Gluten Free

Easy Paleo Chocolate Custard

March 4, 2015

This is quick, simple and easy. My favourite go-to treat now that I am leading a paleo(ish) lifestyle 🙂 I usually make a batch and pour it a large glass jar and store in the fridge. I often find sneaking a spoonful during the day helps satisfy my sugar cravings and I genuinely don’t feel like anything else as a treat. Here goes:

Easy Paleo Chocolate Custard

Recipe by: Me

Ingredients:
1 x can organic coconut cream
2 x tablespoons organic cacao or cocoa powder
1-2 x tablespoons organic honey (to taste)

Method:
Place in saucepan and gently simmer on stover for 20 mins.

Leave to sit until cool

Pour into glass jar/ramekin, etc and place in refrigerator

Enjoy straight away or in a few days time. It gets firmer the longer you cool the mixture for.

Use it instead of cream to serve with your Paleo cakes, scoop it from the fridge like I do, or eat it on its own like a normal person.

Enjoy CC xx

Date, Chocolate and Nut Goodness Balls

October 9, 2014

Date, Chocolate and Nut Goodness Balls

Recipe By: justb.

Ingredients:
2 cups walnuts
2 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup honey

Method:
Place walnuts in food processor and blend until the nuts are finely ground. Add the dates, cocoa powder, honey and almonds and keep pulsing until you have a fine but sticky crumb mixture.

Roll this into little balls about the size of a golf ball and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Variations – roll in coconut once finished and/or swap the almonds for pepitas, sesame seeds and LSA mix.

Makes about 12

Enjoy CC xx

bacon & vegetable frittata

July 28, 2014

I made this the other night so I had something to snack on during the week. If there’s something in the fridge, it will stop me making naughty choices when hungry! I made it with random things I had in the fridge and freezer. You can put really anything you like into it. If you would rather a recipe – here is what I did:

bacon & vegetable frittata

Recipe by: Me

Ingredients:
1 chicken thigh fillet
1 rasher of bacon
3 x button mushrooms
4 x fresh asparagus spears
Handful spinach
Handful parsley, chopped
Goats cheese (to taste)
4 eggs
Salt and pepper (season to taste)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a quiche or flan dish with spray oil or melted butter.

Cut chicken, bacon and mushroom into strips/slices and fry in a pan. Add parsley once off the heat.

Steam or microwave spinach until wilted. Squeeze out excess water. Steam asparagus until just tender. Cut into 4cm pieces.

Evenly distribute chicken, bacon and mushrooms and asparagus all over the bottom of the dish. Break up spinach in your hands and do the same.

Crumble goats cheese over the top

Beat eggs in a separate bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over ingredients in quiche dish until mostly covered.

Place in oven until egg set. All other ingredients are cooked so it doesn’t need to stay in for a long time. Having said that I actually forgot about mine because I was cooking too many things at once and it actually still came out edible!

Enjoy CCxx

oven baked risotto – prawn, pea and saffron

June 15, 2014

On a cold, wet day like today when I can’t be bothered cooking anything major, yet want something comforting to eat, I love doing a baked risotto. It’s definitely not as amazing as a properly cooked risotto, but for me it does the job. Husband was happy too when he came in from digging up turf in our yard in the rain!

I usually have frozen prawns, peas and saffron at home so that’s often the type I make as it’s often a last minute decision to cook it. This is another VERY easy dish that’s REALLY delicious!

Basic Baked Risotto with Prawns, Peas & Saffron
Baked Risotto Recipe by: Taste member

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
385g (1 3/4 cups) Arborio Risotto Rice
Large pinch of saffron threads
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine
1.25L (5 cups) chicken stock
30g (1/3 cup) shredded parmesan
20g butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat the oil in a flameproof, ovenproof 3L (12-cup) capacity casserole dish over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft.

Add the rice and saffron and stir to coat. Add the wine and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the wine evaporates. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Use a fork to separate the grains.

Stir in the parmesan and butter. Set aside, covered, for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

* For my version above I added 1/2 cup peas and 15 green prawns at the same time as stirring in the cheese and butter. They will cook in the residual heat.

Enjoy. CCxx

(YES ok, that’s goats cheese on the top too. Can’t help myself…)

chocolate banana & yoghurt cake with almond praline – gluten free!

June 6, 2014

So mamamia are holding a competition called Food Blogger Idol. The idea is that you make a recipe from scratch using products from Rachel’s yoghurt range. Prize is working as a food blogger at mamamia.

Well, FINALLY I finished my entry yesterday, and this was the result:

A sweet pile of gluten free goodness.

My life is spent getting distracted by my gorgeous little Miss H which is awesome, but also means things get done in stages. Unfortunately this time it meant I missed the deadline, but who cares? We have another tasty cake to eat….:)

Chocolate Banana Yoghurt Cake with Almond Praline Topping
Recipe by: Me

The Cake:

Ingredients:
2 cups organic coconut sugar
1 3/4 cups gluten free plain flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium sized bananas)
1 cup yoghurt (in this case I used Rachel’s Wild Strawberry & Rhubarb)
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup macadamia oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C and place rack in the centre of the oven

Spray a 23 x 33 cm cake pan with a non-stick oil spray and line with baking paper. Set aside

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, yoghurt, water, oil, and vanilla extract

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean

Remove from oven. Leave in the tin for an hour then turn out and let cool on a wire rack

Now for the toppings….

Ganache:

Ingredients:
100g Lindt milk or dark chocolate (chopped)
3 tablespoons yoghurt

Method:
Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized glass bowl on top of pot of boiling water. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl

Stir continuously with a spatula until all chocolate melted

Take off the heat and gradually add the yoghurt while stirring until all combined

Place in the fridge to completely cool

Using a spatula spread ganache over the top of the cake. Remember – it doesn’t have to be perfect….the rustic look is in!

Praline:

Ingredients:
½ cup castor sugar
¼ cup roasted whole almonds

Method:
Place about 30cm of baking paper onto the kitchen bench

Use a clean dry frying pan and place on the heat on the stove top.

Sprinkle sugar evenly across the base of the pan

Watch the pan until the edges start to melt and then slowly swirl the liquid sugar around the pan by holding the handle and lifting it off the heat

Keep doing this until all sugar is melted and it turns a golden colour.

DO NOT take your eyes off it or it will burn!

Pour immediately onto baking paper and spread thinly

After toffee cools and hardens place it in a blender or food processor with the almonds and blitz until you find the texture you want for the top of the cake. I like mine quite fine with some nice big chunks of nuts and toffee for visual effect and crunch

Sprinkle praline over the top of the cake and even some around the base (as I have done).

This will need to be eaten straight away as the praline will get soft sitting on the ganache too long. If it won’t be eaten immediately leave the praline off until just before serving.

Makes one massive cake 🙂

Enjoy CCxx
(I know we did…!)

mexican chicken marinade

May 30, 2014

We have many Mexican feasts in our house. Tomorrow night will be one of them. Hopefully I will be sound of mind enough to take photos and post about it. In the meantime this is the marinade I use for the chicken THIGH pieces. Yes. Not breast, THIGH. Don’t use breast it’s dry and gross.

This recipe is awesome and easy and TASTY 🙂

Mexican Chicken Marinade
Recipe by: this peep on the internet

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh coriander, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Mix together and rub all over the chicken. Leave for a few hours in the fridge or overnight. BBQ the chicken and serve with tortillas, guacamole and other tasty Mexican treats.

Enjoy.

CCxx

strawberry cake – gluten and dairy free

May 26, 2014

This is a totally amazing cake that is so simple to make.

It was originally my sister in law’s recipe, but I’m not sure where she got the recipe from. I used to make it with butter, cow’s milk and caster sugar as per the original, but since trying to be ‘good’ I have altered the recipe to make it my own. A Paleo version. Its still ridiculously tasty. Only difference would be that it is a little less sweet. You could probably substitute half of the sugar measurement for honey and this would make it sweeter.

STRAWBERRY CAKE
Recipe by: Me

Ingredients
6 tbl macadamia nut oil (or softened butter)
1 1/2 cups gluten free self raising flour
1 cup organic coconut sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 punnets strawberries, hulled and halved

Method
Preheat oven to 180. Spray a 20cm cake tin with oil spray and line with baking paper. Sift flour.

Put oil and sugar into mixer and fit with paddle attachment. Cream oil and sugar for about 3 mins. Reduce speed to medium. Add egg, milk and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour. Transfer batter to cake tin. Cut green tops off strawberries. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, push them down into batter point first. Push as many in as you can, close together.

Bake cake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 50 mins to an hour. Remove from oven, wrap tin in a tea towel and sit for 1 hour. Remove cake from tin.

The wrapping in the tea towel is really important. I didn’t do this the first time I made this as I stopped reading the rest of the recipe and so missed this step. It’s crucial because it makes the cake really moist and almost chewy. Amazing.

Enjoy CCxx

*PS yes the photo has a great dollop of cream which now renders it not dairy free, but that piece was for my dad and he’s not interested in cutting anything out of his diet 🙂