Frozen Mango Coconut Key Lime Pie

My first attempts at Key Lime Pie were absolutely delicious, but too labor intensive and calorie laden to make it a regular occurrence. Key Lime is my husband's favorite pie, so I decided to attempt a mango variation for Fathers Day. I replaced one of the cans of coconut milk with a mango and reduced the sugar, plus decided to try making a chocolate crust with coconut oil instead of nondairy margarine. The filling had an unpleasant metallic overtone, but the crust was so good, we sat around and scraped the filling off of it, so as not to lose a single crumb!

This month's challenge for You Want Pies with That? is a Taste of Summer pie. Since we are huge fans of mango lime sorbet, I decided to simply eliminate the egg replacer, which I suspected of leaving the metallic taste behind, and make a perfect frozen summer pie instead. Guess what? It worked.

Crust:
12-14 chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed (about 1 1/2 C)
2 Tbs raw sugar
1/2 C coconut oil

Filling:
13.5 oz can coconut milk
1/3 C granulated sugar
flesh of 1 large or 2 small mangoes, pureed
1/2 C key lime juice (about 12 key limes)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Crush graham crackers in a food processor, then add raw sugar and coconut oil. Mix until combined. Turn mixture out into a 9" pie pan and gently press it with a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup until the bottom and sides are evenly covered. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside until cooled.

Combine coconut milk and sugar in a small pan and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add mangoes and lime juice. Mix the filling with an immersion (stick) blender, then allow to cool. Place in a nonreactive container (a Pyrex 4 Cup measuring cup is perfect) and chill in refrigerator. Once cold, give it another whirl with the stick blender to aerate it a bit, then pour into crust and place in freezer overnight.

I'm also sending this pie to a blog event that I never thought I'd participate in, the Let's Go Nuts! nut recipe round up. Originally begun by Aqua of Served with Love, this month's coconut themed event is being hosted by Seduce Your Tastebuds.

Happy Fourth of July

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Look what I found nestled among the bulk food bins at my (usually wonderful) local health food store: one of my favorite allergen free products, Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips.

Someone may have missed the point. Let's just hope no one misses the fine print. And, yes, I did already speak to the manager, whose only response was to simply point out the allergy warning.

The Daring Tarts Bake a Pudding Well

Or was it the Bakers Heart a Daring Wedding? To call the name confusing is pudding it mildly. In any case...

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

This Bakewell pastry is made up of three components, a shortcrust pastry, fruit preserves, and frangipane. The charming tarts, I mean hostesses, strongly urged making the crust the traditional way by hand. Modifying recipes to accommodate multiple food allergies is akin to baking without a net, so I make no apologies for any little advantage I could squeeze from my appliances after I replaced all the butter, eggs, almond extract, almond meal, and almonds. (You can see the original recipe here.)

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
2 Tbs granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C nondairy margarine*, cold
3-4 Tbs cold water

*Note: one of the reasons I like to use Earth Balance is because it doesn't taste salty like some other nondairy margarines do. If you use a different margarine, you may want to reduce the amount of salt in the pastry.

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Give a spin to mix. Cut margarine into small pieces and add. Whiz again until mixture forms into crumbs. (You may need to stop to scrape down the sides.) While mixing, slowly add cold water until dough forms a ball. Shape into a disk, wrap up in plastic wrap, and place in fridge for at least half an hour.

The fruit component for my Bakewell Tart was homemade raspberry jam supplied by my mom, who traditionally makes jam and jellies for most of our very grateful family. I'd say she was very well preserved, but she might squish me.

The frangipane, based on butter, eggs, and ground almonds, called for a great deal of creativity to adapt, but in the end I reached for two of my favorite subs, soy yogurt to make up the bulk from the egg and ground flax seed both to bind the mixture and give it some nuttiness. (I also adjusted the amount of ground flax seed and flour.) Plus I added a little baking powder to get some rise and keep it from being too dense.

Frangipane:
1/2 C nondairy margarine, softened
1 C powdered sugar
3/4 C soy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C all purpose flour (increase to 1 C)*
1/4 C ground flax seed
1/2 tsp baking powder

*Note: I reversed the proportions of flour to flax seed and calculated the amount of flour at one Cup, but I liked the way the mixture looked at half a Cup of flour so much, that I stopped. The "Frangepane" was still wet in the middle after baking, so the initial calculation was right.

Cream the margarine and powdered sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the soy yogurt and vanilla extract while continuing to mix. Ignore the resulting cottage cheese texture. It'll be just fine, I promise. Sift together the flour, flax seed, and baking powder, then mix them in, as well. See how nice and smooth it gets? Take a deep breath and get ready to assemble your masterpiece.

Start by taking your disk of shortcrust dough and rolling it out on a well floured surface to 1/4" thick. The Tarts recommend rolling in one direction (away from you,) then giving the dough a quarter turn and repeating. That worked well until the circle became larger, at which point I began turning the rolling pin. The recipe calls for a 9" fluted tart pan. To my chagrin, I discovered at this late stage that I am the proud owner of an 8" and and 11" pan. It's a good thing the extra dough can be used to make cookies!

After transferring the dough to the tart pan, trim the extra and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F at during this time. Remove shell from freezer and spread 1/2 to 1 C of jam as evenly as possible. The jam may need to be warmed to spread well. Gently turn out Frangipane mixture into tart pan, and smooth with an icing spatula. The original recipe calls for almonds sprinkled on the crust toward the end of the baking period. I sprinkled some raw sugar on at this stage instead to give it a little sparkle. Bake for thirty minutes.

The tart wasn't perfect, since it was a little pudding like in the center, but that's attributable to the smaller pan and thicker frangipane, as well as the shortage of flour. Thanks to Jasmine and Annemarie for a great challenge, and be sure to check out all the other Daring Bakers!

Potstickers

The June Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Jen of use real butter. She chose her family's recipe for Chinese Dumplings, also known as Potstickers.

In my pursuit of egg free homemade pasta, I've previously made these yummy little darlings, but neglected to blog the recipe. Thanks to Jen and her terrifically versatile recipe, that wrong is now being righted.

For a simple filling, I combined the following:

1/2 lb turkey sausage
1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced, salted, and drained
2 green onions, including bottom half of green section, thinly sliced
1 carrot, grated

The first time I made these, I was concerned that the turkey sausage would not cook thoroughly. It ends up perfectly done after pan frying, and I really like a filling with minimal prep work.

I didn't exactly follow Jen's instructions for making the dough, sticking (teehee) to the formula that had worked for me before:

2 C all purpose flour
1 C boiling water
additional flour for rolling

By using my standmixer's dough hook, I was able to knead the flour with the water while it was still boiling without scalding myself. The flour sucks the water right up into a remarkably soft and flexible dough.

Once the dough is ready, divide it in half and cover the unused dough with a wet towel. Roll the half batch of dough into a 12" snake, then cut it into 24 evenly divided pieces. Shove most of them under the towel with the other half of the dough, and start rolling them out into flat circles. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center, fold in half, and try to make the characteristic pleat. (Good pleating tutorial at Lunch in a Box.) Repeat until fingers fall off, making sure to either keep finished potstickers under towel or place on cooling rack in freezer.

Most recipes for potstickers direct the cook toward a wok or nonstick skillet to pan fry them. I've found that a cast iron skillet works suprisingly well, and gives the dumplings beautiful brown bottoms. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to medium high and cook dumplings until golden brown on the pan side. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and turn down the heat, allowing to simmer for a few short minutes.

After that, move them onto a plate and start dipping them in this wonderful sauce that...I forgot to write down any sort of measurements of the ingredients for it:

soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
sesame oil
fresh ginger, grated
fresh garlic, smushed
brown sugar

Be sure to check out all the other amazing dumplings made by the brand new Daring Cooks!

Kid Quote:

"I wish I could be a squirrel, so I could eat nuts and climb trees."

Living with Food Allergies Blog Carnival #45

Welcome to the Food Allergy Blog Carnival! I'd like to thank Rational Jenn for allowing me to host her long running and highly successful carnival. It's become so successful, that this round up attracted record amounts of spam. More carnival submissions landed in the trash than in the carnival.

If you are a member of the food allergy community, which of course includes celiac disease and a wide variety of food intolerance and dietary restrictions, I love reading your articles and getting a glimpse into your life and your kitchen. Or if you are a vegan and want to share the latest egg and dairy free creation from your oven, bring on the baked goods!

However, if you think the carnival will flog any kind of medications or medical training for you, think again. This is not the forum for general health, wellness, or diet information. Please take all your supplements and herbs... elsewhere.

Also, if you are a food blogger and have a recipe that really doesn't have anything to do with avoiding allergens, may I gently suggest you check out Is My Blog Burning? This site maintains a current list of food blog events which might be more appropriate.

Now, onto the carnival.

Recipes:

Kate Saltfleet of Experiments in Living shares an absolutely decadent egg and dairy free recipe for Chocolate Ganache Cake. (Yum.) There was absolutely no deprivation at this vegan's housewarming party!

Lara DeHaven of Texas Homesteader announces that she will be publishing an entire collection of wheat, dairy, and peanut free recipes in Writing an E-Cookbook. If you hurry over and subscribe to her blog, you might be one of the lucky recipients of a free copy.

Alisa of Go Dairy Free reviews Ricki Heller of Diet, Dessert, and Dogs' new cookbook Sweet Freedom and shares two recipes from it in Vegan Butter Tarts and a Chocolaty Date Cake. (If you think that sentence was a mouthful, wait until you see these simply amazing treats without any refined sugars, refined flours, eggs, dairy, or wheat flour!)

Alisa, who also blogs at One Frugal Foodie, brings nutritious and flavorful dishes of her own to the table with Sweet Dijon Dressing and The World's Easiest Healthy Chicken Recipe. Both of these have landed in my "try at the earliest opportunity" recipe file.

More Food:

Kim, The Food Allergy Coach, reviews hemp products in Hemp: A replacement for common food allergens? She asks, "Free of many common allergens, various hemp products are hitting the market fast & furious, but are they any good?" Find out how hemp milk and seeds compare both nutritionally and in taste.

Alison of Sure Foods Living prepares for rampaging hordes of hungry kids in her Allergen-Free Summer Treats Guide 2009. She includes lists of both commercial and homemade treats, as well as a sneaky trick to get your child to snack on frozen spinach. Seriously.

Alisa of Go Dairy Free helpfully does the math for you in Grocery Discounts and Coupon Codes at a Glance for Frugal Shopping Needs. She adds, "Since I have special diet needs, I shop online for some grocery items. I started compiling these Amazon Grocery lists, since I usually find at least a few gems each month for a great price." This list has to be seen to be believed!

Living the Food Allergy Lifestyle:

Ruth Smith of Best Allergy Sites shares a helpful tip for easily communicating food allergy information in Business Cards for Food Allergies. She even has a link to let you order free cards.

Many thanks to Janeen of Our Story: The Good, The Bad, And The Food Allergies for letting the world know that it's the season to celebrate casein, whey, and lactose free in Happy Dairy Alternative Month. Maybe it's time to finally try some of that coconut milk ice cream!

Christine of Corn Allergic: What I Reacted to Today describes her strategy for eating out without eating in Ordering Nothing. While this is a good reminder that occasions are about the people, not the food, it's still saddening that eating in restaurants is so difficult for the food allergic "eating out" means brown bagging or not eating at all.

Finally, on a more positive note, Jennifer B. of Food Allergy Buzz presents a video highlighting some remarkable medical progress in A Look at Some of the Food Allergy Research Funded by FAAN.

That's it for this time. Thanks to all of you who shared your stories, tips, and recipes. The next carnival will be hosted by Sarah, the No Whey Mama. Don't forget to send in your (on-topic) submissions here!

Excuses, Excuses

I'm afraid I wasn't able to get the Living with Food Allergies Blog Carnival finished before leaving for several doctors appointments with The Kid this afternoon. It should be up later today. Sorry for the delay!

Gratitude

From a letter I wrote to the school principal:

....I am writing to thank you for the excellent job the school staff has done this year to keep [my son] from having an anaphylactic reaction due to his severe food allergies.

The school nurse, xxxx xxxxxx, wrote a truly comprehensive Individual Health Plan and ensured that all of xxxxx‘s teachers, including substitutes, were familiar with the plan and trained to use his EpiPen. His Kindergarten teacher, xxxxx xxxxxx really rose to the challenge of creating a safe environment for xxxxx. She also deserves a great deal of credit for fostering an inclusive atmosphere without any stigma attached to his food allergies.

I am extremely grateful for the caring and professionalism xxxxx has encountered at xxxxx xxxxx. We are looking forward to another great year!

I sent copies to the nurse, teacher, and county school board health supervisor. We are fortunate that The Kid is attending a school which is really a model for how food allergies should be managed. Before I even had a chance to contact her at the beginning of the year, the nurse wrote an IHP, which includes having the kids in my son's class rinse their mouths after lunch and wash their hands upon entering his classroom. I had to request that he not eat in a separate room, so he wouldn't be isolated at lunch time!

So many parents have to struggle to get basic safeguards for their food allergic kids. My son's school really deserves a little positive reinforcement for getting it right.

Hurricane Season

It's here again, the season when we make a list, check it twice, shop like maniacs, and make sure we don't forget the batteries. (Really, why do I live in Florida?) It's time to stock up on medications and allergen free food supplies if you haven't already. Here's my long winded post on hurricane prep from last year and here's a follow up post when I discovered that the meds that I had made a great deal of effort to obtain as substitutes for the ones my son usually takes with his nebulizer (in case of power outage) contained milk protein. It still makes me want to bang my head against a wall!

Apple Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I was really thrilled by this challenge, partly because it's a truly lovely pastry that I've never attempted before, and partly because it required absolutely minimal adjustments to make it allergy friendly. I substituted Earth Balance for the butter and crunchy homemade granola for the walnuts with delicious results.

Apple strudel from Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers

Filling:
2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) nondairy margarine, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs (I used potato bread)
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) granola to substitute for walnuts (recipe below)
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the margarine in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted margarine over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the granola about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.
4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. (I made a wreath instead.) Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted margarine.
5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Dough:
1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Granola:
1 1/2 C rolled oats
1/4 C sesame seeds
1/4 C ground flax seed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then stir in maple syrup. Spread onto a nonstick pan and bake for 30 minutes, stirring granola once halfway through. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

You'll notice this is a bare bones granola with no dried fruit, or anything else, to liven things up, but since I was trying to make a nut substitute, I kept it simple.

I had a little trepidation about making a huge sheet of paper thin dough, but the dough was a pleasure to work with, flexible and soft. Although my technique was clumsy, the area of my surface was the limiting factor in its final size. My strudel was a little thicker and shorter than it should have been, and I spontaneously made it into a circle, rather than a horseshoe shape. It was very pretty, but I found a puddle of liquid trapped in the center of my wreath when I pulled it from the oven. Despite draining it immediately, I still ended up with some soggy bottom crust. (Does this make me a baker of constant sorrow?) Still, this was one of my favorite challenges yet.

Be sure to check out all other Daring Bakers and their lovely strudels!

Confessions of a Food Allergy Mom #9

It's almost painful for me to walk past the "Buy One Get One Free" packages of shrimp at the grocery store.

Update: I should have been clearer. I love the cholesterol saturated little bottom feeders, and it pains me to pass up a good deal on them! I do, however, get the shivers when I pass a shelf, or worse bulk bin, full of peanuts.

Octodog Lunchbox

More creeping Bentoism! I had leftover turkey dogs from the Pasta Squidward, so I tried this classic bento technique for the first time. (You can find an excellent tutorial at Lunch in a Box.) For these two, I cut one "bun length" turkey dog in half, then carved the legs and made a happy face on each one with small cuts for the eyes and mouth, which opened as the dog heated up. I cooked the octodogs in boiling water for ten minutes at the same time as the corn. It's about a third of a cob sliced into three sections after cooking, since The Kid is more likely to eat the corn if it's in smaller, easier to chomp pieces.

The turkey dogs and corn are accompanied by grapes, pretzels, the usual apple juice/water mixture, and an elephant sticker. I'm sending this smiling lunch over to Margot at Coffee and Vanilla for her monthly Healthy Lunchbox event. Be sure to check out all the gorgeous bentos and creative lunch ideas!

Pasta Squidward

This wonderfully creative idea for inserting dry spaghetti into the hot dog of your choice (tofu, turkey, beef, whatever) then boiling them together wound its way across the internet from the original Russian creators, who named them "Hot Dog Strikes Back," to BoingBoing, where the commentators renamed them "Squiddlies" to the Lunch in a Box Forum, where I was immediately transfixed. Of course, we have a Spongebob obsessed five year old, so at our house they became "Pasta Squidward."

These are absurdly easy to assemble, and The Kid absolutely adored making them. Half a pack of turkey dogs and a handful of spaghetti broken into half (so it would fit into the pot) were all we needed. The combination of spaghetti and meatlike sticks deserves to become an instant kid cuisine classic, like S'mores. They bring together two foods that already have strong kid appeal with the opportunity to play with your food. All they lack is a universal and instantly recognizable moniker.

After we finished making our voodoo dogs, I started the pasta water boiling and made my sauce. It was my usual tomato based pasta sauce, except I substituted a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes for the usual huge can of tomato puree, so that it would be less liquidy and more goulash like. I like my squash a little blackened, or at least well done, so my veggies started like this:

And ended up looking like this:

Once they landed on the (poorly lit) dinosaur plate, they hitched a ride with the pincushion pasta to my son's tummy with no objections from him. Yeah!

I am shamelessly sending this unsophisticated dish to Kitchenetta at Got No Milk, one of the best looking food allergy/restricted diet foodie blogs around, who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Nights, the long running weekly pasta round up begun by the always lovely Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Earth Balance Winners

Result: 6
Result: 21

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Congratulations to gfbentomom and The Williams on winning the free Earth Balance. I really enjoyed all of your thoughts on allergy friendly foods. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to comment.