Korean Kim Chi Pickle

Makes 1 litre

1.5 kg chinese cabbage
6 tablespoons salt
6 dried red chillies, crushed, 3 tablespoons
1 knob ginger, minced, 2 tablespoons
3 garlic cloves
6 spring onion
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder (mild chilli from Indian grocers)

Salt the cabbage. Leave for 2 hours to dewater. Rinse well. Soak for 30 minutes in fresh water. Drain well. Pat dry with clean tea towel.

Mix the remaining ingredients. Add to dried cabbage.

Pack into sterilized glass jars.

Leave at room temperature for 2-3 days until sour.

Store in the fridge. Let mature for 2 weeks.

Use within a month.

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Date and Ginger Loaf

Adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Cake and Slices Cookbook

1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 sugar
1/2 butter (125 g)
1 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup sugared ginger
3 x 67 g eggs
100 mL sour cream

1. Cream sugar and butter
2. Beat in eggs
3. Stir in dates and ginger
4. Fold in sifted flour
5. Fold in sour cream
6. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 1.25 hour.

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Masterchef Drama

Go to Channel Ten to view drama

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Avocado Cake

2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 avocado, mashed
2/3 cup yoghurt

Mix everything together. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.

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Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1/5 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
200 mL low fat sour cream (Brownes brand)
2 eggs
3 tablespoon cocoa
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup chopped dates

Mix everything together. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1.25 hours.

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Disaster Bread

Everyone has one of these baking disasters. Not all is lost. You can make a tea bread from crumbs collected from baking flops.

3.5 cups dried crumbs
1.75 cup self raising flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup milk

Mix everything together. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1.25 hours.

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Slow Cooked Chicken

WARNING: ultra low temperature cooking below food safe temperature. Hygiene paramount.

2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon oil
1.2 kg chicken
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius
2. Rub the chicken with oil and dry sherry. Put chicken in a preheated crocotte
3. Cook at 60 degrees Celsius for 6 hours
4. Cool in the fridge
   
5. Preheat over to 220 degrees Celsius
6. Drizzle with olive oil
7. Brown the chicken for 20-30 minutes or 15-20 minutes for soy sauce chicken

This technique gives a Hainan style poach chicken with a crispy skin. Ice cubes (with rice wine) may be stuffed inside the chicken to prevent over cooking when browning off.

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Midyim Berries - Austromyrtus dulcis

Delicious sweet white berries with purple flecks. Ready to eat straight off the shrub. Traditionally eaten by indigenous Australians in the Eastern parts of Australia where the berries grow naturally. The shrub grows well in a pot. The berries are produced twice a year in January and April.

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Confit Turkey

3 kg turkey legs (about 8)
15 g salt/kg or for longer storage, 50 g salt/kg

Confit Oil
1 tablespoon peppercorn
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch thyme
1 garlic bulb
12 pickling onion
10-12 bay leaves
2 L sunflower oil

Rub salt into the turkey legs. Let marinade for 30 minutes to 2 hours for eating within a week. For longer shelf life, cure for 36 hours to 3 days at 4 degrees Celsius in the fridge.

Rinse and pat dry with tea towel.

Confit 12-15 hours at 60 degrees Celsius in a 5L crocotte with lid.

Cool. Transfer to a seal container and store in the fridge.

To use, remove legs from the oil and roast at 220 degrees Celsius until the skin crisp.

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Confit Abalone

150 g abalone
500 mL olive oil
1 tablespoon ginger slivers
1 onion
1 garlic
1/2 cup chopped scallions

Stephanie Alexander:
Confit at 125 degrees Celsius for 3-4 hours until soft as butter

Neil Perry:
Confit at 60 degrees Celsius for 2-2.5 hours.

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Confit Chicken

500 g very fresh organic chicken breast (2 pieces)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
500 mL olive oil
1/2 cup chopped scallions

1. Marinade chicken in sugar and salt for 15 minutes.
2. Rinse off marinate and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Heat oil and scallions to 100 degrees Celsius. Watch for bubbles.
4. Pour over the chicken in a ceramic dish. Cover.
5. Cook in an oven preheated at 60 degrees Celsius for 2-2.5 hours.

Can store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

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Gluten Free Bread Success!

A picture says a thousand words! After not having much success with gluten-free Easter bread, Noodle Cook discovers the use of gelatinous starches. A simple combination of potato starch, rice flour and lentil flour together with yeast and bicarbonate soda yields a soft, fluffy, flexible white bread which toasts well. Best of all, no expensive xanthan gum is needed.



The aroma from toasting is to die for! There is still a lot of room for improvement such as using a dough conditioner to enhance shelf life.



Replacing half the rice flour with sorghum gives a very light and airy texture. The beautiful structure holds up well during baking. This is really amazing for a gluten-free bread. There is only minor tweaking needed to make the texture finer.



When all the rice flour is replaced, the bread unexpectedly develops a much finer texture. The bread is much harder than the fluffy white bread without sorghum.

The bread making technique is work in progress. The next step is to make kneadable and shapable bread rolls instead of using the batter method.

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Pancake

Basic Savoury Batter

1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk or water
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon melted butter, optional


Basic Sweet Batter

1 egg
2/3 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup milk or water
1 teaspoon melted butter, optional
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch salt

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Chickpea Crepe

1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup water (or coconut milk)
1 teaspoon olive oil (very important)
1 tablespoon rice flour, optional
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, optional
ajwan seeds, garlic, onion, chilli, coriander optional

Mix everything together. Can be stored in the fridge until ready to use.

Oil a cast iron skillet. Heat to medium (50% power).

Pour in batter and spread to a circle.

When the edges start to brown, drizzle oil or sprinkle water to release. Flip over and brown.

Serve with fresh tomato chutney (tomato, onion, coriander leaves) or potato masala.

The crispy version is good with Indian meals compared to the soft European socca.

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Fermented Rice Crepe

Fermented rice crepe, also known as dosai, dosa, dhosa or even dosay, originates from India. It is often served fillled with masala or tumeric spiced potatoes. The addition of lentil or chickpea flours imparts crispness to the rice crepe.

Successful rice crepes rely on aeration by overnight fermentation, or a shortcut using bicarbonate soda and yoghurt. When fermented, the batter looks spongy and smells slightly acrid. The technique to cook rice crepe requires that the crepe batter be sprinkled or drizzled with oil or water when half cooked to aid the release from the cooking surface. Without this step, the crepe will stick and hardens with disastrous results. A non-stick or oiled cast iron skillet works best.

To make lacey crepe, scrape off half cooked batter before sprinkling with oil or water.




Recipe

150 g long grain rice
500 mL hot water
50 g white urid (lentil) or chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon fenegreek, ground
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak rice in hot water for 30 minutes.

Blend in an electric blender until the rice looks like granulated sugar.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend to porridge consistency.

Cover and ferment at 30 degrees Celsius. Try using a car parked in the sun, or an oven overnight after preheating to 180 degrees Celsius and turning off. Allow 6-8 hours for fermentation until the batter doubles in bulk.

Grease a cast iron skillet. Heat on 30% power (low to medium). When hot enough, water droplets will bounce.

Pour in some batter. With the base of a ladle, quickly distribute outwards using a circular motion.

When bubbles appear and start setting, sprinkle oil or water to aid release of the crepe.

To make paper thin crepe, scrape off the soft half cooked batter.

Cook until the edge starts to brown, around 1/2 to 1 minutes.

Add fillings like potato masala at this point.

Release the crepe by sliding a non-stick spatula underneath. Fold to desired shape. Unfilled crepe can be flipped over and brown.

Serve immediately with coconut cream and tomato salsa.


Potato Masala

2 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, diced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 spring curry leaves, optional
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder or 3 dried chillies, crushed
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 peas
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cook the potatoes and carrots with 2 tablespoons water in the microwave for 5 minutes.

Saute the onions. Add the spices and cook until aromatic. Add the rest of the ingredients and saute.

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Beans

Beautiful freshly picked organic beans throughout summer need nothing more than a light blanching, and a lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette. Perfect for salad nicoise with olives, seared tuna, boiled quail eggs, grape tomatoes, cos hearts and baby potatoes.

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Lunch Special: Lemon Myrtle Wheat Berry Risotto

Plump al dente wheat berries in a creamy lemon myrtle and chicken risotto, served with a sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper, parmesan and finely chiffonade lemon myrtle. A superb bush tucker dish accented by the aroma of lemon. The simplicity turns the dish into fine dining experience.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cups chicken stock
400 g terigu (soft white wheat berries), cooked to instructions
4 fresh lemon myrtle leaves
2 teaspoon finely chiffonade lemon myrtle
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
cracked pepper

Saute the onions in olive oil until yellow. Add the stock. Add the cooked wheat berries and simmer gently for 30 minute until most of the stock is absorbed and the risotto looks creamy. Add lemon myrtle leaves in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove the lemon myrtle leaves. Place risotto into 4 serving dishes. Sprinkle with parmesan, chiffonade lemon myrtle and freshly cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

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Terigu: Soft White Wheat Berries

Terigu is a type of wheat berry available from oriental stores. Indonesians use the wheat berries in porridge made with coconut milk. This type of wheat berry suits milling into cake flour because of the softness (starchiness) and low gluten.

To prepare terigu, wash and rinse well to remove dried stalks and other impurities. Soak for 2 hours until white. Simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour until soft, but still "al dente". Rinse and drain well. If using as a porridge, return the cooked wheat berries to the pot and simmer gently in coconut milk with pandan leaves for 30 minutes until the milk is absorbed.

Cooked wheat berries suit salads. In soups, wheat berries works just like barley or risoni. The soft texture of terigu also makes it a suitable substitute for arborio rice in risottos.

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Soup of the Day : Pea and Ham

Delicious smooth pea and ham soup with luscious leg ham and mustard sprouts, served hot or cold with choice of gluten-free bread: grains, almond or sorghum.

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Gluten Free Instant Bread

The difficulty of finding gluten free ingredients for baking over the Easter long weekend calls for a shortcut. After baking 2 loaves of bread which compared less favourably than commercial ones available from Country Life Bakery, Noodle Cook dashed into the local supermarket just before closing to grabbed a box of gluten free bread mix which costs AUD$0.55 per 100g. That means a standard 750g loaf made using 500 g mix costs AUD$2.75, which is very much in line with standard breads.



Product: Gluten Free "Easy Bakers Instant Oven Bread" by Laucke Flour Mills
Usage: Bread, rolls, pancakes, pizza, tortillas, cakes, lunch wraps
Version: "Meals and Grains"
Ingredients: Potato flour, tapioca flour, rice flour, grains 13% (linseed, kibbled corn, sunflower seed, soy grits), soy flour, raising agent (575, 500), canola oil, salt, sugar, vegetable gum (464, 412, 415).
Availability in Western Australia: Coles and Woolworths supermarkets
Method suggested for bread: Add 380 mL water to 500 g bread mix. Beat for 2 minutes 30 seconds. Pour better into 1.8 L baking tin. Let rise at 30 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes until almost double. Bake at 215 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Bread Shelf Life: 2-3 days
Recipes: Not available at website for Gluten Free. Recipes found on the box include pancakes, basic cake, lamingtons, pizza, rolls, bread, wraps and tortillas



Notes: Beautiful, even texture with pleasing moistness. Light, well risen, spongy and flexible. Salty. Smells of beans from the soy flour. Hard to remove from baking tin due to tough crust. Very pale crust when baked to instructions. Crust cracked during baking. Can be used for sandwiches. Toasts can be quite hard.

To produce a better bread with more acceptable aroma, better keeping qualities and crisper crust, try the following. The yeast used here is to produce a more pleasing, bakery-like aroma.

Recipe

250 g Gluten Free Easy Bakers Meals and Grains mix
50 g lentil flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast (1/2 of 8 g packet)
200 mL water
2 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon lecithin granules, optional
1 tablespoon flavoured oil (eg. garlic infused)

Dissolve the yeast in water. Make and bake to instructions given above.

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Gluten Free Sorghum Batter Yeast Bread

After the surprisingly poor results from the gluten free almond quick bread, Noodle Cook puts on the scientist's hat. Research shows that

• sorghum flour tastes most wheat-like
• sourdough fermentation works best for sorghum flour
• soda water, baking powder, and baking soda provide additional aeration
• a strong starch gel retains the air bubble well
• gluten free bread "dough" is often a thick batter
• the liquid to dry ingredients weight ratio is approximately 1:1 for batter bread
• lecithin (health food), soy flour, gelatin and milk powder act as crumb conditioners
• ascorbic acid in crushed Vitamin C tablets, vinegar, lemon juice and ground ginger help activate the yeast

Recipe:

Adapted from Bette Hagman

175 g sorghum flour
75 g potato starch
50 g Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten"
1/3 cup milk powder or "Ensure"
2 tablespoons almond meal, optional as milk powder substitute
2 tablespoons soy flour, optional, as milk powder substitute
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda (or 2 teaspoons baking powder)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 packet dried yeast (8 g)
2 eggs
pinch ground ginger, optional
1/2 teaspoon lecithin granules, optional crumb conditioner
1 teaspoon lemon juice, yeast activator
3 tablespoons olive oil
250 mL water (or club soda)
1 teaspoon gelatin, dissolved in 2 tablespoon boiling water
Flavouring: 1 teaspoon crushed peppercorn. Rosemary and thyme olive oil infusions

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients.

Whisk remaining ingredients until emulsified.

Add dry ingredients, including any flavouring spices and herbs to the liquid mixture. Beat on high using a standard hand mixer for 10 minutes. The resultant dough should resemble a thick cake batter.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cover with foil after 10 minutes.

The bread can keep for 2-3 days if lecithin is used. Otherwise, freeze the remaining.

Notes: The bread sagged 10 minutes into baking. The temperature was a touch too hot. As expected, the texture is very heavy, and compares less favourably than the commercial gluten free bread from Country Life Bakery. The aeration looks adequate, but appears very coarse. Although moist, the bread breaks when bent. The aroma scores a WOW and a 10 out of 10. Overall, very tasty and can easily be mistaken for quick bread made with wheat flour.



Sorghum breads to try:
Gluten Free Girl's Artisanal Sorghum Bread
Gluten Free Girl's Crusty Sorghum Bread
Bette Hagman's Sorghum Bread for Twin Valley Mills
Simply Gluten Free Hubby's Bread

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Gluten Free Almond Quick Bread

General purpose gluten-free flour:
1/2 rice flour
1/4 maize starch
1/4 potato starch

Fortified gluten free flour:
1/4 nut/bean/pea/lentil flour
3/4 general purpose gluten-free flour

Improved gluten free flour:
10 g soy flour for each 100 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
10 g milk powder for each 150 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
10 g lecithin for each 500 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)

Egg substitute:
1 egg = 1 tablespoon lecithin minus 1 tablespoon fat from recipe, plus 2 tablespoon liquid
1 egg = 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal plus 2 tablespoon hot water
1 egg = 1/4 cup beancurd
1 egg = 3/4 cup soy yoghurt less some water and fat
1 egg = 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup fruit sauce or puree
1 egg = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 2 tablespoons water
1 egg white = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 2 tablespoons water
1 egg yolk = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 1 tablespoons water

Gluten replaced flour for pizza, bread, scones, muffins, pasta:
20 g Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten" (GFG) for each 100 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum = 30 g "Gluten Free Gluten" (GFG)



Ingredients listed on Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten": Superfine rice flour, pea extract, maize starch, potato starch, vegetable derived gums & cellulose: guar gum, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, monoglycerides from vegetable.


Recipe:

Adapted from Buckwheat Bread at taste.com.au

2/3 c rice flour (80 g)
1/3 c maize starch (40 g)
1/3 c pototo starch (40 g)
1/4 c Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten" (30 g)
1/2 c almond meal (50 g)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites (80 g)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon lecithin (improves keeping quality, reduces oil and replaces egg yolk)
1 tablespoon macadamia/walnut oil
poppy seeds for decoration, optional

Method:

Sift the flours. Combine with almond meal, baking powder and salt.

Whisk the egg whites.

Whisk the remaining ingredients, except for poppy seeds, until the mixture emulsifies.

Fold all ingredients together until combined.

Place in a loaf tin. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.



Notes: The bread is very dense and heavy, and in part due to insufficient egg. The beautiful aromas produced during cooking did not transpire to the finished product. Overall, this bread tastes awful. Commercial Gluten Free Low GI bread made with almond is available from Country Life Bakery.

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Gluten Free Pain Perdu for Weight Control

The pain perdu (French toast cooked in egg custard) shown here is made from low GI gluten-free bread available from by Country Life Bakery. The low GI comes from almond and linseed fortification of the bread. When cooked, the bread softens to a texture very much like sponge cake. The pain perdu, together with low fat ricotta accompaniment, makes an excellent low GI and high protein meal suitable for weight control. Gluten free food is particularly useful for people with autoimmune diseases like hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto.

According to celebrity gossip, the very famous Betheny Frankel claims her new book "Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting" will make Oprah Winfrey thinner.

Noodle Cook cannot claim that food alone can make anyone skinny, but a gluten free meal can contribute to the well being of autoimmune disease sufferers. Would Oprah Winfrey like to try gluten free, low GI, high protein food instead of dieting?

For high protein diets, check out the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Book 1 and Book 2. For gluten free ideas, follow Shauna, the Gluten Free Girl.

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Garden Fresh Rocket

Some 12 weeks after sowing, the best tasting rocket leaves made it to the salad menu.

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Around the World in 7 Days

Contrary to belief, Noodle Cook's home meals do not consist of just 2 minute noodles and dumplings ...

Sunday: French chicken and vegetable pot pie made with fresh tarragon and thyme

Monday: Pan-fried Moroccan spice rubbed pork chop, couscous with preserved lemon and mint, and garden salad

Tuesday: Grilled parsley chicken maryland, tarragon peppercorn white sauce, braised red cabbage with caraway, roasted pumpkin and zucchini with dill, mashed potatoes

Wednesday: Parmesan meat balls in napoletana sauce with pasta

Thursday: Thyme and lemon lamb chop with haricot beans, served with rice

Friday: Teriyaki chicken, sesame and soy dip, braised vegetables (sprouts, red capsicum, baby corn, broccoli, spring onion, onion), ginger olive oil infusions, served with rice

Saturday: Couscous and mint crusted salmon, saffron potato and onion, basmati rice with preserved lemons and fennel, beans, peas and green onion dressed with lemon vinaigrette

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Gerbera

A cheerful orange gerbera against the backdrop of a blue swimming pool.

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Caramelized Banana Slice

An incredibly simple snack turned restaurant dessert through presentation. Here's the recipe for the big kids. You'll soon have school kids looking like masterchefs cutting with paper scissors and plastic knives!



For each small kid allow the following quantities:

1/2 sheet of flat bread (lavash)
1 tablespoon hazelnut spread (Nutella), or 2 squares chocolate, grated
1 banana, sliced
2 teaspoon raw sugar
melted butter, optional
Frangelico liqueur, optional
icing sugar, wattleseed, cocoa for dusting, optional

Brush the flat bread with melted butter if liked. Cut the flat bread into quarters. Spread with Nutella or sprinkle with grated chocolate. Neatly arrange banana slices over the the slices. Brush with more melted butter and Frangelico liqueur if liked. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until the sugar melts and turns brown. The flat bread should be crisp.

Stack the 4 slices neatly on a dinner plate. Dust with icing sugar or cocoa powder. Serve hot or cold with vanilla ice cream or custard sauce. For variation, use apple.

To make a soft textured version, place creme patissiere between the stacked layers.

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Masterchef Australia Preview

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Fresh Apple Slices

A lovely fruit basket arrives on April 1st brimming with fresh apples.


The unblemished red apple looks irresistible, until cutting, and suddenly, it is: April Fool! What a surprise that the beautiful apple has a rotten core.




Since this is electronic reality, Noodle Cook rushes behind the scene for a sharp knife, and 2 minutes later, out comes beautifully presented apple slices for dessert! The cut slices cleverly avoided the rotten core.

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