Friday, August 28, 2009

GLUTEN FREE EXPO FOLLOW UP, PART ONE



THE PASTRY PANTRY
This was the highlight of the expo for me. I had heard about this range of ready made frozen pastry sheets a few weeks ago and have been waiting (impatiently) to try them. On the morning of the expo I was telling my man-friend how excited I was that for Christmas I might be able to make some decent fruit mince pies, so imagine my excitement when that was in fact what they had as their sample dish at the stand! The pastry was impeccible, and the non-GF man-friend agreed. I purchased some of the rough puff pastry to try over the next couple of weeks, perhaps on a chicken and leek pie. I am also going to try a lemon meringue pie with some of the sweet shortcrust - will let you know how they go and share my recipes.




THE BEER FACTORY
I was hoping there would be a selection of GF beers at the expo, but there was only one, The Beer Factory. They have quite a clever idea where you can go and brew your own beer on their premises in Seven Hills or Unanderra using their equipment, making it an economical (and fun) way to get your beer. They have a large selection on non-GF beers, and one GF beer, one cider and one ginger beer. Personally I didn't like the GF beer, it was quite weak and watery. The ginger beer however was spectacular. It had a perfect mix of sweetness against the bite of the ginger. I think a batch will be necessary for this upcoming summer!




GOLDEN FALAFEL
I love a good falafel, and boy are these good! They are crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside and packed with plenty of flavour. The have no trans fat and make for a healthy and easy lunch or dinner. I simply heated mine up in a pan and served with a side salad of finely chopped red cabbage, snow pea sprouts, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.



CASA DE SABOR

This Portuguese mousse is amazing. It's light and fluffy but rich at the same time. It's cream and gluten free and made from all natural ingredients. It's available in four flavours; traditional, orange (my favourite), hazelnut and mocha. You can even serve it like an ice cream straight from the freezer. I took a tub to the man-friends parents place for dinner and served it with strawberries and blueberries - delish!


I've still got lots more products to try out, so stay tuned for more updates!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

GLUTEN FREE EXPO



The Gluten Free Expo was on over the weekend in Sydney. It was great to see how popular the event was - just look at the photo of the queue to get in!! There was more than 10,000 visitors over the 2 days. It was well worth the 40 minute wait, with lots of exhibitors and plenty of samples and great new products. For people on a gluten free diet it was like being a child in a candy store. Everything there was 'safe', although out of force of habit I still found that I would ask myself "I wonder if I can eat that?"! Some of the highlights were sampling the new ready made pastries by The Pastry Pantry, the DIY ginger beer, the range of great breads and the heavenly chocolate mousse from Casa De Sabor. I've got lots and lots of samples to try out over the next few weeks and will keep you updated with my favourite products.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

GLUTEN FREE FLOUR: TAPIOCA




TAPIOCA FLOUR
Tapioca flour is made from the cassava root (picture above), and is commonly grown in Central and South America and South East Asia. The root can be used to make chips, flat bread, jellies, tapioca pearls (similar to sago) and it is also used commercially as a thickener in foods and a binder in pharmaceuticals. Tapioca flour is naturally gluten free and is great for making light and crispy batters (like salt and pepper squid), waffles, breads, pizza bases and cookies. I buy mine from the local Asian supermarket (along with my potato flour) and it's super cheap!



Thursday, August 13, 2009

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE PLACES TO EAT...



ENVY CAFE & GALLERY
Most mornings I head into Envy Cafe & Gallery for my daily soy latte - they make the best coffee. They also stock my favourite brand of gluten free toast, so I sometimes order that with lashings of peanut butter. On the weekends I order my favourite dish, gluten free toast with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, rocket and dill creme fraiche. It's amazing. I always plan to order something else when I go there, as I really like to try new things, but when it comes time to place my order that just tumbles out of my mouth! It's a great dish, and it can keep me going all day lo
ng. They also do a housemade rice muesli and often have a brown rice porridge on the specials board.

Envy Cafe & Gallery, 109 Smith Street, Summer Hill, NSW





LONGRAIN
For special occasions I LOVE to go to Longrain in Sydney. They serve modern thai/asian cuisine and the waitstaff have a good knowledge of all the dishes and what gluten is. They predominantly use tapioca and rice flours in their cooking, so generally most dishes are gluten free, except for any that use soy sauce or another sauce containing gluten. Those who are gluten free should really try their salt and pepper squid when it is on the specials list. The batter, made with tapioca flour, is light, crunchy and oh so tasty. Some other favourites are the betel leaf (sounds weird, but everyone loves it), the caremelised pork hock, and the coconut caramel custard. Actually, all of the dishes I have had there (and there have been a lot) have been incredible. Make sure you get there early to have a cocktail or two from their extensive list!

Longrain, 85 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, NSW

Thursday, August 6, 2009

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!



Follow me on twitter for regular updates on my day-to-day living a gluten free life. There's products I find, links to cool sites, hints and tips and so much more!

EVENT: GLUTEN FREE EXPO



I am really looking forward to the Gluten Free Expo on in Sydney on the 21st and 22nd August 2009. It is free entry, and if it's anything like the expo's I have been to before there will be lots of new and exciting GF foods to sample. I will do a review of any new and great products I discover after the expo - stay tuned!

MY PICK: CHOCOLATE BISCUITS


I often find it hard to get gluten free products with an adequate amount of 'crunch'. They are often soft or crumbly, and that's no fun when you really want an amazing crunchy gluten free biscuit. Luckily I have discovered D'Lush Double Choc Biscuits which are a wonderfully crunchy biscuit covered in lashings of chocolate. Yum! They are particularly good dipped in a cup of tea, or if you want a complete chocolate hit then go ahead and dunk them in your hot chocolate! I buy mine at my local Coles supermarket.

JAFFA CAKE





This jaffa cake is sooooo easy to make! I took it to the football and it was a big hit, especially with the boys (and they are all non-GF too!). I also did another version of this cake in the shape of a pirates treasure chest for my friends pirate themed party.

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE
2 navel oranges
6 eggs
2 1/2C almond meal
1C sugar
INGREDIENTS FOR GANACHE
200g dark chocolate
1/2C cream

METHOD
1. Boil whole oranges for 1-2 hours, until they are soft and you can easily pierce them with a skewer. (They will fill your house with the most gorgeous aroma!). Allow them to cool a bit. You can leave them overnight in an airtight container if you wish.
2. Preheat oven to 190ÂșC, grease and line cake tin of your shape of choice.
3. Place oranges in a food processor and mix until smooth.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
5. Pour into cake tin and cook for about an hour - sometimes it needs a little bit longer. The cake should be quite moist, but cake should be pulling away from the edges of the tin and a skewer should come out fairly clean.
6. Allow cake to cool a bit, then tip out of tin to completely cool.
7. To make ganache - melt chocolate and cream in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until melted, smooth and glossy. You may need to add a little more cream to get consistency right.
8. Allow to cool a bit and thicken, then smear over the cooled cake.
9. Once ganache has had a bit of time to set the cake is ready to serve.

Enjoy!