Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Recently on Facebook someone asked a general question about an ingredient and if it was safe for a gluten free dessert.  Gluten is not something we’re avoiding here, but there was a time when my son was off of the top 8 allergens, not for fun, but for survival.

Back to the social media post-I was taking a brief break from work, mechanically scrolling through my newsfeed (iPhone) when I came across this simple question.  A well intended question about an ingredient – such consideration is not so common.  I clicked on comments to see what people were saying about ingredients.  Given my interests and lifestyle, food related posts are more relevant for me than political ones (I don’t click on those).  I’ve mentored parents on how to manage food allergies and Eosinophilic Esophagitis, so yes; this was the one I chose to click on for the two-minute morning distraction.  Some comments were very helpful and informative.  But some were pretty ignorant and insulting.  Yes, ignorance for the ignorant may be bliss, but not for the ones they are subjecting to their ignorance.  And ignorance around food allergies,  I cannot ignore.

I have dedicated a significant part of my life to ensuring that my son can eat real food and have a decent quality of life and not be the kid who  gets to watch others eat seemingly fun food while he eats nothing or boring food.  I’ve rushed hot dairy free chocolate milk to poetry parties in grade school, so he can feel normal.  I’ve worked with parents to make sure that the food arrangement for parties has the treats I brought are positioned right so my son and all kids can eat it (after I was up until 2 AM baking it), just so he can feel ‘normal.’  Although we are down to ‘just a few’ food allergens now (nuts, peanuts and shellfish), I have not forgotten how it was for him to live without dairy, soy, wheat, eggs (and I don’t even consume dairy).  I have not forgotten watching him watch other kids celebrate every accomplishment in the classroom with pizza and ice cream, neither which he could have.  And now I was reading comments that some people are pretending to be allergic or sensitive and how glad this commenter was not to be a waiter anymore and have to deal with such things.  Well, I too am very glad that he’s not in the food business anymore because his ignorance combined with his compassion would have either killed someone or made someone very sick.

Yes, some people say they are allergic (scene in Sex and the City where Carrie says she’s allergic to parsley so they don’t use it as a garnish) and they aren’t.  But there are many who are dealt GI issues and consequently this impacts their quality of life.  They cannot carelessly order off a menu without giving a ‘speech’ to the waiter and asking about ingredients.  They can’t carelessly buy food at the grocery store because they have to read every ingredient listing, often returning the item because of a ‘contains’ or ‘may contain’ statement.  They can’t be as careless as some people are with ignorance. 

There are also people who chose not to ingest certain foods either for ethical or health reasons.  Why should these people be attacked and put down?   Yet those that chose to eat garbage daily and consequently lead to higher health insurance premiums for me are bragging on social media about how unhealthy they are and how we ultimately die anyways.  Yes, we ultimately die, but now I have higher health insurance premiums because of the consistent bad choices they make. 

Unfortunately ignorance is not too uncommon.  Awareness and education is a start, but not all humans are trainable.  Let’s just hope they don’t end up killing someone.  But for sure they will negatively impact someone’s quality of life.

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The Cake

Mixing together the yolk and egg whites

Chocolate Rum Frosting

Baking is a messy science.  Improvising is tricky and risky.  So once upon a time, I used to order special birthday cakes.  I was lucky to always live close to some fine bakeries.  Birthdays involve enough planning and ordering the cake implied that there was just one less thing to do-nothing to bake, mix or decorate.  Bakery cakes always look perfect and I didn’t have to spend hours doing it.  Although I thought most cakes were a bit too sweet for my taste (European tortes/cakes tend to be less sweet), it was always a hit with kids and family.  

Then the whole food allergy, EoE show hit.  Not too long ago, I had to make birthday cakes free of the top allergens (meaning no eggs, no gluten/flour, and no dairy or soy for the frosting).  This was challenging, but a few birthdays I managed to make two cakes (one for the kid party and one for the family/friends party) in one day and still have a good time.   There is a way to make good tasty cakes without those allergens.  People avoid those ingredients for others reasons as well (vegans – no eggs…and yes, I made some really good cakes without eggs).

Life has gotten simpler since then, I can now use dairy, soy, gluten/wheat and eggs for baking cakes.  So why don’t I go back to ordering them?  Quite a few reasons:

The cakes/tortes I make at home are:

•        healthier (use better and fresher ingredients)
•       tastier (I control how much of what to add, for example, a teaspoon or so of quality rum in chocolate frosting is outstanding)
•        less sweet (my usual complaint about most bakery purchased cakes)
• ·     customizable

And of course, most bakeries are not free of nuts and tree nuts-so while I may not be ordering a walnut cake; there may be traces of walnuts in the cake I ordered (baking is a messy process).   But I’ve seen cakes from both sides now, and I think a home made cake just feels more personal.  Of course having a choice is the best, but if I did have a choice, 90% of the time I would chose to bake a home made cake for loved ones birthdays (or holidays).  The other 10% would be if I travelled during one of these events.

Since I don’t like heavy, fatty sugary cakes, this one is my favorite (and is a version of the cakes my mother made).  To start with, it requires a dozen eggs, separated, and two mixing bowls, and both mixing attachments (one for whites and one for yolk).  I use free range cage free eggs-yes, they taste better (I know farm fresh tastes even better). There are simpler recipes, but this cake, in my opinion, is the lightest, tastiest and showcases the frosting very well (especially a mocha or rum chocolate frosting).

Yolks beaten separately

Add caption

Recipe:
12 eggs separated (free range organic-the fresher the better)

1 cup sugar (granulated)
1 cup cake flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 lemon rind and 2 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp organic vanilla

fold together

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat egg yolks well, about 4 to 6 minutes.

Add sugar and continue beating well, another 4 to 6 minutes.

Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Gradually add dry ingredients to the and lemon juice and rind to the yolk/wet mix.

In another bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites to medium peaks

Fold into yolk batter.

Butter (or soy butter) and flour 3 (9-inch) cake rounds. Place a parchment paper circle in the bottom of each cake round (fastest way is to draw a circle around a trifold of parchment paper, cut and separate).

Pour the batter into the prepared cake rounds

Gently tap the cake pans to remove air bubbles

bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool cakes completely

When ready to frost, gently remove from pans (use a knife to gently separate).  To prevent cake from sticking the cake plate, I sprinkle the doily with powder sugar.

Frost with a favorite home made frosting (can be made dairy free, see my creamy mocha recipe).  This time I made  a chocolate rum frosting.  I typically double the frosting recipe since decorating (even elementary version) takes extra frosting.

Note:  There are many techniques for separating eggs.  My mother used to crack the egg and pass the yolk back and forth between the half shells.  I’ve seen some on the Food Network use their hands to separate it (catch yolk with hand).  Whatever technique you use, it’s important not to get any yolk into the white.

rum chocolate frosting

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Rakott Krumpli

The Final Product:

Hungarian is a phonetic language (actually Estonian, related to Finnish).  So the name of this dish is fun to pronounce.  My daughter used to love asking for it, not only because she loved the flavor, but it was fun to say:  Rakott Krumpli (means something like potato casserole-krumpli is one of the words for potato).

Rakott Krumpli was one of my favorite childhood dishes.  I love potatoes and while some may think blending potatoes, hard boiled eggs and sausage (in this case a good quality pepperoni from Gloriosso Brothers). These three flavors (the pepperoni juice blends great with the eggs and potato) combine great.  In Budapest my mother used csabai sausage (similar to pepperoni) thinly sliced.  Again, a good quality pepperoni is a great substitute.

Anyone who has sampled this dish, so far, loved it (and the sample turns into main course).

There are variations of this dish.  Some add cheese-I only saw that on the internet, but to me that kills the great blend of egg/pepperoni/potato flavor (would dull it out).  The authentic version does not have cheese (as George Lang doesn’t recommend it either, and he is a highly respected chef).  My mother made the version I make (except with Hungarian sausage).

Recipe:

3 pounds russet potatoes cooked in their skins

½-2/3 pounds thinly sliced pepperoni (vegetarians can use a vegetarian pepperoni)

1 stick of butter melted (or soy butter)

7-8 hard boiled eggs

16 oz. of sour cream

salt

Hungarian Paprika

Peel potatoes and remove shell from hardboiled eggs.

Use a rectangular casserole and butter bottom with a stick of butter (or soy butter)

Slice 1/3 of potatoes and distribute on the bottom of the casserole

Pour some of the melted butter over the potatoes and sprinkle some salt on top.

Lay out about half the pepperoni on top of the potatoes

Slice and layer 1/3 of the potatoes on top of the pepperoni

Salt and pour a small part of the butter on top

Use an eggslicer and spread the eggs on top of the potato layer

Spread ½ the pepperoni over the eggs

Spread the final 1/3 of the potatoes on top of this, salt and drizzle with butter

Spread all the sour cream over the top (use a spoon and knife to spread)

Generously sprinkle with Hungarian Paprika

Make sure that the corners are filled with pepperoni and eggs (sometimes the crunchy egg and pepperoni combination is the best).

Bake for about 45 minutes (or more depending on oven-you should hear the pepperoni sizzling which ensures that it released it’s flavor fully into the dish).

Remove from oven and let it stand for about 5 minutes and serve.

This is a LOT of food and it makes for some very tasty leftovers.

Layering, the order is important to optimize the blending of the flavors

More layering-again, this order is important

Deliciousness

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The Prowess of Pancit Canton

Noodles that you don’t boil separately and noodles that absorb the flavor of the sauce better than any other noodles I have used, including rice noodles. Pancit Canton is a noodle used in Filipino cooking.  The beauty of these noodles is that you do not have to prepare them separately.  Instead you incorporate them into your stir fry towards the end and in about 8-10 minutes they cook.  This process allows them to absorb the flavor of the sauce you are preparing while cooking.  I haven’t been able to replicate this blend of flavors with other noodles.  

Simple steps to making Pancit Canton:

Proceed with your stir fry as usual

Incorporate about 10 minutes (so don’t overcook your vegetables before)-make the stir fry a bit saucier than normal.  For example, add some chicken broth to the mix so the pancit has something to cook in (the liquid should NOT cover the noodles…it should be enough for the pancit to cook in).  Cook on medium high for about 8-10 minutes.  Add more liquid if necessary (make sure you don’t dilute the flavor of the sauce too much, so you may need to add the other sauces as well).

You will see the noodle getting softer (occasionally stir, again make sure there is enough liquid).  Once done, drizzle some sesame oil and stir on medium heat for that authentic Asian flavor and serve. 

Note:  I use the Wildwood Super Firm Tofu not only because it’s easier to deal with (no draining, etc.) but also because it’s higher in protein.  I marinate it and bake it (note, you can also pan fry it, but it’s more work). This was a simple but so tasty dinner.

This is how it looks when you add to your stir fry

One of the popular brands of Pancit Canton (note there is no shellfish in this...just  a bad illustration)

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