Egg-Free Solutions/Substitutes

When I was working at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe in Denver back in 1999 my most favorite thing on the menu was Chicken Pad Thai. I love pad thai, the noodles, the spicy chilis, fish sauce, tofu (or shrimp or chicken), mung bean sprouts, various veggies and egg.

My then fiance, Aron, and his friend John had just come into town came to eat at the newly-opened Wolfgang Puck Cafe at the Denver Pavilions. I almost always suggested the pad thai. When this friend told me that he was allergic to chicken I almost fell off my chair...although I was standing up at the time! I had never heard of anyone being allergic to chicken!

From that time in 1999 to now the idea of food allergies has spread like wildfire! I don't know what sparked this discovery but it seems that everyone has some sort of food allergy. If it's not a food allergy then it is a dietary restriction of some sort or another. Seeing as how half the people in the U.S. are overweight, if not obese, a huge percentage of people are on some sort of diet. Everyone is always looking for a quick fix to lose weight but it really comes down to diet and exercise for most.

Anyway, I digress. Today I wanted to give you all some substitutions for those of you who are allergic to eggs, yes eggs. My Auntie Sheila is one of those people and I wanted to dedicate this blog post to her.

I know my aunt loves to bake, as do I and when I was recently asked by my sister-in-law to bake a cake for my niece for her 1st birthday I couldn't be more excited...especially when I knew I would have to bake her an extra-special cake due to her food allergies. The cake was supposed to be egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free and I threw in the gluten-free just for fun! My sister-in-law sent me the list of egg substitutes...yes, most cakes require eggs in them...that her doctor had given her:

To replace 1 egg in a recipe use one of the following:

• 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon of liquid, and 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon of apricot puree
• 1/4 cup of applesauce
• egg replacer (Bob's Red Mill or Ener-G brands work great)

This is only about using eggs in baking. I'm not saying that you want to have a side of baking powder, liquid and vinegar with some bacon and toast! 

I found a recipe on www.egglesscooking.com for egg-free pancakes that I can't wait to try!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 CupAll Purpose Flour
• 1 TeaspoonSugar
• 1/4 TeaspoonGround Cinnamon
• 2 TeaspoonsBaking Powder
• 1 CupMilk (I Used 2%)
• 1 TablespoonVegetable Oil
• 1 TablespoonWater
• 1 TeaspoonVanilla Extract
• 2 TablespoonsButter

PROCEDURE:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
2. In a liquid measuring mug, measure 1 cup milk. To that add the vegetable oil, water and vanilla extract.
3. Stir in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix. Lumps are perfectly fine. Set aside for a couple of minutes.
4. Heat a griddle at medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add the butter and let it melt.
5. Add the melted butter to the pancake batter and return the pan to the stove. Mix the butter into the batter.
6. When the pan is hot enough, pour a ladleful of batter on the pan for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on the face of the pancake.
7. Carefully flip the pancake and cook until its golden brown.

Welcome!

Food at last, food at last...

Thank goodness I'm writing about food, at last! This blog has been a long time coming. After over 20 years in the food industry I have decided to write about all things related to the food industry from my perspective. This will include my experiences in the restaurant industry, food I can't live without, recipes I've tried or will try, must-have gadgets, cookbook reviews, food/restaurant critiques, helpful hints, and maybe just maybe I'll be persuaded to make some cooking videos.

I am passionate about good, healthy, fun food. Some people eat to merely sustain themselves...I eat because I love food. I've always heard, "Never trust a skinny cook." Well, I'm far from skinny but I would like to eat more healthily while not depriving myself of the wonderful food that this world has to offer.

A little bit about my journey thus far...

Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of going to culinary school and becoming a world-famous chef. I grew up in Upstate New York and always thought that I would go to the Culinary Institute of America. I wanted to wear the white chef coat with my name on it and the tall chef hats (toques) and carry my knife bag around with me. My dream was to go to culinary school, graduate, and move to France. Everyone talks about France as the foodie's mecca.

My mom and I moved to Virginia when I was 12 years old. I plugged away at school, taking French class to prepare for my eventual move to France and excelling in Math and Science, two things I knew I would need if I was going to be a great chef one day!

When I turned 16, I got my 1st job as a waitress in Staunton, Virginia at a mexican restaurant called Rosa's Cantina. Sure, it wasn't France but at least I got my foot in the door of a local restaurant that people seemed to really like. Looking back, the food was mediocre but I loved everything about the atmosphere: the fast pace, the flirting with the bartender, the cooks yelling at the waitresses and us yelling back...I felt like I was at home.

Life took a huge turn for me when my mom passed away. I was one month away from turning 17 and I went to go live with family friends in Gaithersburg, Maryland. My life was was directionless and I was not even remotely motivated to find my passion for the restaurant business again. I decided to go college and pursue a Psychology degree at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. I was there on a Work Study program...while most of my friends didn't have to work, I did. I decided to get a job at our school cafeteria which was run by Marriott.

My first boss was a pretty slimy guy. Yes, it was a Southern Baptist, very conservative school but there are always dirt balls everywhere! There were only a couple of us girls working there and our boss made our life miserable. I definitely could have charged him with sexual harassment but I needed the job and I figured the experience would be good on my resume. I dropped out of school my sophomore year and soon after moved to Colorado.

After two years of working in retail in the Denver area I decided to get back to food. My life had become a bit chaotic and I'm the type of person that thrives on structure. I decided that I needed to pursue my life-long dream of going to culinary school. I filled out an application for Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI and was soon excepted into their program. 

After much debating I decided that I was not ready to leave Colorado and found out that there was a fairly new program at the Art Institute of Colorado that had a AAS degree in Culinary Arts. I filled out all my paperwork and was quickly accepted into the program. I started in January 1995. This decision would renew my passion and love for all things food.

Since I graduated from the Art Institute in 1996 I've worked at some really great restaurants:

• The Fort, Morrison, Colorado 
• The Boulders Resort & Spa, Cave Creek, Arizona
• Ilios Mediterranean Restaurant, Denver, Colorado
• Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Denver, Colorado
• Strings, Denver, Colorado
• BD's Mongolian BBQ, Bethesda, Maryland

I have been a dishwasher, a line cook, a server, a floor supervisor, an expeditor, a FOH (front of the house) and BOH (back of house-kitchen) manager. My experience in this industry gives me a unique perspective into the inner workings of restaurants. 

I look forward to sharing more with you in my future posts!