Wednesday, September 30, 2009

DRY-IT



A great new gluten free food find of mine is Dry-It, who do a range of products using dehydrated fruit and vegetables. Now don't let the word 'dehydrated' scare you away, stick with me here, what they do is pretty darn clever...

As fruit and vegetables are seasonal, this often means that there is a surplus when they are in season that goes to waste. This has many negative effects such as unnecessary packaging and transportation costs, disposal issues, loss of income for farmers and a pet hate of mine - food waste.

The clever souls at Dry-It came up with a solution to this problem. By using energy efficient low temperature dryers, they can dry surplus fruit and vegetables to create some wonderful products. This method of drying means that the nutritional value is reserved, and no chemicals, preservatives, colourings or additives are required. This is particularly good for those with sulphur allergies who usually have to avoid dried fruits.

Some of their products that I have tried are:

Banana wattle seed mix
All the dried banana that I've ever had has been hard and chip like. But this banana is still chewy, and a very good snack for a sweet-tooth like myself. Plus the pack has little wattle seeds, almonds, sultanas, hazelnuts and bits of chocolate in it - yum!

Dried apple
They come in different varieties of apple!

Quick meals
Simply add water (and maybe a little cream), and voila, you have a sweet potato soup. Or just add some oil and water and you have a mushroom and garlic risotto! Now, those who know me are aware that I'm not a real fan of pre-packaged meals, but these are really good - and I guess they should be, there's no nasties added.

Some other products include; a steak rub, stir fry mixes, other dried fruits and much more.

They are currently available at Thomas Dux stores and Norton Street Grocer.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE



Continuing with my obsession of The Pastry Pantry pastry, I decided to make a lemon meringue pie. It was delicious! I even fed it to five non-gluten free people (the ultimate trial!) and they loved it, commenting that the pastry was great.

I followed the instructions on the back of the sweet shortcrust pastry pack to cook the pastry. It will look a little soft when it comes out of the oven, but it firms right up once it cools, so don't be tempted to cook it for longer.

For the filling I used a lemon curd recipe from donna hay magazine that you can get here. Just ensure that the cornflour is made from corn and not wheat!

Once you have put the filling in the pastry shell and refrigerated for at least 2 hours, beat up 4 egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vinegar (gluten free - I used white wine vinegar) until the mixture is thick and stiff peaks form. Pile the mixture on top of the lemon curd then pop under a medium grill until the meringue is golden and has firmed up. Pop it back in the fridge for a while and then it's ready to serve.


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

CHICKEN & LEEK POT PIES



I've been a bit busy lately and slack on updating the blog - I am working on new recipes though (I'm up to trial number seven of a light and fluffy sponge cake, hopefully number eight will be a winner so I can share it with you!), so keep checking back.

I thought I'd share with you a dish I made the other night. I'd been wanting to try The Pastry Pantry Rough Puff pastry, but didn't have time to create a recipe, so adapted one from donna hay magazine. You can get the recipe here
.

I used gluten free plain flour in place of the regular plain flour, and made sure the stock was gluten free, and of course used The Pastry Pantry Rough Puff pastry. I didn't want one large pie, so separated the mixture into four ramekins and then placed 1/4 sheet of pastry over each pie, sealing the edges with the back of a fork. I brushed the pastry with a lightly beaten egg, and pierced a couple of holes in the top, then popped them in the oven at 200ÂșC for 25 minutes.

The pastry didn't 'puff' like regular puff pastry, it was kind of like a mix of puff pastry and savoury shortcrust - but it was crunchy and really tasty. I will definitely be making this again!