Gluten-free Recipe: Italian Style Cornbread

Woop de doop! I’ve stumbled onto something here!

I am just a wee bit of excited about this recipe, especially after lacking inspiration for savoury fare for some time now.

My family loved this cornbread and when I offered it to a friend and her daughter to try, they also loved it. Nothing better than a thumbs up from someone outside the family! The oil gives this slice a lovely crisp crust and the yoghurt makes it moist on the inside. Try stopping at one piece!

When I first attempted it, I used a good quality basil pesto. It tasted amazing, but then I realised that the pesto contained almonds so it couldn’t be sent to school. I couldn’t find a nut-free pesto, so instead used a basil paste and gluten-free garlic salt. (It’s winter here in Australia, so basil is not in season. You could make your own paste, though, by pounding fresh basil leaves and a little olive oil in a mortar and pestle. Or simply use a blender).

If you can find a nut-free pesto, or if nuts aren’t an issue, I’d recommend using 55 grams of basil pesto instead of the basil paste and garlic salt. Otherwise, follow the recipe below and prepare to receive the accolades from all and sundry.

This cornbread is a great option for lunchtime, especially because the yoghurt and cheese really ups the protein content. Send it in the lunchbox with some vegetable sticks and sliced cold meat for a well-balanced lunch.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

100 g fine polenta (uncooked)

30 g tapioca flour

40 g brown rice flour

30 g sorghum flour

5 g psyllium husk

20 g baking powder

50 g grated parmesan cheese, plus 30 g grated parmesan cheese for topping

2 eggs, lightly beaten

200 g plain Greek yoghurt

125 ml oil

40 g basil paste

1½ tsp gluten-free garlic salt

65 g drained and finely chopped sundried tomatoes

Method

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven). Grease and line 18 x 28 cm slice tray.

Put polenta in a large bowl and then sift in tapioca flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, psyllium husk and baking powder. Stir to combine.

Add 50 g parmesan cheese, eggs, yoghurt, oil, basil paste, garlic salt and sundried tomatoes.

Mix until well combined.

Pour mixture into slice tray. Spread out and smooth over until evenly covering the tray. Sprinkle over remaining 30 g parmesan cheese.

Put in oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean.

Allow to cool in tray.

When completely cool, slice into 4 x 4 cm squares.

Makes approximately 28 squares.

Gluten-free Fried Rice

Here in Australia, we are two thirds of the way through Autumn and the chill of winter is setting in before its time. It’s got me thinking about comfort food and food to send to school warmed in thermoses.

Pretty soon I’ll be making big pots of soup. The slow cooker’s already getting a good workout with lovely warming casseroles.

Looking back on my recent lunchtime recipes, it appears that I’m in a bit of a rice theme. There’s the Sushi Squares and the Pumpkin and Rice Salad. If I’d made them a series (“Here’s the latest in my series of rice recipes…”), maybe it wouldn’t look so much like I’m stuck in a rut! But I am and one of the reasons is that I tend to keep cooked brown rice on hand in the fridge. It’s a good quality, high fibre carbohydrate, so it’s a great choice for me when I’m in a hurry. Brown rice and lean cooked chicken breast are my fast foods of choice.

The fantastic thing about fried rice is that you can put just about anything in it. Whatever you have in the fridge. Really! If your little one has an egg allergy, or you are looking for another protein, try tossing through some lean cooked chicken breast. You can poach a chicken breast by putting it in a saucepan, covering with water and boiling for about 15 minutes. You can then shred it with a fork.

For best results, it’s a good idea to cook the rice the day before, or at least a few hours before, you need it.

The other thing I love about this recipe is that it’s great to send to school warmed in a thermos, but would also be just fine served cold. That makes it a year-round lunchbox choice.

This recipe will make 4 serves as a light meal or as a meal accompaniment. If you want a more substantial meal with leftovers for lunchboxes, simply double the quantities.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups cooked brown rice (cook according to packet directions)

2 tbs oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 large carrot, peeled, trimmed and finely diced

2 large mushrooms, diced

Fresh kernels from 1 cob of corn (or ¾ cup frozen or canned corn kernels)

8 snow peas, trimmed and sliced

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

2 tbs tamari or gluten-free soy sauce

Method

Rinse the cooked rice in a sieve to remove any starch. Drain thoroughly and allow to completely cool.

Heat 1 tbs of the oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Pour the eggs into the pan and allow to spread to form a thin omelette. Cook for two minutes on each side and then remove from pan and set aside.

Add carrot, mushrooms, corn and snow peas and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 10 minutes or until starting to soften.

Add the remaining oil and the rice. Stir to combine with other ingredients. Stir occasionally.

In the meantime, roll up the omelette and thinly slice into strips. Add to the pan, along with spring onions and tamari (or soy sauce). Stir to combine. Cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4 small serves.

We’re live with a brand new eBook!

Hello and welcome to my new site! Isn’t it lovely? It’s all so clean and colourful. It’s been a process getting here, but my designer Selena from Squint Media has done a ripper of a job. So nice to have an expert at the helm.

And here’s the huge news – my new eBook is now available on this site! Just click on the image of the book on the right, or on the “Shop” button above. You can access a couple of preview pages there as well.

There are more than 60 gluten-free and nut-free recipes. Most are for the school lunchbox, with a few Special Occasion recipes thrown in. There are recipes for lunch-time, recess-time, and some family meal recipes that can be repurposed for the lunchbox. There’s also pages on Gluten-free flours, pantry staples, essential equipment and some tips for packing a gluten-free lunchbox.

The book has been beautifully designed by Kylie Mulquin and I couldn’t be more delighted and proud of the end result. I hope you enjoy it too!

Gluten-free Chicken Noodle Salad

Gluten-free Chicken Noodle Salad

 

With a little organisation, it will take you less time to throw this salad together than it would to make a gluten-free sandwich. Trust me!

I usually keep cooked chicken breast on-hand in the refrigerator. It’s to keep me on the straight and narrow – if it’s there I’ll eat it for lunch (tossed through some brown rice with other salad ingredients) instead of just grazing on whatever else I happen to find, healthy or otherwise. To cook, I butterfly the chicken, lay it out flat under the grill and leave it for about 10 minutes, turn and grill on the other side for about 5 minutes.  Sometimes, I put chicken breast fillets in the slow cooker, covered in water, and let them gently steam all day. That night, there’s gloriously tender chicken breast for the family meal, plus plenty left over for everyone’s lunches. Either of these methods would work beautifully for this recipe, or you could just poach the chicken breast as I’ve outlined below. The important thing is, however, that you do it in advance so that you can quickly throw the salad together in the morning.

Gluten-free Cauliflower and Pea Bites

Gluten-free cauliflower and pea bites

Well! I’m fresh back from my first ever visit to sunny Brisbane, the sub-tropical capital of Queensland in northern Australia. I was there to attend Eat Drink Blog 2014 (another first for me), a conference for food bloggers, run by food bloggers. It was a fantastic experience and great to meet some other bloggers in person. I’ll write a post about that in a week or so.

But for now, I’m pretty snowed under with some other work (I should be working now, but I am procrastinating. I became an expert in procrastinating when studying Law way back when. But, oh, wait – I digress. See what I mean?).

Anyway, because I haven’t had time to get into the kitchen, I’m sharing this recipe with you – it’s one that I developed for the September 2014 issue of Nourish Magazine and you’ll find it, and another recipe of mine, in the fussy kids’ feature from page 31. It’s perfect for school lunches. Just throw in a few vegetable sticks for a bit of crunch.

Enjoy!

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Seasonal cauliflower, pea and coconut combine to give a delicate flavour that even the fussiest of eaters will find hard to resist. If your child isn’t into curry powder, try replacing it with ¼ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg.

Ingredients

250 grams cauliflower

70 grams fresh or frozen green peas (if using fresh, weigh peas after they have been shelled)

55 grams gluten-free self-raising flour

20 grams coconut flour

½ teaspoon mild curry powder

¼ cup coconut milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

Pinch of salt

Method

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven). Grease and line 12 cavities in a mini-muffin tin (25 millilitre capacity).

Roughly chop the cauliflower into large chunks. Steam for 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat and set aside. Steam the peas for 5 minutes (if using fresh peas) or 2 minutes (if using frozen peas).

In a large bowl, mash the cauliflower. Add the steamed peas and allow to cool a little.

Sift in the self-raising flour, coconut flour and curry powder. Add the coconut milk, egg and salt. Stir to combine.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray, filling each cavity.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 12.

Gluten-free little Tah Chins

Gluten-free little Tah Chins

Oh, okay, okay, I know it’s a fancy schmancy name, but stick with me and all will be explained.

The one and only time I’ve ever come across a Tah Chin was in the June 2014 issue of delicious. magazine (page 111). It was a Jamie Oliver recipe and I was so intrigued by the photo that I just had to try it for myself. Click here and you’ll see what I mean. According to Mr Oliver, a Tah Chin is a Persian dish, with a layer of beautifully rich and tender meat sandwiched between layers of rice. The rice is crunchy and golden on the outside and fluffy and moist on the inside, topped with a scattering of pomegranate seeds.

In all its slow-cooked gloriousness, Jamie Oliver’s recipe is really worth a try, although it does take quite a bit of time from start to finish. But it had me thinking about a quick lunchbox version. Instead of slow-cooking chunks of lamb fillet, I used lamb mince and made a quick hotpot. I served it with some green vegetables and rice for the evening meal, and then in about 10 minutes, I whipped up these little tah chins for the next day’s lunchboxes. I sent them to school with some carrot and celery sticks, cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices. The kids loved them. It’s worth noting, though, that my version does not have the same golden crunchy exterior. That reward comes only with patient slow cooking –  another reason to try Jamie Oliver’s recipe.

Enjoy!

Little Tah Chins

Ingredients

2 cups cooked basmati rice (method follows)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup Greek yoghurt

Pinch of salt

1 cup lamb hotpot (recipe follows)

2 sprigs flat leaf parsley, to garnish (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced). Grease and line 6 cavities in a half-cup capacity muffin tin.

In a large bowl, combine the rice, egg, yoghurt and salt. Mix well. Spoon into each cavity and press down with back of spoon until each cavity is about one third filled.

Spoon one heaped dessert-spoonful of the lamb hotpot into each cavity and spread so that it evenly covers the rice.

Spoon one heaped dessert-spoonful of the remaining rice over the top of the lamb and gently press down with the back of a spoon so that the rice evenly covers the lamb.

Cover the tray firmly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and discard the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes.

When cool, garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Makes 6.

Lamb Hotpot with Basmati Rice

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice (uncooked)

1 tbs oil

500 g lamb mince

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 gluten-free beef stock cube, or 250 ml gluten-free liquid beef stock

2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Put rice in a saucepan, along with 4 cups of water and place on stove over high heat. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium so that rice continues to simmer steadily. Simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

In the meantime, put a large frypan over high heat. Add the oil and heat a little, and then add the lamb mince and onion. Allow to brown, stirring from time to time and breaking up the mince into small, finer chunks.

Once the meat is browned, add the peas, cumin and coriander. Dissolve the stock cube in 250 ml water (or use the liquid stock) and add to the pan.

Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium. Allow hotpot to simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid has evaporated.

Set aside 2 cups of the cooked rice and 1 cup of the hotpot to make the tah chins. Immediately serve the remaining rice and hotpot.

Serves 4-5 people as a main meal.