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.