Gorgeous gluten-free grub: The Booker Prize, Bill Granger and Book Club

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Booker Prize, Bill Granger and Book Club

Bill Granger made an appearance at our book club on Sunday night. Well, not really, but one of his recipes did - baked chicken with lemon, potato and green olives.

It's on page 94 of his Feed Me Now cookbook. As Bill says: "I adore this kind of all-in-one meal that is baked and served in the same dish." And it's full of mouth-watering flavours.

It was a good accompaniment for our discussion on Sonya Hartnet's Butterfly and Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. Everyone had something positive to say about the young adult story Butterfly but not all in the group reached the end of Hilary Mantel's 600 and something page book. Wolf Hall is the retelling of Thomas Cromwell's life - the blacksmith boy who became Henry VIII's right-hand man

Most found the novel quite a hard read with Belinda the only book club member to reach the end. At least everyone attempted to read the 2009 Man Booker-prize winning novel - except me. I got my wires crossed and read or rather half-read the 2010 winner, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.

With two Booker prize winners on the table we had an interesting discussion on the types of novels that win this annual fiction award. We now move on to Sydney author Margo Lanagan's award-winning novel, Tender Morsels. Described by publishers' Allen and Unwin as fiercely poetic, exquisite and unforgettable; fantasy at its heart-wrenching best. I wonder what food will go with this vivid fairytale?

Hope you enjoy making and tasting Bill's great dish which of course is gluten-free.

Bill Granger's baked chicken with lemon, potato and green olives

Ingredients: 1kg roasting potatoes, such as Desiree, 1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges, 75g green olives, 1 lemon, sliced, 50g pancetta, cut into strips, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 120ml chicken stock, 1 x 1.7g chicken, jointed, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional).

Method: Preheat the oven to 180 C. Cut the potatoes into chunks and place in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish. Scatter over the onion, olives, lemon, pancetta and bay leaves. Stir the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar into the chicken stock, then pour over potatoes. Lay the chicken pieces on top, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 50 minutes or until the chicken is golden.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a warm plate, cover with foil and set aside to rest in a warm place. Increase the oven setting to 220 C and return the roasting tin or dish to the oven for 10 minutes or until the potatoes, onion and lemon slices are well coloured.

Place the chicken back on top of the potatoes, scatter over some chopped parsley, if you like, and serve.

4 comments:

BruceFebruary 9, 2011 at 6:07 PM
We've found that its best to soften the spuds first - par-boil - plus its 1.7KG of chook (serving 4 people). The Husband :)
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WriterBeeMarch 15, 2011 at 10:33 PM
Hi Therese,

I loved Wolf Hall and thoroughly recommend persisting through to the end. If Hilary Mantel writes a sequel, as she says she will, I'd definitely read that too. I learnt more about Henry VIII's reign than I ever did in History class at school. It's beautifully written and I found it as exciting as any page turner - though incredibly heavy to hold up in bed.

I wasn't as crazy about The Finkler Question, which seemed to me to be unlike any other Booker Prize winner I'd read.

That chicken dish sounds delicious too. I'm copying down the recipe. You must have had a great night.
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AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 1:19 AM
Oh wow! Someone else who has read Sonja Hartnett. Of a Boy is one of my most favourite books.
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ThereseApril 18, 2011 at 5:53 PM
Thanks for your comment WriterBee. Wolf Hall seems to be one of those books that people either love or find very difficult. I will take your recommendation and read it at some stage this year as a number of people have told me how much they loved it. The Finkler Question was a bit of a funny book - easy enough to read and funny at times, but the main character was a bit of a puzzle and I often wondered whether I should be taking him seriously. I often find books written by Englishmen about Englishmen a bit like entering a secret world where they are all a bit self-centred. Hope Bill's chicken dish turned out well.
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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.