Peanut butter tofu

I’ve started to move towards more of a vegetarian diet as I am conscious of the environmental impact of livestock but also quite concerned about animal welfare in large commercial farming practices. A supplementary benefit is that it is significantly cheaper to be vegetarian. I am able to buy more than enough fruit and veg for a week with only $30!

A lot of people tell me they don’t like tofu but I find it is because of the lack of sauce/flavour and sometimes the texture. I have been able to convert my partner with this tasty peanut butter tofu recipe.

Gluten free, egg free, dairy free, vegan

Ingredients:

• 900g block of firm tofu (ensure it is gluten free, some brands have traces)
• Oil for frying
• 1 teaspoon of minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 5 heaped tablespoons of peanut butter (smooth or crunchy based on your preference)
• 1 teaspoon of sriracha or other chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (you can substitute honey or sweeter)
• 1 cup of water

Method:

1. Cut up the tofu into cubes/bite sized pieces and pat dry with a towel.
2. In a large fry pan, add the oil and fry the tofu pieces on medium heat. Turn regularly so all sides are crispy (or most if you are lazy like me).
3. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.
4. Using the same pan, add a teaspoon of oil and fry off the garlic and ginger till fragrant.
5. Add the peanut butter, sriracha, soy sauce, sesame oil and maple syrup. Stir quickly to mix everything as the peanut butter melts.
6. Add the water and keep mixing gently until the sauce is smooth.
7. Add the garlic powder, pepper and any additional salt if needed.
8. Finally add in the tofu and mix till each piece is covered in delicious sauce.

Serve it with fresh steamed rice and some stir fried vegetables. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge. Whilst I don’t recommend leaving it too long in the fridge, but I did leave it for a week, and it was still fine.

Enjoy!

Carribean inspired corn and bean salsa

Wow, it’s been a hot minute!

Last time I looked at this site was PC (pre-COVID). Honestly, now I stratify past events by if it happened before or after the pandemic…

Now that I remember even having this blog, I am committing to posting some new recipes that I have enjoyed multiple times over and are favourites of mine. As usual all the recipes will be gluten-free and simple for everyday eating. Life’s too short to slave over the stove!

Now this salsa is nothing like I’ve had before! It’s a sweet crunchy salsa with only a hint of tangyness and light saltyness which make it very moreish. In Australia, we don’t have some of the ingredients readily available that was in the original recipe I found (you can see it here) so I’ve substituted with some easier access alternatives. It is super easy and so so quick!

You can really use whatever beans you like so mix and match to your preferences. For those coeliacs out there, check the labels because I did come across one can of beans that actually has gluten in it (I think it is one of the Edgell’s products). Who would have thought a plain ol’ can o’ beans would have gluten but alas it did so always good practice to check!

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, vegan

Ingredients:

• 1 can of corn kernals
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of red kidney beans
• 1 can of canellini beans
• 1/2 red capisicum (diced)
• 1/2 green capisicum (diced)
• 1/2 medium red onion (finely diced)
• 1/4 cup canola oil (or another oil with a mild flavour)
• 1/2 apple cider vinegar (any other plain vinegar can be substituted)
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• Tortilla chips to serve

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the oil, vinegar and sugar. Heat on low to dissolve the sugar then leave to cool.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients into a bowl (except the tortilla chips), pour over the pickling juice and allow to mellow for an hour.
3. To serve, drain off the liquid and enjoy with crunchy tortilla chips.

We leave this sitting in the fridge and use a little strainer to take out a portion at a time. It doesn’t last long in our fridge but is still good for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Deconstructed sticky rice “dumplings”

I used to love having glutinous rice dumplings for breakfast. These are savoury sticky rice dumplings wrapped in a lotus leaf. I found them a filling breakfast to keep me going till lunch. Inside is sticky rice, split yellow mung beans, a fatty piece of spiced pork and a salted duck egg yolk. My mum and dad used to pop it in the steamer when they got up so it was ready for me to eat for breakfast before heading off to school. In Chinese, its called this zhong zi.

I recently realised most of the ingredients are failsafe so I decided to make a failsafe version. This is a deconstructed version because I am way too lazy to wrap and steam them.

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, failsafe, nut free

Ingredients:

Sticky rice

• 2 cups of glutinous rice (aka sticky rice)
• 1 1/2 cup of water

Mung beans

• 1/2 cup of split mung beans
• 2 cups of water

Meat filling

• 500g of chicken mince
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 4-5 tablespoons of magic carob sauce

Hard boiled egg

Method:

Sticky rice

1. Wash the sticky rice a few times in a bowl or a sieve. There is a lot of excess starch with this type of rice which will make it very gluggy if you don’t wash it away.
2. In a heat proof bowl placed the washed sticky rice and add the water. It won’t look like much but it doesn’t need as much as other rice types.
3. Place this bowl in a steamer. I add a few cm of water to a soup pot with a little wire rack down the bottom so the bowl doesn’t sit in the water.
4. Steam for around 20-30min or until all the water in the rice is absorbed. Keep an eye that your steamer doesn’t dry out.

Mung beans

1. Rinse the mung beans off to remove the excess starch.
2. Place the mung beans and water in a saucepan and simmer on low heat till all water is absorbed and the beans are tender.
3. Season with a little salt to taste.

Minced meat

1. Add some oil to a fry pan on medium heat and fry the garlic till fragrant.
2. Add the minced meat and fry till cooked.
3. When the meat is nearly cooked add the carob sauce and continue till meat is cooked and coated in the gravy.
4. Season with salt if needed.

To serve, take some sticky rice, some mung beans and then some meat and top off with half a hard boiled egg. The components also do well in the fridge so you can put it together and heat up in the microwave when you want a snack.

Enjoy!

Potato hash (RPAH elim friendly)

If you are like me, then a savory breakfast is the best way to start the day. This recipe is a go to for me as the potatoes, leek and garlic are the base and then you can add whatever vegetables you have handy to bulk it out. I normally like celery, carrots and zucchini. If you are doing the strict RPAH elimination diet or failsafe diet then skip the carrots and zucchini out. You could try shaved cabbage or finely diced green beans as an alternative.

This makes a large frypan amount of potato hash so I keep it in the fridge and microwave it in the morning while I fry an egg to go with it. I’m still not used to using an induction cooktop so my egg was a little too crispy…

Potato hash

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, failsafe, nut free

Ingredients:

• 4 large potatoes
• 1 inch length of leek
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 large stick of celery
• 2 small carrots (optional, moderate salicylates)
• 2 small zucchinis (optional, moderate salicylates)

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and dice to around 1cm cubes.
2. Quarter the leek and cut into 0.5cm slices.
3. Finely dice the celery.
4. If you are using the carrots and zucchinis, peel and then grate them.
5. Heat the oil in a large fry pan on medium heat. Add the potatoes and fry with the lid on so it also steams at the same time. Occasionally stir to avoid burning.
6. Once the potatoes have softened and gone golden brown, add the minced garlic, leek and celery. Fry with the lid off and stir regularly.
7. When the leeks and softened add the grated carrots and zucchinis. Keep frying till the grated vegetables are cooked.
8. Season with salt to taste (around 1/2 teaspoon).

I love this with a fried egg and sometimes sprinkle some spring onion or chives as a garnish.

Enjoy!

Caramelised stewed pears

I always have spare pears sitting in the fridge and often I forget they are there because they end up at the back. This recipe is a great way to use them up before they go bad.

Gluten free, soy free, nut free, failsafe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 4 pears, peeled and chopped

Non-failsafe options

• Cinnamon powder
• 1 tablespoon honey

Method:

1. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat.
2. Add butter and white sugar and cook slowly until the sugar melts and goes like caramel.
3. Add the pears and quickly mix thoroughly so everything is coated.
4. Lower the heat slightly and continue to cook. The pears will release their juice so keep cooking to reduce the sauce until it has thickened.
5. If you would like to add the extras, add the honey and cinnamon towards the end.

I like to have these pears on buckwheat pancakes or on porridge.

Enjoy!

Spinach and feta pastries

I’m very lucky to have found a local community garden at the beginning of the year. As I cook a lot at home and often from scratch (it is the easiest way to keep things GF!), that means our household generates a lot of food scraps! My little worm farm can’t handle it all so the rest goes to compost at the community garden. We have had a wet start to summer this year and the veggie patch is thriving. Some members planted spinach during the spring which have just grown wildly well in these ideal conditions. I harvested around two large bunches last time and thought it was a great opportunity to try making spinach and feta pastries. What I like about growing them is that you can pick them at their best, pick only what you need so you don’t waste anything and it has zero food miles!

Our two largest supermarket chains (Coles and Woolworths) stock GF puff pastry in the GF frozen section. The one I picked up is the Simply Wize brand which happens to be vegan as well. Whilst you can make your own puff pastry by hand, it really is a labour intensive process. My attempt didn’t turn out so well so I just stick with the commercial product. The GF version often isn’t as flaky or light and if you pick the vegan version then won’t have that buttery flavour, but I still love it!

Gluten free, dairy free

Ingredients:

• 2 large bunches of spinach
• 50g feta cheese
• Store bought gluten free puff pastry
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg beaten

Method:

1. Wash your spinach and chop it up so it can cook quicker. Chopping it also means that when you later take a bite you won’t pull out a heap of filling!
2. In a large fry pan add a tablespoon of oil and cook your spinach on medium heat till it is cooked down. It will release some water and I like to evaporate that off so it doesn’t make the pastry soggy. I had to do this in two batches as there just was so much spinach!
3. Remove the cooked spinach into a bowl to cool slightly while you get on with the pastry.
4. Grab your thawed puff pastry sheets. These will need to be rolled out to your desired thickness, I cut mine in half to make two long rectangles to make it a little more manageable. I like to roll mine between two sheets of baking paper to minimise sticking. I took the rectangle and rolled it out so it made a square shape again which was the thickness I wanted. I used 2 sheets in total which made 4 rolled out squares.
5. To the cooled spinach, crumble in the feta cheese and mix it thoroughly. You may like to adjust the amount to your taste. Depending on the brand it is worth tasting it now and season with extra salt if needed.
6. Take one of your squares of puff pastry and place a row of the spinach mix along the bottom edge (it should be around a quarter of your mix) and shouldn’t go up more than 1/3 of the way up.
7. Now slightly wet the top 1/3 of the pastry square with wet hands.
8. Pack down the spinach mix and then start to roll it from the bottom up. The pastry roll should double up so it won’t split. Now adjust the roll so the doubled up bit is at the bottom and gently apply a little pressure to seal it.
9. Transfer it to a baking tray lined with baking paper and gently cut it in half and half again to get 4 little rolls.
10. Repeat all this again for the remaining spinach mix.
11. Beat an egg and brush on the top of your rolls. This is what makes it lovely golden brown. If you can’t have egg you can also try melted butter.
12. Bake in a pre-heated oven on 180C (fan forced) till golden brown.

These are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven while they are warm and crispy.

Enjoy!

The Duke of Brunswick Hotel, Adelaide

207 Gilbert St
Adelaide, SA, 5000
100% gluten free kitchen
https://thedob.com.au/

I’m not sure about you, but I had the best intentions to catch up on all the things I have been meaning to do in this COVID-19 lockdown. This included cleaning, home DIY projects, doing some online courses, catching up on posting on this blog, reading and the list goes on. Of course, I only ticked off the cleaning and then just hit up Netflix so here is another attempt at catching up on blog posts.

I found the Duke of Brunswick (DoB) Hotel on the internet towards the end of last year (2019). I honestly have no idea why it took me so long as I had been visiting Adelaide for nearly 2 years already so I made a point to visit. The DoB is located in a quiet, leafy, residential area on Gilbert street in the south western corner of Adelaide CBD. I happened to visit on a nice warm day and walked over from my hotel. On approach, the DoB almost blends into the surrounding houses with the exception of a few signs. The weather was really lovely that evening so I headed to the outdoor seating area in the back. It was fairly quiet as I went on a week night but there were a few families with young children and smaller groups of couples. I found it a refreshing change to be in a family pub environment and actually quite relaxing.

The reason why I specifically wanted to visit the DoB was because they advertised that they had converted their kitchen to be completely gluten free. Even though the kitchen is 100% GF the bar is not so just steer clear of the beers. When I visited at the end of 2019 they had already changed over to the new GF menu for 6 months. The menu had the usual pub fare with burgers, hot dogs and fish & chips. I took a long time tossing up between a burger or a hot dog because really… where do you see GF hot dogs?! In the end I settled on the BLT which comes with a side of fries and aioli. A minute or two after the burger was served, the chef came out with a little plate of bacon apologising that he forgot to put it on the burger. I honestly didn’t even notice but I was thankful that they remembered.

The burger was delicious with a moist beef patty that was well seasoned and topped with melted cheese. The test, however, is the burger bun. It was tasty, soft and not dry like cardboard which were all ticks for me. The one thing that no other GF bun has succeeded with is the structural integrity as you get towards the end of the meal. Unfortunately, this bun was not the holy grail and did start to disintergrate towards the end as the bun soaked up the sauces and meat juice. Crispy, freshly fried potato fries were the perfect compliment to the burger. There is also the option to swap out the fries for sweet potato fries. The meal is a fairly good portion size and I was pretty stuffed by the end of it.

But I also wanted to do a little more “research” so it was back to the counter for me to order dessert. I decided on this lychee coconut panna cotta. The flavour was quite good with a good amount of the lychee flavour coming through along with chunks of the fruit. However, I was a little disappointed as it wasn’t creamy nor did it have the texture of a panna cotta. I think agar agar was used to set the pudding which is a harder setting jelly than using gelatin. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I’ve looked at their current menu and they have some new dessert items and I’m very keen to try their sticky date pudding next time.

All in all, I had a really relaxed and enjoyable meal at DoB. The plan was to return this year when we visit Adelaide for a wedding. Unfortunately, that was cancelled so I will have to organise another weekend trip so I can take my partner to try the food here. I can’t wait till we can start travelling again so I can try out some of their new menu items. At the time of this post they are doing renovations but when they are done, please support this place with take-away or dining in when social restrictions are relaxed! I definitely will be back on my next trip to Adelaide.

Dalgona coffee (RPAH elim friendly)

I’m not a person to follow viral trends, I almost despise them. However, somehow I got sucked into seeing what the hell is a dalgona coffee…

Firstly, what is a dalgona coffee? A quick google search tells me it is whipped coffee with origins from various locations in Asia and the Subcontinent. However, it wasn’t until recently that it rose to viral fame. South Korean actor Jung Il-Woo tried it in Macau and coined the term “dalgona coffee” due to the foam’s resemblance to a Korean sponge candy also called dalgona (from what I can tell it is like a thin chewy honeycomb disc).

I did feel compelled to write about a dalgona coffee because it is so very rare to have a trending food/drink item that can be failsafe (aka suitable for the RPAH elimination diet). Whilst I don’t follow the diet at the moment, I do know in the future I will be turning back to reducing my food chemicals and I am going to need as much variety as I can get.

Dalgona coffee

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, egg free, failsafe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon decaf instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon warm water

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl or a thin, tall container if you are using a stick mixer.
2. Using a whisk or frother (I used my stick mixer with the whisk attachment to make it quicker) whisk the mixture till it resembles soft peaks, similar to a meringue. This may take 3-5 minutes if whisking by hand.
3. In a glass place some ice and fill with you choice of milk, I drink rice milk. Don’t fill all the way up, save room for the coffee foam.
4. Spoon the frothed coffee on top of your milk.
5. Before drinking mix the froth and milk otherwise you will get a very strong mouthful of sweet coffee.

Enjoy!

It will go from this liquid…

….to this kind of foam

Health Freak Cafe – Macquarie Park, Sydney

Shop 3347 Macquarie Centre (near Coles)
Herring & Waterloo Road
North Ryde NSW 2113
100% gluten free
https://www.healthfreakcafe.com.au

This place is one of our favorite, favourite places to eat out at. Mainly because it was the first 100% gluten free cafe we came across in Sydney that wasn’t miles away in the Eastern Suburbs. It is actually crazy that it has taken me so long to write about it given the number of times we have dined here in the past. This lovely establishment is located inside Macquarie Shopping Centre’s new wing near the Coles. It is a nice part of the shopping centre away from the crowds packed into the main food court. The cafe is a fully gluten free premises with a sign out the front asking patrons to refrain from bringing food in to keep the place free from cross contamination.

On this particular visit we were here for lunch with some friends before the outbreak of the coronavirus. I quickly skimmed the menu and was disappointed to see they no longer have the chorizo hash which was my favourite dish. I had to go with my next favourite, sweet potato fritters with sauteed spinach and capsicum, 2 poached eggs and topped with pan-fried haloumi and a balsamic glaze. The fritters are a little wet in my opinion but still very tasty and spiced, maybe with cumin? The eggs are always poached perfectly here with a gooey yolk!

My partner ordered the beef burger with added haloumi (+$3) which comes with the choice of a GF bun, paleo bun or sweet potato. I think here he went with the GF bun. In the past we have tried the paleo bun and from memory it is really thin and dense, almost like a biscuit. I’d recommend having the normal bun but like most GF buns it looses structural integrity as it gets wet so be quick! The burgers aren’t my favourite dish on the menu, they are good, but they aren’t next level gourmet if you know what I mean (Moo Burgers have amazing burgers).

We also really like the BBQ pulled pork loaded fries. The serving looks small but it is quite filling. Crispy sweet potato fries are topped with pork that is tender, moist and smothered in smoky BBQ sauce. It is also topped with black beans, jalapenos, red onion, grated cheddar, queso sauce and finally guacamole. Take care with the mini skillet as it comes out very hot, the staff are great at letting you know to be careful.

Loaded sweet potato fries with pulled pork

Beef burger

Sweet potato fritters with haloumi and poached eggs

Thinking back to some of the other menu items I’ve tried, I really liked the bruschetta, though I think the GF sourdough bread may have been a little hard that one time. The big breakfast is also really good for a mix of everything you would want for a savoury breakfast. If you are like me and get food FOMO then this is a good option. It’s quite a large serve and probably would be enough for 2 small eaters. I’d probably skip the pancakes as I found they didn’t taste too good, quite noticeably health food tasting even with coconut ice cream and berries. But if you are looking for something sweet go with the ice cream bowls. They are a little pricey but I found them delicious. It was a while ago since we had it but I think it was a salted caramel one which looks like it is not on the menu any more. However, the cookie dough one looks good and would be my first pick to try next round.

If you aren’t full or haven’t spent enough money, then there are also take away items at the front of the cafe including cakes, slices, bliss balls and the like for something a little later. They are all free from refined sugar (just like the rest of the menu).

We love this place! We come obviously for the food but also the cafe is modern, bright and spacious. The staff are always great and very accommodating as we often asked to make some substitutions to the dish eg. swap out egg for some avocado and they have always had no problem with it. Hoping to visit again soon!

 

Arepa Oz – Enmore, Sydney

 147 Enmore Rd, Enmore, NSW
100% gluten free
https://www.arepa.com.au/

It was a rainy Sunday and we needed to get out of the house but couldn’t go for a bushwalk. I’m glad we didn’t try brave the weather because the rain did get quite heavy at times. We jumped in the car and ended up in town getting some art supplies near Broadway so I can try out watercolour painting. Next thing we know, its well after lunchtime and we are getting hangry so we decided to head over to get some arepas.

If you haven’t heard of an arepa before, it is kind of like a stuffed pita bread burger from the northern part of South America. The bread bun is made of corn and is cut in half and filled with various fillings like meat, cheese and vegetables.

Our overflowing arepas!

This was our second time here, the last time we both had the “El Jefe” and it was so filling that I only got half way through mine. This time I decided to try the pulled pork one in hopes that I wouldn’t eat till I felt sick, my partner went with the good old El Jefe.

Let’s start with the El Jefe (The Lot) arepa, this baby looks small and unassuming but when you pick it up it is heavy, like double whopper heavy. It is stuffed with your choice of pork or chicken, black beans, feta cheese, plaintains and a green salsa. Last time we came the lady made them with almost a full ice cream scoop of feta cheese! This time they were lighter on the cheese. The deep fried plaintains have a faint hint of banana and are slightly sweet, mixed with the savoury of the meat, beans and feta.

The lighter pulled pork arepa was definitely a good choice. The meat was tender with a light mix of  herbs and spices and paired with crunchy slaw. I also added cheese to mine for $1.50. I felt that it was a little bland but they bring out a bottle of chilli mayo and another of aioli which I put on and it made it much better. We also ordered a side of fries, beautiful, crispy fries to have with the mayo’s. We ate a lot of mayo this day…

El Jefe arepa

Pulled pork arepa

Fries with mayo!

I have still yet to try the chicken arepa, it is on the list for next time! If you are in the area, I highly recommend you give these arepa’s a try. The place is 100% gluten free so you can dine without even thinking about cross contamination. My significant other gives it his coeliac seal of approval!

The menu

Quick shot before someone walked by!