Gorgeous gluten-free grub: December 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

A New Year's Eve cake

I have just finished making a flourless chocolate hazelnut cake to take to Kate and Phil's New Year's Eve dinner tonight.

The recipe comes from Jody Vassallo's Wheat and Gluten Free Health for Life series of cookbooks. I've made it quite a few times and it always seems to please especially when served with strawberries and ice cream (gluten-free of course- try Sara Lee's French Vanilla). The hazelnut meal makes it a bit different from your standard flourless chocolate cake. Here is the recipe:

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients: 250g dark cooking chocolate, chopped. 2 tablespoons milk, 120g hazelnut meal, 125g caster sugar, 6 eggs, separated.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper.

2. Put the chocolate and milk into 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.

3. Put the chocolate mixture, hazelnut meal, sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and mix to combine.

4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold 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.

Have a gorgeous gluten-free New Year and best wishes for 2011.

Friday, December 10, 2010

GF Thai at Mosman's Bangkok Betty

It's great to find Thai restaurants that offer more than one or two gluten-free options. One place that does is Bangkok Betty at Mosman on Sydney's lower north shore. My friend Fi and I dined at the restaurant last Thursday night.

Bangkok Betty offers about 15 gluten-free entrees and mains which like all its dishes have interesting names. Some of the options were Mosman massaman, serious succotash, pineapple duck, tummy-yummy spicy soup, soothing soul soup and rice paper rolls.

We chose fish cakes for entree, followed by snow pea paradise with prawns and the sweet Betty curry which is a panang-style curry with chicken. Bangkok Betty offers four curries which are all gluten-free. As well as the Sweet Betty one, you can choose from a red hot Betty curry, a green with envy and a Thai Jungle Curry called Boot Camp Betty.

At the end of the meal there was not a morsel left on our plates. The only downside of Bangkok Betty was that they don't serve coffee. This would usually be fine but on our walk up Military Road at about 9pm on a Thursday all the cafes were closed. In the end though, we had a nice stroll and were able to check out the windows of some of the very nice shops along the way.

Bangkok Betty is at 161 Middle Head Road near the Buena Vista Hotel, Mosman. For bookings phone 9960 6880.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

'All things yum' in Forster

Last week when we had a few days on the mid-NSW north coast we stumbled upon a lovely cafe called All Things Yum in Forster. Very cutely decorated in pastel colours, All Things Yum is run by Joanie Nardi and Amy Baker. In fact, the Saturday morning we stopped by for a coffee and cake it was the first day of opening.

Joanie's brother is coeliac so she is very up on gluten-free food and there's lots on offer at All Things Yum. Most of the savoury options Joanie and Amy make but some of the cakes and biscuits come from Sweetness The Patisserie in Epping in Sydney.

Some of the gluten-free options on the menu were egg and bacon tart and mini baked ricotta. I had a lime and ginger shortbread cream with my latte but I could also have chosen the dark chocolate shortbread, a Florentine, chocolate cookie or some of the Sweet Mallow gluten-free marshmallows, which are also made by Sweetness at Epping.

More of a shopfront or booth than a cafe, All Things Yum has a number of tables and chairs with umbrellas on the footpath where patrons can sit and enjoy the delicious food. Joanie and Amy also cater for vegans. All Things Yum is located at 6/58 Wharf Street Forster. Email address is: allthingsyum@live.com.au

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.