FOOD: Coconut Yoghurt + A Tasty Recipe

Yellow Split Peas with Coconut Yoghurt and Wile Rocket Leaves

Fierce Wellington Winds A Blowin'...

Wellington winds gust strong.
Damn strong.

All well and fine if you can stay in doors, and watch the view above from the safety and comfort of an insulated studio apartment with heating. 

Not so great if you have to head out to walk around, catch buses, etc.

This weather calls for a hearty meal.
The kind that warms the cockles of your thawing bones and is healthy to boot.

Enter coconut yoghurt.
And may I say: GENIUS idea!

Dairy-free. Gluten-free. Lactose-free.
Probiotics = affirmative.
No added sugar.
Tastes? Excellent!

Picked up a tub of this beauty at Commonsense Organics in Wakefield Street, Wellington City.

Boy-oh-boy, is that a fun place to visit!

For those working at a rather extreme exchange rate disadvantage (*cough*), watch yourself in this place. You will burn through a whole lotta cash before you even blink!

RECIPE

Yellow Split Peas with Coconut Yoghurt and Wild Rocket

This is really more about assembly than a "recipe" per se.

Substitute a thick, creamy yoghurt for the coconut yoghurt if it isn't available in your location.  

The tangy tartness of yoghurt balances the richer flavours of the split peas, while the peppery textured crunch of wild rocket seals the deal on a hearty meal. 

Step 1: Rocket (arugula).

Step 2: Warm, soft, freshly cooked yellow split peas seasoned with salt.

Step 3: Dollop of creamy (coconut) yoghurt to finish off a delightful dish.

Gluten-Free Travel: Scenes from Dublin

University College Dublin, coffee shop, dark chocolate, fortuitous signed copy of a Liz Ryan book.

University College Dublin, terriers everywhere checking out the water fowl sitch.

Fiji Coffee Bar, gluten-free baked goodies available routinely everywhere, imagine that.

Fiji Coffee Bar, vintagey juice bottle design, nice.

Hired a Raleigh bike, main form of transport regardless of the weather (soooo much rain!), fell in love with it - perfection.

Teapigs, rooibos is so international!

Ginger Biscuits

Made by: Simeon

Recipe: Adapted from Jamie Oliver's "Jamie" magazine, December 2013, pg 54.

Allergens: Milk (in the butter)

Makes: 22 - 24 biscuits

Takes: About 30 mins from start to first batch out the oven.

Smells like: Christmas

Ingredients:

• 300 grams gluten-free cake flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice (or just nutmeg, if you prefer)
• 125 grams butter
• 100 grams sugar
• 1 Dsp honey

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Line two baking sheets with baking paper and dust them with a little extra flour.
3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Melt the butter, sugar and honey together over low heat.
5. Stir the butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
6. Use a tablespoon to measure out balls of the mixture, which you then press flat(ish) on your palms.
7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until a little golden brown at the edges.

P.S. These taste like Christmas too.
 

Carrot and Apple Cake

In addition to gluten-free, I've been baking egg-free and dairy-free of late as well. This recipe is a great place to start if you're baking for someone who has multiple allergies or problems with cholesterol.

I concocted the recipe using my Mom's gluten-free, egg-free banana bread recipe as a starting point, and playing around with egg and butter substitution.

My Mom generally substitutes half a large mashed banana per large egg in a recipe for sweet baking.

For sweet or savoury baking, I've begun substituting 1 tablespoon of whole flax seeds and 4 tablespoons of water per large egg in recipes.

You can also use chia seeds in the same proportions without needing to grind them first. They have the benefit of being milder tasting than flax seeds as well.

Egg-free doesn't have to be scary. Have fun with it.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Have you seen the Gingerbread Man?

A few months ago, I came across an interesting hobby which harkens back to earlier years, where pen pals found through the Garfield monthly magazine were the norm (as was waiting weeks for a reply to any correspondence).

The fun of collecting stationery, and receiving interesting letters/postcards from around the world has surprised me. And I find it funny how hand written correspondence has become an oddity in today's world of instant messaging.

Every now and then, you come across a particularly fun project.

Take for instance this class postcard project:

Mrs Schindler's Kindergarten Class have a Gingerbread Man in their classroom. They will read stories about him, until one day he will disappear and they will discover he has run away (like in the story). The class will make a plan to get him back and try to solve the mystery of where he went.

They need people to send postcards from around the world to report sightings of their missing friend. They will map each postcard and track his journey.

If you'd like to join in the fun of Jinjee spotting, send a postcard to the address below keeping the following points in mind:

• Begin each postcard with "Dear Madison".
• Say that you were doing something ordinary when you spotted the Gingerbread Man.
• Report that you tried to stop him, but he turned and shouted "Run, run, as fast as you can. you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
• Mail them to:

        Mrs. Schindler's Kindergarten Class

      Nottingham Country Elementary

      20500 Kingsland Blvd

      Katy, TX 77450
      USA

Here's the one I'm sending. Don't you just love the stamps? I bought them at the Brooklyn Post Office. They ask interesting questions regarding facts (most are about South African history), and then the person who receives the postcard gets to scratch the gold ink off to see the answer (like a lotto card). How clever!

Speaking of Gingerbread Men, here's a link to a gluten-free, corn-free, egg-free gingerbread recipe:

GF Jinjee Biscuits

P.S. If you're interested in doing some writing, Postcrossing is a fun place to start, as you are guaranteed to get replies from all over the world (and writing postcards is quick and fun, as is shopping for them [or even designing your own on zazzle.com]).

Gluten/Dairy/Egg/Corn-free Fruit Crumble

Perfect for when you're craving a little afternoon sweet treat to accompany your tea, this gluten/dairy/egg/corn-free fruity crumble wont disappoint.

Single Serving Fruit Crumble

• 1 sweet apple
• 1 sweet peach
• 3 tsp rice flour
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• cinnamon (optional)
• hazelnuts (optional)

- Cut the apple and peach into bite size pieces, and put them in the bottom of a tiny baking dish. 

- Mix together the rice flour, olive oil and sugar and sprinkle over the top of the fruit.

- Bake until the topping is beginning to brown.

- When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle with cinnamon (optional).

- Use a dry pan to toast some hazlenuts and then sprinkle them over the crumble (optional).

In honour of breast cancer awareness month, Roanne of Ms. Veronica's is hosting a Heart the Boobies auction, all the proceeds of which will go to EmbodiWorks, an organization that educates and empowers people affected by cancer. Please stop by and bid on any items you like, knowing that good will come of any money spent in the auction.

Have a grand week.

Sunday Lunch

The Table Setting

The Menu

Starter

Gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free savoury pancake
with butter bean hummus and wild rocket.

• Savoury Pancakes: See this recipe.
• Butter Bean Hummus: 1 tin of butter beans (reserve half of the liquid) zhoeshed in a mini food processor with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, cumin and salt.

Main Course

Baby spinach salad with fried aubergines, grilled tomatoes, 

chickpeas and goat's milk feta; with a side

of carrot-nut stuffed green peppers.

• Salad:
• Wash baby spinach well and mix with goat's milk feta and a can of chickpeas.
• Fry aubergine slices (1 cm rounds) in a little olive oil and salt. Cut up into bite size pieces before adding to the spinach.
• Grill tomato slices (1 cm rounds) in the oven, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. While still warm, toss tomatoes into the salad (the goat's milk feta will melt deliciously).
• Season to taste.
• Side dish:
• Cut peppers along their natural lines to create little pepper bowls.
• Use a food processor to finely chop a handful of raw cashew nuts, some carrots, wild rocket, salt and olive oil to create the stuffing.

Dessert

Gluten-free, egg-free banana bread served with

fruit salad and double thick cream.

• Mom's Banana Bread:
• 125ml butter
• 125ml sugar
• 4 large or 5 small bananas
• 2 cups gluten-free cake flour (e.g. Nature's Choice)
• 1tsp bicarb
• pinch of salt
• 125ml milk
• Mix ingredients together and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for one hour in a loaf pan, or 30 minutes in a rectangular oven dish.

Let there be wraps

What a great weekend!

When we woke up on Saturday morning, the wind was blowing, which is fairly rare in Pretoria (the least windy city in South Africa). So we grabbed Sim's kite and walked to the nearby veld to fly it.

I didn't take the camera with on Saturday, so here's a recent photo of Sim flying the kite on the Rondebosch Common in Cape Town (a city where the wind practically never dies!)

 A craving for tofu then hit me (I haven't eaten tofu in years), so we whipped up a batch of eggless, gluten-free pancakes to act as wraps, after which we parked our behinds on the couch while it rained to eat brunch and watch Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory.

The combo of potato starch and chickpea flour is magic. 
It clings together like slime to a pond wall (that's a good thing, albeit untasty imagery).

All you do is modify the consistency with your liquid of choice.
So pancakes = thinner batter.
Flapjacks = thicker.

And the blend of flours is up to you.
A more neutral taste but chewier texture = more potato starch.
A heavier taste but softer texture = more chickpea flour.

Hint: a non-stick crêpe pan is muy importante.

Pancakes (to use as wraps)

gluten-free

egg-free

makes 6

Recipe:

• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 6 tablespoons chickpea flour
• water

Whisk the batter to the desired consistency (adding water slowly).

Lightly oil a non-stick crêpe pan, and ladel some batter into it 

over medium-high heat. Watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn, 

and flip it when you see air bubbles.

Et voilà!

Fillings:

• tofu
• aubergine
• wild rocket
• tomato

Slice tofu in 1cm thick slices.

Fry in a tiny bit of olive oil (just enough to coat the pan) 

till golden and slightly crispy. Add a sprinkling of your seasoning of choice 

(in this case, just a little sea salt).

Slice aubergines into 1cm thick slices.

Fry in a tiny bit of olive oil (just enough to coat the pan).

Add a sprinkling of your seasoning of choice 

(in this case, just a little sea salt).

Amass the fillings like a grand vegan army on a plate.

Born-up-a-tree!

It's not muesli - it's chewsli!

Chewsli - a breakfast gift from my husband to me. What a sweetie :-)

 One of the great tragedies of having coeliac disease is my inability to digest oats.

There really is nothing quite like a bowl of steaming oats porridge to warm the cockles of your heart in Winter, soaking in Irish butter and lashings of sugar.
And in Summer, bowls of chewy oat-based muesli with rice milk.
But alas, I am not among those blessed few inflicted with this damnable allergy that can actually digest it.

In my search to find a palatable gluten-free muesli, I have been led astray many a time by promises of "tastes just like regular muesli" (with an exorbitant price tag to match). I think the worst experience I ever had was with a well-known gluten-free brand whose product tasted exactly like a bowl full of parmesan rice flakes with raisins, soaked in rice milk. Disgusting!

And so chewsli was born.

Chewsli is a healthy homemade breakfast dish which is nothing like muesli in ingredients, but whose texture and taste is like chewy oats and milky muesli together.

Simple and filling, it's good and good for you!

Chewsli
1 serving

Ingredients:

• 6 raw walnut halves
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 sweet apple
• 1 ripe banana
• a sprinkle of cinnamon

Method:

1. Zhoesh it together in your food processor and eat!

Now onto some Friday link love...

• Check out a super cool recipe in motion for Kougelhopf cake over at Food to be good.
• Lizzy at That skinny chick can bake has made fantastic Ghirardelli caramel brownies. I love how the brownies look like a giant slab of chocolate!
• For cake you can eat for breakfast (!!), look no further than Giulietta's Apple and yoghurt cake. You can find the recipe at her blog Alterkitchen.
• Ruth's vintage recipe for Parmesan and Gruyère scones (or biscuits) is perfect for Sunday afternoon tea. Find it over at Bread and Milk and Blackberries.

And now for some weekend tunes, to set the mood...



Have a great weekend!

Apple Flapjacks

With the last smatterings of the Winter chill starting to abate, I've been craving the comforting taste of cinnamon-sugar before Summer arrives along with all it's lightness.

I whipped these flapjacks up on three successive days.
On the first two, I just tossed ingredients in a bowl till the texture seemed right. But on the afternoon of the third batch, I realised that this recipe was worth taking note of, and so put measurements to my kitchen mayhem.

Bon appetit!

Apple Flapjacks Recipe

Gluten-Free, Corn-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free

Makes 10 Medium-Small Flapjacks

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250ml) chana/chickpea/garbanzo bean flour
• 1 golden delicious apple
• 3 Tbsp (45ml) sugar (+ extra for sprinkling)
• 1 tsp (5ml) cinnamon (+ extra for sprinkling)
• 50ml water
• approx. 1 tsp (5ml) vegetable oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Zhoesh apple + sugar + cinnamon + 25ml water in a food processor till mushy.
2. Stir flour + 25ml water together, then stir in apple mixture.
3. Lightly oil a non-stick crepe pan.
4. Fry batter by the dessert spoon over a medium-low heat. Flip when bubbling.
5. Serve sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar.

Batter

Flip when lightly bubbling on medium-low heat

Serve sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar

7 is the # between 6 & 8

SEVEN is also:

• a lucky and happy prime number;
• the amount of wonders of the ancient world;
• how many deadly sins there supposedly are;
• the number of dwarves that kept Snow White company;
• how many gods of fortune in Japanese mythology there are;
• the number of spots on a seven-spotted ladybug; and
• the number of posts I have been tagged to resuscitate by Ryan of Ryan Bakes and Ramona of Curry and Comfort.

MOST...

1 - Beautiful

Grapetizer Layer Cake - a freaky but fantastic gluten-free recipe based on Joyti of Darjeeling Dreams Blackberry + Champagne Layer Cake, made just after I got a shiny new camera to play with.

2 - Popular

Gluten-Free, Egg-Free Chocolate Cake - a collaborative effort between my Mom and me, which garnered my first website feedback of someone who actually baked it and got back to me. Yay! :-)

3 - Controversial

Chickpea Brownies - a chance find entirely made up (necessitated by what I had left in my kitchen when a chocolate craving struck.) It didn't get many comment but, to this day, still manages to top my Google Analytics charts with the most amount of views ever.

4 - Helpful

Buttermilk Rusks - a South African classic updated for an allergy-prone world. I have received the most appreciative e-mails from South Africans and ex-pats around the world seeking some homemade comfort and nostalgia. I *heart* it! :-)


5 - Successful (with an added dash of "Surprise!")

Nonna's Rustic Apple Cake - I was tripping down memory lane when I wrote this post, and I think readers identified with the family element. I've also noticed that  people really want egg-free cake recipes that actually work reliably. This is one of those.

6 - Underrated

Gluten/Egg/Corn/Nut-Free Pizza Bases - this is one of those recipes I wish I could make for EVEYRONE so that they could be addicted to wanting to make it themselves :-) But I totally understand that if one could buy a ready-made pizza base, one would. So it's all good.

7 - Proud of...

Chocolate Pots - the writing muse was with me when I churned out this one. Really. The planets aligned.

So...

1. Stacey of bakercourt
2. Lynn of Gimme Gluten Free
3. Marisa of The Creative Pot 
4. Natalie of The Wooden Spoon Blog
5. Kim Bee of Cravings of a Lunatic

..."Tag...you're it!"

Play with if you feel like it :-)