Posted by glutenfr | Posted in Events, New products, News | Posted on 19-06-2012
Tags: New products
The Sydney Good Food & Wine Show – the new home of the Irresitible Gluten Free Show – is fast approaching and as always we’ll be reporting back on the latest product news, expert commentary – and of course any industry gossip.
This will be the first time that we’ll have to jostle through crowds of gluten-quaffing foodies – so we’ll let you know how that goes. We note, however, that at $30 a ticket – and $23 for kids – it’s no longer the family-friendly outing it once was.
In the meantime, we have been busy trialling some new products. Here’s a quick update:
Well and Good
We were sent a box of a new premium biscuit mix from Well and Good and making these was a piece of cake (pardon the pun). You can choose from three different biscuit types (shortbread, cookies and melting moments) and we went with the latter option (see picture up top) – which were delicious and not too crumbly at all.
Most importantly the 5-year-old chef who helped whip them up thought these “hamburger biscuits” were awesome! As with all Well and Good products, we loved the simplicity of the instructions and ingredients. They also sent over some chia, sunflour and linseed bread which we will be testing soon.
Baby Mum-Mum
Another new product to recently arrive on our shelves are these new rice rusks for babies. These would have been great for us about 5 years ago when the only product on the market was wheat based. This always seemed strange considering the caution with which we were told to introduce solids to our little-uns.
These new rice rusks don’t have artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and are gluten, egg and peanut free with no added fats or oils. They’re baked and individually wrapped but sadly our young product tester felt he was too old to try them out for us, so you’ll just have to check them out for yourself.
They come in original, apple, vegetable and banana flavours and are sold in Woolworths and Coles for around $2.99 per 36g box (18 rusks).
Orgran
On the topic of small things, Orgran has sent us their new flavoured itsy-bitsy bears. We have to admit, we’ve been a fan of these for a while – but the new choc-berry variety fits into the treat end of the market while the vanilla/choc chips varieties have taken over from the company’s Outback Animal to become our favourite biccy-on-the go.
We like the fact that the chocolate is dairy free (a big thing for us where so many gluten free treats have diary ingredients) and that they’ve added psyllium and maintain a fairly pure ingredient list.
Orgran has also been busy creating a free phone app with over 300 recipes. The company says that all you need to do is select an Orgran ingredient (or two) specify sweet or savoury, and the recipes using that ingredient will pop up.
They have also released a new savoury snack called Crimpers. We are still in the trial phase of these, but at first taste they are less salty and laden with flavours than many of their savoury peers, which is good news for us.
Freedom pizza bases
These are not brand new, but we wanted to mention them because they have become a staple for our lunchboxes. You can find them in Coles near the other wraps and the great thing about them is they do not have some of the preservatives that other bases have. Once opened, we cut all the bases up into quarters and stick them in the freezer (with non-stick sheet between them.) Then we use them for lunches topped with tomato puree, cheese (or cheese replacer) and ham.
Cockie Chef Bakehouse
This isn’t a product as such, but we thought we’d mention a new gluten free bakery called Cockie Chef Bakehouse which has opened up at various markets (Bondi Junction Village Markets, Warriewood The Beaches Market, Potts Point/Kings Cross Organic Market, Castle Hill Farmers Market and Frenchs Forest Organic Market).
Keep your eyes out for their new stall. They sell hot gourmet savoury pies, as well as cookies, cakes, muffins and they have asked for any of our readers to stop by and let them know what else you’d like them to bake.
So there you have it!
Lucy
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All sounds so yum!!! What cheese replacer do you use? I can’t find one in my local Coles and Woolies, is there some section I should be looking?
Hi – we use Cheezly – which is soy-based cheese – but there is also a soy-free version. It is available from Choices bakery in Sydney – or there is a vegan online store where you can also order it.
How do you get on with cooking your Freedom pizza bases? I think they’re the ones I use, and while they go crispy around the edge, they tend to be a bit soggy and undercooked in the middle. We bake them in the oven on pizza trays, with the holes in the bottom, so not sure what the issue is.
I cut them into quarters before I cook them because I only ever tend to do small quantities only for lunch boxes. I don’t put many toppings on (just thin tomato paste and small bit of cheese and some snips of ham) and I cook them for around ten minutes (and then snip off the crispy edges with scissors…)
All look yummy, will have to try….especially the bikkies!