I love to read and I love to cook, so reviewing cookbooks is something that feels more like play than work. I was excited to receive a review copy of Go Dairy-Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living by Alisa Marie Fleming, a fellow blogger I met on line last year.
How it all began
The book opens with a short succinct summary of the authors story, of the baffling and often frightening symptoms she suffered from prior to discovering that she had a dairy allergy, of the cessation of her symptoms within mere days of going dairy free, and of her eventual ease in living a dairy free lifestyle.
Alisa Fleming’s personal success living dairy free area led to the creation and launch of www.godairyfree.org in 2004, an information resource for an estimated 7.5% of the U.S. population that follows a dairy-free diet. She had no idea that she would eventually reach half a million visitors and receive more than 2.5 million hits over a 2 year period, or that word would continue to grow with each passing month. She didn’t know then that she would be so busy updating her high-ranking site weekly, if not daily, adding new product reviews, recipes, news articles, announcements, discounts, give-aways, personal stories, and other things that might prove useful for dairy-free eaters everywhere.
In 2006 Alisa produced a limited edition guidebook Dairy Free Made Easy in 2006, which quickly sold out. The popularity of both her web site and her guidebook led her to update and expand her guide to address additional FAQs and to include an expansive cookbook section and change the name.
What’s in it?
The 288-page book is broken down into chapters, six main sections. The first section, Understanding Dairy & Dairy-Free From a Health Perspective, includes chapters that explain the term dairy-free, addresses the questions of why someone would choose to live dairy-free, covers concerns about strong bones and calcium, issues relating to infant and childhood milk allergies, and other dairy-free concerns.
The second part of the book, Eating Away from Home, covers restaurant dining and social events and travel while the next section, Grocery Shopping and Preparing your Kitchen, teaches you about decoding food labels, including shipping list inspirations, includes Alisa’s Random Grocery Tips, and How to Create the Well Equipped Kitchen.
The fourth section, All You Ever Wanted to Know about Dairy Substitutes, explores the myriad of milk alternatives, offers alternatives to butter and cheese in cooking and baking, and includes egg substitutes for those who are also intolerant of eggs.
In addition to providing her own findings, Alisa's book features recipes and resources that other authors, experts, bloggers, and eaters have shared with her, including a couple of recipes from The Ice Dream Cookbook. It contains both a general index and a special index containing charts that tell readers which recipes are vegan and which ones are egg, soy, wheat, gluten, peanut and/or tree nut-free, a plus for those with multiple food allergies or intolerances.
What I like about this book
I like the comprehensiveness of the book, the layout and organization, the Q&A’s, and the extensive recipe offerings that meet the needs of people following a wide range of diets.
Although I don’t follow an exclusively dairy-free diet (I periodically eat some dairy foods), I have eaten a mostly dairy-free diet for the past 25 years, including 9 years of veganism in my twenties and early thirties. Many of my clients and cooking students follow dairy-free diets and I hear of increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with allergies or intolerances to milk products, including Children with ADD, ADHD, chronic respiratory problems, ear infections, skin problems, and those on the autism spectrum.
Because of my own experience and what I have learned about the possible health consequences of eating dairy products, particularly modern, pasteurized milk products from factory farmed cows, I can appreciate all that went into this book.
Simple substitutions
I would recommend it to anyone who follows, or needs to follow, a dairy-free diet. Although some of the recipes call for ingredients I don’t keep in my kitchen or choose not to use, most recipes offer several options for ingredients; for those that don’t readers can easily make their own substitutions.
I think there’s so much valuable information contained in this book that readers who don’t eat this or that food can easily make the modifications they need to benefit from it. You’ll find recipes for savory and sweet things for every meal and any occasion.
For example, in recipes that call for rice or soymilk powder, you can use coconut milk powder (I’ve done that and it works beautifully). In those that call for white or brown sugar, you can substitute maple or honey granules, coconut palm sugar, date sugar, xylitol, erythritol, honey, maple syrup, or any one of these combined with a tiny amount of stevia. In place of powdered sugar, there’s a new non-caloric sweetener called Swerve (made from erythritol) that looks, cooks, and measures like the real thing. I used it in one of Alisa’s recipes and it came out great.
Some recipes call for vegetable oil or vegetable margarine, one can easily substitute olive, coconut, or avocado oil, or non-hydrogenated palm shortening. If you follow a gluten free diet, you can easily replace all-purpose or wheat flower with a gluten-free flour blend paired with xanthan gum (1/4 to 1/ 2 teaspoon per cup of gluten free flour used).
What I tried
I tried four recipes from this book: Dulce de Coco, Cinnamon Coconut Pops, Magic Shell, and Cool Whipped Coconut Cream. I thought they all came out great. I flagged additional recipes I would like to try for a special occasion, such as White Chocolate and White Chocolate Mousse.
First I tried the Dulce-de-Coco, a vegan twist on dulce-de-leche, the famous caramel flavored sauce. The recipe contained only four ingredients. I followed the straightforward instructions making only one substitution—replacing the brown sugar, which I don’t keep in the house, with coconut palm sugar, which I recently received a sample of.
I poured some of the finished sauce over sliced strawberries one morning and sprinkled with shredded unsweetened coconut. I shared some of the sauce with friends, who also liked it. I think it would taste great over vanilla or ginger-flavored Ice Dream (my non-dairy, coconut milk based ice cream alternative), commercial coconut milk ice cream.
The Cinnamon Coconut Pops recipe required a minimum of ingredients and took less than 10 minutes to assemble and pour into popsicle molds. Once frozen, I made the Magic Shell (chocolate coating) in about 5 minutes (recipe below).
I don’t have or use a microwave oven, so I melted the chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat. I ran warm water over the popsicle molds to release the pops, set them on a plate, and spooned the liquid chocolate sauce over them, turning them to coat all over with chocolate. For a prettier finish, go slowly with this step.
I set the chocolate covered popsicles on parchment paper and returned them to the freezer. The result: delicious, ice-creamy coconut milk popsicles covered in a crispy shell of chocolate, reminiscent of the ice cream bars I ate as a child. I would make them again especially with children or for company.
For the Cool Whipped Coconut Cream, I replaced superfine or powdered sugar with Swerver (info above) and the rice or soymilk powder with coconut milk powder. The result was a creamy, voluptuous topping that tasted great over berries and just as good on it’s own, spooned into a parfait glass and sprinkled with cacao nibs.
I liked that the recipes were simple, easy to follow, didn’t require any special equipment – except popsicle molds, which I already had. the author also explains that you can replace these with 5-ounce paper cups and wooden craft sticks.
Magical Shell
Yield: approximately 1 Cup
Recipe from Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living by Alisa Fleming
I loved this stuff as a kid, so when I discovered the magical solidifying properties of coconut oil, I knew it was time to recreate this old favorite at home.
Ingredients
6 Ounces Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (see my variation below)
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup Grapeseed or Vegetable Oil (I used unrefined almond oil; avocado oil would also work)
Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it on HIGH in 30 second intervals (just 2 to 3 should suffice), stirring vigorously between intervals, until the chocolate has just melted and is smooth (see notes below for melting without a microwave). Be careful not to overheat the chocolate, as it can scorch easily.
Stir in the two oils until smooth and drizzle away! Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator, warming the sauce as needed.
My notes & variations:
The recipe called for 6-ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips, which I didn’t have in the house, so I subbed 6-ounces of bittersweet dark chocolate plus 3 tablespoons of honey and ½ teaspoon of clear stevia liquid. For the grapeseed or vegetable oil, I used unrefined almond oil. Since I don’t have a microwave oven and I discourage using one, I chose to melt the chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat. It came out great. I plan to try the leftover sauce over strawberries, other variations on the popsicles, or one of my Ice Dream flavors for another weekend treat.
Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for milk allergies, lactose intolerance, and general casein-free living is now available to purchase via Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com. For those who prefer the instantaneous gratification of eBooks, Go Dairy Free is also available in an eBook format and through Amazon Kindle. For more information, visit our Dairy Free Shop.
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