Gorgeous gluten-free grub: Sister Wendy unveils our new painting

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Sister Wendy unveils our new painting

Sister Wendy Beckett made a surprise appearance at our place on Saturday night.

The British art commentator of BBC fame dropped by to unveil our new painting – a wedding gift from more than 20 friends.

Arriving fashionably late, Sister Wendy unfortunately missed out on the hors dóeuvres – all gluten-free. I think she would have enjoyed wrapping those bucky teeth around the tandoori chicken, and prawn and avocado rice paper rolls. Instead the South-African-born contemplative nun, who lives in a caravan, had to make do with a few nuts and chips. We did give her a glass of champagne though, which added a bit of colour to her cheeks.

After a bit of poetic licence on my part, telling our guests there would be an artist talk at the unveiling, we were very pleased that Sister Wendy could step in at the last minute. She added drama, humour and glamour to the night, as well as making some very insightful comments on our new painting, Jacaranda by Australian artist Tanya Hoddinott.

Although Sister Wendy had a bit of trouble with Tanya’s surname (and her veil), she was very taken with her colourful, abstract work, which we bought at the Arthouse Gallery in Rushcutters Bay. As she told the gathering of nearly 20 friends, “Tanya told me that Jacaranda is named because of the bluey/violet colours in it.

“She said the jacaranda was a tree she grew up with (in northern NSW) and always loved, and was very missed in her 20 odd years in Melbourne. So it is not that the painting is representative but rather more symbolic.”

Finally, with a bit of help from gallant Bruce, Sister Wendy ripped the paper covering Jacaranda and revealed the work. “Gorgeous,” said Sister Wendy, and we all agreed.

By this stage our visiting celebrity was getting a bit hungry, so Bruce quickly heated up the bolognaise sauce he had prepared earlier from a Stephanie Alexander recipe. He even had some gluten free pasta ready as Sister Wendy said she preferred it to the wheat variety. Sister Wendy very much enjoyed the spaghetti bolognaise as I noticed she returned a number of times for extra helpings.

Everyone else did too, especially the late stayers, Kath and Ian and Rod who at 1am in the morning were dunking bread rolls (not gluten-free) into the bolognaise sauce.

Special thanks to Sister Wendy (aka Fiona), and to all our friends who gave us such a lovely wedding gift that enabled us to buy Tanya’s beautiful painting.

For recipes from the night go to ‘WHAT I AM COOKING’ on the right of this blog.

3 comments:

Jenny PAugust 4, 2010 at 4:45 AM
Sister Wendy's performance has been heralded far and wide. I first heard rave reviews this afternoon in a cafe in Balmain. Most impressive. Sorry to have missed her local appearance and the gluten free feast.
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ThereseAugust 5, 2010 at 4:32 AM
Yes Jen Fi was great - I mean Sister Wendy - very funny and insightful at the same time. We were only sorry we were missing the tour de france bikerider and her coach. Maybe Sister Wendy will do a private return show for you and Stephen when you come over to dinner to view the new painting.
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ThereseAugust 7, 2010 at 5:51 PM
Rese, great blog it sounded like the unvealing of the painting was a very fun and enjoyable night with of course lovely gluten free grub!! Love mez x
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What I am cooking

On the menu at the unveiling
The night Sister Wendy popped by to unveil our artwork, I made two types of rice paper rolls - Prawn and avocado and tandoori chicken. I can't remember where I got the recipe for the prawn and avocado rolls but the tandoori chicken ones came from Wheat & Gluten Free by Jody Vassallo and Dianne Boyle. While they are a bit fiddly to make, and by the end I felt a bit like I had repetitive strain injury, they were both delicious. Here are the recipes.

Tandoori chicken rolls
Ingredients: 150g dried rice vermicelli, 325 g gluten-free Greek style yoghurt, 3 tablespoons gluten-free tandoori paste (Patak's is GF), 750g skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces, 24 small rice paper rounds, 16 cm in diameter, 24 fresh mint leaves, 3 tablespoons gluten-free mango chutney.
Method: 1. Put the vermicelli into a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to stand for 10 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Drain and cut into short lengths.
2. Combine 260 g of the yoghurt and the tandoori paste in a bowl. Add the chicken and mix to combine. Spread the chicken out on a foil-lined baking tray. Cook under a grill preheated to high, turning a couple of times, for 5-10 minutes or until tender.
3. Soak a rice paper round in lukewarm water (I added a bit of boiling water to help along) until soft and place on a clean, dry tea towel. Top with 2 teaspoons of the noodles and 2 pieces of chicken. Dip a mint leaf in the remaining yoghurt and place on top of the chicken, followed by a small spoonful of mango chutney. Roll up to enclose the filling. Cover with damp absorbent paper while you prepare the remaining rolls. Serve with extra chutney.
Prawn and avocado rolls
Ingredients: about 30 baby prawns, one avocado, two limes, mint leaves (roughly chopped) and coriander (chopped leaves only).
Method: Prepare rice paper rounds as in above recipe. Place a couple of prawns and sliced avocado on the rice paper. Add a squeeze of lime over the avocado (it adds to the flavour and stops the avocado from going brown), followed by some chopped mint and coriander. Roll up to enclose the filling.

Stephanie Alexander's Bolognese Sauce
Stephanie's bolognese (pertaining to Bologna in Italy as opposed to bolognaise) made by Bruce for the first time was a hit at the artwork unveiling. It is from her book, The Cook's Companion, the Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen. Bruce reckoned the inclusion of pancetta gave it the edge. As we had a big group we quadrupled the ingredients. The only thing we left out was the two teaspoons of plain flour. I suppose we could have used gluten-free plain flour but in my experience very rarely do dishes like bolognese or bolognaise need flour. So here is the recipe.
Ingredients: 1 onion, finely chopped, 1 stick celery, finely sliced, 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 400 g minced beef or veal, 100 g pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, chopped, half cup of dry white wine, salt (I don't think it needs salt), freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, 2 cups of veal or chicken stock or tomato juice (we used chicken stock), 4 ripe tomatoes or 1 x 400 g can peeled tomatoes in juice, pureed (we used the can variety although couldn't get pureed and remember to check the can as some can tomatoes have thickener in them), 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 large sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf.
Method: Saute onion, celery and garlic in oil in a large saucepan until softened. Add minced meat and pancetta and fry until meat breaks up into small lumps. Add wine, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well, then increase heat and boil to evaporate liquid. Add stock, tomato, tomato paste and herbs. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring from time to time. Taste for seasoning.

My sister gave me Seriously Good! Gluten-free Cooking by English chef Phil Vickery for Christmas. In March this year Coeliac UK announced that Phil was their new Food Ambassador. The book is full of delicious-looking recipes. The first one we (or I should say Bruce) tried recently was Phil's Slow-cooked Indian Lamb Korma, which is on page 81 of the book. With six tablespoons of double cream, the dish is quite rich. But it's also very flavoursome with lots of herbs and spices including ground coriander, hot chilli powder, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamons, garlic and ginger. A hearty meal for a cold winter's day or night.

Jody Vassallo's Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
I have made this cake about seven times now and it is always a hit as the hazelnut meal makes it a little bit different from all those flourless chocolate cakes out there in cookbook land. It appears in Jody Vassallo's cookbook Wheat & Gluten Free, which is sponsored by The Coeliac Society of Australia Inc. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients: 250g dark cooking chocolate, chopped, 2 tablespoons milk, 120g hazelnut meal, 125g caster sugar, 6 eggs, separated.
Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper. Put the chocolate and milk in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool slightly. Put the chocolate mixture, hazelnut meal, sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and mix to combine. Whisk the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and spoon into the prepared tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until firm. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Serve with fresh berries. Serves 8.