Meet Kortney of Allergy Girl Eats - one of our favorite food allergy bloggers!
Read moreReleased Into The Wild: Managing Your Allergies On Your Own
How do you manage your food allergies as a teen or adult? I'm sharing my experiences and advice for handling your food allergies as an adult.
Read moreThese Sweaters Are Making Me Itchy!
A rant about sweaters from a girl who's allergic to wool.
Read moreEssential Kitchen Hacks From The Ba6ix Blog
Learn the essential kitchen hacks and cooking basics with Daria from the Ba6ix blog, here at Everyday Allergen-Free
Read moreWhat I Eat and How Much It Costs Will Amaze You
What does a person with many severe food allergies buy at the grocery store each week and how much does it cost compared to non-allergen-free products? We're examining.
Read moreHow To Throw An Amazing Christmas Party
We teamed up with Chef Scott Roberts and The Home Depot to bring you a guide for throwing the best allergy-friendly Christmas party
Read moreWhere To Eat Lunch and Dinner in Vancouver
A list of the best allergy-friendly places I ate lunch and dinner in Vancouver
Read moreAccepting That You Have an Incurable Disease: Is It Bad That I’m Giving Up Hope for a Cure?
Accepting That You Have an Incurable Disease: Is It Bad That I’m Giving Up Hope for a Cure? How do you manage the hope that you'll grow out of your allergies as an adult when you're already into adulthood?I'm in my mid-twenties now and am still severely allergic to dairy, nuts, peanuts, and legumes. Do I maintain hope that I'll one day "grow out of it" or do I make peace with reality and clear some mind space?
Read morePhantom Cravings. Am I Crazy or Is This a Thing?
How am I craving something I've never eaten before and that I'm allergic to? Phantom cravings for cheese as written by a dairy-allergic girl
Read moreWhere I Ate in Vancouver: Breakfast/Brunch
Where I ate breakfast and brunch in Vancouver and how they handled food allergies
Read morePlease Treat My Invisible Disability with Respect
Having an invisible disability has given me a unique insight into how society percieves anaphylaxis. Read my personal story here.
Read moreManaging My Allergies In-Flight: Air Canada
How I managed my allergies to dairy, nuts, peanuts, and legumes, while on an Air Canada flight.
Read moreDid You Brush? Let's Get Real About Kissing and Food Allergies For a Minute
Let's take a minute to talk for real about kissing and food allergies. As a teen this can be hard to do, but it's an important reality to face. So I'm sharing my story.
Read moreFanny Packs are Cool Again! How to Carry an Epi Pen, Hands-Free
There are many occasions on which it's not practical to carry a purse but I do so out of necessity in order to have my Epi Pen with me. And I know I'm not the only one with this dilemma. The first major wave of kids with food allergies are now adults with food allergies and our situational struggles have not disappeared but merely changed form. Fortunately the minimalist wave of fashion has churned up some stylin' fanny packs that I will gladly clip around my torso.
Read moreHow to Avoid Starvation at a Music Festival
Managing severe allergies as an adult is much different than as a kid. I share my strategies for making it through a music festival when you aren't able to eat anything. #foodallergyproblems
Read moreSay Hello to Urban Acorn, Toronto's Best Allergy-Friendly Catering Company
Learn about Urban Acorn, Toronto's best allergy-friendly catering company.
Read moreAt the Grill with Chef Scott Roberts: Halibut
Chef Scott Roberts shares one last recipe, this time for BC halibut, in part 4 of our collaboration. Free from most major food allergens.
Read moreAt the Grill with Chef Scott Roberts: Duck
We're switching things up a bit with post 3 of 4 in our series with chef Scott Roberts. You can read his recipe for scallops here, and grilled sea bream here. This time we're taking a break from seafood to learn about duck.
My favorite part about photographing this segment (aside from getting to eat it after) was watching the organization and tidiness of his process which can only be described as military-like cleanliness. Or, the #1 thing that makes an allergic person both relaxed and happy when dining out. I literally had to do nothing here, aside from move the lights around, stand on a floor pouf to get the angle, and click my camera. Everything was either already prepped and in its own container, or washed, dried, and presented nicely on a plate. Just like this:
In Scott's words:
"A good restaurant should operate like a machine. Keeping a clean and organised workspace is the first step cooks can take to improve productivity and quality."
And in my words:
Quebec Duck Breast, Pickled Plum, Rapini, Szechuan Pepper
Free from dairy, nuts, peanuts, egg, soy, mustard, wheat, oats, fish, shellfish
Ingredients
1 duck breast
1 tsp. szechuan peppercorns
salt to taste
a sprinkle of maple sugar
6 morels
a couple sprigs of thyme
olive oil
1 bunch of rapini
For the plums:
3 plums
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp salt
Method
First, spare yourself any embarrassment and learn how to properly pronounce morels. I've been saying morals for years.
The next thing to do is prep the plums which should be done ahead of time. Slice them into 4 segments, and then into bite sized pieces. Bring vinegar and water to a boil with the sugar, salt, and plum scraps. Let it sit for 10 minutes, covered and off the heat. Strain the warm liquid over the plum segments and then let sit for at least 2 hours.
For the morels, quickly rinse and pat dry as they can be gritty.
Since this is part of our "At The Grill" series, you're probably wondering what was grilled here. And the answer is the rapini. If you haven't grilled rapini, lettuce, or any leafy green, please stop everything and go do that. It's very important that you know how good it tastes. To cook it like Scott did, heat up the charcoal grill, drizzle the greens with a little olive oil, and toss them on until they are tender and have a nice char.
For the duck breast, you'll notice that it's very fatty on the skin side. Rub that side with the cracked peppercorns and salt, and then put it face down into a hot stainless steel pan. Let it fry for 12 - 15 minutes on medium heat. Then take it off the heat and let the flip to let the other side cook for a minute. Sprinkle a little maple sugar on the skin, then transfer it to the charcoal and grill it on the skin side until it's medium to medium rare depending on your preference. Duck is not like other poultry and can safely be eaten rare.
Let it rest for 10 - 15 minutes before plating. Add the morels and thyme to the pan and give them a nice fry until tender and aromatic.
To plate it, cut the duck breast into 1-inch thick slices, slice the morels in half, and pull the nice looking leaves off the rapini. Arrange it around the plate and then add the plums and plum juice as a sauce.
The rapini is smokey, the plums are sweet and tart, the morels are earthy, and the duck breast is rich and tender.
Serves 2
If you would like to contact Scott for catering, events or other opportunities, feel free to send an email to scott7@gmail.com
At the Grill with Chef Scott Roberts: Sea Bream
Chef Scott Roberts shares some inside info on how high-end restaurants cater to food allergies and dietary restrictions, and prepares a recipe for delicious grilled sea bream with green nam jim.
Read moreChef Yzzel on How Allergies are Handled at the Ritz-Carlton Banquet Hall
Junior Chef Yzzel from the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto shares how she manages to accommodate allergies and other dietary restrictions in the the Ritz's busy banquet hall kitchen. She also shares a recipe that's ideal for guests with multiple food allergies or celiac disease. It's a simple, delicious recipe that you can easily make at home.
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