Gluten Free Blueberry and Ricotta Hotcakes

At this time of the year, there is nothing more luxurious than having a relaxing morning sleep-in followed by delicious, fruity hotcakes.

This recipe is a Bill Granger recipe that has been adapted for gluten free flour and works really well.  Whilst this was a pleasant surprise, I am so relieved that they worked as sometimes substituting regular gluten containing flours for gluten free flours is not always successful - well, actually more often than not, so having a recipe work is such pleasure.  Which is made even better when you eat it!

Gluten Free Blueberry and Ricotta Hotcakes

adapted from Bill Granger's blueberry hotcakes recipe

165g fresh blueberries

3 tbs caster sugar

180g GF multipurpose plain flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

3 eggs, separated 

250ml of milk

125g fresh ricotta

a small amount of butter for the fry pan

maple syrup and a few fresh blueberries for serving

Stir 1 tablespoon of caster sugar with the fresh blueberries, mashing them a little.

Sift the GF plain flour, baking powder and salt together.  Mix in the sugar.

Beat the egg yolks and milk together and stir into the dry ingredients.  Gently mix in the ricotta.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Fold this into the batter carefully - you don't want to know the air out of the egg whites!

Fold in the blueberries to allow for the juice to give the mixture a marble effect - two or three stirs is enough.

Heat a frying pan and melt a little butter.  Drop a small soup ladle of batter in the pan and cook for two to three minutes or until lots of little bubbles appear in the top and pop.  Flip carefully cook for a further one minute.

Repeat until all the batter is cooked, wrapping the cooked hotcakes in a tea towel to keep them warm until ready to be served.  

Serve drizzled with maple syrup and a few fresh blueberries.  

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

Gluten Free Rhubarb and Cherry Pudding

The fresh fruits available at this time of the year is truly wonderful.  Whilst all of the summer fruits are delightful eaten fresh from the fruit bowl, I do like to mix things up a little and try baking with them.

I had a beautiful bunch of rhubarb and the remnants of a punnet of cherries that needed to be eaten.  Rather than have them go to waste, I thought that these two ingredients would compliment each other in a pudding.  I reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe using honey to sweeten the rhubarb which is so delicious.  You simply must try this recipe for yourself.

Gluten Free Rhubarb and Cherry Pudding 

based on a Margret Fulton recipe for Rhubarb and Orange Pudding

1 1/2 cups of chopped rhubarb
1 cup of de-seeded cherries cut in half
3 tbsp of honey
2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup of caster sugar
60g of unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
3/4 cup of gluten free self-raising flour
1/4 cup of milk

Grease a small baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan forced.

Place the rhubarb and cherries in the greased baking dish and sprinkle on half of the lemon zest.  Drizzle the honey over them and stir through so that everything is coated in the honey.

Cream the butter and the sugar together with the lemon zest.  Add the egg and combine.

Stir in the gluten free SR flour alternating with the milk until both are combined.  It is easier if you add the milk last rather than the flour, as it is easier to mix in.

Pour over the fruit and smooth out.  It is a fairly thick mixture so it will not cover all of the fruit evenly. I let some of the rhubarb or cherries stick through the pudding batter and some areas are not covered at all.

Place in the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes until golden on top and rhubarb/cherry mixture is bubbling around the edges.

Cool slightly before serving with cream, gluten free ice-cream or homemade gluten free custard.

Serves 4 generously.


monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

Gluten Free Spaghetti: Royal Quinoa and Rice

I am always on the lookout for new gluten free products to try, particularly pastas.

I was at Thomas Dux Grocer in Surry Hills in Sydney and was delighted to see the number of gluten free products is growing.  They now have over 200 gluten free products in-store.  This is fantastic!

 Whilst browsing through the grocers I found this new pasta:  Organic Royal Quinoa and Rice Spaghetti.  Naturally I bought it along with a few other treats.

This pasta is lovely.  It held its shape well and did not turn to mush when cooked.  I am assuming that this is due to the royal quinoa in the pasta.  The flavour is nondescript, similar to non-gluten free pastas.

When trying this as home, I prepared a quick pasta sauce to my husband's request:  something with tomatoes, olives and pine nuts.  This I what I cooked on the fly:

Tomato, Black Olive and Pine Nut Spaghetti

3 handfuls of grape tomatoes, cut into halves - would equate to roughly two cups of whole tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of pitted black kalamata olives
3 tbs of pine nuts, toasted
salt to taste

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add the tomatoes.  Stir them so they are coated in the oil.

Once the tomatoes have cooked for a minute or so, add the minced garlic and drop the heat down to low to prevent the garlic from burning.  Mix this through so it is well combined with the tomatoes.  Add a good pinch of salt and let the tomatoes cook down for five to ten minutes.

When the tomatoes have become soft, let the sauce reduce so that it thickens a little.

Once the sauce is of a slightly thick consistency taste and add salt as required.  The mix through the olives.

Stir the sauce through cooked spaghetti and serve topped with toasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan.

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia

Gluten Free Cooking 101

One staple that I always have on hand in the fridge is a homemade tomato sauce.  I do find that many meals I make are based on a tomato sauce.  My mother always says that this is one of the simplest things to cook and can be used as a basis for many dishes.

By pre-making this sauce and keeping it in either the fridge or freezer, you can cut your dinner preparation time right down whether it be for a quick pasta or one pot wonder of chicken and veg in the oven.  This sauce is very versatile and I hope that you find many uses for it yourself.

My Basic Gluten Free Tomato Sauce

1 medium onion
a glug of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbs verjuice
3 x 400g tins of diced Italian tomatoes
half a 400g tin of water - used to rinse out the tomato tin
a large sprig of fresh basil, preferably sweet basil or a pinch of dried basil
a small sprig of fresh oregano or a large pinch of dried oregano 
a pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs white vinegar
2 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Heat the oil and sauté the diced onion until transparent.  It is at this point that I add the herbs and salt to quickly heat them.  Add the verjuice to the pan and let it evaporate a little.

Add the tomatoes and stir through the onions, verjuice and herbs.  At this point, add the half tin of water,  I rinse the tins out so that no bits of tomato are wasted.  

Let this cook at a low simmer for about 35-40 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated, so that the sauce is at a nice thick consistency.  

Add the extra virgin olive oil and the vinegar and taste checking for a balance between the oil and the vinegar - you don't want too much of one or the other.  Also add salt and pepper as needed as well. 

If you have used fresh herbs, fish the stems of the basil and the oregano out of the sauce before bottling in a clean jar, covering the sauce with a layer of extra virgin olive oil.  This can keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze and defrost and use as required.

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia