Recipe: Chicken Scallopini

This is my version of gluten free chicken scallopini. 

Ingrediants:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1.1 kg skinless chicken thighs, cut into approx 2" pieces

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 tsp crushed garlic

500 g button mushrooms, quartered

2 cups white wine (I prefer to use Sauvignon Blanc)

1/2 cup double thick cream

250ml chicken stock

1 chicken stock cube

Handful baby spinach leaves

2 tbsp cornflour, mixed with a little water to form a paste

Method:

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and brown chicken. Remove chicken and reserve drippings; set aside.

Cook onion with garlic in reserved drippings, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 2 minutes.

Stir in wine and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken stock. Return chicken to skillet and simmer, covered, until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes.

Uncover and cook for a further 10mins until sauce is slightly reduced

Stir through cornflour paste and simmer for 5 minutes

Stir through baby spinach leaves

I love to serve this with green beans and a combination of mashed sweet potato & creamy white potato but this dish also works well with rice and other greens. 

This recipe serves 4. 

Gluten free expo 2014

If you live in either Sydney or Melbourne you should do yourself a favour and head down to the gluten free expo.

The expos have a large number of exhibitors showcasing many different and delicious gluten free products, cooking demonstrations, giveaways and food to sample (yum!!). 

Sydney: 29th & 30th August 2014 

Click here for further information 

Melbourne: 11th & 12th October 2014

Click here for further information 

Recipe: white chocolate pannacotta

This is a beautifully creamy white chocolate pannacotta recipe. You can dress pannacotta up numerous ways, my favourite being with jelly and berries as depicted in this photo. 

Ingredients:

180 g white cooking chocolate

2 cups thickened cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon water

1 1/2 teaspoons gelatine

Method:

Place all ingredients, except water and gelatine, in a saucepan over medium heat until chocolate has melted.

Place boiling water in small bowl, sprinkle gelatine over and stir until dissolved.

Combine with chocolate mixture.

Pour into 6-8 small ramekins or glasses and set in fridge 4 hours.

Enjoy! 😃

Reading labels made easy

A more common thought held amongst Coeliacs, especially those recently diagnosed, is that they have to buy food labelled as 'gluten free'. This isn't the case. There are many foods that do not contain gluten that aren't labelled as gluten free. As the wife of a Coeliac I have had to learn to read the ingrediant label on every product I buy that isn't labelled 'gluten free'. To learn which ingredients and additives (those pesky numbers) contain gluten I downloaded this app and use it when shopping. This is the best smartphone app for Coeliacs or those who are gluten intolerant👍 Over 800 ingredients and 300 additives listed to make shopping and reading labels a breeze. When my husband was first diagnosed shopping was a nightmare until I found this app made by Coeliac Australia 👍 

Simply type 'the Coeliac society' in the App Store. What apps do you use to make your life easier?

Flour conversion chart

When baking and using substitutes for wheat flour in recipes you cannot substitute certain flours with wheat flour on a 1:1 basis - or so I'm told. To be honest, I'm unsure why as I've never been brave enough to try and convert a recipe to using a gluten free alternative. 

For those of you brave enough, here is a handy conversion chart. 

Personally, I prefer the White Wings gluten free flour as it can be used on a 1:1 ratio as a substitute for wheat flour. 

If anyone can enlighten me on why you can't use other flours on a 1:1 ratio I'd gladly appreciate it! 

Chicken Parmigiana - Gluten Free style

This is a little twist on the standard chicken parmigiana. This is a favourite in our household and I know you will love it. 

For this recipe I use Orgran brand Corn Crispy Crumbs instead of gluten free breadcrumbs. I find the texture and flavour much more suited to the sauce and bacon. You can however use gluten free breadcrumbs if you prefer. 

Here goes:

Slice 2 chicken breast lengthways to thin them out. Each breast will make two schnitzels. Dip each piece of chicken into beaten egg and coat with crumbs. Fry in a hot frypan for a few minutes each side until cooked. Set aside on paper towel to drain excess oil. In the meantime fry 4 pieces of rindless bacon until cooked. 

Place the chicken schnitzel onto a lined baking tray

Top with Trident Sweet Chilli Sauce (the BEST gluten free sweet chilli sauce)

Place a piece of bacon in top each schnitzel

Sprinkle with a small handful of pizza cheese 

Bake in a 200 degree oven for approximately 5 to 10 minutes - just until the cheese has melted and begins to turn golden

Serve with sweet potato fries and veggies - or anything else really!

This recipe tastes even better with thinly sliced avocado between the bacon and the chicken.

Below is a picture of the sauce, cheese and crumbs used in this recipe. If you give this recipe a try let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment below. 

Vanilla cake mix

Coles supermarket have come out with a gluten free range of products including cake mixes. We have been slowly working our way through the products. This week I tried the gluten free vanilla cake mix.

This cake mix is Australian made which, sadly enough, isn't too common here in Australia. Points to Coles for making this product right here in Australia!

I started off well enough. Added the required ingredients and cake mix into my mixing bowl

Mixed it all together for the required time. I noticed this mix was quite a bit thicker to what I was used to

Baked the mix in the oven for 45 minutes. I checked the mix after 40 minutes but found it definitely needed the extra 5 minutes. 

Once the cake had cooled I made up the icing as per the packet directions. I found the icing to be a bit on the thin side and not of the same consistency as depicted on the box - but then, when does anything actually resemble the box!?!  

I iced the cake and left it on the bench. I came back to it to take a photo and hubby had already taken a slice!

Overall, not a bad cake mix. I think next time I may add a small amount of olive oil to the mix to make it a little more moist. It didn't crumble like most gluten free cakes and it was devoured within 24 hours. 

For the price I'd definitely recommend it. 

Minestrone recipe

This recipe is based on my Italian mother's recipe, with a few modifications by me.

Ingredients:

2 carrots, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

1 potato, diced (or equivalent sweet potato)

1 zucchini, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 cups beef stock

1 can diced tomatoes

1 125g can four bean mix, rinsed

1/2 cup gluten free macaroni 

Parmesan cheese to serve

Method:

1. Heat olive oil and cook carrot, celery, zucchini, potato and garlic in a saucepan for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

2. Add canned tomatoes, four bean mix and beef stock. Bring to the boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally.

3. Increase heat. Add macaroni and stir until boiling. Reduce heat and stir occasionally until cooked. Add additional water if needed.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.

[optional extras]

Thaw 1 cube of frozen spinach and add to soup. Heat through and serve.

I use the Has No macaroni pasta from Aldi supermarket. I find that it's very similar to wheat pasta and it cooks well. Like most gluten free pastas you have to be cautious to not over cook the pasta otherwise it becomes very limp and mushy. 

If you cook any of my recipes please leave some feedback in the comments :-)

New test for Coeliac disease

A test for Coeliac Disease is being developed by Melbourne scientists. This test would eliminate the need for invasive intestinal biopsy tests. Exciting stuff!

To read the full article visit this link 

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/walter-and-eliza-hall-institute-test-offers-hope-for-coeliac-disease-sufferers/story-fnii5sms-1226801789490

Symptoms of Coeliac Disease

I found this great visual guide to the symptoms of Coeliac Disease. How many of these can you relate to?

Pizza bases

In the 15 months since my husband was diagnosed with coeliac disease we have struggled to find a pizza base that wouldn't crumble when cooked and had an acceptable texture. Our search ended when we found the perfect bases at the best gluten free bakery in Melbourne - Moorabbin to be exact. But more on that bakery in a future blog post.

These 11 inch discs of goodness are located in the freezer section of the bakery and come in a pack of 3 for $15. 

For those of you who are also required to eat dairy free, egg free, soy free, wheat free or fructose friendly you'll be glad to know these bases will fit the bill perfectly. 

We usually cook two bases at a time and find that sufficient for the two of us and my 13 year old step-son. 

Just place your favourite toppings on top and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 180 degree oven. 

When we are unable to get to Moorabbin, a very close second runner up is the Old Time Bakery gluten free pizza base. I usually buy these from my local IGA supermarket and they can be found in the aisle with the wraps. These bases come in a pack of two and are quite thin. They don't crumble when cooked which I find a huge bonus. 

If you know of other great gluten free pizza bases please share in the comment section below. 

Dragon Boat Chinese Restaurant

Happy New Year readers!

I thought I'd kick off my first blog post of 2014 with a review of Dragon Boat Chinese Restaurant in Wantirna South. Hubby and I dined there this evening and were quite impressed.

We arrived at 6pm and we were amazed at the size of this restaurant. It was quite large. When we arrived there were only approximately 3 other tables of people. We were greeted and seated immediately.

The tables had mini bowls of bright yellow crackers. The waiter indicated that these were wheat based and therefore not gluten free so he took these away and replaced them with some prawn crackers when we told him that hubby was coeliac. The prawn crackers were not greasy and quite light in colour. They had a garlic aftertaste which was pleasant. 

Reading the menu we were impressed at the amount of gluten free options available. I would say at least 50% - 60% of the menu was gluten free. The wait staff approached us minutes later to take our drinks and meals order. Even though the gluten free options were clearly marked on the menu the waiter was extremely helpful in answering our questions and seemed to understand the dietary requirements quite well.

We decided to not order entrees, as gluten free options were quite limited on the entree menu, but instead ordered three mains and a large rice to share. Our choices were:

Special fried rice

The rice was delicious and contained peas, chives, prawns and a small amount of pork.

Chicken teriyaki with broccoli 

Chicken breast was used so as a result the chicken was a little dry on the outside but otherwise very tender. The teriyaki sauce was quite sweet. 

Chilli & plum roast pork with vegetables

This was my second favourite main of the evening. The pork was tender and there was a slight hint (and sometimes a kick!) of chilli mixed into the plum sauce. I would definitely order this again.

Mongolian beef with peppers (my favourite of the evening!)

I have always had a soft spot for Mongolian Beef. The meat in this dish melted in my mouth... So tender! The sauce was not overpowering at all. There was quite a bit of meat in this dish. 

For two people I would recommend ordering two mains and a rice to share. We ordered too much food - couldn't finish our meals (not for lack of trying!). 

I couldn't fault the service. Wait staff were constantly walking around ensuring that patrons had full glasses and were happy with their meals, always with a smile and polite manner. 

Our bill come to a reasonable $96 for three mains, large fried rice and four soft drinks. If we had ordered one less main our bill would have been around the $70 mark which is a relatively inexpensive night out.

We left at 7pm and the restaurant was steadily filling up.

For those with Coeliacs Disease or a gluten intolerance I would highly recommended Dragon Boat Chinese Restaurant. 

They have several locations. We visited the Wantirna South restaurant which is located at

Shop 2216 Knox O-Zone, 509 Burwood Hwy, Wantirna South, Vic 3152 I would highly recommend making a reservation by phoning (03) 9801 6655  Do you know of a gluten free friendly Chinese restaurant? Please share by commenting below.