Gluten Free Cooking

I know I know, I said I wouldn't be around much, but what can I say, I just can't stay away! Still haven't caught up in NaNo, but DH is reading DD a bedtime story, so I have a spare few minutes.

We found out that DH was gluten intolerant about 6 or 7 years ago, after seeing the doctor because he was tired all the time. Finding out he couldn't eat gluten, which is in wheat, barley, rye and oats (although oats is disputed, mainly the problems there are caused by cross contamination) was quite a shock, as at the time most of our food was based on convenience foods. Once we got hold of a booklet from the Coeliac society showing what contained gluten and what didn't, and started reading the labels, we found out that wheat was in just about everything! At the time, there were very few gluten free foods available, and most of what was was pretty horrible. So we had to learn to make our own. We had quite a few adventures with trying to make our own gluten free spaghetti (thankfully there is now a decent commercial brand!), and eventually pretty much gave up on gluten free bread. I scored a couple of gluten free cookbooks from a very nice lady on a forum, who had been sent them by mistake from Amazons, which helped immensely, although since they were American, many of the ingredients were hard to find here in Australia.

It was a very stressful time, meaning we had to change our whole way of eating, and several times (when DD was first born being a notable one) we gave up all together for a time, but overall I think the advantages we've had have far outweighed the disadvantages. It was, in some ways, one of the starting points for our simple living journey. We learned about reading labels carefully, we learnt how to cook many things from scratch, and I'm sure we began eating healthier. Our household is about 80% gluten free these days. Almost all of my baking is gluten free, the only exceptions are bread that DD and I eat, and porridge (with wheat germ) that I have for breakfast each morning. DD also eats dry weet-bix for breakfast most days.

Thankfully there are far more products for gluten free diets these days. We buy a very nice gluten free pasta, and rice crumbs taste almost identical to breadcrumbs, if 3 times the price! We still make most of our foods from scratch, including biscuits and cakes, and in most cases these are pretty similar to their gluten containing counterparts. In fact, I find that I prefer the gluten free varieties. I taste regular cupcakes, and they just taste wrong to me! Our taste buds have actually changed to suit our new diet. The old adage of you like what you eat rather than eating what you like rings pretty true.

We are on a campaign to have some snack foods on hand for DH to take for work so that he can avoid the temptation of chocolate and soft-drink. We've finally found a gluten free bread DH likes, although I think that's mainly because it's been so long since he's tasted wheat bread he can't remember what it tastes like, but it's best eaten toasted, which DH can't do at work since all the toasters have had wheat bread in them. So recently I tried this cheese and bacon roll variation, which is a big hit. We made a dozen today for DH to take to work next week, only somehow there are only 6 left! Even I enjoy them.

Gluten free bread is actually easier to make than normal bread, as it only needs to rise once, and there is no kneeding. Following the hints on the packet, I set the bread to rise over a sink full of hot water, which works beautifully.

We use the Laucke bread mix, which is mixed by hand really easily. So to make these I just followed the directions on the packet to mix up the dough (which is more like a runny cake mix, and can easily be mixed with a normal electric mixer). I then spooned half of the mix into a greased muffin tin, put some bacon (still frozen) and cheese in, spooned the other half on top, then added more bacon and cheese. Yummy! I'm going to try some cinnamon fruit rolls next, as soon as I buy some cinnamon.

Berry Nice

Yes, I know, lame title. That is what happens when you over plan a blog post. This is my 'berry harvest' from yesterday (with a few peas thrown in). Mulberries and strawberries. This is the mulberry tree's second year (first year it was still in a pot though, poor thing, while we waited to get out here to plant), and we're getting a nice taste of mulberries this year. Many of these were picked up from the ground after the recent rain and accompanying wind. Tasted nice, but could be a little sweeter, probably because some of them could be a little riper.

The strawberries are doing well too, but they taste Soooo yummy, that I am beginning to wonder if we're going to get many to make jam. I'm afraid I'm the worst culprit for strawberry eating, I keep eating them as I pick. They are so totally unlike the strawberries you buy in the shops, or even at the markets. These are the old variety, from my Grandmother's plants (Grandpa used to have a farm, and I have feint memories of going there and picking strawberries from their huge strawberry patch). These haven't been bred and modified to travel well, or be huge, or extra red, they are just the way they are, and you can taste the difference. Not even a hint of bitterness, just as sweet as can be. I'm not even going to bother trying to buy any newer commercial ones (the last ones I tried died anyway, oops), just keep making more and more and more of these.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was just beginning to wonder yesterday if we were going to get enough to make jam, and we were down to our last jar of jam... when I found a bargain at the markets this morning. A whole box full of strawberries, for the bargain price of $5!!!! So I bought them home, diced them up, and here they are in my pressure cooker! None of the saucepans were big enough to hold them! There is still at least a punnet load of the nicer ones left for eating and, more likely, juicing (have to post about my new juicer soon...)

I don't think I've posted about making jam before? We make all our own jam these days, and it's really easy. Basically, just dice up your fruit (and there are lots of options other than strawberries, pineapple, apricot, rosella, raspberry, etc etc). Put it in a saucepan with equal parts of sugar (I often put slightly less sugar, and it hasn't affected the eventual outcome). If it's a low pectin fruit (which strawberries are), add some lemon juice (about one lemon to 2 cups of strawberries), and boil it up. After a while (time seems to be dependent on the temperature of your stove) it will 'gel'. You should be able to see the change in the pot once you get used to it. The jam seems to go darker, it doesn't boil as quickly, and it 'feels' thicker. Then pour it straight into sterilised jars (I just rinse mine in hot water from the tap), and put the lids on quickly before it cools. If you have 'pop-top' jars, the tops will pop down as it cools, and seal the jars. I keep mine in the fridge, but I think it is OK to keep sealed jars in the cupboards, though I'm not sure how long.

This lot of strawberries made 11 jars of jam! So for $5 for the strawberries, and maybe $2 worth of sugar (I buy in bulk, 15kg at a time, works out at a little less than $1 a kg if I recall correctly), about $1 worth of lemons, that's about 70c a jar. Hopefully that will keep my family in jam for a while, although I won't hold my breath, we go through a lot of jam. So long as it's strawberry anyway. The pineapple and apricot have been sitting in the fridge for months. While I was at it, I poured a little into a bottle before it hit the gel stage, to see how it works for strawberry sauce.

I wonder if they'll have more boxes next week?

Recipes

Well, the weather has jackknifed from a sweltering 36.5 degrees on Saturday, to a cool 22 degrees today. It's also raining, so I'm feeling quite chilly. I've lost one of my slippers, probably the dog next door thought it looked yummy and ran off with it, so I needed to come up with a solution for cold feet. I went searching for some socks, which helped slightly, but they're very thin, and I can still feel the cold from the cement through them. So I figured I'd knit some!

I did a quick search on the web, but all the patterns I could find were either knitted in the round (which I have no idea how to do, must learn), or or in 4 ply cotton, which is a bit much knitting for me. So I'm currently creating my own pattern. I'm about half way through the first slipper, and so far it seems to be going OK, but it's hard to really tell until it's done. If I can get them to work, I'll post the pattern in the next few days. (And pics of course.) I'm using one of the many many balls of 8 ply acrylic that I have in the shed, courtesy of my grandmother, who used to crochet until her fingers wouldn't do it anymore. Cost to me, nothing!

I haven't posted about this yet, but on Sunday, lemons were 6 for $1, so I bought a dozen, and did up some lemon recipes (I've been waiting for them to get to a nice low price for these). Firstly, I made Rhonda's Lemon Cordial recipe. I'm not a big fan of lemon drinks myself, but DH loves Lift. While this is better than his previous favourite drink, Coke, it's still a little too full of colours and flavours for my taste (not to mention expensive!), so I figured if I could find a substitute, it would be good. Unfortunately he's not a big fan of it. I suspect because it lacks fizz.

Lemon Butter

Next I moved onto Lemon Butter. I used my grandmother's recipe, sent to me by my mum.

1 pound of sugar (2 cups)
1/4 pound of butter (2 tablespoons)
6 eggs
juice and rind of 3 lemons

Add well beaten eggs to the sugar. Add juice and rind of lemons, and butter. Stir gently over slow fire until thick as honey. Great for sandwich spread or tartlet filling.

Now personally, I didn't have a slow fire handy, but it worked quite well on my electric stove. A few hints and tips, firstly, don't put anything on the stove (or fire), until you've juiced and grated all those lemons. I thought I'd do it quickly enough that I could save time and do both at once, but all I ended up doing was burning my butter and eggs. I managed to salvage most of it by transferring to a new saucepan, and pushed on.

With the eggs, make sure you beat them well. I'd suggest an egg beater. I just whisked them with a fork, and ended up with bits of cooked egg white in the lemon butter. If this happens to you, you can strain it out, and as an added plus, this will get rid of any remaining burnt bits as well!

To grate the rind, you use the back of your grater, the one with what looks like little holes punched with a nail from the inside. Grate just the top yellow coating off the lemons, not the white. Apparently (according to my mum), the white is bitter. I didn't try this to find out. I did though, manage to grate some of my thumb. Not good. Lemon juice stings!

However, in spite of all this, it seems to have turned out OK, and I'm really looking forward to trying my lovely lemon but some home made bread. Pity the lot I made that day didn't rise, I suspect due to my beautiful daughter checking on it a bit too enthusiastically.

Chocolate Fudge

Our final job for the day was to make some chocolate fudge! This recipe is my mother's and is a popular one at fetes, and with kids and adults alike. But be warned, it is NOT healthy.

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of cocoa
butter for greasing
a few drops of vanilla

Put all ingredients except vanilla into a saucepan and stir over medium heat until it boils. Reduce heat, and boil steadily until thick (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat, add vanilla, and beat till creamy. Pour into greased sweet dish. When partially set, cut into squares.

Hints and tips: If rice milk is substituted for the milk, and nutalex for the butter, this is a great dairy free chocolate substitute. I can't tell the difference taste wise. (And neither could my dad, who is very picky about his chocolate fudge.)

5-7 minutes is an almost exact time. You can check if it is ready by scraping the edge of the saucepan, if the fudge there is gritty, it is ready. If you pour it into the dish and it is sticky and doesn't set, you can put it back on for longer.

Grease your sweet dish before you start. You can't leave the fudge unattended at all. If it burns, the whole lot is ruined.

Our family has used a rectangular Pyrex dish, now know as the 'fudge dish' for this recipe for years. Ownership of this dish has been hotly contested, and luckily we have found extras in second hand shops for everyone. I don't know if they're available new or not, but I haven't seen them anywhere. If you get hold of one, hang onto it!

But best of all, is licking the spoon. After you've poured the fudge into the dish, there will be half set fudge all around the saucepan. (If you don't scrape it out too thoroughly, there is even more!) This is the best bit. Use your wooden spoon to scrape as much as you can onto the spoon. Best eaten just hot enough that it almost (but not quite) burns your tongue.

Enjoy!