Eczema Diet Gravy Recipe

|Karen Fischer

I've been busy cooking in preparation for Christmas and I thought you might like some eczema-friendly gravy for the big day... This delicious gravy can be added to any roast dinner and served alongside your Christmas turkey. The Eczema Diet Gravy is free of additives and it’s made from specially selected eczema-friendly ingredients so you won’t have a flare-up on Christmas day (well, at least not from the gravy!). Make this gravy a day ahead so you can remove the fat that settles on the top overnight (that’s important if you have eczema).

Why make your own gravy? All store-bought gravies and regular home-made ones are rich in MSG, which is often hidden in natural forms including yeast and other extracts, and they will worsen your eczema. This gravy recipe is made with your own eczema-friendly broth and the recipe is adapted from the Therapeutic Broth recipe from The Eczema Diet. 

Tip: Use fresh, uncooked bones as the frozen ones (or leftovers) are rich in amines.

Ingredients

Rice bran oil (or refined safflower oil)

1 large leek

2 white potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled

2 beef bones from the butcher (cut small)

4 chicken necks (or other chicken bones for broth-making)

¾ teaspoon of fine quality rock/sea salt (no additives)

2 ½ litres of boiling water (plus extra)

¼ cup cold water

1 tablespoon fine rice flour or spelt flour (spelt contains gluten)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. Oil the bottom of a deep baking dish with a little rice bran oil (or refined safflower oil that has no additives and no added antioxidant). Chop the ends off the leek (including green part) and wash the dirt off and check the layers for hidden dirt, and roughly chop into slices. Place leeks in the baking dish and mix with the oil, along with the chopped potato, whole garlic clove and meat bones which have been oiled with rice bran oil. Roast uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until the bones are browned and vegetables are browning (see photo).
Eczema Diet Gravy
  1. Add the chicken necks and cover with boiling water (about 2 ½ liters or more). Add salt. Cover and bake for 4 hours, adding more water if necessary. You want to end up with at least 2 cups of liquid (serves 4-6) but you can make more if cooking for a larger crowd.
  2. Place a mesh strainer above a large bowl. Use tongs to remove the bones and strain the liquid for the gravy. Discard the bones and vegetables. Refrigerate overnight and then skim off the fat which has hardened at the top (this fat is bad for eczema so ensure you remove it).
  3. When you are ready to make the gravy, reheat the broth on medium heat. Then in a separate cup, place ¼ cup of water (must be cool, not hot) and add 1½ tablespoons of rice flour or spelt flour and mix until smooth. Add flour mix to the heated broth and reduce heat to low and stir until thickened (repeat flour adding process if you have more than 2 cups of broth). Taste and season with extra salt if desired.

    • TIP: don’t add pepper as it’s not good for eczema.

    For more eczema recipes refer to my most updated book The Eczema Detox. Merry Christmas! I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.

    Products 

    At Eczema Life, we recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details:

             

     

    The Eczema Toolkit

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    The Eczema Detox is Karen Fischer's latest best-selling eczema manual designed to help you find relief. Through her work she found some patients needed a special program to identify personal triggers, so the FID Program was created. The Eczema Clear Skin Toolkit combines gut health and nutrition with soothing, barrier repair skincare and supplements to calm the itch and support skin repair, the immune system and more. If you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked, this is the skin calming toolkit you've been praying for.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Does food allergy trigger eczema?

    Food allergy and eczema are closely linked, and allergies can absolutely make eczema worse, but they're often not what starts it in the first place. In fact, research suggests the reverse may be more accurate: eczema itself may come first and increase the risk of developing food allergies, rather than the other way around (Tsakok et al. 2016). One study found that babies with eczema were up to six times more likely to become
    sensitised to foods compared to those without eczema. In children with established eczema, up to 66% showed food sensitisation, with confirmed food allergy in up to 81% of cases (Tsakok et al. 2016).

    If you or your child has a diagnosed food allergy, those foods should be avoided for now. For additional guidance, the Food Intolerance Diagnosis (FID) Program in The Eczema Detox book can help identify food intolerances that do not show up in allergy tests (see next FAQ).
    Do food allergy tests help eczema?

    Skin prick tests and other food allergy tests including blood tests and patch tests can be unreliable on their own, so an oral food
    challenge (supervised by an allergy specialist if you are prone to anaphylaxis), is the most accurate way to confirm whether you or your child is reacting to a particular food. For additional guidance, the FID Program in The Eczema Detox book can help you to identify your personal triggers.
    About the authors

    Ren Karen Fischer is a nutritionist, mother of two, and award-winning author of seven books, including the bestsellers The Eczema Diet and The Eczema Detox. Fischer is also a peer-reviewed published researcher, and is currently undertaking eczema research as part of a Master's by Research at Bond University. Combining clinical research with real-world experience, she is dedicated to advancing evidence-based care for eczema.

    Nutritionist Bonnie Taylor holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree and helps people with eczema identify their individual triggers through the FID Program. Taylor has worked alongside Fischer for many years and offers nutrition consultations by appointment.