Gorgeous gluten-free grub: September 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Blue bells and spring lamb

The blue bells are flowering at the bottom of our garden. When they bloom each spring, they remind me of my mother as the original bulbs came from her garden. Every year there are a few more flowers as the bulbs have naturalised and increased over the past 18 years.

Mum was a great gardener. When we were kids we'd often hear the old Holden or later, the yellow Gemini, arrive home but she would not appear in the house. She'd stop to pull out a weed and get lost in the peace and tranquility of her garden. Seeing the blue bells blossom each year is a lovely memory of her and of the beauty she created in her life and in her garden.

And that leads me to spring lamb. I wasn't sure why spring and lamb were associated so I did a bit of research including speaking to my sheep/lamb guru brother-in-law. Spring lamb is usually milk-fed, three to five months old, born in late autumn or early winter. Before lamb became available all year round, spring was the traditional time that lamb came on the market. While times have changed, today lamb lovers still look to eat lots of lamb in spring.

Bruce recently made a very nice roast lamb with chermoula and rosemary and garlic, which came from The Sun-Herald. Here are the instructions:

Sit the lamb in a baking tray with a splatter of olive oil. The lamb should be approximately 1.2kg and de-boned. Insert the rosemary and garlic into slits in the lamb and rub chermoula over lamb. Add sliced Jap pumpkin to the tray and cook for 1hour at 200 C then 20 mins at 220deg. Before serving, sprinkle fetta over the lamb and pumpkin. Serve with baked potatoes, onion and zucchini. Delicious!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Lovely lemon polenta cake

Last Sunday I made a lemon polenta cake for our Father's Day lunch for Bruce's dad. The recipe came from David Herbert's Food and Wine section in The Weekend Australian Magazine, August 7-8, 2010. Like most flourless cakes it was quite dense but thoroughly delicious and beautifully lemony. We ate it to the sounds of Aled Jones, the Welsh boy-soprano, now grown-up and no longer a soprano, which we gave to Keith for Father's Day. Here is David Herbert's recipe:

Lemon Polenta Cake

245g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
250g caster sugar
6 free-range eggs, separated
175g ground almonds
100g polenta (instant or regular)
Finely grated zest and juice of 3 unwaxed lemons
Icing sugar, for dusting.

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-forced 160C). Grease a 25cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy, then add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold in the ground almonds, polenta, zest and juice until combined. Whisk the egg whites till they form firm peaks. Using a large wooden spoon, carefully fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until golden and firm when touched. Cool in the tin. To serve, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar. Serves 8-10.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

'Disgustingly good' Thai with Zac

Last Saturday night we went to the Atom Thai restaurant in Newtown with nine-year-old Zac. The restaurant was recommended by a fellow coeliac I met recently at the MEAA 'What's the story?' journalism conference.

As well as having a separate gluten-free menu, most of the stir-fries can be altered to be gluten-free - you just have to let them know.

I am not sure what Thai restaurants put in their curries but mostly they seem to be off the menu for coeliacs. While my non-coeliac dining companions, Bruce and Zac enjoyed cuffy puffs and a green chicken curry, they also tucked into the gluten-free dishes: pad Thai with beef and an extremely tasty mixed vegetable cashew nut stir-fry with prawns. Other options on the gluten-free menu included chilli basil noodles, stir-fried eggplant with tofu, larb, garlic and pepper king prawn, chilli basil seafood and whole barramundi salad.

At the end of the dinner, Zac (a big fan of MasterChef and a connoisseur of Thai food in the Illawarra) declared the meal 'disgustingly good'!

Atom Thai is at 130 King Street, the Missenden Road end of Newtown. It does not have a website but you can contact the restaurant on 9550 5964 or email at atomthai@gmail.com
It's very popular so it's a good idea to book.

News

A gluten-free baker in Paris!
A French pastry chef with coeliac disease has opened a gluten-free bakery in Paris. Called Helmut Newcake, Marie Tagliaferro's bakery is at 36 Rue Bichat, near the Canal St Martin on the right bank and not far from the Metro Republic or Goncourt.

The guts of going gluten-free
Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, Sarah Berry discusses the myth and fact in the gluten-free debate for non-coeliacs.

Men missing out
A new study from gastroenterologist Dr Bob Anderson shows that men account for less than one-third of all coeliac tests performed in Australia reports the ABC’s Sophie Scott.

Coeliac, Crohn's genetic link
An international team of researchers has identified four genetic variants common to celiac disease and Crohn’s disease

Gluten intolerance study
Australian researchers have found that people can be gluten intolerant without having coeliac disease, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Is it gluten or is it not?
In an article by award-winning health writer Paula Goodyer, Dr Sue Shepherd warns about eliminating gluten from your diet without being checked out for coeliac disease.

Celebrities and the GF diet
From Elisabeth Hasselbeck's popular book, The G-Free Diet, to Chelsea Clinton's gluten-free wedding cake to Gwyneth Paltrow's website, the focus these days seems to be on gluten, or, rather, on going gluten-free. Are celebrities putting too much glamour on the gluten-free diet asks Jefferson Adams?

Sweet treats, no wheat
The Sydney Morning Herald's Helen Greenwood reviews Healthy Feast, a bakery in Norton Street, Leichhardt full of gluten-free treats. Look for the sign that says OneFiveSeven about five doors up from Bar Italia or you’ll get lost.

Calcium supplements
In early August, ABC Radio National's Health Report featured research suggesting that calcium supplements may be associated with a risk of heart attacks and maybe strokes. With many people with coeliac disease taking calcium supplements, it was heartening to hear that this week some Australian and overseas researchers believe the study was flawed and reject the findings.

Gluten's toxic components
Scientists at Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Institute have identified the three protein fragments that make gluten - the main protein in wheat, rye and barley – toxic to people with coeliac disease.

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.