Working Womans Risotto

 

Finding gluten free recipes hasnt been as easy as I thought it would, I seem to have a kind of bakers block. But recently, it dawned on me that risotto is pretty much gluten free and lactose free if you leave out the parmesan and switch to margarine. I made this working womans risotto and despite my reserves about it being completely microwaved, it was seriously simple. And it tasted good too! The colours werent as vibrant as a normal risotto, but seeing as all I had to do was throw things into the bowl and stir when the microwave beeped, it sold me.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, finely chopped (used spring onions)
• 220g (1 cup) arborio rice
• 200g small cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 625ml (2 1/2 cups) chicken stock
• 125ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
• 850g green prawns, peeled, coarsely chopped (I used bacon)
• 30g butter (margarine)
• 2 tbs chopped fresh continental parsley
• 1 cup corn

Method

1. Combine the oil and onion in a deep microwave-safe dish. Cover and cook on High/800watts/100% for 4 minutes. (Instead of this step, I fried the spring onion and bacon in a pan until cooked.)
2. Add the rice, mushroom, corn, stock and wine. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook, covered, on High/800watts/100% for 10 minutes. Stir. Cook, covered, on High/800watts/100% for a further 10 minutes.
3. Add the prawns (omitted), butter and half the parsley. Stir to combine. Set aside, covered, for 5 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley to serve.

Source

Good Taste – November 2008, Page 22

Im not sure if I will make this again – Ben isnt a huge fan of mushrooms. But whenever I despair about this gluten free diet, I know I can just make risotto. YUM!

 

where to eat for our anniversary?

Our 2 year anniversary is coming up and I have taken on the task of deciding where we should eat…

Now the dilemma is:
Trying to do under $40 for mains which leaves out the majority of places I wanted to try (Press Club and etc)
The boy doesnt like japanese food (there goes Nobu..)
We are going to Crown afterwards to see a movie in Gold Class, so we are hoping to stay around the Southbank region.

So… my options:

• Number 8 at Crown – reviews suggest this place is past its prime
• Giuseppe arnaldo and sons – I could find plenty of things to eat off this menu but reviews suggest it isnt great and they may not take a booking
• The Italian – prices are getting up there, so why not splurge and go to the Press Club? (because we cant afford it… and I dont think Ben would really be as into the food as me)
• Sarti – probably the front runner at this stage

Any suggestions?

 

gluten free pizza

I can now cross one thing off my “to bake” list – pizza dough! With this gluten free thing, it seemed like the perfect time to tackle it!

Gluten-free pizza dough

??Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 1/2 cups gluten-free pizza and pastry flour (we used Orgran brand)
• 7g sachet dried instant yeast
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

1. Sift flour into a bowl. Add yeast and salt. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Add water and oil. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Stand in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.
2. Using your fist, punch dough down. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide dough in half.

This makes 2 pizza bases, which you can save for later use! perfect when its tough to feed yourself gluten free!

Now, it is certainly not the prettiest thing, but it was quite tasty! I just need to get a smaller rolling pin so I can spread it out properly!

I topped it with ham, tomato, spinach and mushroom – with Feta on my side and tasty cheese on Bens. (He hates feta!)

??I decided to bake it for a bit in the oven before putting topping on, but this was unnecessary as it burnt a touch. But, still yummy.

 

Cheesy potatos

BG&LF (Before Gluten and lactose free) I made this deliciously cheesy potato dish. It fell apart a little, and didnt look perfect but it sure was yummy. I think I had figured out where I went wrong but due to the diet, I wont be testing out the theory again for a long time! 

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 3 large Sebago potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese

Method

1. Heat butter and oil in a 26cm (base) non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Once sizzling, remove pan from heat. Arrange half the potatoes, overlapping slightly, over entire surface of frying pan. Repeat to form 2 layers.
2. Sprinkle potatoes with cheese, and salt and pepper. Return frying pan to stovetop over low heat. Cover with a lid or foil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Remove lid. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges. Serve.

Source

Super Food Ideas – July 2004, Page 54

It aint pretty… but yummy! If you love  carby-cheesy goodness, give it a go.

 

Art

I have been buying up big on Etsy lately… so much so that I think I will give myself??a little break from it!

Coming from a rental with blank walls, I had exactly 2 frames of art to my name… one NY print and one framed wallpaper. Our white walls are looking pretty bare and I didnt want to start hanging art until I had more options!

For my kitchen/dining area:

The Let them eat Cake one is actually in a similar blue colour rather than raspberry. To work inbetween them I ordered 3 wall decal stickers that I will most likely frame on backing paper to break up the blue colours.

For living room:

This was interesting and on sale… and I am not sure what Ben will think of it, but hes supported my other crazy ideas so far! This will go amongst my framed wallpaper, NY print, and other photos of us to be a mumble jumble type wall.

Spare Room

This one I liked but wasnt in a colour I wanted… so I emailed her and like 2 days later I had a reply and a custom listing for a grey version if I wanted it. I liked it, and I thought it would be perfect for the spare room so I just went with it.

I havent linked any of the etsy sellers, because I havent received the majority of the art yet. BUT if someone likes something they see, let me know and I’ll pass the??details on.

I just hope my mixture of prints, posters, textures and ideas comes together in the end!

 

Box mix cupcakes (gasp!)

Cricket season is once again upon us. Anyone with a partner who plays knows the time drain this sport can have – training Tuesdays and Thursdays, once a month meetings on a Wednesday (if you are lucky enough to have them on the committee) and losing all your Saturday to the sport. We call ourselves cricket widows and while we joke about the time drain and sometimes get annoyed, for the most part I know he is off playing the sport he loves. Plus he makes it up to me on Sunday.

To celebrate their first game back, I made the boys some cupcakes.

Except….

Someone had given me a box of fairy cupcake mix! oops… oh well. Nothing some blue food dye wont fix!

Sadly, the boys lost. But, all the cupcakes went, so I won

 

chicken and veg stir fry

I used to be a whiz at a great stir fry… chuck it all in a pan and getting this delicious noodle dish. But for more than 2 years now, I haven’t been feeling it. Every now and then I would try, but each time was a bland, mushy failure.

Going out for dinner, I would always marvel at the seemingly simplicity of these dishes that packed such a punch and wonder why I cant seem to recreate them.

I decided to give it a go yet again. This time, I was successful. I used my instincts to up the flavour where I saw fit and the result was a really good stir fry. Still not up there with the best, but for a home cook, it was good and it packed a punch.

Chicken and veg stir fry

Ingredients
1 tablespoon peanut oil
700g chicken breast fillets, sliced thinly
1 medium brown onion, sliced thinly
1 fresh long chilli, seeded, sliced thinly (I am still scared of chilli, so I used a mild chilli paste until I got a spice I can handle.)
1 clove garlic, crushed
150g snow peas, trimmed
1 carrot, sliced thinly
1 red capsicum, sliced thinly
125g baby corn
2 tablespoons kecap manis
2 tablespoons char siu sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 packet Hokkien noodles

Method
1. Prepare noodles according to packet
2. Heat oil in wok or frypan; stir fry chicken in batches until browned and almost cooked through.
3. Heat remaining oil in same pan; stir fry onion, chilli and garlic until onion softens. Add vegetables and stir fry until tender. Return chicken to pan with sauces and stock and stir fry for about 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
4. Add noodles and blended cornflour and juice; stir fry until sauce boils and thickens.

It is just a basic recipe as you can see, but the flavours worked well and I am just excited to finally have a stir fry success again!

 

Decorating

We have this big empty wall in our living room… A wall that definately needs something on it!

The search had been going on for a while, and every now and then I would see a cool print in the background of someones photo but never knew where they found them. I always figured it was an overseas thing – we can struggle to get the cool stuff (cheaply) here in Aus.

Yesterday on an Etsy hunt I saw an A3 poster that was cool (check it out) but not the right colour (btw – she will print it in any colour you like) and that started me on a search looking at A2 and A3 posters on Etsy that could work. There were a few potentials, but like everything with the house, it has to reflect US not just me.

I gave up the hunt and returned to my blog reader and came across a post that talked about their Blonde Redhead poster and that led me to The Small Stakes.

Oh my god! Could there have been a place selling more US prints? We are both music lovers (read- snobs) and love to go to gigs together. Back in our early stages of courting, he would send me youtube links of songs he thought I would like. so cute!

The other day we were at the Corner Hotel (a well known gig  for a drinking session with some friends and he ran up to me excitedly “have you been to the toilets yet?” no… “Theres all these old band posters on there, and you could see some of our faves for like $5 back then!”

I went home, showed him the site and unlike most of my crazy “lets do this to the house!” ideas, he was actually on board with this one!

We settled on 3 prints for the wall, and for a grand total of $133 (plus whatever framing costs…) we will soon be the proud owners of:

One band we both love – death cab, one band I love and he likes – Bon Iver and one band he loves and I like – modest mouse.

I just know I am going to squeel with excitement when these babies turn up!

 

Microwave chocolate pudding (FAIL!)

Craving a mid week treat following a very harrowing night I was scouring the internet. I had almost settled on a recipe for Lychee and Coconut rice pudding – until I saw that it had a minimum 4 hours cooking time. So I thought, well, I know I have all the ingredients for chocolate pudding. And instead of using my never fail recipe, I got a new one off the internet: Microwave chocolate self saucing pudding.

Wow, I thought to myself. If this works it could be dangerous! With a preparation and cooking time of about 20 minutes all up, its a quick and easy way of treating yourself.

Microwave chocolate self-saucing pudding

INGREDIENTS

60g butter
1?? cups self raising flour
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
25g (?? cup) cocoa
180ml (?? cup) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
35g (1/3 cup) cocoa, extra
2 cups boiling water

METHOD

Place butter in dish, melt in microwave on HIGH for 1 minute, stir in sifted flour, sugar and cocoa, milk and vanilla, beat until smooth with wooden spoon. Sprinkle with combined sifted brown sugar and extra cocoa. Pour boiling water over mixture carefully. Cook on HIGH 12 minutes, or until just cooked in centre; stand 5 minutes before serving with cream or icecream.

Serves 4 to 6.

RESULT

Unfortunately, this recipe was a bit of a fail. It exploded in the microwave:

And even though I watched the pudding very closely, it went from liquid to spongey very quickly and not all of the liquid absorbed, leaving a strange goo.

Taste wise, it was more like a light fluffy cake with a slight chocolate taste as the sauce was non existant. I only microwaved for a total of 8 minutes all up. (6 minutes it was still liquid and just before 8 it turned into a cake)

Such a shame… on a tough Wednesday when I really needed a sugar hit.

 

mmm cupcake

I went to the wedding of a good friend recently, and she had the most gorgeous cupcake tower! We all got a cupcake to take away after the big event, which I happily devoured the next day.

They were from Crabapple Cupcake Bakery and when speaking to the bride they said they almost went cupcake-less because during the week the owners were having a family dispute. Thankfully the owners pulled it out of their butts and got them their wedding cake on time! And it looked good and nobody would have known it was a rush job.

And the cupcake was buttery, sweet but not overpoweringly so and moist. It was a lot better than some of their cupcakes I’ve had in the past. yum yum yum