Gluten Free Out and About: La Cocina Peruvian Restaurant

Our dinner out this week was to La Cocina Peruana Peruvian Restaurant.  earlier this year we had been to Peru and found the food there to be really delicious and fresh.  There were a few ingredients that were used we had not eaten before and it was a real culinary experience.  The most wonderful thing was that most of the places we went to for dinner had many gluten free options.  Most of the Peruvian diet is corn and potato based.
When I called to make the reservation, I was delighted to find out that everything on the menu was gluten free.  All bar one item.  This was fantastic news.  I was really looking forward to this meal.

Our starters were delicious.  I had Papa a la huacaina "My wife's a genius" which is backed potato served with yellow chilli sauce that was more spicy that originally anticipated, but good.  Husband enjoyed the Peruvian Tamales "Sundays at home" which is ground corn seasoned with spices and herbs stuffed with chicken.  Unfortunately this was the one entree that was not gluten free!!  Alas as I really wanted to try tamales.

These starters were accompanied by the national drink of Peru:  Pisco Sour.  This drink is delicious and the ones made at La Cocina Peruana are a must do when visiting this restaurant.

Main course for me was Cordero de los Andes which was char grilled lamb served with quinoa salad, yucas and rice.  This dish is rather carb heavy which is unusual for a coeliac out to dinner so I enjoyed this part.  Husband had the Aji de Gallina:  shredded chicken cooked in chills, cheese and almond sauce.  This was delicious and very enjoyable.  Both of these mains were gluten free so I was able to taste both meals.  Our side dish was a lovely fresh salad with quinoa.

The meals were very generous in portions that we were unable to squeeze in anything else!

La Cocina Peruana is a lovely meal out that is a little different to the usual thai restaurants that are everywhere and easy to visit when gluten free.  The meals are freshly made and are a lovely way for us to recall some of the meals that we enjoyed in Peru.  Whilst there is no guinea pig or alpaca on the menu it is still a lovely local restaurant to visit.

La Cocina Peruana
142 Avoca St Randwick
Phone:  02 9326 4344
Web:  http://www.lacocinaperu.com.au

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

Quick Gluten Free Pasta Bake

The sudden drop in temperature a few weeks ago brought me back to some winter favourites.  The dish in question was gluten free pasta bake.  This dish is always well received at the dinner table.

Usually I spend a little more time in making a sauce and putting together.  However this time around I wanted to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible.

My solution to this dilemma was to cut the preparation time down by simplifying the sauce and putting the pasta on to cook before I began making the sauce.  Fortunately, first thinking a little about what I wanted to prepare helped save me some time.  Jamie Oliver eat your heart out!

This pasta has a really simple tomato and garlic sauce.  The added goodness comes from chopped up lost/forgotten vegetables from the bottom of the vegetable crisper - we all have them - you know you do!  My vegetables on this occasion were broccoli and beans which fortunately are a good combination with a tomato based sauce.

This dinner in all probably took about 30 minutes to prepare, maybe even quicker as I had not timed myself.  Prepare this yourself and let me know if you beat my personal best.

Tomato and Garlic Gluten Free Pasta Bake

500g of gluten free pasta

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 & 1/2 cups of passata (or use an equivalent amount of diced tinned tomatoes)

1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes

2 good pinches of salt

2 cups of grated cheese - I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar

1 handful of beans

4 florets and stem of broccoli

Grease a lasagne dish ready for the pasta bake and preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan forced.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, about 2 litres should be enough for 500g of pasta.  Add a pinch of salt to the boiling water and pour in the pasta.  Cook according to the direction on the packet.  This will be anywhere from 6-10 minutes depending on the brand.  Try and not let it over cook.  

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan.  Whilst this is heating, mince the four cloves of garlic.  I use a microplane - so quick and easy.  Once the oil is warm add the garlic and let it sauté gently being careful to not let it burn.  The aim is to have the garlic become a little golden in colour and beautifully fragrant.  This will take several minutes.

Whilst the garlic is gently cooking, wash and chop up the vegetables.  When the pasta is almost done, add them to the pot.  This way they will cook a little, depending on the type of vegetable and the size of the pieces.  You need to keep this is in mind when making a dish like this.  In this recipe, the beans and broccoli were cut up in small pieces and they take virtually no time to cook.  

Once the vegetables are in cooking with the pasta, the garlic should be ready.  Add the passata, salt and dried chilli flakes.  Check for seasoning and add more salt if required. 

The pasta should now be ready.  Drain along with the vegetables.

Tip this into a greased baking dish and pour the tomato and garlic sauce over the top.  Mix through carefully ensuring that each piece of pasta is 'kissed' by the sauce.  Top with the grated cheese and put into the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Serve immediately.  Serves 4-6.

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

Homemade Gluten Free Anzac Biscuits

I decided that I would try my hand at making Anzac biscuits using the Margaret Fulton recipe that I used as a child making these.  Except this time I needed to change a few ingredients to make them gluten free.  I substituted the rolled oats with rolled quinoa and the plain flour with gluten free plain flour.

Fortunately they worked a treat and tasted delicious.  There was no need to alter the amounts of any of the ingredients or cook them at a different temperature - so easy.

Gluten Free Anzac Biscuits

Based on the recipe from Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery

125g of butter
1 tbs of golden syrup
2 tbs of boiling water
1 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
1 cup of rolled quinoa
1 cup of gluten free plain flour - I used a general all purpose flour from the supermarket
1 cup of white sugar
1 tsp of xanthum gum

Melt the butter and the golden syrup together in a saucepan - do this on the stove not in the microwave as you will have a little science trick happen later.

Combine the rolled quinoa, flour, sugar and xanthum gum together in a bowl or stand mixer.
Once the butter and the syrup are melted mix the bicarbonate of soda with the boiling water and add to the butter/syrup mixture.  This is the magic part:  it will froth up.

Mix this into the dry ingredients until well combined.

Roll into small balls pressing them onto a lined baking tray.

Place in a preheated oven at 150 degrees fan forced for 15-20 minutes until golden.  

Let the biscuits cool completely before removing from the tray as they will hard significantly when cool.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or milk.

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

GF Anzac Biscuits

This afternoon I tried for the first time Rowie’s Anzac biscuits.  They are fantastic!  So crunchy and nicely sweet but not too sweet.  They remind me so much of the Anzac biscuits that my siblings and I used to make as kids.

I have wondered recently how I would re-create Anzac biscuits gluten free seeing as though oats are a main ingredient.  In some countries, oats are classed as gluten free, such as the USA - this I discovered when buying muffins at Whole Foods in San Francisco.  These delicious looking gluten free muffins all had oats in them and were labelled gluten free - I was not really wanting to take the risk so by-passed them.

The Australian Coeliac Society does not endorse the thought that oats are gluten free.  The recommendation is that whilst some people may not have a reaction to oats, you need to trial eating a small amount over a three month period then have an endoscopy.  

I must admit that when I read this my heart jumped as I really do miss creamy, warm oats for breakfast on a wintery morning, but the thought of having another endoscopy to see if I had any small intestine damage was going a little too far for me.  So oats are off the menu.

Going back to the question of how to replace oats in Anzac biscuits, I had though rice flakes that had been soaked before use, as they are already very hard and I imagine that they would be harder after baking.  But the use of quinoa flakes in Rowie’s biscuits is fabulous!  

I cannot speak highly enough of the biscuits and cakes that Rowie’s Cakes produce - you must go to their factory in Marrickville in Sydney and buy one of each type of cake to try, you will not be disappointed!  But the Anzac biscuits are perfect for an afternoon treat with a cut of tea in the miserable weather that we have had lately.

Rowie’s Cakes

http://www.rowiescakes.com.au/

Australian Coeliac Society

http://www.coeliac.org.au/content/downloads/Oats%20Position%20Statement.pdf

Gluten Free Moroccan Tagine with Saffron Rice

I recently went to Herbies in Rozelle here in Sydney for a Herb Appreciation Course.  This course was fantastic.  It introduces you to the best fresh herbs available and their history, origins and the ideal ways to buy them.

A spice blend we were shown in class was Super Ras el Hanout.

This is a spice blend that contains over thirty herbs and spices and it is delicious.  Each spice merchant in souks across Morocco has their own spice blend that they sell.  Herbies has two, the one I am using is an anniversary blend.

I prepared it in a beef tagine with a few vegetables and tinned tomatoes letting it cook for several hours in a slow cooker.  I find that cooking meals the day or evening before in a slow cooker is a great way to  get ahead.  Whilst it is not recommended to leave the slow cooker unattended whilst on, I do, overnight letting the meal cook and then cool.  Pop it in the fridge when you get up in the morning - easy.

This tagine I put on to cook early evening before starting dinner preparation for that night.

Beef and Tomato Tagine with Super Ras el Hanout 

600g gravy beef, diced
half an onion diced
half a leek sliced
1 stick of celery, diced
1 carrot diced
a glug of olive oil
1/4 pumpkin, peeled and diced
4 small potatoes diced
400g diced tomatoes
4 teaspoons of spice blend Super Ras el Hanout
1 cup of vegetable stock

Heat a glug of olive oil in a pan and saute the vegetables for a few minutes until soft.  Tip the vegetables out of the pan into the slow cooker.  Brown the meat, sprinkling half of the spice blend through the meat.  Once browned add the meat to the slow cooker.

Place the peeled and diced pumpkin potatoes and the remaining spice in the slow cooker.  Add the tomatoes and stock and let this simmer for up to four hours to allow the meat to become tender and melt in the mouth.

Serve re-heated with rice or the Saffron Pilau as suggested, recipe below.

Saffron Pilau from Margret Fulton's Encyclopaedia of Cookery

This rice dish is one that my mother would make and I have very fond memories of the smell of the spices, inparticular the saffron cooking and infusing the most delicious flavour into the rice.  The second I smelt the delicious saffron in the spice class I was transported back twenty plus years to the memory of this rice dish.

3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
1/2 tsp crumbled saffron threads
2 cups of long grain rice
3 1/2 cups boiling stock - I use a gluten free vegetable stock powder
8 black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
4 cardamon pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
2 tbs salt
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup almond slivers toasted

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan and gently fry onions until a pale golden colour.  Make sure the onions are soft but do not allow to burn - this will take a while.

Add the saffron and cook for one minute, stirring.  Add the rice and fry gently stirring for five minutes until all rice is coated and golden.  Add 1 3/4 cups of boiling stock with peppercorns, cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is tender, adding more stock as required.

Add the sultanas, cover and let them plump.  Turn off the heat and keep covered until ready to be served.  Add the almonds at the last minute before serving.


monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

A Fresh Tasting Risotto

Dinner for us the other night was risotto, which is a regular visitor to our table.  Sometimes it is a solo feature or paired with another main.  Our dinner no this particular night was Sundried Tomato and Lemon Risotto and Grilled Chicken.

I find that risotto is a great gluten free dish.  It is easy to prepare and once you have the knack of making it you are on your way to exploring the different combinations of flavours that you can add to your basic risotto recipe.

This risotto was made using the basic risotto recipe that I have mentioned earlier but will include below.   The grilled chicken was done very simply:  chicken breast sprinkled with olive oil and a little salt then cooked, or rather fried in a non-stick fry pan.  A very simple and delicious meal.

Sundried Tomato and Lemon Risotto

1 batch of basic risotto recipe (see below)
replace the parmesan cheese with pecorino cheese
1 cup of loosely packed sundried tomatoes, sliced
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon
a small handful of chopped parsley to finish

1 chicken breast cut into half, making it thinner
olive oil
salt

Once the risotto is almost ready and you have just added the butter and pecorino cheese, add the chopped up sundried tomatoes as well and the lemon zest.  Mix these through carefully as you don't want the tomatoes mashed up in the risotto too much.  Squeeze the lemon juice over and mix through a little more.

Taste and check the seasoning.

Cook the thin halves of the chicken breast in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt as it cooks.  By cutting the chicken breast in half, so that it is thinner it will cook much faster and retain moisture as it will cook quickly .

Serve the risotto and the chicken together.  Enjoy!

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia



My Basic Risotto Recipe

a glug of olive oil
1 onion
1/2 leek
1/2 stick of celery
2 cups of arborio rice
2 splashes of verjuice
approx a litre of vegetable stock
3-4 cloves of garlic depending on the size
several pinches of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
20g of unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese - loosely packed
10 small sprigs of fresh thyme

Finely dice all vegetables except the garlic, but peel the garlic at this stage.  Aim to dice all the vegetables a similar size to ensure that they cook evenly.  
Heat the oil in the fry pan, once the oil is heated add all of the vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is transparent  and the other veg have softened a little.
Add the arborio rice to the pan and cook until the rice becomes transparent.
Mince the garlic and the freshly grated nutmeg and stir through the vegetable/rice mix in the pan.  

Splash the verjuice into the pan, it will sizzle a bit but stir it though as it will evaporate slightly and go a little cloudy.  This is the starch being released a little from the rice.  
Once the verjuice has evaporated, gradually add the stock, a ladle full at a time.  Or my version:  a little boiling water from the kettle and a couple of teaspoons of stock powder will suffice.  You don't need to use a homemade or store bought stock the powdered version is perfectly fine, it is entirely up to you.  

Ensure that the stock or water is added gradually, allowing the previous ladle full to be absorbed before more is added.   Keep stirring the risotto regularly, keeping the heat low - you don't want to boil the rice.  The constant stirring is essential to help massage the starch out of the rice which gives risotto its lovely creaminess.  I also tend to add a small pinch of salt each time I add the stock, if you are not sure how salty your stock is, don't add the salt at these regular intervals.

After about twenty minutes or so, check the rice is cooked by tasting it.  If is it not ready, keep adding the stock until the rice is cooked.  Once cooked, add the butter and the grated parmesan cheese, stir both through until melted.  These two ingredients will add a little more creaminess but also flavour to the dish.

Check the seasoning and correct as needed - I find that I tend to need more salt, and add the thyme, stripping the leaves off the stalks. Keep one or two tips for a garnish.  Stir this through for even distribution.

My final note about risotto is to ensure that the texture is like runny porridge.  I prefer my risotto this way.  To ensure that this is the case, I will add a little more stock to maintain this texture.