Falafels – gluten-free

We were recently invited to a Middle Eastern themed dinner party and I decided to take falafels. I wandered into the supermarket looking for the wet mix you can often find in the fridges which makes up to a nice mix. However, there were none that were gluten-free! Insanely, I decided I could just make it up! Luckily, they turned out beautifully, and I have made them since for the family. Here’s my no-fail recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 can lentils, yellow peas or mixed beans
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg white
• 3 cloves garlic
• A little oil
• Liquid from chick pea can
• More oil for frying

1/2 cup gluten-free flour

Method

Drain the chickpeas and lentils, reserving the liquids from the chickpeas.
Combine chickpeas, lentils, coriander, parsley and spices in a blender and process until mushed using a little of the reserved liquid.
In a bowl, combine the chickpea mix with the remainder of the ingredients.  Mix up until you have a stiff mix which can be shaped into balls.
Flatten dessertspoon sized balls into small patties, and shallow fry until golden brown on each side.

Serve with yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce for a starter or snack. For a full meal, serve either with rice and salad, sweet chilli sauce and yoghurt, or with salad and wraps.

The chickpea batter. The more coriander and parsley you put in, the greener it will be!

I meant to take photos of the platter of falafels. Unfortunately we ate them all too quickly. This is the last remaining one which I managed to photograph just before it, too was eaten!

If it LOOKS like a pie and TASTES like a pie, is it a pie?

What do you think? Check out our dinner from the other night!!

That’s gluten-free pastry people, and it tasted pretty darn fine! I made the pastry using this recipe that I blogged about a while ago. I didn’t put any cumin into the pastry, just kept it plain as it was a mince pie. Yum. I’m having it re-heated for lunch today.

I admit, my decorative ability is sadly lacking, but you get the idea!

Hummus

I’ve always loved hummus, and thought it was much easier just to buy it, and probably much yummier. The home made hummus I had eaten was lumpy and not as nice as the store bought stuff. But then I went to the GFME course in February and tried some of Judy’s home made hummus. Coincidentally, we had pumpkin which needed to be used. So here’s my pumpkin hummus recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas
• Half a pumpkin
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
• 4 cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder or 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp oil

Method:

• Chop the pumpkin into pieces and scoop out the seeds. Roast in the oven for about half an hour until the pumpkin is soft.
• Roast the whole garlic for about 15 minutes with the pumpkin, and allow both to cool.
• Drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid.
• Puree/ blend all ingredients together, using as much of the reserved chick pea liquid as needed to make a smooth paste.

And that, my friends, is that! Here are some other options:

Replace the pumpkin with carrot (4 or 5 large ones) and add in some fresh coriander and mint. Replace the pumpkin with roasted capsicums.

 

Apologies to those of you who received a slightly weird version of this post – I’m still figuring out how the iPad app works for WordPress!

Easy gluten-free scones

Quite some time ago now, I posted a recipe for very quick and easy gluten-free scones. I made these for lunch today, and they were so delicious, I thought it was time to repost the recipe. I’ve made a couple of little changes to the savoury ones, and here’s a picture of the delicious scrumminess (is that even a word?) that I was able to eat!

Ingredients

• 3 cups gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 25g butter
• 1 and 1/4 cups milk

Method

• Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl.
• Melt the butter together with the milk.
• Pour into the flour and mix to a soft dough.
• Knead this gently (don’t over work or it doesn’t rise as well) and press the dough out to about 2cm thick.
• Cut out in squares, rounds or stars if you feel so inclined and put on a cold greased over tray. Brush with a little milk.
• Bake in a preheated  oven at 220C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool on the tray, and cover with a clean tea towel which keeps scones fresh and moist.
• Even though these are gluten-free, they keep fairly well. If it’s the next day you will need to microwave or toast them to restore freshness.

Variations

I often make these into a savoury scone by adding cheese and fresh herbs (rosemary is especially nice), or a little spring onion and capsicum. Sprinkle the tops with cheese as well. The ones in the picture are cheese, cumin seeds and rosemary.

If I’m going the Devonshire tea route with jam and cream, I add 3 tbsp of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla to the mix.

Lunchtime goodness

Salmon, spinach and ricotta tart – gluten-free

For Christmas, an American friend sent me a copy of a cookbook called “Quick-fix gluten free” by Robert M Landolphi. Robert is a trained chef whose wife is coeliac and this is his second gluten-free cookbook. You can find his website here. He has lots of basic recipes but also some excellent conversions of existing ones.  I modified  his basic sweet pastry recipe and added in a filling and it was delicious! Here’s the recipe as follows:

Pastry Crust

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/4 cups white rice flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 4 tbsp butter, cold and chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 cup milk

Method

• Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
• Add shortening and butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the flour until it forms the texture of coarse meal or breadcrumbs.
• Use a fork to gradually stir in the milk to moisten the dry ingredients.
• Using your hands, form the dough into  a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week. I only refrigerated it for about 10 minutes, and it was fine.
• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease a 9″ pie plate.
• Put the pastry between two sheets of wax paper to roll out. To get pastry into the dish, remove the top layer of paper and upend the dish on the pastry. Slip your hand under the bottom wax paper and flip the pastry into the dish. Use your hands to patch up the pastry.

I baked the pastry blind for about 5 minutes before we put the filling in, then for a further 15 or so minutes once the tart was filled.

We also added some asparagus to the top of our pie

Filling

• 100g smoked salmon
• 400g ricotta
• 1 packet frozen spinach or about 8 cups fresh spinach
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus a bit extra
• 1 tsp dill
• 1/2 cup chopped capsicum (optional)
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (optional)

Method

• Either squeeze all the liquid out of the frozen spinach, or blanch the fresh spinach. This is to get any excess liquid out otherwise the pastry will be soggy.
• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Place the filling in the pie crust.
• Top with the remaining parmesan cheese and bake for 15-20  minutes until the crust is browned and cheese is melted.
  

  The finished product

  This was also really nice reheated for lunch the next day.

Socca with roasted tomato and capsicum salsa

I keep encountering socca. First of all in a recipe in a magazine, then at Galbraith’s pub when the husband and I snuck out for a grown-ups’ day off in January. This past weekend, in an effort to utilise the current tomato glut in our vege patch, I made a roast tomato salsa. When I was looking through the Living Without magazine, I came across the socca recipe again and decided that the socca would go very nicely with the salsa.

Socca is a thin, unleavened pancake or crepe made from chickpea flour. It originates in the South of France, and is apparently sold in street stalls. I whipped up a batch and although I was surprised by the texture (I was expecting more of a flatbread and this was quite crepe-like), the taste was really lovely and worked well with the salsa. Here are the recipes for both.

Socca

• 1 and 1/2 cups chickpea flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups water
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp oil, divided
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp minced dried onion (I used garlic as I didn’t have any dried onion)

Whisk together chickpea flour, water, 2 tbsp oil, rosemary, salt, pepper and dried onions. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Mixture will resemble a thick cream.

Coat a non-stick skillet with 1/2 tbsp oil and heat over low flame until hot.

Pour about 1/2 cup batter into the pan and swirl around to coat pan like a crepe in a round shape.

Cook socca until crispy on one side. Flip and brown on the other.

Roasted tomato and capsicum salsa

Ingredients

• 6 large tomatoes
• 1 large onion, peeled and halved
• 2 capsicums
• 4 fresh apricots, halved and with the stones removed
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• a handful of fresh coriander or about half a handful of rosemary or mixed fresh herbs
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

 

Method:

Halve the tomatoes and remove the stems. Lay flat on an oven tray.

Remove the seeds from the capsicum and lay flat on the  oven tray with the onion as well.

Spray the vegetables with oven spray.

Roast at 180 degrees C for about half an hour until the skin of the vegetables is beginning to crack and blister. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until combined. Place in a jar and refrigerate.

Use on sandwiches, as a dip or a sauce. Or just eat with a teaspoon.

Apologies for no picture – I will try harder in future!

Eggplant Stacks

I made these for a lunch where we had a couple of vegetarians and they were a huge hit. They’re called stacks, but I actually did them layered in a dish to speed things up!! Really nice flavours and very easy. These aren’t too cheap in winter, but this would be a great dish in summer when eggplant is cheap.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• 1/2 c gluten-free flour
• 2 eggs
• 50ml milk
• 2 c gluten-free breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c cheese – mozzarella or parmesan

For the passata

• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1/2 c wine

Method

Combine all ingredients for the passata and put onto a steady simmer. This needs to simmer for at least 30 minutes and reduce a little. If you want a smooth paste, then mash or puree the reduced mixture.

Slice the eggplant into 1cm rounds. Lay out on a tray and sprinkle with salt. Leave for about 10 minutes until the liquid is seeping out. Rinse off the salt and dry with paper towels.

Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Set up 3 bowls, one with flour, salt and pepper; one with the eggs and milk lightly beaten together and the third with the breadcrumbs. Dust each eggplant slice with flour, then dip in the egg and milk mixture and coat with breadcrumbs. Spray a couple of oven trays with baking spray and lay the eggplant out in a single layer on the sheets. Spray the top of the eggplant with the baking spray and place the trays in the oven to cook until browned.

Once the eggplant is golden brown, remove from the oven. Make stacks of two eggplant slices sandwiched with the passata and cheese in the middle and on the top. Alternately, do layers in a lasagna type dish, finishing with a layer of passata and cheese.

Put back in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Moroccan-style beef

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe, so thought I’d use this winter warmer. Makes a lovely flavoured casserole, reheats brilliantly and we often freeze half for another night. I think you could make it in a crockpot, although I haven’t done this. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it is very quick to make.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant or if they are out of season, 3 courgettes or a swede or combo of all of these
• 1 tbsp each of coriander and cumin seeds (you can use ground, but the whole spices make for a more intense flavour)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp ground paprika
• 1 tsp chilli powder or chillies
• 1 kg beef, diced
• Oil
• 2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 2 tsp crushed or grated ginger
• 2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup red or white wine (optional)
• 2 x 400g tins of chick peas
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method

• Cut the eggplant, courgettes or swede into large chunks and fry in the oil, with the garlic, until golden brown.
• Place the whole spices into a grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until a powder. Add the other spices and mix well.
• Put the diced beef into a plastic bag which has no holes in it! Add the ground spices and ensure the beef is thoroughly coated.
• Place beef in the pan with the ginger and cook until browned.
• Stir in vinegar and wine, then add in tomatoes. Stir until combined, then add the chickpeas.
• Cover and simmer for 30 minutes to two hours.  Stir through fresh coriander and serve on brown rice or couscous (only if you’re ok with gluten!).

This recipe also works very well with chicken, or you can use the spice flavourings as a rub for a piece of meat. I also often add green beans at the end of the cooking time to add a few more vegetables!

Gluten free bread

My first experience of gluten free bread was a relative disaster. My sister-in-law is coeliac and was coming to stay, so I thought that I would make her some bread and some muffins. I bought gluten free baking mix and already had cornmeal, so I made muffins and they were fine 🙂 Emboldened by this, I used the breadmaker and made some bread.

Mistake #1 – I used the breadmaker!

Mistake #2 – I only used cornmeal to replace the flour. The resulting texture was kind of shiny and slippery on the teeth. Tasted fine, but was only edible when it was JUST cooked.

Hmmm. Back to the drawing board. Left the bread making alone for quite some time. Then a friend gave me some information from an Alison Holst cookbook about making gluten free bread. The first piece of advice? Don’t use a standard breadmaker unless it has a gluten free cycle! The second piece of advice? Use a variety of flours. The third piece of advice? Use a binding gum like guar gum or xanthan gum.

So I tried again. This time, I adapted a late bake focaccia recipe, so I mixed the dough in the breadmaker, and then left it to rise and cooked it in the oven. Difficulties? It lost its shape, got very flat and even then, didn’t look it had cooked and on the inside, didn’t appear cooked! So I haven’t tried bread again, but I have used the bread flour mix from the Alison Holst cookbook as my standard baking flour mix time and again. Here it is:

Gluten Free Flour Mix

• 2 cups chickpea flour
• 2 cups tapioca starch
• 4 cups maize cornflour
• 4 cups rice flour
• 9 tsp xanthan or guar gum

Measure chickpea flour and tapioca starch into a large bowl or canister. Thoroughly stir the mixture using a large whisk.  If using a canister, put the lid on and give it a good shake to blend.

Add cornflour, and repeat the mixing process, then add the rice flour and repeat again.

Store in an airtight container until required.

Just a note, when I’m using this for baking, I tend to add 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda as rising agents.

Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters

These are a flavour burst in every bite. Best eaten hot and right out of the pan, but that’s not always practical so you can keep them hot in the oven as well until you’re ready to serve them. These are really nice for a high vegetable dinner served with salad and are a huge favourite of ours.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chilli paste, or 1 small chilli de-seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 2 tsp crushed ginger
• 1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
• 1.5 cups gluten free flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• vegetable oil for frying
• mango chutney and plain yoghurt to serve

Method:

Cook cauliflower in a saucepan of boiling water until tender. Drain water and roughly mash. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Cook cumin seeds in a little oil in a frypan for a minute until they start to pop. Add onion and cook for a few minutes. Add chilli, garlic and ginger and cook for a little longer. Set aside to cool.

Combine flour, baking soda and powder, salt, turmeric and ground coriander. Whisk eggs in a jug with 1/2 cup water and add to the flour mixture. Whisk until smooth. Add the onion mixture, mashed cauli and coriander leaves and mix well.

Add oil to frypan and heat over medium heat. The original recipe calls for enough oil to deep fry, which is filling the frypan about half full of oil. I use a lot less than this, and you can even just use oven spray if you want to. Cook 2 tbsp mixture in batches of 3 or 4 for a few minutes each side.