The gluten free way 1-1-13

No one feels much like cooking on New Years Day . If you are lucky you may have ham leftovers!!!!

No such luck here. We are trying to have a clean out of the house so we don't store any rubbish when time comes for our house to be demolished due to earthquake damage. So the garage had the huge tick on it today.

So now when it comes to tea..... Butterfly lamb has been on special these past couple weeks I have stocked up for some Indian cooking . Ha ha but it's so easy on the BBQ ( and that's mans work ) so I am freed up ... Little sexist comment. With a gluten free Cajun rub and a little Moroccan one as well hubbie is set to go. A lovely slow cook maybe an hour then some time resting and we could be in action.

Lucky I have fresh potatoes, and greek salad with feta on side for DF son, then a bean salad with bean mix few fresh green beans , celery and garlic oil.

Quick easy .

Zuchinni Pickle as requested

Following a request from a person allergic to tomatoes I made this one last year - spectacular.
Using gluten free cornflour when thickening and check your curry powders and spices.

Zuchinni Pickle

1 kg prepared weight courgettes, diced
900g diced coloured peppers
1/2 cup corn kernels ( i use tinned )
4 tsp each salt and yellow mustard seeds
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp each ground nutmeg, tumeric, chilli flakes
420 ml white vinegar
2 finely diced onions
3 cloves diced /crushed garlic
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp curry powder
To thicken 2 - 3 Tbspn cornflour mixed with equal quantity of white vinegar.
Place all ingredients except thickening mixture into large saucepan with heavy base. stir to combine.
Bring to boil and simmer for one hour uncovered.Mix together the cornflour and vinegar and then a cup of relish mixture to mix then stir well.make sure it has thickened then pour into sterilised jars.

Gluten Free Wraps - Burritos for tea

Bit spoilt tonight having tea cooked for me by my son.I worked today and so it was decided by the Whanau that tea would be burritos . I have found some gluten free wraps that are palatable without a terrible after flavour.They are Gerry's wraps made in Christchurch . I purchased them at the Funky Pumpkin in New Brighton.I would have to say I have tried some bad ones since going gluten free .

So I am looking forward to Mexican burritos just like the real thing ..

Gluten Free Highlights 2012

It so very hot in Christchurch today and after cleaning out a cupboard and feeling like a saint my mind was wandering . As a new year approaches, I think about the year to come  making mental  lists of to do's and then sometimes a sub conscious should have done....

However while scrubbing the shelves I thought . It has been a busy year with a few trips away and there have been a few foodie highlights- the one that pops into my first is

Victoria Markets Melbourne

                                                      


I adore the noise and bustle of the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. The display of fresh produce, meat and seafood.We purchased lovely fresh fruit .I would love to live there for a while and shop at those markets the prices were extremely cheap compared to New Zealand food prices.

 At Fennix-Meeting Gary Mehigan Masterchef Judge

        Being a Masterchef addict, top of my hit  list was to have a meal, any meal at one of the judges restaurants. We investigated them as to the availabilty of gluten free options and decided lunch at Fennix was our choice.Much to my amazement in walked Gary.He sat and talked and wrote on a menu(which I treasure) the places we should see being the foodies we were. As our trip was a quick one I haven't visited them yet but will put that on a to do list.Indeed my trip was fantastic .That was such a highlight for me.Oh and the meal... was how I would have expected . They had a gluten free bread with dipping sauces and I had the beef cheeks having seen them being cooked during the Masterchef season. Delish !!! the hardest thing is when you go somewhere with such high expectations and they do not meet them but boy oh boy this exceeded them.


I suppose personally my whole style of cooking has changed over the past three years. I use a lot of fresh herbs to give my food flavour. I use different ethnic styles to produce a meal with depth and flavour. I am now challenged by a person visiting who doesn't like chilli, garlic, ginger. herb's and spices.I have learnt to use my mortar and pestle to churn out amazing dishes.The use of lentils, chick peas . I know that in 2013 there are still a good many dishes to try and master.

I love trying new recipes. I am lucky that the team I work with are foodies and we often have great discussions on new dishes new ideas. I take them and with a few adaptions try them out.We eat a lot of fresh vegetables. My challenge this coming summer is to try to get a few different salads rather than the standard old ones.We have such a plentiful supply of vegetables its good to vary them.

Family favourite dish for 2012....hard one - but at present I think its leaning to a sweet n sour dish that I have made using pork, chicken, fish and tofu. Growing up I had a special one that was my Dad's, beautiful but all deep fried. I found a healthy version this year and with a few tweaks it has become a favourite and I think the fact it has been tweaked to be the healthy version and very versatile in what protein source you can use it will be a stayer.

I am still a huge fan of The Healthy Food Guide magazine. I subscribed to it before coeliac diagnosis and have continued since.To me it is the piece of mail I look forward to each month and I find that I have tried out one recipe by the end of the first weekend that it arrives. All sorts of new food and great inspirational ideas. In the latest one I made the lime and coconut puddings for two lots of guests over Christmas . When my DF son was home I made it with soy milk and then one night he wasn't home I made it for guests with milk. It worked both times.A treat as we don't have desserts very often at all.

South Of India (North New Brighton)

What a lovely evening made especially nicer with our overseas guests.

Indian food I have found on the whole to be an easy option in the gluten free world.We have a lovely Indian Restaurant in North New Brighton.They have always been accommodating with my gluten free requests. The menu is partially labeled but when you question the staff they are happy to check your options out. They make the dishes from scratch so it's very authentic. Not Pataks out of a jar!!!!

Our challenge tonight was also we had a member of our party that is allergic to nuts.The waitress was very helpful and went and got a more senior member of staff to help us make sure we had no accidents.We chose to keep the whole meal,no gluten and no nuts for all of us, to ensure no cross contamination as we shared our beautiful dishes.

It will be very sad to say goodbye to my special friends tomorrow.But we did have a lovely night out.

Christmas Celebration

Christmas, a time to gather, celebrate and relax.

I find it a time where I have every cook book I own on the floor and I pour through them, over and over again. Wishing I had made better notes or could find my notes from last year. What did we have for nibbles? What did we have for lunch?


This year having purchased an iPad during the year I decided that I would use this to my advantage. Create a list of recipes that appealed,narrow it down to those I actually used and then I would have it for 2013.

The height of organisation...... Planning is one of the key elements in living with Coeliac Disease and in our house other food allergies as well. So I feel quite virtuous having made it to the 29th December and had lovely interesting meals and treats.