gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

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Almond meal quiche

I’ve been meaning to share my recent almond meal exploits. This flour substitute is high in protein and yummy, and I vowed to give it a try after sampling a fab quiche that was cooked by a friend.

I initially balked at forking out over $10 for a fairly small bag of the stuff and then opted to press on with my plan. First I googled an almond base recipe which I followed loosely. This recipe included almond meal, salt. baking soda, grapeseed oil – though I used olive oil – and water. Read the rest of this entry »

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I’ve been working my way through some of Coles new freezer range of gluten free products. A while back I reported on the new Bellyhoo pies which come in fruit varieties as well as beef with veg or beef burgundy. And more recently I have had a couple of tries of the Tutto Pasta meat lasagne (I haven’t tried their vegetarian lasagne or cannelloni yet).

Now it turned out that a few of our readers were not as enthusaistic about the Bellyhoo pie range as I was. Some said the filling was a little sparse and dry for their taste. So I recently gave them another go (this time the beef burgundy instead of beef and veg) and I still rather liked them.

Even more important is that my little boy likes them – I think it’s because the pastry is quite tender and tasty. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pastry Pantry in action

One of the holy grails of gluten free cookery would have to be pastry. How I toiled in the early days trying to create something akin to sausage rolls to pack in my little boy’s lunchbox—only to find the pastry (both homemade and packet mix) would break when I tried to roll it—and then emerge rock hard from my oven.

Then I discovered Pastry Pantry ready-made puff and shortcrust pastry sheets. They actually behaved like normal pastry even though they contained no wheat or dairy.

But several months ago, our supermarket suddenly stopped selling it (read more about this here), but now it’s back with a brand new recipe and packaging in some selected outlets.

So what do we think of the latest version? Read the rest of this entry »

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Some of my pastry pantry creations

It has been a bit of a bumpy ride for Pastry Pantry since I wrote with such glee a few years ago about finding gluten free pastry in my local supermarket.

Several months ago it suddenly vanished from the shelves in Coles, and when it failed to show up again a month or two later, I decided to get in touch, first with the wholesaler (unsuccessfully), and then with the company direct.

I was told there were some supply issues but we would see it back in store soon. Then a little later I got an update saying perhaps we would not see it back in Coles after all. Read the rest of this entry »

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I love pie. I always have and I always will. That is why I submit myself to failure after failure in the kitchen all in pursuit of the golden glory of a delicious, home cooked pie without the aid of gluten.

Last week I came as close as I ever have to the real thing when I cooked up my favourite pie recipe using savoury shortcrust pastry sheets made by Pastry Pantry.

My previous attempt using their puff pastry was semi-acceptable, but because it didn’t go all flaky and light the way the normal wheat-based puff pastry sheets do, it had a sort of stodgy texture that failed the husband edibility test.  Although this one didn’t puff either, it had a crispier, light texture that  was speedily engulfed by every member of the family – which happily means that pie is firmly back on the weekly menu.

There are a few tips when using this pastry. To get the most out of it,  you should roll it out a bit thinner than it is in the packet.

I used 1.5 sheets which I rolled out, joined together and then cut in half to make this pie, which ensured the pastry was not too heavy and cooked through nicely. I think it takes a little longer to cook than wheat-based pastry, and to get the nice brown effect on top, I dabbed milk on the top of the pastry and then grilled it for a couple of minutes at the end (keep an eye on it though or it may burn!)

I’ve made a few smaller pies using this pastry too in a silicon muffin tray and they cooked up nicely, and could easily be frozen and warmed up later. So lets hear it for pie!

[UPDATE 15/11/11 - The manufacturer has recently revamped the product range with some new recipes and all the PP pastry will be egg free in the future. See our review]

LH

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This week I tried to make a pie. I know it was brave – even a little foolish perhaps. Its just that I used to make lovely pies back in the days before the gluten-free dark ages took over my refrigerator.

I admit they were created from shop bought puff pastry, but to my husband’s eye these were wonderful gourmet delights and thus the dish earned the name ‘Love pie’.

Last week I attempted to make Love pie from the gluten free puff pastry sheets from the supermarket. I already use this pastry to make sausage rolls (pictured) for lunch boxes and snacks and have been quite happy with the results.

But when my pie came out of the oven, it quickly became apparent that my pastry hadn’t really puffed at all. It was still quite tasty so I didn’t mind too much, and neither did my fussy-pants toddler. Sadly fussy-pants husband wasn’t so keen, and Love pie became Dodge pie as he proceeded to eat around the pastry.

His helpful suggestion was that I make two pies in future, one with the gluten free pastry for us, another with the delicious flaky wheat filled variety for him. But alas there is only enough room in my freezer, oven and heart for just one Love pie.

So its back to the supermarket to try out the savoury shortcrust variety of GF pastry instead.  It wont puff either of course, but with luck it might  just remind him of something his own mother once baked for him. (Full report and pictures coming soon).

PS here is what I put in the filling in case you’d like to make your own Love pie:

-White sauce flavoured with a little stock and mustard
-Small cubes of slightly sauteed or pre-cooked chicken (and/or ham)
-Very finely chopped leek, carrot and celery or peas (or whatever veg you fancy on the day)

[UPDATE 15/11/11 - The manufacturer has recently revamped the product range with some new recipes and all the PP pastry will be egg free in the future. See our review]

LH

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It is time to put down our blogging tools for the year and reflect on some of the new and intriguing developments of the past twelve months.

The biggest change our family saw was the GF freezer shelf in our local Coles supermarket swell from stocking only the Patties range of baked goods to include  ready made GF pastry sheets (from Pastry Pantry) and then gluten free chicken nuggets and fish fillets from Bayview.

Whether you are a diligent home baker or not, these developments were good news for those of us who find variety the greatest challenge when it comes to serving up yummy meals for fussy little eaters day after day.

Of course the flip side of this is that gluten free food prices remained way out whack with wheat based food equivalents, and we attempted this month to get to the bottom of why that was.

But it was not all bad news. Some important products did become more affordable, with Organ launching its Buontempo family size bags of pasta – which was certainly a welcome development  for those of us feeding more than one gluten free mouth at the dinner table.

This was the year I also discovered the advantages to making my own bread (from a packet mix) as opposed to buying the stuff from the shops, which meant I could finally send my son off to daycare with sandwiches in his lunchbox.

Gluten free treats were also in the spotlight as loads of companies finally came to the ‘party’ to produce delicious ranges of cakes, treats and sweets. There are too many to name here, but these guys were out on force at the Sydney Gluten Free Expo. Vitarium also launched a new pancake mix at the expo that passed the ultimate taste test (a thumbs up from the kids).

Of course among some of the great new products that lit up our lives were the usual medical doubters who valiantly tried to persuade us that we are paying through the nose for products we don’t need and that we should leave gluten-free living only for those with a formal medical diagnosis.

But we just ignored them and got on with our lives, enjoying our happy healthy children with fewer tummy aches, itchy rashes, behavioural anomolies or whatever problem it was that first led us down this path.

So happy Christmas to you all and we promise to come back in the New Year with our list of gluten-free new year resolutions for 2010 (which we promise will include the big bread bakeoff).

LH

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[3/11/09] Hallelujah! I am in pastry heaven.

I have been trying to make my own egg-free, dairy free pastry and been through nearly every product on the market to try to recreate something that will allow me to make sausage rolls, pies and the like. I have come close to something resembling pastry – but nothing like puff pastry, and although edible, far from delicious.

A week or so I stumbled upon some gluten free rough puff pastry from Pastry Pantry in the supermarket freezer. Last night I got the chance to try it out and the results were amazing. The pastry was malleable and very tasty once cooked. Heaven forbid it even browned!

The proof is in the eating however, and my fussy toddler gave it the thumbs up.

[UPDATE 15/11/11 - The manufacturer has recently revamped the product range with some new recipes and all the PP pastry will be egg free in the future. See our review]

LH

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