Thai-style snapper, pilaf and another pavlova

It was fishy affair last Sunday with oysters and prawns followed by Thai-style whole snapper, which Bruce cooked in foil on the barbeque.

I made a pilaf with currants and cashews - another Bill Granger recipe - to go with the whole fish and Bruce cooked up some bok choy.

For sweets I made another pavlova, this time topped with banana and passionfruit. It was a bit of a feast shared with Bruce's family.

Here are the recipes:

Bill Granger's pilaf with currants and cashews (Feed Me Now!)

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower, 1 teaspoon butter, 1 onion, finely sliced, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 500g basmati rice, 2 pinches of saffron threads, 30 g currants (I added a few more), 2 tablespoons chopped toasted cashew nuts.

Method: Place a large pan (with a tight-fitting lid) over a medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter, then the onion and salt, and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the onion is light coloured. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute. Pour in 1 liters boiling water, add the saffron and currants, and bring to boil, stirring. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pilaf to stand, covered, for 10 minutes; do not lift the lid. Serve scattered with chopped cashew nuts.

Hot and sour fish steamed in banana leaves (adapted from Women's Weekly beginner Thai cookbook 2003)

You can cook this in banana leaves or as Bruce did on Sunday in a large foil dish covered with foil.

Ingredients: 4 medium whole bream or snapper, 1 large banana leaf, 4 fresh small Thai chilli leaves,seeded, sliced thinly, 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely, 2 green onions, sliced thinly, 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves, 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh Thai basil leaves, 2 sticks of fresh lemon grass, cotton string.

Lime and sweet chilli dressing: 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 2 tablespoons peanut oil, 1 clove garlic, crushed, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Method: Make lime and sweet chilli dressing. Score fish, both sides through thickest part of flesh; place on large tray, drizzle with half of the lime and sweet chilli dressing. Cover, refrigerate 1 hour. Combine chilli, lime leaves, onion, coriander and basil in a medium bowl. Halve lemon grass sticks lengthways, then halve crossways. Top fish with equal amounts of the herb mixture and place two sticks of lemon grass on top of each fish.  Cook on barbeque with closed lid on low to medium heat for 20 minutes.

Delicious and all gluten-free!

Easter Sunday pavlova

I have been making pavlova since I was about 12.  My mother was a good pavlova cook and her sister still is today. Whenever I am asked to make a sweet I often make a pavlova as I can almost make it with my eyes shut. I don't have to consult a recipe and they always seems to work out.

Up until recently I followed my mother's recipe which was essentially egg whites, caster sugar and a few drops of vanilla.  Yesterday I made Stephanie Alexander's recipe which is pretty much the same  as Mum's but includes two teaspoons of corn flour and a couple of drops of white wine vinegar.  It tastes pretty much the same but the addition of the small amount of corn flour possibly makes the meringue slightly more crispy.

For a long time we Australians claimed the pavlova as one of our national dishes but in recent years it was discovered that the pav was first made in New Zealand.  It's a great gluten-free desert.

Yesterday when my brother's family came over for Easter Sunday late lunch/early dinner I made a pav. When it came time to decorate the big meringue I had two excellent helpers in my nieces Eimear and Orla. After spreading the cream across the top (leaving a small section cream-less as Eimear does not like cream) we added sliced strawberries. The girls decided a bit of broken up Easter egg (Cadbury's gluten-free) would be a nice addition, with little Easter eggs around the edge for decoration. Normally I would also add some passionfruit but I forgot to buy some. Sliced banana also goes well, as does kiwi fruit. Just like Stephanie Alexander I always turn the crisp baked shell upside down. As Stephanie says, "this way the marshmallow middle melds with the cream and the sides and base stay crisp." Here is Stephanie's recipe:

Stephanie Alexander's pavlova

Ingredients: 4 egg whites at room temperature (add more egg white if you need to make a larger pav). pinch of salt, 250g caster sugar (add a tablespoon more for each extra egg white), 2 teaspoons cornflour, 1 teaspoon white white vinegar, a few drops of pure vanilla, 300 ml cream, firmly whipped pulp of 10 passionfruit.

Method: Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20 cm circle on the paper. Beat egg whites and salt until satiny peaks form. Beat in sugar, a third at a time, until meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and fold in lightly. Mound onto paper-lined baking tray within circle, flattening top and smoothing sides. Place in oven, immediately reduce heat to 150C and cook for 30 minutes. Reduce further to 120C and cook for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and leave pavlova in it to cool completely. Invert pavlova onto a platter, pile on cream and spoon over passionfruit pulp.

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns

I have to confess that I have never been a fan of hot cross buns. When my family would eat them on Good Friday I would always pass. I just didn't like the taste of them but maybe that was because they were full of gluten.

Perhaps I would like them if they were gluten-free? 

So with Good Friday upon us tomorrow I have found a few gluten-free (GF) hot cross bun recipes.  The first one is from Coles. An alternative is this gluten-free and dairy free recipe. Fellow coeliac blogger, Adventurous Me, Gluten-Free offers another recipe as does Springhill Farm.

If I get lazy I might take the easy option and buy some Simple Wize ones sold at Coles. Alternatively Silly Yaks also has traditional and fruit-free hot cross buns, which you can order online, and Lifestyle Bakery sells its GF, HC buns at outlets across Australia.

Have a happy gluten-free Easter.

Markets, muffins and morning tea

These gluten-free apple muffins were a hit on two occasions last week. They accompanied coffee on the verandah with my cousin Andrew, wife Louisa and son Declan (my godson) last Friday, and went very nicely with a pot of tea on our deck on Saturday with our friends Jenny and Stephen.

After a walk to Orange Grove markets at Lilyfield and a bit of an explore around the back streets of  Leichhardt, Jen, Stephen, Bruce and I returned home for a well-earned morning tea.

The Kim Coverdale recipe which I found on taste.com.au is very quick and easy to make, and once out of the oven, delicious to taste.  Each muffin contains 1.9 g of fat. Here is the recipe:

Gluten-free apple muffins

Ingredients: 2 and 1/2 cups of gluten-free self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil, 1 egg, lightly beaten, 2 small pink lady apples, warmed honey, to serve (optional).

Method

• Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius or 170 on fan-forced. Grease a 12-hold, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan
• Combine flour, cinnamon and 2/3 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Make a well in centre.
• Add milk, oil and egg
• Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined.
• Peel and grate 1 apple. Fold grated apple into muffin mixture.
• Spoon mixture into holes of prepared pan.
• Core and quarter remaining apple. Thinly slice. Arrange 2 to 3 apple slices on top of each muffin.
• Sprinkle remaining brown sugar on top of each muffin.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve drizzled with honey, if using.

Notes: Don't over mix muffins, or they become tough and chewy. Freeze muffins in snap-lock bags for up to 2 months.

Prawns with peaches at the Hazelhurst Gallery

It's not only beaches, bikinis and flag-waving Aussies in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. It's also home to the Hazelhurst Gallery at Gymea where you can take in some art and enjoy a gluten-free (GF) lunch.

The regional gallery and arts centre has a lovely terrace cafe/restaurant which overlooks the garden. The day Bruce and I met his shire-residing Mum and Dad for lunch, there were three GF options (marked with asterisks) on the regular menu and one GF special. 

My meal of king prawn and grilled peach with pan seared haloumi, asparagus and rocket salad and lemon dressing was absolutely delicious and very fresh. It was a good choice for lunch as it wasn't too heavy and I love the addition of fruits like peaches and nectarines in salads.

The other two gluten-free dishes were seared chicken tenderloin with spiced fig, fetta and hazelnut salad drizzled with shiraz caramel and tea-smoked Atlantic salmon in lemongrass/lime butter with glass noodles (hopefully gluten-free) cucumber, coriander, mint salad, sesame dressing and crispy eschalot.

While I didn't need dessert I couldn't resist trying the rosewater pavlova with double cream coconut ice cream and fresh strawberries.  You could really taste the rosewater but it wasn't too overpowering.

At most restaurants there is usually only one GF option on the sweets menu but not at Hazelhurst. I had the choice of three out of five. There was also an individual flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, berry coulis and double cream and a classic creme brulee with poached peaches.  My mouth is watering now! Hazelhurst also has a breakfast menu with GF bread served on request.

The day we were there the staff were setting up The Leslie Walton Collection, which opened last weekend.  The collection includes works from Australian artists Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington Smith, Elioth Gruner and John Peter Russell.  It runs till 8 May.

Another exhibition which also opened last weekend is 'Made in the Shire'. Thirty years on from the surf book and movie 'Puberty Blues', the exhibition features photographs of some of the Shire's desperate romantics and high school sweethearts by Emma Thomson, taken during her residency at Hazelhurst.

Hazelhurst also runs art classes for adults and children. The gallery is at 728 Kingsway Gymea and is open Monday to Friday from 10am-5pm.

Lemon strawberry muffins on Sunday

With my sister and nephew in town from Wagga Wagga and Canberra, and my brother's family over from Botany, I cooked up a batch of lemon strawberry muffins on Sunday morning.

The recipe was from Jody Vassallo's Wheat and Gluten Free book, which is endorsed by Coeliac Society of Australia.

I also made a batch of mixed berry muffins from a gluten-free packet mix. The general consensus was that the lemon strawberry muffins were far superior to the packet mix ones. While the packet mix was very quick and easy, you were left with a bicarb soda taste in your mouth after eating them.

The lemon strawberry muffins were a big hit with the family, so I will be making them again. Here is Jody Vassallo's recipe:

Lemon Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients: 300g strawberries, hulled, 300g gluten-free self-raising flour, 170g caster sugar, 30g baby rice cereal, 3 teaspoons lemon zest, 375g skim or no-fat milk, 2 eggs lightly beaten, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius. Line a 12 x 1 third cup capacity muffin pan with muffin cases.

2. Roughly chop half the strawberries. Cut the remaining strawberries in half and set aside.

3. Sift the flour into a bowl, stir in the sugar, rice cereal, chopped strawberries and lemon zest and make a well in the centre. Whisk together the milk, eggs and oil, pour into the well and gently mix with a metal spoon until the ingredients are just combined.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cases. Press the reserved strawberries into the tops of the  muffins. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and risen. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12.

Coeliac Awareness Week targets men

With recent studies showing that men account for less than one third of all coeliac blood tests in Australia, the Coeliac Society of Australia is targetting men during Coeliac Awareness Week - 13-19 March.




Across the country they are asking the question: 'Mate, have you lost your Mojo? 

Does this sound like you or the man in your life?

• You often fall asleep in the chair after dinner.
• You don’t have the energy to run around with your kids.
• You find it hard to concentrate at work.
• You feel exhausted during the day and need an afternoon nap.
• You’re too tired to play sport or exercise these days.

The Coeliac Society says if you’re putting all this down to working long hours, leading a busy lifestyle or just getting older - think again. Tiredness like this can be one of the first symptoms of untreated coeliac disease. Other signs can be stomach cramps, reflux, wind, diarrhoea or constipation and anaemia.

They say it's important for men with these symptoms to be tested because if coeliac disease is not treated, it can result in conditions that can prove fatal, including liver disease and cancer.

Coeliac disease is very common – at least one in 100 Australians have it and it occurs in both men and women. Unfortunately, 75 per cent of those people are not diagnosed.

In the past it was thought that women were more likely to suffer from coeliac disease as many more women were diagnosed. However, more recent research has shown that the inbalance in diagnosis between the sexes is because more women are tested and subsequently diagnosed.

The Society says too many people – and men in particular - brush aside symptoms of tiredness for all sorts of reasons. But tiredness like this is not normal.

As someone who lost their 'mojo' with symptoms described above for nearly four years, all I can say is go and get tested. If you are coeliac and you go on a strict gluten-free diet your energy, well-being  and health will be restored.

If you, or anyone you know, has unexplained tiredness or lethargy, or any of the symptoms listed above, call the Coeliac Awareness Hotline now on 1300 273 272 for a free brochure or jump on the website . In the long term, taking that first step could be life saving. You can follow the Coeliac Society on Twitter http://twitter.com/CoeliacSocAust