Gluten-Free Vegetarian Quiche

So I threw this little gem together for dinner tonight.  I've been wanting to attempt gluten-free pastry for a while and I had a leek in the fridge that needed using so I concocted this deliciousness.

For the pastry:

200g Gluten Free Plain (All-purpose flour)
100g Butter
6 tablespoons water

Using fingers or a fork, combine the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the water and mix until it forms a kind of dough (this only takes a couple of minutes).  Roll the pastry between 2 pieces of cling film (as much as you can - I didn't manage this too well, but I think the pastry is too "wet" to roll on a dry surface).  Press into a quiche tin and blind bake for 10 minutes or so.

For the filling:

This is entirely up to you - use whatever veges you like, or have in the fridge.  I used the following:

1 small onion
1 leek
A handful of broccoli (chopped small)
Half a red pepper
Half a block of feta (cut into squares)
Handful of grated cheddar
Salt & Pepper

For the cream mixture

300ml cream (I only had double cream so I thinned it with a little milk)
3 eggs

Saute the vegetables until soft (don't forget to add salt & pepper!) and spread over the base, add the feta. Pour the cream mixture over the veges and then sprinkle with the cheese.

Cook for 30-45 minutes until brown and set firm in the middle.  (The pastry should also have come away from the edge of the tin).  Leave to cool and set slighty for 5-10 minutes, then don't delay, eat while fresh and warm!

Voila!

Gluten Free

I've been really concentrating on what food i've been putting into my body lately, after the discovery of Ayurveda and essentially following a Paleo Diet.  One of the biggest things i've been conscious of is limiting my gluten intake - which means no bread, no cakes, no pasta... NOOOO!!!!  Sounds awful, but actually i'm finding it quite manageable.  And hot tip - that full bloated feeling you have after eating a big bowl of pasta - non-existent with gluten free!


Tonight's dinner for example, was a lovely pasta bake, made with gluten free pasta that I honestly couldn't even notice the difference. 


So i've been desperately wanting to try Emily K's Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread recipe which I discovered on her blog not so long ago.  I figure that as soon as I start discovering some yummy alternatives to some of my beloved treats, this new eating style won't be so difficult to stick to!


Well, i've just pulled this out of the oven and it is TO DIE FOR! Lovely and moist and gorgeously spiced - especially lovely with the festive season approaching :)


So, what did I do?  Essentially I used the exact same recipe, but instead of the Crisco/Butter, I substituted pure Coconut Oil.  I also used a little extra pumpkin, as the gluten free flour mix I used (Doves Farm) recommends using more liquid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees [approx 180 celcius]


[I used a square cake tin as I don't have a loaf tin]
Whisk together in a bowl:
1 1/2 cup gluten-free flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking powder


[instead of the nutmeg, cloves, ginger - I used the same measurement of mixed spice]
Mix in a small bowl:
1 1/3 cup almond milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla [I used vanilla paste]

In a large bowl, add
6 tablespoons butter flavored crisco [I used Coconut Oil]
Gradually add and beat on high until lightened:
1 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar
Add in one at a time 2 eggs.
Add 1 cup pumpkin puree. [I used an extra tablespoon or so for moisture]
Mix until just combined.

Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk mixture in two parts on low speed.
Scrape into prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 


Post Note:  I've found the next day that the cake isn't quite as spicy as when first out of the oven and also has quite a strong taste due to the almond milk.  If dairy isn't an issue for you, I would recommend substituting back normal butter and milk and I personally would add more spice (but this may be because I used a mixed spice, rather than individual spices).

It's Sunday!

I have had a SUPER busy week, like SO busy i've hardly had time to even sit down at my computer - so i've been missing my usual blog catch-ups, but i've now finally got a couple of hours to sit down and indulge.

And I have those couple of hours because......i've FINALLY got my xmas cake in the oven! I used THIS recipe, which is the same one I used last year, but with a few tweaks this time, I added a little extra dash of our 2010 vintage Damson Gin to macerate the fruit (I also left this 24hrs overnight) and i've also added pecan nuts - so fingers crossed it works out just as scrummy as last year!  

Some points about making a fruit cake: (1) you need a REALLY BIG bowl to mix this in.  (2) You will have what seems to be WAAAY too much fruit for what will seem a small amount of cake mix - just keep mixin baby - it will get there in the end. (3) You must, must, must wrap it up good with lots of layers or else it WILL burn. (4) You must make this a few months in advance to give yourself lots of "feeding" time - the boozier the better I say!

Yesterday, my friend Chris and I checked out the very first Renegade London Craft Fair - lots of fun handmade things to look at, but disappointingly a large amount of stalls were held by American traders who had come over especially - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just thought there would be more talent in London/England to promote?

We also checked out the new Blitz Vintage Department Store which is basically just a massive building filled to the rafters with vintage clothes, shoes, furniture etc etc...

We had heard a lot of good things about Cay Tre vietnamese, so making the most of being in the East we decided to try it out for dinner.  I'm sorry to report that I didn't find Cay Tre very mind-blowing at all.  Perhaps we ordered the wrong dishes(?) - which I might add the menu we had last night was VERY different to the one on their website, so I really didn't get why there is always a massive queue to get into this place.

Luckily, to cheer me up, I discovered this amazing video (thanks Gourmet Chick for tweeting) and this documentary about The Ship Song Project.  If you're Australian, watching these will give you goosebumps, for everyone else, i'm not sure if you'll "get" it, but I hope you enjoy it all the same :)

Hoping this week goes REALLY fast to get my hands on one of these on Friday!

AND Crossing fingers I get my camera back from the Camera Doctor this week - I miss not being able to take fun photo's :(

Spanakopita

Marrying a vegetarian has certainly opened my eyes up to the horrors of the meat industry, although not quite enough that i'm ready to convert (I still live in hope that I can actually convert Ben to animal, land and planet friendly meat), but it has certainly changed the way I, myself eat meat. I think this article by Hugh pretty much sums it up and like Hugh, I am quite happy to have meat-free days and love discovering new recipes that we not only enjoy, but crave.

One such recipe is this Spanakopita - sure, i've made Spinach and Ricotta type filo pies before, but there's something about this recipe that makes it too incredibly more-ish.

Ingredients

1sml onion or 3-4 spring onions

3 cloves of garlic

Rind of 1 lemon

400g baby spinach

200g feta 

250g ricotta
2 eggs (optional)
Handful of crushed, flaked almonds
Handful of chopped basil
Salt & pepper
****
6 sheets filo pastry
3 tablespoons of melted butter
Poppy or Sesame seeds (to decorate)

In a large frypan, sauté the garlic, onion & lemon rind until soft. Continuing on a low heat, place the spinach on top of the mixture with the salt and pepper and mix through until wilted.

There will be quite a lot of liquid in the pan, so take the spinach mixture out (leaving as much of the liquid behind) and place onto kitchen towel - squeeze out any excess liquid so the spinach is quite dry. Leave to cool slightly.  There won't seem to be much spinach, but this is normal so don't worry.

In a large bowl, mix the spinach with the remaining ingredients. I say eggs are optional, as the first time I made this I accidentally left them out and it still tasted wonderful AND had a lovely texture.

Brushing with butter as you go along, place 4 sheets of the filo over a round, low dish, fanning out around the dish so you have excess pastry around all of the circle.

Fill the dish with the mixture and fold over the excess pastry. Use the remaining 2 sheets to ensure the top is covered and also to decorate to make it look pretty. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle over either the poppy or sesame seeds.

Bake in the oven at 190 degrees for approximately 30 minutes - being careful not to burn the pastry. 

Serve with lemon potatoes or a fresh salad (or both!).

see what I mean about more-ish!!

`

Bread and Pate

This morning, we had a mission - to make our first ever batch of bread!  After seeing the River Cottage Bread special again during the week, Ben was all inspired to get baking!  It's lucky we don't have much planned for today as we soon learnt that it is a lengthy process, mixing the dough, letting it rise, knocking it back, letting it prove, and then finally to the oven!  We're only at the proving stage, so hopefully in about an hours time we'll finally be pulling it out of the oven!

In the meantime, and after devouring Pate Moi's delicious Mushroom Pate last night, we decided that we just had to have more to go with our fresh bread hot out the oven.  I've been wanting to make Mushroom Pate for the longest time, so i'm very excited to see how my first batch turns out!  I slightly changed a recipe I had found via the ever inspiring Emma Bradshaw and goes a little something like this...

300g mushrooms chopped finely (mixing and matching varieties will give a richer flavour)
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 small onion chopped finely
Fresh thyme leaves
2-3 tablespoons of butter
Juice of half a lemon
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Sautee all of the above ingredients (expect for the lemon juice) for approx. 10 minutes until soft - towards the end squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, cook for a couple more minutes and then set aside to cool completely.

Blend in a food processor with 200g of cream cheese and approx. 3 tablespoons of fresh breadcrumbs.

Place into jars or bowls and refrigerate until cold and firm.

Serve with freshly baked warm crusty bread - YUM!