Wafflicious!

I have been craving waffles since read the Well & Good post that told me can use their muffin mix to make waffles.   Think the craving also brought on by the fact that it is only 4 weeks till we fly to America for a 2 week holiday to spend time with Aubrey’s parents, so craving Hershey’s and waffles.   Went out and bought a waffle maker and also Well & Good muffin mix from Tastefully Yours.   Check out Well & Good website here.

Ingredients
1 pack of Well & Good Muffin mix (450g)
3 eggs
4 tablespoons melted margarine
2 tablespoons honey
310ml water

Method
Mix all ingredients with wooden spoon until smooth.
Rest 10 minutes.
Spoon 1/2 cup batter into waffle iron and cook 3-5 minutes on high setting until golden.

For choc waffles add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the mix.
Serve with berry couli or maple syrup and ice cream.

Cold weather means hearty soups and my favourite is minestrone.   This is my first time trying minestrone in the Thermomix.   I substituted rice for pasta shells and it came out like a risotto, delicious with some shaved parmesan and toasted gluten free sour dough bread.

Gluten Free Minestrone with Rice

Ingredients:

Handful Italian Parsely
Handful Basil
1 Onion peeled & quartered
3 cloves of Garlic
50g Olive Oil
400g diced Mushrooms, Celery, Zucchini & Carrot
400g tin diced Tomatoes
400g soaked Italian soup mix (beans & lentils)
1 Massell vegetable stock cube
750g water
50g Tomato paste
1 tablespoon raw sugar
Pinch of sea salt
130g Arborio rice

Method

Place parsley and basil into TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7, set aside. Place onion, garlic and olive oil into TM bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6. Saute for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1. Add all remaining ingredients except rice and cook for 15 minutes at 100 degrees celsius on Reverse + speed soft. Add rice and cook for a further 10 minutes at 100 degrees celsius on Reverse + speed soft. Put into Thermo server when cooked.   Serve with shaved parmesan.

Macadamia & Chocolate Chunk

I had the chance to sample some Springhill Farm products this week.   I am already a huge fan of the Real Bread Mix and I have to fight off my son if I buy any of the Springhill gluten free rocky road.   I have tasted the Summer Fruit finger slice (see photo below) when I visited Starbucks for my coffee in Brisbane and was pleased as before Starbucks did not offer anything gluten free.   The biscuits are also delicious with my morning coffee, I really like the Lemon Lime & White Chocolate biscuit which had great texture and taste.   My only wish is that they were a bit smaller as watching my weight at they are bit too much for a morning snack.   Also it is good to know that all Springhill Farm biscuits are gluten free, even th0se that are not marketed as such.   Of course always make sure you read the ingredients label to feel reassured as I forgot when enjoyed the Macadamia & Chocolate Chunk and it was so good I became convinced it was not gluten free! Check out Springhill Farm here and lets hope more cafe’s and service stations stock their products soon!

Springhill Farm Summer Fruit Finger Slice

Lemon Lime & White Chocolate

• Dates: Saturday 18th June OR Friday 1st July 2011
• Time: 10:00 am – 2:30pm
• Location: Recreation Centre, South Western Hwy, Balingup
• Cost: $100

I felt the need for something sweet and baked but trying to eat well so avoiding baking cakes. So instead made a date loaf based on Cyndi O’Meara’s recipe in the Changing Lives cookbook and just substituted gluten free flour mix.

Ingredients
170g pitted dates
80g macadamia nuts
80g sultanas
220g filtered water
160g honey
2 tsp baking powder
320g gluten free flour mix (brown rice, besan & buckwheat)
1 free range eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius (fan forced)
Place dates and nuts into TM bowl and chop for 8 seconds on speed 8
Add sultanas and water and cook for 3 minutes at 80 degrees celsius on reverse speed soft
Allow mixture to cool before proceeding
Add the remaining ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5
Pour into large, lined loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes.

The weather has finally got cooler in the south west and so it is soup weather! This pumpkin soup recipe comes from the Everyday cookbook. I made it with the Asian style soup variation for some spice. Also used some of the Serafine gluten free bread to make some crunchy croutons.

Ingredients

1 onion peeled and quartered
1 garlic clove
2cm ginger
1 red chilli
1 tablespoon butter
250g butternut pumpkin peeled and roughly chopped
250g sweet potato peeled and chopped
1 carrot washed and chopped
Massel vegetable stock cube dissolved in 500ml water
Pinch rapadura sugar
2 tablespoons light coconut cream

Place onion, garlic, ginger and chilli into the TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7
Add butter and sauté for 3 minutes at 100 degrees C on speed 1
Add pumpkin, sweet potato and carrot, chop for 15 seconds on speed 7
Add stock and sugar and cook for 20 minutes at 100 degrees C on speed 1
Add coconut cream and blend for 15-20 seconds by slowly going from speed 1 to speed 9
Garnish with gluten free croutons, dollop of natural yoghurt and sprinkle of paprika

I had the chance to try this GF Sour Dough at The Happy Wife in Bunbury for breakfast. They got some loaves in for sale from down south in Denmark and I got my hands on one today. I tried the GF Sour Dough with seeds and it is delicious – start with the yeasty, sour dough smell and it is dense, heavy and crusty! The taste is fantastic with the seeds and it toasts up beautifully. Had a slice of toast with Margaret River Strawberry Jam for afternoon tea and was heaven! On the weekend when it was getting a little stale it made perfect french toast as did not collapse when soaked up the egg mixture. Whisk a couple of free range eggs with some vanilla essence, cinnamon and milk and then dip the bread in mix to soak. Cook in the frypan with a little butter and serve with maple syrup. Check out Serafine website here and while it is pricey loaf of bread in my mind it is well worth it. Try calling or visiting The Happy Wife on 9721 7706.

Check out the article in the Southwest Times that features their forward thinking!

Along the Kirup River

Aubrey and I stayed in Balingup overnight for performance by the SW Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by our friend Gordon Tayler.   We had hoped to stay at Westlington Winery (they make a great shiraz!) in their studio cottage but burning off got out of hand so fire a bit close by!   We stayed at another B&B but no need for breakfast as of course went to Balingup Bronze Gallery Cafe as have never been there early enough to have breakfast.   I had the vego gluten free breakfast and was delicious!    Went for a long walk along the riverside and back for a coffee and raspberry and white chocolate muffin.   On the way home we stopped at Barrecas Winery just east of Donnybrook which also make some great shiraz including our favourite the Shiraz Malbec.   Thanks Kelly for the great wine and friendly service.    Thank goodness red wine is gluten free!!

Gluten Free Vego breakfast

One of my regular lunches is salmon & avocado sushi from Jet Juice as this is made with mirin which is rice vinegar and there is no soy or mayo in these so makes them gluten free.   Jet Juice just got better as they now have gluten free muffins which are so delicious that I even queried the owner Wayne as to whether they were really gluten free!  He told me that he uses Well & Good, check out their website here.  I had a blueberry muffin today with my afternoon short black.  Jet Juice will also soon have gluten free pasta for winter lunches when the weather cools down.   Check out the Facebook page here.

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin

My long wait to try the much anticipated WBC porridge is over! I made some for breakfast this morning adding some sultanas, almonds and dried apricots. To serve sliced some banana and added dollop of greek vanilla yoghurt. Was delicious with hint of vanilla and cinnamon and sweetened with rapadura sugar. Check out WBC website here to find a stockist.

WBC Porridge