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Food Magic Daily 3 7 Monday, June 26, 2017 legume and ancient grain flours which provide much more nutritional value, texture and flavor. The increased use of these ingredients is certainly what sparked the idea of a "gluten-free trend." However, for the three million Americans with Celiac disease, an autoimmune dis- order where gluten causes the immune system to destroy healthy intestinal tis- sue, "gluten-free" is a necessity, not a trend. According to the Gluten-Free Agency, Celiac disease is the most com- mon autoimmune disorder in the world. In America, diagnosis rates have quadru- pled since the 1950s. The reasons are unclear, but the disease is no fabrication. That being said, individuals with Celiac disease could not be more grateful and excited about this trend known as "gluten-free." New technology allows producers to puff, pop, roast and toast dif- ferent ancient grains resulting in a variety of different flavors, textures and aromas. The major challenge for food producers now is to make these ingredients and end products more accessible, continue to inform consumers of the nutritional bene- fits of a gluten-free diet and utilize today's technology to consistently devel- op innovative ingredients and products. Western Foods (WF) is located in Woodland, California, which is in the heart of the California rice growing dis- trict, renowned for its high quality non- GMO medium grain japonica rice. WF is a dedicated gluten-free rice and ancient grain mill. Its parent company, Western Milling, based in Goshen, California, is Western Foods (Cont'd. from p. 1) one of the largest privately held feed com- panies in the world with multiple facili- ties throughout the Western United States. WF started business in 2010 and has grown exponentially, riding the wave of the gluten-free trend. Its dedicated gluten- free rice and ancient grain mill and blend- ing facility have all the necessary quality certifications in order to provide safe products with less than 10 parts per mil- lion of gluten. WF's dedicated gluten-free facility conforms to the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and WF is proud to announce it has recently attained SQF Level 2 and Halal certifica- tions. In addition, WF is a member of the Whole Grains Council and a member of Non-GMO Project Verified. WF is dedi- cated to milling hypo-allergenic rice flours, long, medium and sweet, together with ancient grains focusing, but not all- encompassing, sorghum, millet, quinoa, amaranth and teff, creating turn-key cus- tom ready formulations in the gluten-free snacks and baked goods arena. Its latest product offerings are reduced micro flours, lowering micro counts on both rice and ancient grain flours together with pre- gelatinized (which is pre-cooked rice flour). In addition, WF is now offering puffed, popped, flaked, toasted, roasted and coated rice and ancient grain prod- ucts. WF has the necessary equipment to offer retailers both branded or private label flexible package options for gluten- free mixes, snacks and other related prod- ucts. For more information, go to www.western foodsco.com or stop by booth #1744. yearning for a better cookie that truly tastes like a treat, and families wishing they could find a cookie that satisfied the whole family – whether they eat gluten- free or not. What happens when someone realizes the absolutely delicious cookie his or her family has enjoyed for more than a genera- tion just happens to be naturally gluten-free? For two women – who by-the-way have been friends since the second grade – the answer was easy: share them with the world! Meli's Monster Cookies was founded by Melissa Blue and Melissa Mehall, two moms with an entrepre- neurial spirit who recognized a need for a better-tasting gluten-free cookie in the market. Inspired to start Meli's Monster Cookies when her niece was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, Melissa Blue realized the importance of having something to enjoy with a group of family or friends without having to worry about feeling left out because they were eating gluten-free. Then she realized the favorite cookie recipe her family had grown up loving was natu- rally gluten-free. With that same family recipe, and a business partner in Melissa Mehall, Meli's Monster Cookies began out of a kitchen in Austin, Texas. Today they can be found in hundreds of retail locations around the country. Unlike traditional cookies that list flour and sugar as the first two ingredi- Meli's (Cont'd. from p. 1) ents, Meli's Monster Cookies begin with certified gluten-free oats and nut butter. That makes them unlike other gluten-free cookies on the market, and also a better- for-you cookie that everyone can feel better about serving and eating. They are moist, chewy and delicious. Perhaps most importantly, they taste so good they are enjoyed by everyone, whether they are eating gluten-free or not! Meli's Monster Cookies come in three delicious, fresh-baked flavors. Original, the family recipe that started it all, is made with crunchy peanut butter, chocolate chips, plain and peanut butter M&Ms. Chocolot features crunchy peanut butter, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks and white chocolate chips. Meli's newest fla- vor, Cashewlicious, is made with crunchy cashew butter, dark chocolate chips, fine macaroon-style coconut and dried cherries. All Meli's Monster Cookies are made with real, wholesome ingredients and do not contain hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, arti- ficial flavors or preservatives of any kind. It may be the delicious combination of oats and nut butter that give these cook- ies a luxurious texture and rich flavor. Or perhaps what makes Meli's Monster Cookies so great is that they began as a delicious cookie recipe, not as a gluten- free cookie replacement. Whatever the reason, Meli's Monster Cookies prove that gluten-free cookies and better-for-you cookies can taste absolutely amazing! For more information, go to www.melis monstercookies.com. GOATS MILK FUDGE FROM BLACK MESA RANCH By Lorrie Baumann When David Heininger and his wife Kathryn bought their 280-acre ranch near Snowflake, Arizona, they were thinking of it as a retirement home. Now they've turned it into the Grade A goat dairy that's producing the milk that David turns into award-winning fudge. The fudge, in its turn, has launched him into a new career that's taking him in a full circle back to his culinary roots. "It all started off as that we went up there to retire. We had some invest- ments. In the mean- time, we had gotten a few goats, a few sheep and some cows," he said. "The idea was to have a retired life and do some hobbies. When the investments started fading out, we decided that we needed the goats to start paying for them- selves." Heininger's culinary career began right after graduation from Rhode Island's branch of Johnson & Wales University until a decade later, when Heininger and his wife decided to move to Tucson, Arizona for opportunities to renovate some of the city's historic homes. "Even then we were doing a sea- sonal candy business. I always stuck with it. It was always something we were doing," he said. "When it was time to goof off a little bit, we found a neat place up there at Snowflake [a small rural town in north central Arizona]." With the decision that the five pet goats on the 280-acre off-the-grid ranch property needed to start paying rent, the Heiningers certi- fied their opera- tion as a goat dairy in 2003. While he was building the dairy facilities, he also built a commer- cial kitchen on the property, with a propane stove and $20,000 in solar generating equip- ment to power electric refrigeration. "It wasn't a big philosophical deci- sion to move off grid. We just found this perfect property, and there wasn't grid power within six miles of it," he said. "It's a balancing act. We don't run a lot of personal power. Almost everything goes into the dairy.... People think of it as a simple life, but when you make the deci- sion to be your own power company, there's a lot of responsibility that comes with it. If your power goes out, it's your fault." Today, Kathryn Heininger is the cou- ple's herd manager, supervising 50 Nubian goats and milking 30 of them in an operation that's certified Humanely Raised and Handled. David Heininger is the operation's cheesemaker and choco- latier. Heininger makes his three flavors of Black Mesa Ranch Goats Milk Fudge with a short list of high-quality ingredi- ents: Belgian choco- late, cane sugar, but- ter, salt and the milk from 30 Nubian dairy goats. His Belgian Chocolate Fudge includes just those ingredients; Original is the Belgian Chocolate Fudge studded with walnuts, and Fudge on Fire is made with concho chiles, Arizona-grown pecans and a little spice. "It's a nice little glow- in-your-mouth kind of fudge," Heininger said. In addition to his fudge, Heininger is making some cheeses, primarily fresh goat cheeses in four flavors: plain, herb, jalapeno and chipotle, in addition to three flavors of feta: plain, hot pepper and gar- lic. "We sold our first log of cheese local- ly to a little independent health food store in Snowflake," Heininger said. He then started submitting cheeses to competi- tions, where they placed well enough to encourage him to persevere, and then Phoenix chefs started calling. "We got some more goats and started making more cheese," he said. He makes a little aged cheese, too, notably Dutchess, a Gouda-style cheese; Blue Goat, a blue cheese; and a Havarti- style cheese called Tivoli. The aged cheeses, though, are a minor addition to his range because Heininger's off-the- grid lifestyle doesn't allow for much affi- nage infrastructure. "When you're on solar, you've got to think about refrigera- tion and climate con- trol, and we try to keep that part of the business really small. It's not a huge part of what we're doing," he said. "The confection side is a little less dependent on that. We can do more with less. I can make more fudge out of the same amount of milk than with cheese, and it's ready to go the next day." His food products, which also include a range of spiced pecans made from Arizona-grown nuts, provide Heininger with personal satisfaction as well as the income to maintain a life he loves. "It's just the two of us, and we're making a real go of it. We're never going to get rich doing it, but it's a great lifestyle and we're having a lot of fun," he said. "The Goats Milk Fudge is a real- ly unique product that I think it's going to find a niche and take off. And it takes me back to my training and my roots." For more information, call 928.536.7759 or email david@blackmesaranch.com. Visit online at www.blackmesaranch.com or www.goatsmilkfudge.com.