Challenging Times

After talking to our doctor and explaining that my boy didn't tolerate gluten, she suggested doing the blood test for coeliacs disease. This involves 6-8 weeks of consuming large amounts of gluten. So our entire Christmas holidays and part of first term was spent eating copious quantities of gluten and reacting and behaving accordingly. Fun times. For all of that the test was negative, but back to gluten free we went.

This recipe is also a recipe for challenges, but salicylates challenges. I served this at our recent autumn feast and it was loved by all, even those who were very familiar with the version that's loaded with gluten and dairy liked it. This, to me, is proof that the recipe is a winner and it's not your standard aussie dessert.

Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry (the same recipe that I have used before)

• 340g gluten free plain flour
• a small pinch of salt
• 150g nuttelex
• 90g icing sugar
• 2 eggs beaten

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180℃
2. Sift flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor add the nuttelex and pulse until the nuttelex is incorporated and you have something resembling bread crumbs.
3. Add the eggs with the motor running and process until a dough starts to form.
4. Tip out onto some cling wrap, knead into a ball, wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour.
5. Roll the pastry between sheets of baking paper and line a 25cm pie dish trimming the edges.
6. Re-roll the offcuts to make the decoration for the top. As the theme of the day was autumn I cut leafs using some biscuit cutters that I have and some were done free hand to get that leaf pile.
7. Line with baking paper and fill with baking weights or dried beans or rice.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove beads and paper and bake for a further 4 minutes or until the pastry is just cooked, but still pale. Bake the leaves on a tray at the same time. They look better if they have cooked unevenly.

Filling

• 2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin (the round ones are nicer ie. kent, jap, grey, but if you want slightly less salicylates use butternut)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 Tbsp flour (corn starch or another GF flour)
• 1 Tbsp golden syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup rice milk
• 3 beaten eggs

Method

1. combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Mix in pumpkin thoroughly
3. Add milk and eggs and mix in well.
4. Pour filling into pastry shell and bake for approx 40 mins at 180℃

This pie is delicious served solo, but if you have dairy eating friends sharing it with you, whipped cream goes rather nicely with it.

Variations
Gluten- Use white flour
Dairy- Use butter in the pastry and cream in place of the milk in the filling.
Salicylates - With all the spices the salicylate levels are huge, even if you are only having a slice. To tone it down a bit use the butternut pumpkin and reduce the spices. In reality you could still get a really nice flavour with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a decent shake of nutmeg.

An ode to Autumn

Making Something Out Of Nothing

Do you ever completely misjudge something? It has taken me a while to get used to not cooking too much in one go when it comes to dinners. Meat based leftovers have such a short life span that leftovers are usually wasted. So most of the time leftovers are minimal, but every now and again I totally misjudge quantities. For example, the other weekend my parents came over for a meal which included mashed potato. So I was over catering to begin with, but went completely over the top. I had a ridiculous amount of leftovers and was loath to waste them. What to do, what to do?

Vegetable croquettes of course! They can contain anything that you have on hand. If you've got other leftover veg (or meat), chuck 'em in. A can of beans? Chuck 'em in. Pretty much anything can go into them.

Crispy on the outside, hot and squishy on the inside.

Again, this isn't an actual recipe, just an idea, a bit of inspiration.

Vegetable Croquettes
Suggested ingredients

• leftover mashed potato
• finely chopped leek, shallot, celery, garlic, cabbage, brussels sprouts
• grated swede
• any vegetable puree you may have
• cooked lentils
• tinned beans (kidney, cannellini, chickpeas etc)
• egg(s)
• salt 
• crumbs
• oil for frying

Method  

1. Saute or steam any raw vegetables
2. Mix them through the mashed potato adding salt to taste.
3. Add as many lightly beaten eggs as necessary to moisten your vegetable mixture (unless you went completely over the top, one is probably enough).
4. Take about a tablespoon at a time and shape into a log and coat in crumbs.
5. When they are all done heat enough oil for shallow frying in a frying pan and cook in batches until they are golden on the outside and hot through. 
6. Drain on paper towel if necessary.
7. Try not to burn your mouth as you shovel them in.

Hubby thought that I had bought them and not just thrown them together from leftovers.

Oh Crumbs!

I was recently disappointed by the unavailability of my favourite rice crumbs. It seems not only that they are not in the shops, but the company is no longer in existence. There are other brands around, but I've never been overly impressed with them. So like everything else these days, it seems I have to make them myself. I had made other forays into rice crumbs with varying results, as it was usually a last minute "oh my god I'm out of crumbs" moment. So I've made a little more effort to have crumbs on hand, and they are really quite simple to make. The bonus is that they don't have to be rice, they can be whatever puffed grain that you can tolerate and have on hand. I actually quite like a combination of rice and millet.

This is not so much a recipe as a guide to making great crumbs.

What you need is

• Puffed grains - whichever you like, although if they are bigger they will process more easily. Quinoa and amaranth probably won't work very well (but feel free to give it a go). I used a bag of puffed rice and half a bag of puffed millet. 
• A large baking tray.

How to do it

1. Preheat your oven to about 130℃
2. Tip your cereals into the baking tray and put into the oven 
3. Stir them around every 5-10mins so none get burnt and once they have dried out and gone crispy they are ready for the next step. The time will depend on how many are in the tray and what grain you are using. When you stir them grab one and try to crush it, if it crumbles easily, they are ready.
4. Put into a food processor and blitz until you have crumbs.
5. Store in an airtight container.

Yummy crumbs.

Use them as you will, but everything tastes better crumbed!

We Shall Eat Cake

We had a little birthday party to attend yesterday. Some of the food was going to be failsafe, but I needed to take cake for us. It's something that drives me a bit nuts. Not the taking of cake, I don't mind that. It's the going to the effort of making cake and then my son deciding he doesn't want to eat it. This has been happening a lot. He has decided that he doesn't like vanilla cake anymore, nor does he like caramel cake. These have been my easy fall back cakes, but he is over them, so I offered to make something different. I offered pear, lemon or carob. Completely out of left field, he chose the carob. We're not big fans of carob here; he eats it sometimes, but it has taken me a real long time to stop gagging at the smell. It is easy enough to convert a chocolate cake recipe to carob and I decided to team that with a caramel icing. He didn't like the icing, but the cake was good. The cake was actually so good that I (who gag at the thought of carob) enjoyed some. So today I experimented with something else - Marshmallow frosting. Bingo! We have a winning combination.

The cake was adapted from a Hummingbird Bakery book that I own and the frosting is straight from Martha Stewart

Carob Cupcakes makes about 24 patty sized cakes
Ingredients

• 200g plain gluten free flour (I used white wings)
• 40g carob powder
• 280g caster sugar
• 3tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 90g nuttelex
• 220mls rice milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170℃
2. Put flour, carob, sugar, baking powder, salt and nuttelex in the bowl of an electric mixer (or you can use a hand held mixer) and beat on a slow speed until everything is combined and it looks sandy.
3. Whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together in a jug and slowly pour half into the flour mixture. Beat on high until it is smooth
4. Turn the mixer back to slow and add the rest of the milk mixture. Continue mixing until you have a smooth batter. Do not overmix.
5. Spoon the mixture into patty cases until two thirds full (don't be tempted to over fill them, it is a very runny cake batter and it will overflow)
6. Bake for about 15 mins or until cake springs back when lightly touched or a skewer comes out clean. 
7. Cool on racks.

Frosting 
Ingredients

1. 6 egg whites 
2. 1 1/2 cups sugar
3. 3/8 tsp cream of tartar
4. dash vanilla essence

Method

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Turn down to a gentle simmer.
2. Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar into a heatproof bowl and place on saucepan. Make sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl.
3. Using electric hand beaters, beat on a slow speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the egg feels warm (approx 3-4 mins).
4. Take the bowl off the heat and keep beating at increasing speeds until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form (8-10 mins)
5. Add vanilla, beat until combined. Scoop into a piping bag and decorate cakes as desired.

 

Variations - Amines - Use cocoa

                    If you have a little blow torch, you could use it lightly on the frosting for a toasted marshmallow finish. (I have one. I have yet to figure out how to get the gas into it.)

The biscuit on top is half an Orgran Rotondo which is almost failsafe.

These cakes are deliciously moist and you won't want to stop at one.

The Proof is in the Pudding

I have a few comfort foods. These are ones that I grew up with, that my grandmothers made. My grandparents were from Great Britain, so these foods are warm and stodgy. As I was cooking dinner the other night I realised that even the smell of these foods take me back to when I was a kid.

Whenever we went to my paternal grandparents house for a meal, it was always a baked dinner. Roast beef with all the trimmings and my Grandad would sit there with a jar of hot english mustard and smear it on every forkful. My Nanna would always turn out enormous piping hot Sunday roasts, she had come around to the idea of pumpkin (although would cook it with the skin on which I absolutely hated) and no roast was complete without a huge tray of Yorkshire pudding.

The Yorkshire pudding front and centre.

I often get surprised by how many people have never heard of Yorkshire pudding, even those who come from English backgrounds. It is a batter that was (once upon a time) cooked beneath the roasting meat and would catch the dripping. It would be served before the meat and veg as a cheaper filler. It has kind of evolved over time and become another side dish for a traditional roast dinner often made muffin sized. Left overs (as if there could be any) can be served with syrup or jam for sweets. While in England, our favourite pub served them plate sized with the sausage, mash, peas and gravy on top.

The main trick with these is to have the oven really hot. I usually put them in while my meat is resting and the potatoes are crisping up.

Yorkshire Pudding 
Makes 12 patty sized puddings
Ingredients

• 1 cup plain GF flour (again, Orgran is my convenient choice)
• pinch salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup rice milk (or whatever milk you tolerate)
• oil 

Method

1.  Sift flour and salt together
2. Break the egg into flour and add half of the milk. Mix until combined. Stand for at least 30 mins.
3. Turn oven to 220℃
4. Put about a teaspoon of oil into each patty hole and place into hot oven 
5. Mix in the rest of the milk. It should be a thick, but pourable batter.
6. When oil is smoking pour batter into holes and bake for 15-20 mins. They will be golden. 
7. Yorkshire puddings always have high side and sinkholes in the middle. Don't think that you have failed when this happens. You've done it right!

Now gobble them up. I love them with LOTS of gravy. In the absence of gravy, a good shake of salt does the trick.

Variations- Gluten - use plain white flour.
                   Dairy - use cow milk and you can use ghee in place of the oil.
                   Amines - dripping or lard can be used in the pan and eat them smothered with gravy.

A Gingerbread House

Without the ginger... Which seemed to go down pretty well with everyone at Christmas as not many people in the family seem to like ginger.

I was completely unsure if this would work, gluten free baking can tend towards brittle and crumbly and there was a chance it would lack the structural integrity needed to hold its own weight. But it did work. It possibly needs a little tweaking as it was slightly dry, but it was pretty.

It was adapted from a recipe on Taste that was recommended to me. How many it makes depends on how big you make them. I made three smaller ones. You will need a template for cutting your house. There are quite a few of varying complexity to be found via google. The one I chose was quite simple as I really didn't have time to waste and still didn't know if it would work. I enlarged and shrunk it before it was printed so there were a few different sizes to work with. If you do the same, don't get the pieces mixed up or your houses may not go together.

Gingerbread House
Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups (600g) plain GF flour (I used whitewings this time)
• 7 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup (280g) firmly packed brown sugar
• 185g nuttelex
• 1/2 cup (100g) golden syrup
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• Icing sugar (for dusting)
• Allowed lollies (eg. marshmallows, pear drops, musk sticks, sprinkles)

Royal Icing

• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3 cups pure icing sugar

Method

1. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and nuttelex into a food processor. Process until it looks like breadcrumbs.
2.  Mix eggs and syrup together and slowly add to food processor while it is running. When it is starting to come together, remove and knead on a floured surface until smooth. Divide into portions, wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 4hrs
3. Roll the dough between 2 sheets baking paper until 5mm thick. Remove top layer baking paper. Place your templates onto the dough and cut shapes. Place gingerbread on lined baking trays. Freeze for 15 minutes or until firm. 
4. Heat oven to 180°C and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until cooked and firm. Cool on the tray.
5. To make icing, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sifted icing sugar while still beating until it is all incorporated
6. Build your house on a flat, solid plate. Use the icing as mortar to join the walls together. You can use food cans or other containers to prop the walls up until the icing sets. Attach the roof in the same way. (I was unsure if it would hold, so I used two dressmakers pins on the top corners to make sure).
7. Place the rest of the icing into a zip-lock bag and snip off the tip. Make patterns and decorate your house. Use the icing to stick any lollies to the house- the kids love helping with this. (I also cut little people and a tree from left over dough. I used the icing to stick them to the plate aswell). Dust it with icing sugar.
8. Wrap it all in cellophane so it keeps a bit better.

Please note that smarties and jellybeans are not FS. They did not contain any nasty additives and were considered a super treat by my son who was only allowed to eat a few of them.

Noteworthy

I've made no pretenses about my organisational skills so far on this blog. Basically I suck at it. Everything happens at the last minute, but I usually end up pulling things off to a certain degree. I've also had to change the way I cook for the purpose of blogging. I was always a "cook by feel" type of girl, you know, a splash of this, a splodge of that a handful of something else and cook it until I think it's done... That doesn't really translate well when you are trying to give someone else instructions. So I decided over Christmas that I would take notes as I baked with weights and measurements, times and temperatures. Generally I love notebooks; lists make me feel more organised and I have a plethora of exercise books that I buy at the back-to-school sales for that purpose. So I took Christmas notes with the intention of blogging them (albeit after Christmas, as I was too last minute to get it done beforehand) and then when the time came for me to do it, I couldn't find them. I went through every notebook I could find and came up with nothing. Disappointed isn't a strong enough word for how I felt. My dear husband bought me a lovely new notebook, all hard covered and pretty, so that I would write in that one alone and wouldn't mix it up or accidentally throw it away.

Then, two days ago, I found it! Next to the sewing table with sewing notes on it too. I looked there! I know I did, but there it was. And so now I bring you Christmas (or any other time really) baking recipes.

Pfeffernüsse
These are a traditional European Christmas/winter biscuit that are usually full of spices and pepper. These are not. But they are still delicious. This recipe made a *LOT* of biscuits. They kept very well in an air tight container, but you could probably portion the dough and freeze. I used saffron when I made these as I thought there should really be at least one spice in it. Not sure if it really made any difference to the flavour, but it made me feel better about it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (200g) Golden syrup
• 1/4 cup(100g) Rice malt syrup
• 1/2 cup nuttelex
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups (580g) Orgran plain GF flour
• 3/4 cup (170g) white sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
• A big pinch of saffron threads (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Put golden syrup,  rice malt syrup, nuttelex and saffron into a saucepan, cook over a medium heat while stirring until it combines and goes a bit creamy looking. Leave to cool to room temperature.
2. Remove the saffron threads and stir in the eggs.
3. Put flour, white and brown sugars, bicarb and salt into a large bowl and add the syrup mixture. Mix until you have a nice dough. Cover and put into the fridge for about 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 165℃. 
5. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and place on trays lined with baking paper approx 3cm apart. These do spread.
6. Bake for 10-15mins. The longer you bake them, the harder they are.
7. Cool on racks and dust with icing sugar.

Pfeffernusse front and centre. Spritz cookies on their right, iced biscuits at the back and meringues on the left

The spritz cookies are a recipe I found on Gluten Free Homemaker. These needed almost no tweaking to be failsafe. Simply omit the almond essence and substitute nuttelex for the butter. If you don't have the individual flours on hand, you can substitute the same quantity of Orgran flour and the results are pretty much the same. They don't need to be iced and if you don't have a cookie press you could always put blobs of dough on the tray. Equally delicious!

Happy Baking!