: Current evidence shows it to be a helpful addition to treatment. Patients often express terrific results with acupuncture.

Acupressure: Accupoint PC6 may be used without harm to alleviate nausea associated with headaches. Sea-Band ® wrist bands can be used to activate this point. LI4 is also easily located and used. Several YouTube videos will instruct you on this frequently helpful technique. If you are further interested in acupressure, you may wish to consult a certified Chinese medicine practitioner for additional points.

Avoid known triggers if possible: Once you have identified your triggers, do your best to avoid them. It sounds simple, but everyone loses sleep sometimes or gets in an unavoidable situation where a trigger may be present.

De-Stress: If all this information seems scary or overwhelming. Please go listen to calming classical music because stress still one of the leading factors for headaches and migraines. Let go and let God.

Reading ingredient labels every time is crucial is insuring you have a safe meal. As little as 1/8 tsp of wheat flour can inflame in the intestinal tract so knowing what you are eating can help prevent flare ups!

If you suffer from Celiac disease but are not symptomatic it is very easy to rationalize "cheating" or if you are "intolerant" you can hide behind that vague definition. You don't need to feel that you are under some strict law, however, out of kindness yourself please do not cheat.

Everyone has slightly different gluten tolerance level, even among Celiacs (though generally under 20-25ppm is recommended).  However, I would not suggest guessing at what your tolerance is. Often damage is happening to your body and you don't feel it until is have accumulated enough and then the scale tip and can be too late to fix. I recommend seeking the advice of professionals for guided answers of how much gluten you personally can consumer, safely.