Gluten free pinwheel cookies
Posted by: robynjean on: December 28, 2011
- In: Recipe
- 2 Comments
Ah, Christmas baking 
I love it. This is a recipe I modified from the Gluten Free on a Shoestring website (afterall, chocolate is not my friend). They were extremely popular.
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup cinnamon and sugar mix
Follow Nicole’s steps 1 and 2 (preheat oven to 190 deg cel, and mix all dry ingredients, followed by the butter, egg and vanilla essence), but when separating the dough, make the two parts evenly sized.
Roll out each half into something approximating a rectangle. Use plenty of flour to stop it sticking to the buttom surface, and get it as thin as you can. Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Starting with a straight edge (cut straight if needed), roll the dough into a pinwheel/swiss roll shape, and set aside. Repeat with other half, and then freeze both rolls for 10 minutes.
Once frozen, cut into 2cm wide slices and bake on a well greased tray for 8 minutes- allow to cool on the trays as they are pretty fragile when they come out. They last well in an air tight container.
http://flic.kr/p/b3ixGc
Enjoy
Almond and orange crusted chicken (gluten free)
Posted by: robynjean on: September 2, 2011
Our new country cottage has an abundance of citrus falling off the trees now and so we’re trying new ways to use them. This was inspired by both orange and almond cookies (recipe stolen from a magazine long ago), and Nicole’s chicken fingers.
6 chicken thighs
1 cup ground almonds (mine were pretty chunkily done owing to lack of food processor)
zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup melted butter
In a bowl, mix the almonds and orange zest together very well with a dash of salt and pepper. In a separate bowl set out the butter. Spreading out to as thin a piece as possible, coat the chicken in butter and then crumb with the almond mix. Place on a well greased tray and bake hot (200 deg cel) for 15 minutes (obviously depending on your oven, check that it is aactually cooked at this point- if not, give it another 5 minutes).
Next time I am going to try marinading the chicken first for about an hour with the inside of the orange 
Goes well with gem squash and roasted baby beets or perhaps a green salad (assuming your slugs are less active than mine!)
Hot off the press- Vogel’s introduce Gluten Free line
Posted by: robynjean on: August 21, 2011
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/5478046/Top-bakery-goes-gluten-free
Dare I hope that another player in the gluten free bread market will (eventually) bring the price of a loaf down? Probably not, but I’ll continue to dream…
Gluten Free Citrus Macaroons
Posted by: robynjean on: July 18, 2011
I love macaroons and they are so easy and there is really no point in putting gluten in- they are naturally better without! I often make these while trying to use us left over egg whites (you can use whole eggs- the colour is much better- but boy! do they stick to the tray!)
For every egg white use:
1 c desiccated coconut
1/2 c sugar
zest from a citrus
Put all in a mixing bowl and mix to combine. It doesn’t stick nicely together, it has a very breadcrumb like consistency and needs to be moulded into balls. It will stick into shape it just needs encouragement
Put on a well greased tray and bake at 180 deg cel for 8-10 minutes. Take then out when they look like this:
Immediately slide them around on the tray- as they cool their bottoms gets sticky and it can get rather messy…
Enjoy!
Gig night at the Leigh Sawmill
Posted by: robynjean on: July 17, 2011
Gig night is pizza night at the Leigh Sawmill. Oh no? Oh yes! As well as about 10 different topping combinations, they also do a gluten free base. This was excellent news, and an excellent base. As it you would expect, it was better than the mass produced attempts at a base. It was quite thin, and it didn’t any longer to prepare and cook than the gluten bases.
Well done Leigh Sawmill. Also, while you’re there make sure you try their homemade Lemonade- it’s a cracker!
Corogate Cafe, State Highway 25
Posted by: robynjean on: July 2, 2011
Sometimes when I go into places that don’t have anything GFree, I feel awkward about having to leave, especially when the proprietors had seemed genuinely happy to see me.
Today, we gambled on a roadside cafe and came up trumps. The Corogate Cafe is on State Highway 25, about 2km east from the junction with State Highway 2. They have the usual take away cafe style things- burgers, toasted and untoasted sandwiches, cakes, scones, etc, BUT they have gluten free version of all of them, and the advertising for that option was prominent as we walked in. I tried the cheese burger because it seemed like a good idea- it was! My beloved followed suit allowing for a fair comparison and the GFree really measured up. The bun was soft and the patty taste (home made for sure), with a good amount of salad. The choices of sauces was also something else-they had 10! I’ll get back to you once I have tested the other GFree delights, but I reckon you’d be right with any of it.
It is also worthy going in for the decor- it is brilliant! The front room has completed puzzles covering the ceiling and it truly is a celebration of all things British- you can even buy Polo Mints and Hienz sandwich spread there (as well as other British goods that you had thought you could live without). I also appreciated that the memorabilia included items from the most recent of the royal weddings- these people are professional collectors
The other thing I appreciated was the service and the chat with the lady behind the counter- her mother-in-law was diagnosed with coeliac disease 7 years ago. It explains a lot about the menu, but also made me feel like I could trust the food. Good show, old bean!
Gluten free product review – Purebread’s Young Buck
Posted by: robynjean on: June 26, 2011
I love bread and good bread is hard to find. When my doctor recommended the freak food diet, I stopped at New World and bought a GF labeled cereal and a loaf of GF bread which I conveniently can’t remember the name of. Half way through my first spoon of cereal and then again not long after my first bite of toast I felt despair setting in. As a result, I avoided bread altogether but not anymore!
GF bread has been improving steadily and there is often a loaf in our fridge these days but I am enamored with the young buck because, unlike many others, you can eat it without toasting it! And for that I take my hat off to Purebread (sandwiches again!). You can see in the photo that it is bending because it is indeed light and fluffy as advertised, and most of the ingredients are certified organic (if you’re into that sort of thing). You can also buy young buck rolls Purebreads have also quite helpfully put a list of stockists up on their website.
On a final note, I would be willing to bet that it is the kind of bread that grows mould- I kept the first GF loaf I bought in the fridge for a lot longer than the suggested shelf life and when I finally took it out again 3 months after the expiry date, it looked and tasted the same as it did 4 months before…. If you’re game enough, please let me know how the young buck goes, but I will putting mine to better use 
Lime pie with coconut base (gluten free of course)
Posted by: robynjean on: May 31, 2011
There are two parts to this story: Firstly, it was my birthday last week and tradition at my workplace dictates that is you want cake on your birthday you have to make it yourself! Also, even if we were in the habit of making a cake for someone else I would be plum out of luck cause baking gluten free is hard (apparently).
Secondly, my beloved’s workplace has a huge lime tree littering the place with green grenades of goodness. There is only one logical conclusion- lime pie!
Filling*:
4 egg yolks
1 tin sweetened condensed milk (400g or thereabouts)
1/2 cup lime juice
zest from the limes above
Base:
3 cups dessicated coconut
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
To make filling:
Beat together egg yolks and zest and then add in the liquids. Mix till well combined. Set aside till you have done the base.
To make base:
Mix coconut and sugar together and add butter. Mix together and then pack tightly into a well greased pie dish. Blind bake at 180deg cel for about 10 minutes or until brown. Pour over the filling and bake again at 180 deg cel til wobbly but not runny.
Hey presto! An easy gluten free pie
Enjoy.
* This is a generic filling recipe- I looked at several websites and they all seemed remarkably similar. This one is most similar to Reluctant Gourmet with mine being a tonne better cause I can eat it.
A rememberance of cornbread muffins
Posted by: robynjean on: May 23, 2011
- In: Recipe | Uncategorized
- 3 Comments
Plus…. Cornbread mini-loaves (Makes 12 muffins)
1 C GFree flour (I used Bakels flour but Healtheries is my favourite)
1/2 C rice flour
1 C polenta
45g grated parmesan (you can use cheddar and more than 45g)
2 t baking powder
1 t ground cumin
pinch chilli powder
2 C milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vegetable oil
Place all dry ingredients plus the cheese in a bowl and mix to combine. Make a well in the center.
Mix wet ingredients together and then ad to well. Mix til just combined** and immediately put into greased muffin tins and bake for 25 mins at 190 deg cel. Always check that they are cooked by poking with a skewer.
** My top tip for fluffy muffins is that less is more- the more the mixture gets stirred, the tougher they get.
My mini-loaf tins are my favourite kitchen thing. Mum let me have them years ago- I remember my Mum making loaves using them when I started school!
Leek and Mushroom Risotto
Posted by: robynjean on: May 9, 2011
- In: Recipe
- 4 Comments
I feel pretty happy with myself about this one- my beloved doesn’t like leeks but liked this, and as for mushrooms, I personally think there are over rated but rated this dish highly!
For this original recipe, you’ll need:
4 tablespoons butter
1 leek, white part only, diced
5 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup chicken stock (I used home made)
4 cups water
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
Heat half the butter in a large heavy based pot, and add 1/2 the garlic and the leek. Cook for a couple of minutes til the leek is soft. Add the rice and stir. After a further minute add the stock, and then the water 1/2 a cup at a time stirring well. Add another 1/2 cup when first lot is absorbed, stirring again. Repeat til the rice is cooked (taste a few grains, they should be firmly soft enough to enjoy but not soggy).
In the meantime, melt the rest of the butter in a frying pan over a low heat and add remaining garlic and the mushrooms. Stir often, and take off heat when the mushrooms are cooked, but still soft.
When both lots are done, add the mushrooms to the rice and mix really well. Add the cheddar, and top with freshly ground black pepper.
Given that I made up this recipe as I went along, I trust you to adjust the quantities to you own tastes. Let me know how it goes, and enjoy
