Thursday 22 March 2012

The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook AUTHOR: JIM BOSWELL

Out July 2012 


The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook
AUTHOR: JIM BOSWELL 



Photography by Sean Shadbolt.


Publisher: Penguin NZ
"Living gluten-free doesn't have to mean going without. In this stunning book, New Zealand's 'Gluten-Free Chef' Jim Boswell shows you how you can bring fun and flavour back into your diet. 

A proud Kiwi with Italian/Sicilian heritage, Jim loves his bread and pasta and is passionate about gluten-free food that tastes great and is easy to prepare. He shares his delicious recipes for once-forbidden foods like fresh pasta, pizza, tortillas, focaccia and sponge cake ... as well as scrumptious meal ideas including Chicken stuffed with Gorgonzola and Lemon-Orange Meringue Pie. 

With chapters on Basics, Brunch, Starters, Mains, Vegetables & Salads and Desserts, and notes on setting up a gluten-free pantry, this book will have you eating like a king without forsaking your gluten-free diet.

 As many as one in five New Zealanders have some form of gluten intolerance. Set yourselves free with The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook."

For more information about the New Zealand release of The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook my Jim Boswell click on this link.


http://www.penguin.co.nz/afa.asp?idWebPage=30233&ID=2060912&SID=783226913 


Tuesday 6 March 2012

Rosemary Orange Braised Lamb Shanks


Rosemary Orange Braised Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks that are slowly simmered with fresh rosemary, garlic, tomatoes, and red wine. Great served with polenta, or my family's favorite roasted garlic mashed potatoes, as you need something to soak up the wonderful sauce that is created with these. A fantastic dish for company, as all the prep work is done at the beginning, and then you just have to wait.

Ingredients


4-6           lamb shanks, trimmed of end knuckle
4              Tablespoons GF flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1              tsp paprika
2              Tablespoons oil
2              onions, peeled and chopped to a medium size
2              tsp chopped fresh garlic
2              cups beef stock
1              cup orange juice
Grated rind 1 orange
1              Tablespoonp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

Mix the seasoned flour and paprika in a plastic bag, add the lamb shanks and toss to coat. Reserve any remaining flour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the lamb shanks, a few at a time. Set aside. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the remaining flour and cook a further minute.

Stir in the beef stock and orange juice and, once a sauce is formed, add the rosemary. Return the lamb shanks to the casserole or transfer to one. Cover and bake at 160C for at least 2-2½ hours or until the meat is tender.

Season with salt and pepper if wished before serving.

Served on a bed of creamy mashed potato is just right for me.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Bacon and apple Salad with soft boiled eggs with Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing


Another thing I love about Autumn is the salads. Autumn Salads are just the best. On those warm Autumn days a salad shared with friends for a Sunday brunch is just lovely.

Bacon and apple Salad with soft boiled eggs with Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing

Serves 2 (Double the recipes to server 4)

Salad Ingredients:

4 eggs
3 cups mixed salad greens
1 apple, unpeeled, sliced (use a crisp, sweet-tart apple)
4 strips streaky bacon, cooked, coarsely crumbled
¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

150ml Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing

Directions

Cover the eggs with about 1-inch of water in a small saucepan. Bring the water to a gentle boil over medium heat and boil 4 minutes. Run the eggs under cold running water about 30 seconds or until they are warm, but not hot. Carefully peel the eggs, the whites will be firm but the yolks will still be slightly soft.

Meanwhile, place the greens in the center of two plates. Arrange the apples over the greens and scatter the bacon over the apples. Sprinkle the olives around the salads and top each salad with the blue cheese. Drizzle the Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing over the salads.

Place 2 eggs around each salad and cut each in half. (Because the yolks are soft you need to cut the eggs while on the salad plate so the yolks can gently ooze into the salad.) Lightly season the eggs with salt and pepper to taste.

New Zealand Lamb Scotch Eggs with Autumn Salad


I am a lover of eggs and this recipe and the salad side offers a refreshing lunch that can be taken to work or as we do on a picnic. As Autumn is here we have such a lot of great seasonal salad ingredients to choose from.

I like to use the filling (meat) from sausages for this recipe. (Remove the filling from the casing)

New Zealand Lamb Scotch Egg

Ingredients:

6 hard-boiled eggs, well chilled
(Cook then to just past soft boiled, about 5 minutes then stick them in the coldest part of the fridge to firm up)
500 grams New Zealand Lamb sausages, filling removed from the casings (or the same amount of Lamb mince)
1/2 cup Gluten Free all-purpose flour
1-2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Gluten free bread crumbs (I use Tastes Divines plain bread crumbs)
Vegetable oil for frying. (I use Canola oil)

Method:

Peel the well chilled eggs and then divide sausage meat into 6 equal portions. Roll each egg in flour then press and shape a portion of the sausage around each egg.

Dip sausage-wrapped eggs into beaten egg and roll in Gluten free bread crumbs. In a deep sided frying pan heat oil to just below smoking, I use Canola oil cook each egg for 4-5 minutes (longer if shallow frying–constantly turn the eggs around several times for best results) or until sausage is cooked and browned. Set aside to cool while you prepare the salad.

Bacon and apple Salad with Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:

4 cups mixed salad greens
2 apples, unpeeled, sliced (use a crisp, sweet-tart apple)
6 strips streaky bacon, cooked, coarsely crumbled
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
150ml Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing
4 tbsp diced walnuts (optional)



Method:

Place the greens in the center of four plates leaving a space on each plate for a Scotch Egg (2 halves). Arrange the apples over the greens and scatter the bacon over the apples. Sprinkle the olives and walnuts around the salads and top each salad with a good drizzle of the Urban Appetite Avocado Dressing.

To serve:

Cut the Scotch Eggs in half and place 2 halves on each plate.

Saturday 3 March 2012

Jimmy's Crab Cakes


As I mention all the time Sunday brunch is the meal of the week that I look forward to. 

The other day I was given come crab meat from Joan at Fish Stop in Glen Eden to make my crab cakes. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fish-Stop/195232340520392

This is the result, we have full bellies, thinking about a sleep but I think I will take the dogs for a walk.

I served this with grilled bacon and lemon wedges. For a sauce I used Urban Appetites Avocado Sauce.



Ingredients

400 grams crabmeat or 1 400g tin of salmon
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 chopped red bell pepper (150g)
¹⁄³ cup of spring onions, trimmed and chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
¼ teaspoon sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup GF breadcrumbs, plus extra, ½ cup for dredging
½ cup GF mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

Drain and look through crabmeat to make sure it has no shells or cartilage and chill in the refrigerator.

Place the olive oil in a 250mm frying pan and put pan over a medium heat. Add the peppers and onion, sauté for at least 5 minutes until the vegetables soften slightly. Stir in the garlic and salt and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove the vegetables from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Once the vegetables are cool to the touch add them to the crabmeat. Add the eggs, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise,  Dijon and season with salt and pepper. Very carefully mix all ingredients together. The best way to mix the crab mixture is with clean hands; however, you can use a spoon or spatula. It is important to mix gently to keep the crabmeat intact.

From the mixture form ½-cup oval cakes with your hands and place them on a clean plate, separating the layers of cakes with baking/wax paper. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before frying.

Fill a deep fryer with vegetable oil, (I use canola oil) to the maximum line. Preheat to 190C. While the oil is heating, roll the crab cakes in breadcrumbs to coat. When oil is ready, place about 2 crab cakes in the basket, lower into the oil, and cook for about 2 to 4 minutes, turning the cakes half way through cooking time. Lift basket and let the oil drain out. With a pair of tongs, place crab cakes on layered paper towels to drain and lightly season with salt. Continue with the remaining cakes and serve immediately.

If you don’t have a deep fryer a high sided fry pan will do and shallow fry using a slotted spoon to turn.

Thursday 1 March 2012

New Zealand Seasonal Vegetables


New Zealand at its Seasonal Best.

In New Zealand we grow some of the best meats, veggies and fruits in the world and we are also re-noun for award winning primary and secondary produce production.

There are days when we look at prices in the shops and think this is not true, its can’t be happening, but when we take a good look at things, we are a country that produces some of the best produce in the world and if we buy seasonal we can produce at seasonal low pricing while being the best time to purchase. New Zealand’s quality standards are amongst some of the most stringent in the world for primary and secondary food production.




In New Zealand we have a well established Farmers Markets all through out the country and they bring us very fresh produce, usually when their produce and or products for sale are at their freshest and at peak quality.

More and more New Zealanders are becoming big fans of seasonal produce and visiting these markets in the weekend. It’s a fun thing to do on a Saturday or a Sunday to jump in the car and go shopping for the best that’s on offer this week. Its also a great way to learn tricks from the sellers that helps us to get the best out of their produce and products.

I strongly encourage everyone to use produce at its peak for the best quality and fullest flavour possible. These are also ingredients that are usually at their best price and value.

The following lists are a general vegetable guide for looking for what’s good in what season.

Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Artichokes
asparagus
avocado
beans
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
cucumber
leeks
lettuce
peas
potatoes
radish
silverbeet
snow peas
spinach
sugar snap peas
sweetcorn
tomatoes
zucchini

asparagus
avocado
beans
capsicum
celery
cucumber
eggplant
green beans
leeks
lettuce
peas
radish
snow peas
squash
sugar snap peas
sweetcorn
tomato
zucchini

asian greens
avocado
beans
beetroot
borlotti beans
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cabbage
capsicum
carrot
cauliflower
celery
cucumber
eggplant
fennel
leeks
lettuce
onions
parsnip
peas
potato
pumpkin
silverbeet
spinach
squash
swede
sweet potato
sweetcorn
tomato
turnip
mushroom

asian greens
avocado
beetroot
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cabbage
carrot
cauliflower
celeriac
celery
fennel
horseradish
Jerusalem artichoke
kale
kohlrabi
leek
okra
olive
onion
parsnip
peas
potato
pumpkin
silverbeet
spinach
swede
sweet potato
turnip