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Many thanks to Chef Kathleen Schiefler for this recipe. Kathleen & I will be teaching a gluten- & dairy-free cooking class for the Cook's Program at the GRCC Sechia Culinary Institute in March, 2012. Stay tuned for details!
~Elisabeth Veltman
RECIPE FROM CHEF KATHLEEN SCHIEFLER
Prepare the Turkey Parts
Taking the time to roast a few turkey parts which creates a flavorful turkey stock, will ensure that you have enough gravy to go around, and will also give you a much more flavorful gravy! Most good quality meat markets sell packages of turkey backs and thighs this time of year and they are quite inexpensive. The stock can be made several days ahead of time!
3-5 Turkey backs or thighs, or combination, cut in pieces with sharp knife Olive Oil Salt and Pepper 1 medium onion, cut into chunks 1-2 stalks of celery, cut into chunks 1 carrot, cut into chunks 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns 1 cup dry white wine Juices from turkey roasting pan 4 tablespoons potato starch mixed in a bowl with enough cold water to form a paste
Preheat oven to 400’. Place turkey parts in roasting pan and rub lightly with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Place in preheated oven and roast for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Place roasted turkey parts in a large pan and add enough cold water to cover. Add onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns and white wine. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to a simmer over medium low heat and cook for about 40 minutes. Remove from heat, strain though a strainer and reserve the liquid; discarding the solids. This can be done several days ahead of time and refrigerated. Once cold, skim off any accumulated fat on the surface.
MAKE THE GRAVY
When ready to make gravy: Pour accumulated juices from the roasting pan of your cooked turkey into a bowl being sure to add all the little dark bits at the bottom of the pan. When fat rises to the top, skim off as much of it as you can using a ladle or turkey baster before adding it to the pan of the prepared turkey stock; bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix together the potato starch and water to form a paste. Whisk this mixture into the simmering gravy and whisk until smooth and blended. Increase the heat to a low boil. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Once the mixture has come to a boil it has achieved its maximum thickening potential, so if you the gravy is still too thin, whisk in some additional starch and water paste and bring to a boil again. The amount of potato starch paste you will need to use to thicken the gravy will all depend on the amount of gravy in your pan.
About Chef Schiefler
Chef Kathleen is a hometown girl and a graduate of the GRCC Culinary program in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has traveled the world extensively studying foods, traditions, and international customs. Kathleen also attended stints at Ecole de Cuisine LaVarene in Burgundy, France, The French Pastry School in Chicago and the CIA in Napa Valley.
Today, Kathleen merges her passions for hospitality in inspiring ways with Kathleen and Company - developing creative solutions in marketing, culinary arts, merchandising, purchasing, and customer relations. She also continues to indulge her passions with the Arts, is an Advanced Master Gardener, occasional interior designer, and is frequently featured at speaking and teaching engagements throughout the city. In addition to being co-founder of the KITCHEN SINC - where she will be hosting cooking classes in this facility and helping new incubators launch their products to market - you will also find her at Rylee’s Ace Hardware on Michigan Street where she hosts their Ace’s in the Kitchen cooking program and also teaching classes at Grand Rapids Community College Secchia Institute for Culinary Enthusiasts.
Food allergies seem to have magically appeared out of nowhere. Twenty years ago, finding an actual kid with peanut allergies was like searching for Sasquatch. We had heard that this kid exists, but sightings were few and far between. Today, peanuts are banned from airplanes and schools, and kids are wearing labels on their clothing like little air-mailed packages, marked “fragile”. “Gluten” is a household word, but we still don’t know what it is. Adults leave their doctor with lists of foods to avoid, even developing celiac disease and other autoimmune conditions in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s & 70’s.
Why? What has happened? Is there something we can do?
Join The Tender Foodie, for some interesting fact, figures, and discussion. Elisabeth will review the impact of our food environment, the difference between “allergy”, “sensitivity”, & “intolerance”; cross-reactions & why there is no such thing as a gluten-free pizza. You will leave armed with a few positive changes you can make in your every day life.
FREE. CALL TO REGISTER: (616) 447-9902
About Elisabeth Veltman
Elisabeth owns The Tender Foodie, a blog to help shorten the food allergy learning curve through a community of experts – including chefs, bakers, doctors, nutritionists, counselors, researchers, fitness professionals, and more. The Tender Palate will become an interactive website with tools to help people manage their food and health more successfully.
Very pleased and excited to also have Leslie Berigan R.N., one of the nurse educators from Grand Rapids Allergy on hand to answer specific IgE and EpiPen related questions after the talk. Welcome Leslie!
Kyra's winning smile on Food Network's "Cupcake Wars"
Last year, I had the privilege of conducting my first interview with Kyra Bussanich, pastry chef, owner of Crave Bake Shop, and the first gluten-free winner of Food Network's famous Cupcake Wars. She then won a SECOND time in May, 2012, when she was invited back to compete in Cupcake Champions. Then, in the Champions Finale she took second place out of 16 other champions. All of her competitors used traditional flours. Gluten-free can't be good, right? Right.
Having an auto-immune disease hasn't stopped her one bit, in fact, if fuels her passion to do what she loves - and boy does she do it well! One thing that struck me during our first conversation is how she doesn't settle for pastries unless they meet very high standards. Thank heaven for those standards as they have given us the best brownie on the planet, and it has helped raise the bar for gluten-free bakers everywhere.
Since then, Kyra has been a guest blogger for the Tender Foodie, sharing her delicious Truffle Brownie Recipe (gluten-, dairy-, soy-free) and her fabulous Paleo Brownies for those who are completely grain-free. I asked her if she was ready to chat about her experiences behind the scenes at Cupcake Wars, and lucky for us, she is. We corresponded over email for this interview.
TF: How did “Cupcake Wars” first contact you? And what was that like (how did you feel, what went through your head, etc.)
Kyra: I was sitting on the couch relaxing one evening and watching Cupcake Wars with my husband. I don’t recall what the secret ingredient or the taste challenge was, but I do remember that one of the contestants hid the special ingredient behind 5 or 6 other flavors and I was yelling at the TV at the oversight. Instead of burying the secret ingredients, s/he should have been highlighting it! My husband Jason nudged me and said I should go on the show but I initially declined because I don’t love competitions. They stress me out and make it more likely I’ll get over exerted and run-down.
After goading me for 20 or so minutes, I stomped and said, “FINE! I’ll apply if you leave me alone!” And I sent off a short paragraph about why I thought I would be good on the show, how I was different (baking entirely gluten-free, which they had never had before), and a few photos of myself and press clippings. Then I decided I didn’t actually want to participate, even if they did invite me, and it probably wouldn’t happen since I was still running my bakery as a custom-order business and didn’t even have a storefront yet.
TF: What were all of the steps that you had to go through before you actually appeared on the first show?
Kyra: Within an hour of sending off the application paragraph, the casting director called me. I was still on the couch watching TV! Jessica told me she thought I was “super cute” and wanted to know if I could send her a short (2-minute) application video to show what I was like on-camera. By the following day. GULP! Luckily, my husband went to journalism school, specializing in videography so we put together a short, playful video, which you can view here:
After I sent in the application, it was a few weeks before I heard back from them, during which time I had decided I DEFINITELY did not want to go. What if I choked? Anyone who has baked gluten-free knows that it can be finicky, and I worried that I would be reinforcing the negative connotations of gluten-free desserts if I had a bad baking day, or didn’t correctly judge the ovens and overbaked my cupcakes, or failed to finish in the allotted time. My assistant Jackie (now my bakery manager) was ecstatic about the possibility of going and her collectedness really steadied my resolve. I did it for her as much as anything else.
TF: Was this a dream of yours? To be the first gluten-free winner of Cupcake Wars? Or a challenge you didn’t expect?
Kyra: I think it’s a little of both: I had always dreamed of appearing on the Food Network, and when I started baking gluten-free, I felt like it was my role to champion delicious-tasting gluten-free pastries. I hadn’t really thought seriously about Cupcake Wars until they invited me to compete.
New York Cheesecake Cupcakes w/ Ginger Cookie crust, vanilla cake, filled with raspberry compote, topped with cream cheese frosting and raspberry coulis. Florian LOVED this one!
TF: How did you handle the time off from Crave Bake Shop? Did you have to close ? or was your staff able to handle it without you?
Kyra: The first time I went to Cupcake Wars, I didn’t even have a storefront, so I simply closed down the schedule and didn’t take any orders for a short time. By the time my subsequent visits to Cupcake Wars came about, I had a full staff I could rely on to open and close the bakery without me there. That said, it still made me nervous to leave my baby (the bake shop) in someone else’s hands.
TF: Describe your feelings when you first walked onto the set. Who did you meet? Anybody that made you toungue tied? Did you have an out-of-body experience? ?
Kyra: Being on the set of Cupcake Wars was very surreal. The kitchen is a whole lot larger than it appears on TV, and when you’re running cupcake batter to the ovens to get them baking in a short time frame, that means it’s a whole lot farther than you’re actually running. Jackie and I ran drills before going, where we selected odd ingredients for ourselves (like avocado and jalapeno peppers) and practiced getting batches of cupcakes mixed, baked and decorated in less than 45 minutes. Let me tell you, we were a whole lot faster in our home kitchen than on set!
Jackie & Kyra in the dressing room for the first time
TF: How did the first taping go? Is it like we see it on TV?
Kyra: It’s very much like you see on TV, only there is a lot more standing around and checking microphones and camera angles before everything begins. It’s a long day of taping. I think they picked us up at our hotel at 6 am and we stood around for 2 hours drinking coffee and diet coke before anything started. Needless to say, we were pretty amped up by the time the cameras were on us and we were baking!
TF: Did you just LOVE the Christmas / Holiday theme in the first show? Or was that tough?
Kyra: Christmas is my all time favorite holiday, so I was thrilled when Justin revealed the inspiration challenge. And because dinner rolls and stuffing and gravy were on the inspiration table, I automatically knew that they would be filled with gluten and I couldn’t use those ingredients. I think this actually helped me, rather than hindered because it narrowed down my list of options for me.
Ultimately I selected the apple cider and the cranberry as inspirations and made a Cranberry AppleCider cupcake.
TF: What was your competition like, and how did you handle them?
Kyra: Honestly, I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t pay much attention to our competitors. I kept my head down and just worried about doing the best job I could.
TF: Was there a lot of trash talk? (Anybody you want to “out” as sneaky :)) or was everyone professional? Or even supportive?
Kyra: I have experienced supportive competitors, as well as those who were trying to get in my head, or worse, sabotage my baking. I’d say the majority were very sweet and professional though. There’s a reason we all became pastry chefs and bakers: we like to sweeten the day of those around us!
TF: OK. The judges. Was there anyone that you thought you had to particularly win over?
Kyra: Yeah- all of them!
TF: Anyone extra tough on you?
Kyra: I don’t know that I’d call it extra tough on me, but Florian is a very well-respected French pastry chef and easily recognized when I mistakenly overcooked my sugar (TWICE!) while making Italian Meringue the first time I appeared. I figured I wouldn’t point out my mistakes to the judges, but if they asked me about it, I would fess up. He said to me, “This meringue…it tastes like it’s not cooked right?” and I grinned and nodded. He smiled back and that was that.
TF: Did you learn from their advice as they gave it? and were you able to apply it under pressure like that?
Kyra: I’m fortunate that my strengths include thinking quickly on my feet, and creating dynamic and memorable flavor combinations—two things that have served me well during my four appearances on Cupcake Wars. And of course, every time one of the judges gave me something to work on, I made sure to incorporate their suggestions, regardless of whether I personally agreed with them. After all, they’re the judges. And they decide who wins.
African Yam Cakes
TF: Describe the pressure. I can’t imagine. Don’t even know what to ask here.
Kyra: I don’t know what to say. "E:LIHWLIUEGOAGSBD" is what comes to mind. It’s crazy intense. The nerves prevented us from getting much sleep so we were a little ragged on set. And the first time I competed, I was fresh out of the hospital not 3 hours before I hopped on the plane. I hadn’t eaten solid food in almost 6 days, and I figured that just staying on my feet was a win, regardless of the outcome. But it’s also fun, and creates lasting memories.
People ask me every day at the bake shop if Cupcake Wars is really as crazy and stressful as it appears on TV and I always shake my head. No, it's not as crazy as it seems: it's at least 20 times more intense. You have to remember that they are filming everything in one day, which equates to roughly 16 hours of tape time PER CONTESTANT. And there are four teams. So they have to condense all that footage into 42 minutes (plus commercials), which means that a lot of it ends up on the cutting room floor.
TF: Wait. You were in the HOSPITAL just before the first competition? What happened? Kyra: I'm not sure what I was sick with. Perhaps the flu? Perhaps food poisoning? I hadn't been able to keep ANYTHING down for 3 days when my husband took me to the emergency room, worried about dehydration. They kept me there for an additional 2 days, and then I immediately hopped on a plane and went to LA (Jason was scared sick and mad at me for not putting my health first).
TF: What was it like when you got back home?
Kyra: There is a small time lapse between when you film and when the show airs, and because I had signed a non-disclosure agreement, I couldn’t TELL anyone what happened, or even that I was involved. So it was really anti-climactic.
TF: When it was over, exactly how exhausted were you? Was it different after each competition?
I slept for 15 hours a day for the following 4 days after the first show!
NOW. Let’s talk about the 2nd show.
TF: OK. Let's! Describe your second experience and how it differed from the first. Kyra: Well, for starters I WON the second time (came in runner up in the Holiday Tree Lighting the first time!) That was pretty spectacular. And since I had been on before, I already knew that the judges loved my cupcakes as much or more than “regular” cupcakes, so that was a load of pressure off.
TF: Kyra Sedgewick, who happens to be a personal favorite of mine, and the team from “The Closer” were your end “client” for the 2nd show. When did you get to meet them?
Kyra: We met them on-stage on the set of The Closer right after the competition (in December 2011).
TF: Did you interact with them much? And how did that go?
Kyra: There was less interaction than I would have liked, but I did get to wander the set of the police station while we were waiting for the cast and crew to wrap filming. And GW Bailey (the guest judge from my episode, and Lt. Provenza on The Closer) kept popping his head in to taste test our cupcakes and chat with us.
Jackie, Kyra Bussanich, & Kyra Sedgewick
TF: What was Kyra Sedgewick like?
Kyra: She’s beautiful, and warm, and funny and sweet, and at the same time, whip-smart. She’s also teeny tiny! I love her oversized smile and the way she talked to everyone (cast and crew and strangers like me). I’ve always been a fan of hers, at first because we have the same name (spelling and pronunciation and all), and then later because I admired her work ethic and from what I’d read about her in interviews, she seemed really positive and down to earth and playful. In person, all of those are true of her!
TF: She must be teeny tiny - because you are teeny tiny!
Kyra: Oh, I love you!
TF: Did anything funny happen with the crew?
Kyra: Tony Denison, who plays Lt Andy Flynn on the show, came from a scene where they were filming the crime scene. He was wearing booties and gloves and kept them on while he ate cupcakes. It was pretty comical, and Jackie didn’t at first put two and two together -- she thought he was a germaphobe!
Rifling through Brenda Leigh Johnson’s candy drawer was also a hoot! There were Twizzlers and Reese’s PB Cups and DingDongs and Sixlets in there!
Kyra & Jackie with the cast of The Closer. And Tony Dennison's gloves..
TF: Oh, I adore that drawer! What went through your head and your heart when you won? Kyra: Holy MOLY! I just beat traditional gluten-filled cupcakes! WOW! Huge coup for gluten-free people everywhere!
TF: What was the FUNNIEST thing that happened on Cupcake Wars?
Kyra: Jackie is pretty hilarious under pressure, and we just kept a rolling banter going. One of her great quotes, “Kyra- I am sweating in places I should NOT be sweating!”
I think Jackie and I were at our most entertaining in the Madagascar 3 Cupcake Champions Episode. Neither of us had slept a wink the previous night and we were all hopped up on caffeine so the remarks flying out of our mouths were mostly nonsensical, but we were so deliciously tired that we thought it was all hysterical.
Jackie told me that she felt really behind and wanted to cry, to which I responded "I know, me too, but we don't have time. Start making some decorations. You can cry later." And she did!
TF: Were there any twists in the Champions Episodes?
Kyra: They had sprung a last minute twist on us partway through round 2: not only were we going to have to make the judge's cupcakes, but we would ALSO have to make an extra 8 dozen cupcakes and a 2 foot by 2 foot cupcake mosaic in the Madagascar 3 theme. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something inappropriate on camera! ARGH! And we finished the round with our judges cupcakes to taste and the mosaic completed, but it certainly wasn't something pretty, or that I was proud. And Jackie, being the perfectionist artist that she is burst into tears. It's really hard to present something for judging that you'd rather just throw on the floor and jump on, and she sobbed that she was sorry she lost it for us, and that it was okay if I fired her. I hugged her and said, "You did the best you could and that was a mean trick to throw at us, and I am glad to be done and we can just go home and eat M&Ms." (Side note: I don't even like M&Ms all that much! No idea why I said that)
As it happened, the judges appreciated our artistic take on the hand painted Alex the Lion, rather than a bunch of fondant shapes cut out with cookie cutters, and we went on to win the episode!
Jackie, Kyra, and Cedric the Entertainer after the Champions Win!
TF: What was the SCARIEST thing that happened?
Kyra: Just being there the very first time and not knowing if the judges were going to spit out their cupcakes and tell me that it TASTED like it was gluten-free.
TF: What was the most MADDENING thing that happened?
Kyra: My very first time on, I was decorating a sheet pan of cupcakes right before we loaded them on the display in round 3: I spun the sheetpan and dropped the ENTIRE tray of 250 cupcakes on the floor. And I knew I was on camera, so I had to remind myself not to say a swear word and not to cry!
TF: What was your FAVORITE moment of the entire experience?
Kyra: WINNING! And then Winning again!
TF: Did you make lasting relationships from the show?
Kyra: I still keep in touch with one of my producers (from the 3rd and 4th times I was on the show), and the gentleman who ultimately beat me in the all-star version, Cupcake Champions!
TF: Who was the MOST interesting person you met on all 4 shows?
Kyra: Candace Nelson fascinates me because she is such a smart business woman. And Florian is a giant teddybear (although I think he likes that people are a little afraid of his gruff exterior). And Kevin Vanderaa (the guy who edged me out of the competition during Champions) is a sweetheart and a gem.
TF: You are a great competitor. You came in 2nd on Cupcake Wars Champions after being first - TWICE. That is pretty amazing. Put that in perspective for us – from your point of view.
Kyra: My first time on Cupcake Wars, I was the runner up, after just getting out of the hospital, and after a long day of the judges raving about my baking. It was bittersweet to lose, but my competitor on the Holiday tree Lighting had a very elegant display that better suited what the judges were looking for.
My second appearance went much more smoothly, because I had a better idea of what the judges were looking for, and so I was better able to give it to them. That was The Closer episode, and I just kept on honing in on what the judges wanted to see to bring victory home on my 3rd appearance.
TF: How did it feel when the judges loved your cupcakes?
Kyra: Incredibly validating! Especially since they have eaten thousands cupcakes, and I was competing against traditional all-purpose gluteny flour cupcakes!
TF: What was the BEST compliment you received from the judges?
Kyra: Florian said of my Dark Chocolate Delight cupcake “This cupcake is the perfect chocolate cupcake. I have eaten the whole thing!” (It was a dark chocolate cake filled with dark chocolate mousse, topped with dark chocolate Italian Meringue buttercream and a ganache drizzle)
Candace told me, “I think you’re a very inspirational It-Girl for gluten-free baking. These are just delicious!”
What could be better than that?
TF: What was the worst thing the judges said?
Kyra: Well, I mentioned how Florian called me out on my overcooked Italian meringue on the Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcake: Candace didn’t think the ginger cream cheese frosting on the Chai Spice cupcake tasted gingery enough, but that’s a simple fix!
Europe's Most Wanted Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes
TF: How did the judging/judges for the Cupcake Champions Finale differ from the first show?
Kyra: By my 3rd and 4th appearance for Cupcake Champions, the judges acknowledged that as we were the best of the best, they were going to be more exacting and looking to be dazzled. I knew I had to pull out all the stops with both, my cupcake flavors AND the decorations, and so I filled every cupcake and layered the flavors and components and made all edible decorations for each cupcake.
I was told that no one had attempted such complicated components and pulled it off successfully—until me!
TF: That is pretty incredible, Kyra. Tell us something else that nobody knows about behind the scenes at Cupcake wars… that you are allowed to, anyway!
Kyra: Some of the assistants have never baked before! That was a mini-challenge to hurdle.
TF: Seriously! That must have been a challenge, indeed! How has your life changed since this has happened?
Kyra: Well, because of my first appearance on Cupcake Wars, I was interviewed for “Gluten-Free Living” Magazine, where I was featured alongside two gluten-free bakers who have written cookbooks for TenSpeed Press (an imprint of Random House). The editor was following up on her authors and saw my portion of the interview and contacted me, so that’s how I got the book deal, without having to get an agent. And the outpouring of support from gluten-free people across the country and shipping orders all over gave me the momentum to open a retail store. I feel very blessed that I’ve been able to do what I love day in and day out, and I attribute a lot of that to Cupcake Wars.
TF: What’s next for you, Kyra? Anything new coming up?
Kyra: I’ve been finalizing edits of my cookbook, set to be released late next summer. I’m very excited to see it finished (I’ve been working on it for nearly 2 ½ years, testing and re-testing all the recipes to make sure they’re foolproof). I’m also working on a new website, where I’ll debut different sorts of recipes, all of them gluten-free and many dairy-free or grain-free, and I’m also working on getting a few of my gluten-free and dairy-free cupcake mixes packaged and to market!
TF: If you could some up your experience in one sentence – or one word – what would that be?
Kyra Bussanich is the owner of Crave Bake Shop, and the first gluten-free winner of the Food Network's Famed, "Cupcakes Wars". Kyra graduated with honors from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu patisserie program, which gave her a solid foundation of knowledge about classical French baking techniques which she was able to apply toward baking gluten-free. Kyra was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder when she was 20 years old. Part of staying healthy meant switching to a gluten-free diet, avoiding all wheat and overly processed foods. Whenever possible, she uses local ingredients, and serves customers with multiple allergies, as well.
About the Interviewer, Elisabeth Veltman
Writer, owner of Blue Pearl Strategies, and lover of all culinary delights, Elisabeth is a Tender Foodie. She started The Tender Palate, a website for foodies with food allergies where she consults with experts from every area of the Tender Foodie life. She believes that everyone should live deliciously and have a healthy seat at the table. Find her at www.tenderpalate.com.
Here is my own personal recipe for a deeply nourishing bone broth, which can be used as a rich base for any soup or for any recipe that calls for broth or stock. It is a perfect start to the GAPS Diet (see an introduction to GAPS). Make sure to use the highest quality ingredients available.
If you are new to making bone broths, I recommend trying it at least once from the perspective that you are making medicine for you and your family. This is much more than a food, this truly is powerful medicine!
Ingredients
2 lbs. organic chicken or grass fed beef bones 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice Filtered water, to cover 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 2 large carrots, roughly chopped 1 large onion, roughly chopped Sea salt, to taste
Add the bones to the pressure cooker and add the vinegar or lemon juice and enough water to cover the bones completely.
Add the remaining ingredients, and put on lid and lock in place. Turn heat to high and wait for it to pressurize.
When pot pressurizes, turn heat down to medium and cook for 1-1 ½ hours.
Depressurize cooker, and remove all bones and bay leaf from pot, making sure that all marrow and soft tissues are off the bones before you discard them.
Blend broth with an immersion blender, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any bits of bone.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. The broth is now ready to be made into a soup/stew, or to be used as is. Store in freezer in an airtight container for up to one month.
SLOW COOKER Directions
Place everything in a large slow cooker / crock pot and cover with filtered water. Cook for 4-6 hours before using, starting on high for 1 hour, then reducing the heat to low. You can keep this going for 3-5 days if you continually scoop out the broth and replace what you take with filtered water. This method allows the bones to really cook down.
TIPS
• This recipe can also be made without a pressure cooker, in a regular stock pot. Cook several hours, until marrow and soft tissues release from bones. • Can also use lamb bones or fish bones. • Use high collagen joints like knuckles, necks, and feet. • Use as a soup base, cooking liquid for grains or beans, or to make sauces like gravies (thicken with a roux). • Season the bone broth and serve as a first course to enhance digestion. • Other herbs, spices, or vegetables can be added to the broth depending on the desired flavor. • Season with salt and sip throughout the day if you need a boost in energy or are not feeling well. The broth is both energizing and calming.
About Brooke
Brooke Kaufman is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant who creates customized meal plans for her clients with multiple food allergies and intolerances, and for those who are on the GAPS diet. She enjoys helping people eat nourishing food that is easy to prepare and tastes delicious. She believes that having food allergies and intolerances can be a positive challenge that inspires creativity, and brings a higher level of awareness when it comes to what you put in your body. Brooke believes that when we deeply nourish ourselves inside and out, we can attain optimal health…which includes healing our damaged and inflamed digestive systems.
Brooke received her nutrition education at Bauman College, and has learned through her own personal experience with food intolerances, she also works as a cleanse coach for Cleanse Organic, a 28-day, guided whole food based cleansing program.
The GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet is a gut-healing protocol developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to help heal her son’s autism, and later to help hundreds of other children with multiple food allergies and many overlapping psychological and immune disorders.
She discovered the SCD Diet (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and changed it slightly to fit the needs of her patients. It was actually her patients who coined the term “GAP Syndrome” or simply “GAPS”. The diet that she prescribed for them became known as the GAPS Diet.
More Than One Condition - Always
In her book titled “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”, Dr. Campbell-McBride describes how after years of working with children in her Cambridge clinic, she hardly ever met a child who presented with only one condition.
“Every child has two, three or more of these health problems at once. For example, a child would present with allergies; at the same time the parents would describe a couple of asthmatic episodes and eczema and then would talk about their child’s extreme clumsiness (dyspraxia) and learning problems.…many autistic children have severe allergies, asthma, eczema, dyspraxia and dyslexia.”
Gut First
She further illustrates how the underlying condition of all of these disorders lies in the digestive system. She feels that the gut must be healed if any of the symptoms are going to be fully addressed.
Here’s the thing: knowledge about the connection between gut health and brain health is still not in the mainstream. Interesting, huh?
Does Insanity Lie In the Gut?
In 1807, the Father of modern psychiatry, French psychiatrist Phillipe Pinel concluded:
“The primary seat of insanity generally is in the region of the stomach and intestines.”
Dr. Pinel had been working with mental patients for many years, yet his knowledge has been virtually ignored by modern psychiatry. Dr. Campbell-McBride refers to Pinel’s work when she discusses that digestive symptoms begin at the time of weaning and when formula is introduced at infancy. Symptoms then increase as more and more foods are introduced to the already compromised digestive system.
As a nutritionist, and as someone who has used this diet to heal her own gut, this is very interesting to me. The success of this diet shows us how much more education is needed around how to care for our own health and the health of our children. What did our ancestor’s diets look like before modern “conveniences” existed like infant formula, pasteurized dairy or refined grains? Every traditional diet contains fermented foods…what are the fermented foods that your ancestors used to maintain good health year round?
The Purpose: Heal & Seal
The purpose of the GAPS protocol is to “heal and seal” the inflamed and irritated digestive system. There is an intro phase to the GAPS protocol that can last as long as one needs in order heal the gut. Fermented foods and a probiotic supplement aid in the colonization of good bacteria in the gut; while vegetable juice is used to help the body to eliminate toxins. The second phase of the GAPS protocol is a systematic re-introduction of foods that are on the list of GAPS approved foods, which includes vegetables, fruits, legumes, gluten-free grains, and fermented dairy products. If there are symptoms present when a food is reintroduced, then you go back to the intro diet until symptoms subside and another food can be “tested”.
Six-Stage Protocol (to Follow Diligently)
There are six stages of the GAPS diet. This is not a quick-fix, by any means. The diet takes time and dedication. If you don’t follow the healing protocol carefully and diligently then you won’t get the full benefit. You must remove all starches and grains, and purchase a very high quality probiotic supplement. You must also maintain a constant supply of bone broth/soup, which is time consuming (much less time consuming if you have a pressure cooker!) but which is a key ingredient for success. It can also take a good amount of time to heal the gut, since in many cases the damage has been done over a period of many years, although immediate improvement in many symptoms may be noticed on the GAPS diet.
What You Can Eat & Why
In the GAPS intro diet meats and fish, eggs and non-starchy vegetables are allowed. Bone, meat and fish stock soups are the staple of the intro part of the diet. They are soothing and healing for the inflamed gut lining and help aid in digestion. Probiotic foods are also very important during the intro and full GAPS diet, such as raw sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables. Raw egg yolks can be added to soup if no egg allergy exists. This provides excellent nourishment and protein.
After the intro phase of the diet, fermented dairy like homemade kefir and whey, yogurt and sour cream are gradually added if there is no adverse reaction and you are not allergic to dairy. Homemade ghee is also gradually added into the diet, again, if not allergic to dairy. We can find alternatives for dairy allergies.
What to Avoid
All grains and anything made from these grains (both gluten-containing and gluten-free grains): wheat, rye, rice, oats, corn, barley, millet, spelt, quinoa, buckwheat, etc.
All starchy vegetables and anything made out of them: potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, parsnips, cassava, arrowroot, etc.
Sugar and anything that contains sugar.
Starchy beans and peas: soybeans, mung beans, garbanzo beans, bean sprouts, fava beans.
Lactose and anything that contains it: milk, dried milk of any type, commercially produced yogurt, buttermilk and sour cream, processed foods with added lactose.
There is a cookbook that goes along with the informational book that is excellent if you are going to be taking on the GAPS diet and are determined to heal your and/or you child’s gut. The intro diet is pretty straight-forward (though challenging!), but as you begin to heal the gut and are able to introduce more foods back into the diet, you may want to get the cookbook which I personally found to be a valuable resource.
Get Started with Bone Broth
If you aren’t ready to dive into the full diet, get started by changing a few habits (like giving up soda, or better, all processed sugar) and adding foods from the allowed list.
Here is my own personal recipe for a deeply nourishing bone broth, which can be used as a rich base for any soup. Bone broth is a key part of the GAPS diet. Give it a try, and enjoy!
Resources
To learn more about Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and the GAPS diet, please visit the official GAPS website.
Brooke Kaufman is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant who creates customized meal plans for her clients with multiple food allergies and intolerances, and for those who are on the GAPS diet. She enjoys helping people eat nourishing food that is easy to prepare and tastes delicious. She believes that having food allergies and intolerances can be a positive challenge that inspires creativity, and brings a higher level of awareness when it comes to what you put in your body. Brooke believes that when we deeply nourish ourselves inside and out, we can attain optimal health…which includes healing our damaged and inflamed digestive systems.
Brooke received her nutrition education at Bauman College, and has learned through her own personal experience with food intolerances, she also works as a cleanse coach for Cleanse Organic, a 28-day, guided whole food based cleansing program.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 8:59AM 
Chef Kathleen is a hometown girl and a graduate of the GRCC Culinary program in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has traveled the world extensively studying foods, traditions, and international customs. Kathleen also attended stints at Ecole de Cuisine LaVarene in Burgundy, France, The French Pastry School in Chicago and the CIA in Napa Valley.
