Gluten Free help request #celiac

Walk down the aisle of the grocery store and you’ll likely see the words “gluten free”. Pick up a magazine while your in the check out line and you will likely see some celebrity decrying the evils of gluten. In some ways it has almost developed into a fad in some cases with an almost cult mentality.

By at least one estimate as many as 18 million Americans have gluten sensitivity. For about 1% of the population this is a real problem as it can cause celiac disease. This condition is truly horrible. I have niece who suffers

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Eggs – substitution #cooking

More and more I seem to be running into friends who have special diets. Either because of food allergies or personal lifestyle choices. Regardless, where possible I try and respect their needs when I prepare dishes for them. Probably the most difficult is finding a substitute for eggs.

Eggs are probably one of the most difficult because of all the functions they perform in foods. According to the American Egg Board more than

Out of Chocolate? #cooking

As always, understanding what is in something or how it is made is often the key to understanding what can be used to substitute in
its place.

In this case, Chocolate, so lets start at the begining

• First the process of making Chocolate begins with the Harvest of the ripe cocoa pods twice a year
• The beans are then scooped out of the pods
• Then for 5 to 7 days the beans and pulp are fermented
• Next the beans are dried
• The beans are then roasted like coffee
• After roasting the then paper like shell is cracked and removed by winnowing
• What is left is call the nib

Now we get to the point that becomes important to our discussion as the next few steps tell us what we need for our substitution.

• The nibs are then ground until they become a paste known as cocoa liquor.
• This unrefined form of chocolate contains both the cocoa solids and the cocoa butter
• Using a hydraulic press, or sometimes with the use of water, the cocoa butter is removed leaving behind cocoa solids
• These solids are then ground into a powder we know as cocoa powder*

To make chocolate

• Chocolate makers take some of this cocoa butter to cocoa liquor where it is further refined into extremely fine particles. It is at this stage that other ingredients are added, sugar, milk powder (for milk chocolate) and other flavors.
• The chocolate is then tempered so that the desired type of chocolate crystal is formed.
• The final step is to mould it into the form desired

So now having an overview of how chocolate is made we know that unsweet chocolate is basically cocoa powder (cocoa liquor with all of the cocoa butter removed) with cocoa butter, or fat, added back in a greater amount than the original liquor had. The sweet or
semisweet forms of chocolate simply have sugar added and the milk chocolate additionally has dry milk added.

Ingredient	Substitute
unsweetened chocolate 1 ounce (1 square)	3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 Tbsp. shortening, butter, coconut oil or margarine
semisweet chocolate 1 ounce (1 square)	1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate (or substitute above) plus 3 Tbsp. sugar
Sweet Bakers (german) 1 ounce (1 square)	1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate (or substitute above) plus 4 Tsp sugar
milk chocolate 1 ounce (1 square)	1 ounce (1 square) sweet or semisweet chocolate

 

* Dutch process cocoa powder (also sometimes called “alkalized,” “European style,” or “Dutched”) is washed with a potassium carbonate solution that neutralizes cocoa’s acidity from about 5 or 6 to a pH of 7, that of water. Since Dutch process cocoa isn’t acidic, it doesn’t react with alkaline leaveners like baking soda to produce carbon dioxide. That’s why recipes that use Dutch process cocoa are usually leavened by baking powder, which has a neutral pH.

Ingredient	Substitute
Dutched Cocoa Powder (3 Tbsp)	3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1/8 Tsp baking soda

Out of Buttermilk or hate it and need some? #cooking

If you are like me you don’t like buttermilk. I really don’t like it at all. In fact it is one of those foods (if you want to call it that) that can invoke my gag reflex with a single whiff. So we don’t ever have any on hand.

I really can’t think of a redeeming thing about buttermilk itself as a drink. However, I love it in foods especially southern american biscuits

What to do?

Out of Mayonnaise or need a healthy alternative? #cooking

According to research firm, Euromonitor, ketchup surpassed mayonnaise as the No. 1 most-used condiment.

What’s wrong with mayo? Mayonnaise is loaded with fat, calories and salt. One tablespoon has approximately 94 calories; 10 grams of fat; and not much of anything else.

While a little different you could

How to buy a Watermelon

As I mentioned in post about how to buy a Pineapple, “I’m always confused about how to pick out produce. It seems like every fruit and vegetable has its own method.” Water melon is no exception.

There are a lot of theories out there about how to pick one out. Everything from examining the strips on the melon to beating like a drum.

This last weekend we bought a nice sweet one using the following methods.

Cooking with Fresh Herbs and Flowers — Home Court Health

Chances are, the last meal that made your taste buds dance was a product of impeccable seasoning. There’s also a good chance that some of those herbs and plants responsible for the delectable cuisine are plants you could easily be growing in your very own home. There comes a certain amount of pride knowing that […]

via Cooking with Fresh Herbs and Flowers — Home Court Health

Spice – Apple Pie Spice substitute #cooking

We’ve all heard the saying “as American as Apple Pie” haven’t we? Well “Contrary to popular belief, apple pie isn’t American, it’s British. There were no apple trees or pies in America before the British settled.” – www.history.org

Were you as shocked as me to find out about that?

Spice – Pumpkin Pie Spice substitute #cooking

Convenience seems to be the keyword of our time. Convenience is great it saves time and effort. But in some cases it comes with an unrealized downside, the loss of knowledge, with that the loss of innovation and creativity. For instance, what is the blend of  ‘real’ spices in Pumpkin Pie Spice?

How to buy a Pineapple

I’m always confused about how to pick out produce. It seems like every fruit and vegetable has its own method. And Pineapples really blew my mind.

It turns out its not really that hard  I just saw