Author Archives: mdrb

Domino’s gluten free

Hurray!

Lately I have been experiencing some good karma. I’m not sure exactly what I’ve done to deserve this recent string of good fortune, and although I’m sure not many of you GFers would be interested to hear the details of my mundane little life, I’m pretty sure you would be interested to know that one of the major fast food chains is offering gluten free food!!! That’s right folks, Domino’s Pizza have officially stolen my heart.  Pizza and movie night just became much less of a hassle. Enjoy.

http://www.dominos.com.au/menu/crusts/

Better than the Movie – Gluten Free Minestrone (also vegan)

Is it just me or is ‘How to Rob a Bank’ the most boring movie of all time? Really, all the rambling dialogue didn’t distract me from the major flaw in the plot line which is…no way would anyone get cell phone reception in a bank vault. Duh. Anyway, they only upside to the hour or so I wasted watching it is that I managed to fit in 3 servings of this delicious minestrone soup. I love minestrone soup. The secret ingredient is fennel, which gives the soup a fresh tang and is perfect for a cold winters day or if you’re in need of some comfort food 😉 Its also very versatile, you can use whatever vegetables you happen to have lying around.

Minestrone Soup

Warning – you will need a very large saucepan and some spare time to prepare this soup, but it is well worth the effort. Make sure you have all your veg diced before you begin, it will speed up the process 🙂

  • Olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves sliced
  • 1-2 chillies (depending on your spice tolerance!)
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
  • 2 litres of vegetable stock
  • 4 potatoes peeled and diced
  • 1 medium sweet potato peeled and diced
  • 1/4 cauliflower diced
  • 1 tablespoon of thyme or oregano
  • 1/2 large fennel diced
  • 2 zucchinis diced
  • 1 red pepper (capsicum ) diced
  • 1 stem of broccoli diced
  • 1 large can of either peeled tomatoes or tomato puree
  • 1 can of cannelloni beans drained and rinsed

Method:

  1. Stir fry the onion, chilli and garlic until the onion is slightly brown then add potato, paprika and pepper the leave to simmer.
  2. Once the potato is a little brown then add stock, thyme, cauliflower and sweet potato (you can use pumpkin if you prefer but it cooks quicker and should be added later on)
  3. Once the potato ect. is soft add the rest of the vegetables (not the beans) and the tomato puree
  4. Leave the soup to simmer for at least 30 minutes, then add beans and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Gluten Free Christmas Cookies!

I made Christmas cookies last night!Tree

I was a little worried because I didn’t have any self raising GF flour, or baking powder, but after a quick internet search I discovered I could use bicarb soda as long as I included an acidic ingredient. So, here is my gluten free Christmas cookie recipe!

  • 2 cups of gluten free flour (I used white wings brand)
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarb
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • icing sugar (amount depends on how you want to decorate your cookies)
  • milk ( to mix with icing)
  • food colouring
  • 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180C and lightly grease your cookie tray.

Mix bicarb, lemon and vanilla together, add egg and sugar and mix well.

In a separate bowl beat butter and add egg mix and flour, mix well.

The dough might be a little dry, but if you roll it in your hands for a few minutes the butter will melt and take on more of the flour.

Roll the dough so it is about a centimetre thick and use whatever cookie cutters you have to make Christmas shapes – I did trees, stars and reindeer 🙂

Bake for around 10 minutes and make sure you rotate the tray at least once and bake till you get an even brown colour.

Set aside to cool.

Mix your icing – now here is the trick I only learnt after I made my cookies  – mix a thick batch of icing using icing sugar, a tiny amount of milk and whatever colour you choose. Use a piping bag to ice around the edge of your cookie then make a slightly runnier batch of icing to fill in the rest. This way your icing won’t drip over the edge, but you will still get the nice smooth effect runnier icing gives.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Gluten Free Bread

gfg-uncle-sam-web

Ok, brace yourselves…I have found the holy grail!

Light, fluffy, delicious gluten free bread!!!

This miracle landed on my plate while I was interstate, having brunch with a friend of mine. I ordered eggs with gluten free bread had already resigned myself to being served the usual dry, cakey, flavourless bread I am use to buying in the supermarket. Here is how it went down:

Me: Ummm I ordered gluten free bead

Waiter: Yes, that’s the gluten free bread

Me: I don’t think so

Waiter: Let me check with the chef

Me: Negligent bastards could have made me so sick!

Waiter: Yes, those are gluten free  quinoa rolls

Me: Are you sure?

Waiter: Yes, they are from the gluten free bakery two doors down

Me: WHAT?! WHERE?!

Waiter: Right over there, (rolls eyes) I have to get back to work

Me: nom nom nomnom nom

Deeks gluten free bakery in Dickson ACT – I will be requesting care packages.

https://secure.deeks.com.au/index2.html

Silly Yaks is changing!

Woe is me…my favorite gluten free haunt has changed hands! My initial reaction was fear, a deep pit formed in my stomach as I pondered the questions: Will they keep it gluten free? Will the food still be good? On my first visit to the new cafe, I noticed many differences, least of which was the new name ‘SACS’…not as witty as the old name, but my spirits were lifted when I noticed the chalk sign at the door ‘This is a gluten free zone’ …phew!

There were more changes to take in upon entering, gone was my favorite red leather couch facing the window. The twang of loss I felt for my favorite people watching spot was quickly replaced by excitement when I noticed the rather fancy looking new breakfast bar. Speaking of breakfast, the new menu included some rather delectable looking breakfast items including my personal favorite: eggs florentine…everyone with me now *Mmmm gluten free hollandaise sauce*

All in all my experience at the new ‘SACS’ surpassed my expectation. I went there expecting the worst and instead was greeted with superior service, new stylish fittings and a more exciting and varied menu. While many things had changed, all the things I fell in love with about the original ‘Silly Yaks’ still remain. It still serves nothing but gluten free food, meaning that you can happily walk into the cafe and order any order anything that takes your fancy minus the questions and contamination anxiety! It still stocks many exciting gluten free products that are not available in the supermarkets. And finally the new ‘SACS’ still serves food so delicious that you can drag along even the fussiest non-gluten free eater.

‘SACS’ 105 High Street Northcote VIC

Gluten Free Chains

These chain restaurants offer gluten free options and can be found in most major cities.

  • Muffin Break – Usually have a choice of two or three different types of gluten free muffins both savory and sweet.
  • Wagamamas – Will cook you up a gluten free meal and most stores offer gluten free soy sauce on request.
  • Nandos – Have a couple of items on their menu listed as gluten free.
  • Dominos – Gluten free pizza bases, and pretty good knowledge of which topping may contain gluten.
  • Lord of the Fries – gluten free chips and nuggets, currently not offering GF burgers.

Sydney

If you find anywhere in your local area that offers gluten free options, let us know and we will add it to the site!

Finding it hard to find anywhere to eat out? If you are sick of asking about gluten free options and receiving nothing but a blank stare in return. Try one of these restaurants which offer gluten free options 🙂 Continue reading