Category: cooking

Fruit Crumble (allergy free!)

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Gluten free fruit crumble

Gluten free fruit crumble

Looking for something easy to make for the family over Easter? Why not try old fashioned fruit crumble? Warm, delicious, comforting, and the leftovers also make a great breakfast. This recipe is a bit of a twist on an old classic as it is free of gluten and other key allergens.

Ingredients

  • 3-4c stewed fruit
  • Brown sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Allspice

Topping

  • 1c rolled oats
  • 1c superfine rice flour / plain all purpose flour
    • 1/4 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum if using gluten free rice flour.
  • 1/2c cornmeal (polenta)
  • 150g Nuttelex (allergy free vegan spread) / margarine / butter
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 3-4T honey, or brown sugar, or maple syrup.

Optional:

  • 1/2c finely grated carrots
  • 1/4c almond slivers
  • 1T ground linseed
  • 1T chia seeds

All extra ingredients that I would like to try in the topping! (Though I don’t think I’d add all at once).

Allergies: dairy free, soy free, gluten free, egg free, nut free.

Stewed Fruit

Some fruit does need to be stewed before being used in the crumble; these are mainly harder fruits like apples. You can chop apples up finely, add a little water, and cook them quite quickly using a microwave steamer.

If you have a food processor then it’s easy to blend fruit before putting it in the crumble dish. You’ll still need to stew fruit like apple but the food processor will help get them smooth. You can also put tinned fruits straight into the food processor and soft fresh fruits like feijoas.

Fruit crumbles are a great way to use up leftover fruit (like those apples that your toddler took ONE bite out of). For this crumble I used: 1 1/2 apples, a handful of sultanas, most of a 400g tin of apricots in juice, and a big bunch of fresh feijoas.

Serve with

Depending on allergies and budget, this is delicious hot and cold.  You could serve it with things like:

  • Whipped cream
  • Custard (can be made with almond milk)
  • Berry yoghurt
  • Ice cream (can use coconut yoghurt)

 

Directions

  1. Prepare fruit. Cook and stew the fruit if required; consider blending the fruit in a food processor.
  2. Pour the fruit into a cooking bowl (i.e. a Pyrex cooking dish or a silicon cake tin).
  3. Mix in sugar and spices. Remember that it’s easy to add more but you can’t take any out! I suggest starting with 1T brown sugar and a pinch of each of the spices. Keep adding until it is to your liking. Keep in mind that sweet fruits (like strawberries) may need some lemon juice to balance the flavour whereas acidic fruits (like feijoas) may need more sugar. There is also some sweetness being added to the topping so the fruit doesn’t need to be overly sweet.
  4. Mix all of the topping ingredients together. (I used the food processor again!). It should turn into a malleable topping that you can roll into balls in your hands and then squish and place over the fruit.
  5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190’C for approx. 25 mins.

Flavourful Black Beans

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Flavoursome Black Beans on Rice

This is such a wonderful recipe free of all the top 8 allergens that is cheap, quick, and easy to make. It’s fantastic to have as a base recipe that can then be served with rice, tortillas, wraps, empanadas, quesadillas, or to make lunchbox pies.

Ingredients

  • 400g tin of black beans (rinsed)
  • Ham or bacon or pancetta (finely chopped)
    • Check ingredients carefully if you have food allergies, such as soy.
  • 1 diced brown onion
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1T balsamic vinegar
  • 1T coconut amino acids (or soy sauce).

This is the base recipe; it’s delicious as is or you can vary it as desired by adding mince, diced chicken, chilli, peas & corn, celery, etc.

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Directions

  1. Brown the onion and garlic in a frying pan.
  2. Add ham, balsamic vinegar, and coconut amino acids.
  3. Add black beans.
  4. Cook until hot. Can be served immediately.
    • If you have the time, lower the heat to minimum and slow cook for 20 minutes. This allows the flavours to simmer and the onion to caramelize.

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Creamy coconut pumpkin curry (dairy free!)

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Pumpkin and Yellow Split Pea Dahl

This delicious Pumpkin and Yellow Split Pea Dahl is creamy, sweet, and lightly spiced. It’s a wonderful balance of flavours, it’s cheap, it’s filling, it’s nutritional, and it’s easy to make. I’ve used a slow cooker for this recipie as it means you can prepare the vegetables ahead of time if you want and then just throw everything in so you can be occupied with other things while it’s cooking. It’s also wonderfully allergy friendly!

Ingredients

  • 60ml neutral oil (I like rice bran oil)
  • 1 chopped carrot
  • 1/2 chopped pumpkin (flesh only, skin & seeds removed)
  • 2 potatoes, diced.
  • 200g yellow split peas (soaked overnight in water)
  • 1/2c sultanas
  • 3T curry powder
  • 400g can coconut cream

You can substitute the pumpkin for butternut squash or kumara if desired.

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Pumpkin.jpg

For sizing, I used half of this pumpkin.

Directions

  1. Put everything in the slow cooker and mix.
    • I suggest putting in half the can of coconut cream to begin with. You can then decide part-way through cooking if you want to add the other half. It will take longer for the full can to be fully absorbed but it does give a wonderful creamy flavour.
  2. Cook on high for 2-4 hours.
    • I added the second half of the coconut milk after two hours and switched it to warm after four hours.
  3. Eat on it’s own, with flatbread, or with rice. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Easy Butterscotch Pudding (Gluten free!)

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Easy butterscotch pudding

Ingredients

Sponge

  • 1c fine white rice flour / 1c plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp guar gum (or xanthan gum) / *not needed if using gluten containing flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2c sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1/4c neutral oil (I used rice bran oil) / 60g margarine (i.e. Nuttelex) / 60g butter
  • 1/2c water / milk of choice (i.e. almond milk)
  • egg replacement i.e. 1T ground linseed + 3T warm water / 1 egg, whisked

Sauce

  • 1/2c brown sugar
  • 1c boiling water

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free.

NOTE: This is a delicious and easy self-saucing pudding that can be made free of all major allergens. I’ve included options so that you can tailor it to your needs; i.e. I made my batch gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and included the egg. You can also tailor the sugar to meet your sweet tooth; i.e. you can use less sugar in the sponge (and just have the sweet sauce), or make less sauce, or dissolve maple syrup in boiling water for the sauce.

I was thrilled when Mum sent this to me – gluten free and doesn’t require mixing several types of flour together! It’s also versatile; you could add cooking cocoa to the sponge and sauce to make this a chocolate pudding, or serve with spiced stewed apple, or with warm custard etc.

Mum mixed and cooked hers in a Pyrex dish; I cooked mine in five ceramic ramekins. It occurs to me that this would be a great gluten free option to serve at kids parties (especially winter birthdays!). It’s easy to make individual serves (if you don’t have enough ramekins consider using the large silicon muffin trays) and then kids could add to them with with things like custard, sliced fruit, fruit sauces, ice-cream, marshmellows, lemon curd, chocolate hazelnut spread etc.

Directions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.
    • Choose whether you want to cook this in a single dish (i.e. Pyrex bowl) or individual serves; if the first option, you can mix it up in the dish it will be cooked in.
  2. Pour into cooking dish or ramekins.
  3. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Slowly pour on boiling water (you may want to pour over the back of a spoon to help disperse it more gently).
  4. Cook in pre-heated oven at 180’C. Takes approx. 25 mins in ramekins or 35-40 mins in pudding bowl.

How to make Teriyaki sauce (soy & gluten free)

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Teriyaki Pork stir fry

I posted recently about discovering Coconut Amino Acids as a soy replacement and they are the secret for making Teriyaki Sauce that is soy free. Miss 2 LOVED it 🙂

There are two recipes below, one for a small amount (i.e. for a stirfry) and one for a larger amount (i.e. for marinating chicken thighs).

Allergies: soy free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Ingredients (stir fry)

  • 2T coconut amino acids
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • pinch salt
  • pinch pepper
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • 1T rice vinegar

Ingredients (marinade)

  • 6T coconut amino acids
  • 3 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/8 tsp pepper
  • 3 T brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 T liquid honey
  • 3 T rice vinegar
  • 3 T dry sherry

 

Source: “Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking. 30-minute meals without gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and sesame.” by Cybele Pascal

All-purpose Breading Mix (delicious, easy, and gluten free!)

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Gluten free breaded kumara chips & fried chicken

This gluten free breading mix is easy to make, stores for up to two months, and is really versatile.  Often food allergies mean that takeaways are a thing of the past, so it’s always nice to have a few recipes up your sleeve that allow you to make them at home.

You can use this for everything from breaded zucchini, to fried kumara (sweet potato) chips, chicken nuggets, and fried chicken. I’ve used it both in the oven and in a shallow oil fry and it works both ways.

Ingredients

  • 2c superfine white rice flour
  • 1/2c fine cornmeal (polenta)
  • 2T onion powder
  • 2T garlic powder (garlic granules also work)
  • 1T paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free.

Note: Gluten free ingredients are often sold at bulk food stores or Asian supermarkets if you’re having trouble finding them in your normal supermarket. Spices are also much cheaper and have a wider variety at bulk food stores!

Directions

  1. Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.
  2. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 months and use as needed.

Source: Elizabeth Gordon’s “The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook.”

Sweet cornbread muffins

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Cornbread muffin

Note: I only wanted to make a small batch so this makes 5-6 muffins, double the recipe to make more.

Ingredients (Dairy or Dairy Free)

  • 1/2c yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2c plain flour
  • 1/2T Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2T Brown sugar
  • 2T liquid honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3c milk*
    • I used coconut milk.
  • 1/4c butter*
    • I used rice bran oil.

These turned out beautifully; they were quite sweet with 2T brown sugar & 2T liquid honey. I wouldn’t have known they were dairy free. They were light, fluffy, and delicious warm & cold. Made 5 muffins.

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Ingredients (Dairy Free & Egg Free)

  • 3/4c yellow cornmeal
  • 3/4c plain flour
  • 1/2T Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2T liquid honey
  • 1T ground linseed soaked in 3T warm water
  • 1/2c – 3/4c coconut milk.
  • 1/4c rice bran oil.

With this batch I was aiming to increase the size of the mix, replace the egg and reduce the sugar. I find, in general, that linseed works well as an egg replacer but you may need a little more liquid. These still turned out well although not quite as fluffy as the first batch. Makes 6 muffins.

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Directions

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients together.
  3. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry and mix till combined. Do not over mix.
  4. Put mixture into muffin trays. Bake at 180’C for 15-20 mins until golden brown.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

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Chocolate avocado mousse

I’d been hearing about this as a paleo recipe and realized that it would be a great allergen friendly recipe to try with Miss 2 (who thought it was yum!). It’s a seasonal dish that’s wonderful to make when avocados are cheap. It’s creamy, chocolatey, and doesn’t taste like avocado at all.

Note: This recipe is best made with a food processor (or possibly an electric beater). I tried using a smoothie blender but the mixture was too thick and I ended up beating it with a fork (which is why it ended up a little lumpy).

Ingredients

  • 240g flesh of ripe avocados
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 1/4 – 1/2c coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 3-6T brown sugar.

Directions

  1. Blend until smooth.
  2. Serve immediately or chill.

Five Spice Chicken Tenderloin

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Five Spice Chicken Tenderloin

Ingredients

  • 300g chicken tenderloins
  • 2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1T balsamic vinegar
  • 3T neutral oil (i.e. rice bran oil)
  • Optional: Chilli flakes, fresh coriander.

Allergy: soy free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Directions

  1. Mix the marinade together and place the chicken tenderloins in it. Refridgerate for 1-2 hours.
    • Note: Using a pyrex dish is ideal as it can go from marinading to the oven.
  2. Place in a preheated oven and cook at 180’C for 30 mins. Flip the tenderloins halfway through and check periodically to see if they need basting. (Alternatively, you can pan fry these).
  3. Once the chicken is cooked and still moist, grill briefly to brown.
  4. After removing the chicken, add a little cornflour and whisk to create a dipping sauce.

Feijoa Cake

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Feijoa Cake

Ingredients

  • 125g butter
  • 3/4c sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 – 2c feijoa pulp (scoop it out and squeeze out the excess liquid).
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2T warm milk
  • 2c plain flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder

Allergy: soy free, peanut free, tree nut free.

For other yummy things to do with feijoas check out the Feijoa Cheesecake!

Directions

  1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
  2. Add in eggs and feijoas. Mix.
  3. Stir baking soda into warm milk; add to mixture.
  4. Add flour and baking powder.
  5. Bake at 180’C for 50 mins or until cake is cooked through.
  6. Serve dusted with icing sugar or with whipped cream.