Don’t casually pass over food that is Kosher for Passover

Time to stock up!

Whether you are dealing with food allergies, are a vegan, have  special diet for celiac disease, or just simply like some tasty food, Kosher for Passover may offer a heaven of tasty food choices.

This time of the year is one of my favorite times of the year for discovering tasty baked goods or revisiting some known ones.  The Kosher diet is great for offering dairy free alternatives (Kosher dietary law does not allow the consumption of meat with dairy-there is a great discussion on this in the movie,  “The Believer”).  Around Passover, there is no consumption of certain types of foods (again, you can find additional information on this on line) – this adds all kinds of gluten and soy free choices.  Although we no longer have to avoid gluten and soy for my son, it’s nice to not overload on the ingredients.  Stores around this time of the year also display more Kosher items.  A few years ago, when my son had to avoid wheat and soy, I would drive weekly to the Hungarian Kosher Store (one hour each way) so we could stock up on all kinds of goodies.  They got to know us.  Recently I haven’t had time to drive up as much, but have been able to find some great Kosher choices in stores closer to me (although not as much as the Hungarian Kosher Store).

My latest discovery (from Sunset Foods) is “Z Best Bakery” baked goods.  This is a nut free bakery (so no cross contamination) and there is NO dairy in their products.  Chocolate Coffee cake, challah rolls, challah hot dog buns and hamburger rolls, Italian bread, marble rye bread (and more) all made in a nut free, dairy free bakery.  So far, I had to bake all the bread for my son.  Now he can have a burger with a commercially made hamburger bun, or a chocolate coffee cake.  Today I bought a box of chocolate chip mandel ….this is like biscotti (which we can’t have because they are made in a facility with nuts).

Butter free pound cake....nut free!

Some of the Kosher items that are great for special diets:

·      Osem mini Mandel rings…great additions to any soup

·      Truly dairy free whipping creams that you can add to your pies etc..

·      A nutella like nut/dairy free spread I’ve found a few years ago

·      Hammentaschen - kolachky like dessert made free of flour and dairy

·      Dairy free ranch dressing

·      Bread crumbs (no dairy contamination because of the no meat with dairy mix)

Discovering Z Best Baked Goods....a huge variety

The display at Sunset Foods

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Next time you are in the store, check out the Kosher for Passover section.  You will find all kinds of goodies.  This time of the year is a gold mine for special diets.

Creamy yet healthy – the tools of the trade

Friends have asked me for recipes of my frostings, “but it’s so creamy.”  They can’t believe that it’s dairy free.

I will admit, before I learned about food, I thought a good butter crème frosting was the ultimate.  I still believe that it’s not as bad for your body as hydrogenated margarine or traditional shortening (Crisco).  Actually the culprit in the dairy is not the fat, but the protein (casein).  

Without going into all the technical details, there is a way to get that great buttery taste (yes, it is a great taste) for your frosting.

It took me a while to get this right.  Sure the first version was good and people liked it, but I was looking for that whipped creamy consistency of a butter cream…. perfection.

I started out using the Spectrum Organic Shortening with a little soy milk and the typical frosting ingredients (powder sugar, vanilla, cocoa, etc.)  But it just didn’t have the right consistency.  I’ve never used shortening before (we didn’t have it in Europe) so I had no idea what to expect.  It was good, but just not good enough for me. Spectrum is also great for other baking needs.  It’s not the cheapest, but in the long run, you will save on medical bills because it’s not bad for you.

I’ve seen recipes using soy butter but I didn’t think that would work because soy butter is salted.  When I did use butter (pre 2005) I always used non salted butter.  My mother never even bought salted butter after we moved here from Europe and nor did I.  Salted butter overshadows the flavor and is not creamy.  I’ve been trying to replicate the flavor of that good homemade butter crème that I used to make with Plugra (a European butter).

Recently I tried a different formulation because of a new product  “So Delicious Coconut Milk” (note: it is not a dominating coconut flavor that you get from canned coconut milk).  This milk tastes the closest to real milk in texture and flavor.  It is organic and allergen free (and tested for allergens-so I trust the brand since I’m dealing with dairy allergies at home).

So the key to a good dairy free frosting that still has that buttery flavor we all love:

Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening

Ingredients: Mechanically Pressed Organic Palm Oil – and that’s ALL

Where can you buy it?  I find it at Whole Foods (watch for sales) and it's also available on Amazon. Some grocery stores also carry it, but it's a bit pricey (too specialized for the regular stores).

(and you can use this without the soy butter – the frosting is still great, just not as perfect)

So Delicious Organic Coconut Milk- Vanilla-gluten free, dairy free, soy free and vegan

This is a fairly new product.  I use about ½ cup to moisten the frosting (but not more-don’t want the flavor to dominate). Soy milk will also work, but I like the effect of this one more.
Where to find it?  I have only found this at Whole Foods so far.

Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks – dairy free, gluten free, vegan (contains soy)

Sometimes I feel like I’m the Paula Dean of soy butter.  This product is a great butter substitute; I use it for all my butter recipes (not just baking).  They also have a tub that is like whipped butter.  It is reasonably priced too.  It’s available at Whole Foods, some other grocery stores (where it’s a bit overpriced), and Woodman’s for those who live in Wisconsin.

There is a certain ratio for that perfect consistency.   I will include it in my recipes. But it’s basically one cup of Spectrum and half a cup of soy butter stick (along with others).  It’s 100% vegan, dairy free, gluten free too.  If you are avoiding soy, skip the soy butter. 

So my cakes are truly dairy free and no chance of cross contamination with nuts and dairy in my kitchen as I don’t even bring nuts and dairy into my home.

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You are what you eat and yes-you can eat to your heart’s delight (literally)

Who doesn’t love traditional stuffing?  I remember I made my first allergen (top 8) free Thanksgiving meal in 2005.  This was necessitated when I first found out that my son had various medical conditions, at that time it wasn’t even clear if he could eat food since we were still exploring whether he could tolerate a top 8 allergen free diet or not.    Without going into the complex medical details, I felt that this was the make or break Thanksgiving.  So I made a completely allergen free meal-meaning no dairy, wheat (gluten), eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish.  But how can you make a tasty, traditional meal without all this?

I thought I perfected holiday meals but now it was a new set of rules, still driven by the same goal. 

Stuffing was a challenge-make a gluten free bread (every baked item can be cross contaminated so store brought bread is not an option), substitutions for eggs and so forth.  The meal was a success.  The family was expecting a tasteless bland meal for the “good of the child.” Instead they got a tasty traditional meal but so much better, healthier.  

Since then I’ve added eggs, soy, wheat and fish back because we no longer have to avoid this. 

Many may say “Oh yes, I wish I could eat and provide a healthier diet, but I’m not a full time stay at home mom, so I need my unhealthy processed food because it saves me time.”  Well, I’m not a “stay at home mom” either.  I’m a single mother with a full time career, a long daily commute, with three dogs and a son with all kinds of food related health challenges (my daughter doesn’t have these issues, but she is kind of vegan-so my cooking also needs to make her happy). 

I’ve had five years to master these techniques. I did quit my career for a while and learned all about how to cook without garbage – let’s call it what it is. But now I’m in production mode.  The massive research and experimentation is done.  I still research new foods and ingredients, but it’s not a full time job anymore.

As this new blog evolves (not even a day old), I will share tricks and tips about healthier cooking.  No, you don’t need to have food allergies or special circumstances to live healthier, be at your optimum weight and not develop diabetes coupled with high cholesterol.  It turns out that the old adage: “you are what you eat” is true.

Contents are protected by the U.S. Copyright act and may not be duplicated or redistributed.  All contents are owned by BlogToTheNextOne ©2011