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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!
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 long. 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
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!
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!
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.
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 eggs2 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 190ºC, 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!
Gluten free breads have come a long way since I first tasted them in 2002. I remember being appalled by the heavy, crumbly and almost inedible loaves. Now there are plenty of decent breads on the market, phew! After trialling most of them I have decided that Naturally Gluten Free is definitely my favourite brand. The loaves are a decent size (don't you just hate how some brands are miniature?! Mini cupcakes might be cute, but not loaves of bread!), and the textures and flavours are fantastic. They have a large and increasing range of products, and I am totally hooked on the Crunch savoury loaf as well as the Banana Bread. Have a look at their website to find your nearest stockist.
