Fruit mince! YUM!

Firstly, I apologise for not posting this recipe earlier. I had all these hopes of posting lots of gluten-free Christmas recipes, but sometimes things never work according to plan. Just like yesterday, something that the media are calling a "swarm of earthquakes" happened. (Seriously? A SWARM?!) So for many people Christmas will be filled with joy, sadness and a little bit of fear again this year.

At least the weather is Christmassy! People can sleep outside on the trampoline and not worry about getting too cold. It is so warm and sunny, it feels like Christmas.

Hi norther-hemisphere people! To me Christmas wouldn't be right if I wasn't wearing a singlet and shorts.

So I give you Summer fresh fruit mince! Fruit mince pies are usually so heavy and dense that you can't stomach more than one. I changed that, with a lot of inspiration from Nigella Lawson. Below is the fruit mince recipe that I have tailored to New Zealand ingredients - feel free to add some fresh raspberries, currants or strawberries if you like. I would have, but I prefer to eat them fresh!


50ml cranberry juice
6 Tbsp brown sugar

495grams tin of dark pitted cherries (and juice from tin)

1/3 C dried currants
1/3 C raisins
2/3 C cranberries
1 tsp ground ginger
1 (scant) tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 medium lemon or orange (the rind of one fruit, but only juice of half)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp almond essence (I ran out, so left this out of my second batch)


Make this in a medium sized pot, with a wide enough base to help the mixture reduce quickly and high enough sides to protect your kitchen from boiling red missiles.

Dissolve 50ml cranberry juice and 6 Tbsp brown sugar over medium heat.

Add the tin of cherries, including all of the liquid from the tin. Crush the cherries gently with the back of your spoon and bring to the boil.

Add the dried fruit and spices. Let the mixture simmer, stir occasionally to smash up the fruit, for about 15 minutes. By then it should look like a lumpy red paste and the liquid should have evaporated, leaving a delicious looking thick sauce behind.

Now add the rind of one lemon/orange and the juice of half a lemon. Add the vanilla and almond essence.

Taste and check the texture. If it is still quite liquid, and less of a thick syrup with gleaming lumps of fruit - try adding some grated apple. The only reason I haven't included that in the recipe is that I didn't have any for my second batch and it worked out just as well. So this part is completely optional, same with the almond essence.


The pastry: I used the new Pavilion gluten-free pastry range. It comes pre-made and should be in most supermarket freezers. The short-crust and sweet pastries work great with this fruit mince.
OR: I recommend trying Bakels' pastry mix.
If you're not a pre-mix person, check out Karen Morgan's amazing book: Blackbird Bakery.

I only made little pies, using my mini muffin pans which turned out to be the perfect size for fruit mince pies.

Grease the muffin pans.
Roll out your pastry as normal and use a round cookie cutter to make shapes that are a little bit bigger than the circumference of the muffin size. Press the rounds into the holes, spoon the fruit mince to fill and place a little pastry star (or heart? awww!) on top.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on your pastry.



ENJOY!

Christmas time is here again....YUM!

How do you know it's Christmas? What signs tell your brain that it's time to feel that Christmas joy?

Five things that make me feel Christmassy:

Lying in the sun. Forget jack frost, it's sunburn that nips at my nose at Christmas.

Flowers. My Grandma's peonies, roses and Christmas lilies come out in December. Filling the house with vases full of random flowers is part of our Christmas decorations.

Old decorations. I bet everyone feels this way when they see a hideous decoration from their childhood. And yes, they're always hideous but their nostalgic attributes outweigh that fact.

Christmas songs. We always listen to Glen Campbell's Christmas album. But we call him Den Dambell because my big sister couldn't pronounce his name when she was little.

The food. Pavalova, speculaas, Christmas mince pies, our Christmas spicy nibble, salads, fresh veggies, fruit cake, stollen, gingerbread houses. - All gluten-free of course! YUM!

I hope to post about all the above foods, I want to share the gluten-free Christmas joy with you.

What things show you that it's Christmastime? What makes you feel like Christmas?

Bliss yogurt = happiness

You know when people say that to be healthier you should just eat yogurt for dessert, instead of ice cream?
I always laugh when I hear it. But I laugh discreetly.... inside my head.
But if you managed to get in there and listen, I would be doing one of those "Ha! You're insane! Yogurt is for breakfast and emergencies!" laughs, which smacks of ridicule.

But I have seen the light. I have to eat my words (or eat my thoughts?) - because this yogurt is so ridiculously delicious that I would happily eat it instead of ice cream.

Believe it.

This stuff really is "7 serves of happiness."
You MUST try the banana caramel flavour. It's amazing.
Bliss website.

Muffin break makes gluten-free muffins!

Do you think there is a difference between bought and homemade muffins?
I do. I've always LOVED bought blueberry muffins.

When you're a little kid you often decide (rather strange) ways that you will spend your adult life. 'When I grow up...' seems so far away, and you know that you will be so rich (...ha!) that you will go around town wearing high heels, drinking coffee out of pretty cups, drive a lime green Lamborghini convertible and eat blueberry muffins to your heart's content. - Such was my dream when I was a little girl.

So guess what I did when I found these at the gluten-free food and allergy show?

It was pretty crowded and the muffin break girl was looking right at me, but I couldn't help doing a little jig  on the spot.

  At last! My blueberry muffin dreams are possible! Now I just need to find that Lamborghini.

Ok. They are a bit ugly, but they taste pretty good! Muffin-break website.

I have two really awesome little sisters. The three of us really like cheesy grins, cheese, cheese cake and apparently have the same pose in photos:

The other day, we went to the Gluten-free food and allergy show! Choice as!
Do you ever doubt your taste buds? I do. That's why I brought the sisters along to the show, so that they can try things and tell me whether it actually tastes good.


Sometimes we do crazy things together. Over the past few months we've been supporting the All Blacks in such a way that made our friends wonder whether we were actually sane.
Two words: World Champions.* This winning feeling is going to last for ages.

Who knew you could do so much with a white board pen? This one is based on Piri Weepu's tattoo. Weird, I know, but it was fun.

We cringe whenever we drive past this sign. Now we can also laugh at the company by exposing them to ridicule online. In the words of the immortal Nelson: "HA-ha!"


My sisters are cool. I can always rely on them to tell me whether something tastes gross or delicious.
Do you have friends or family members who you can rely on to critique food? Do you have a little support crew to help you out with being gluten-free and life in general?


*Champions of the World. So: we have the best Rugby team in the world. Unlike the World Series, which I don't understand why 'World' is even in the title. Perhaps someone from the USA can explain it to me? Anyone?

Chicken liver pate! Gluten-free comfort food.

Do you like chicken livers? Are you a fan of guts?

Photo credit.

I am. I love them. More precisely; I love liver pate.

This may not look like much, but believe me, it’s delicious!

Nana used to always have some ‘liverwurst’ or liver pate in her fridge. I have so many fond memories of sneaking into her kitchen and spreading a thick layer of the delicious pate over a piece of soft white bread. It was the perfect late night snack. So now, and probably for the rest of my life, I will always feel better if I can just eat some liver pate on toast.

Do you have memories like that? Do certain foods carry feelings of comfort and security with them?

I’m normally a chocolate and coffee girl. Who isn’t? They’re two of God’s greatest gifts, I think. But sometimes a little bit of liver pate helps to make the world right again. Currently, I’m in the middle of the three busiest weeks of this whole year. And I’m craving liver pate.

Are you getting squeamish yet? When I told the pharmacist my pate plans, she became all lily-livered (ha!) and turned green right before my eyes.

I hope you’re not like that. Why? Because you need to try this recipe. It’s delicious, trust me.

Chicken Liver pate:

Oil for frying
2 Big slices of bacon, chopped
½ an onion, roughly chopped
350g chicken livers
¼ tsp cumin
2 sparse tablespoons of Worcester sauce
250 g cream cheese
5 tablespoons of milk
½ - 1 tbsp salt (to taste)
50 g butter, in small cubes
pepper


Heat oil on medium/high and fry bacon, onion and chicken livers until the livers are almost cooked through. Stir occasionally.
Add the cumin and worcester sauce. Stir.
When the livers are cooked, turn the heat off and add the milk. This will help to pull all of that beautiful flavour off the bottom of the pan.
You can let the mixture cool, but if, like me, you are just too impatient; pour the mixture into a food processor while hot. Add the cream cheese and blitz until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I like to add lots of freshly ground pepper.) Add the cubes of butter and give it one last mix until the butter is incorporated into the delicious paste.
Pour into a jar or container and drizzle a bit of olive oil or melted butter overtop.

Yes, it’s ugly. But that means picky eaters will avoid it, so there will be more for you! 
So much the better, right?


Enjoy! 

Vogel's six seed bread

It's a beautiful thing, this bread. I posted about Vogel's fruit and spice bread awhile back, but I just had to share this six seed bread with you. It's amazing.

Do you remember the taste of Vogel's? Of that moist nuttiness the seeds would give the bread? If you're a kiwi you'll probably know what I'm talking about. This new flavour of gluten-free bread contains the essence of Vogel's bread.

Without a doubt, this is my favourite gluten-free bread (that I've tasted so far, I'm still waiting to taste the legendary Udi's!)

Until now, I had never taste a GF bread that I would be happy eating without toasting it. Shocking, I know. How about you? Are you a 'must toast' person?

What's your favourite gluten-free bread? If your answer is 'homeade' - then please can I have your recipe!