French Onion Soup with Gluten Free Cheesy Croutons

 
It was an icy day in Paris; the streets were glistening and I was huddled into my giant hooded jacket. The wheels of the bus were crackling on the wet tar as we sat at the top of an Open Tour bus, gazing at the many beautiful sites, while our breath turned into chilly smoke (can you say tourist?).

Suddenly, the skies opened, showering us with sleet and other gifts from nature. Freezing, and looking a little like drowned rats, we jumped off at the nearest stop, which happened to be close to the Eiffel Tower, and raced into the closest cafe - teeth chattering. I needed warmth and comfort and I needed it NOW! While briefly checking the menu, my eyes rested on French Onion Soup and I thought, "Hey, when in Paris..."

As my soup arrived, I spied the floating islands of cheesy toasted bliss above a sea of brown and smiled.

Yes, I was happy to see those cheesy croutons as I wasn't expecting them, but I couldn't eat them all the time - in order to make an "authentic" French Onion Soup, I decided to make my own. 

French Onion Soup: (From NoMU Website):

Serves 6

Ingredients:
10 large brown onions
80g butter or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely crushed
2 tsp NoMU Provençal Rub
1 cup white wine
2 litres prepared NoMU Beef Stock
NoMU Just Salt
NoMU Just Pepper
18 slices of French baguette (see recipe for the gluten free bread below)
200 g Gruyere cheese, finely grated

Method:

• Grind the Provençal Rub in a pestle & mortar or spice grinder.
•  Halve the onions and slice each half into thin slices.
• Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan and add the onions, garlic, a pinch of salt and Provençal Rub.
• Sweat the onions until translucent, stirring quite regularly.
• Add the white wine.
• Once the alcohol has evaporated, turn down the heat to low, cover the onions with greaseproof paper and continue to cook very gently until all the natural sugars in the onion have caramelized and the onions are soft and sticky. This can take 30-60 minutes.
• Add the hot beef stock.
• Bring the soup up to a boil and skim off any froth and oil that rises to the surface. Return the heat to a slow simmer and cook for another 45 minutes. At the end of cooking, season the soup with salt and black pepper.
• When ready to serve the soup, toast the baguette slices on one side under the grill in the oven. Turn around and cover the other side with Gruyere. Grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Serve the soup in warm bowls topped with the Gruyere croutons. Serve at least 3 croutons per person.

Before Attempting this beer bread - please read the below - if you have Coeliac Disease I would recommend that you do not make it, although there seem to be very contradictory views on the subject.

 According to Vital, "Windhoek Light and Bavarian Brau are apparently made using the German method of distillation which is supposed to eliminate the gluten from the fermented grains." Budweiser also claims to be gluten free.

From Wikipedia, "Some brewers feel that beers brewed mainly from cereals such as rice, sorghum, buckwheat and corn (which either contain no gluten or contain glutens that do not trigger an autoimmune response in coeliacs), and including a proportion of barley or rye, are safe to drink. These brewers argue that the proteins from barley are converted into non-harmful amino acids. Statements from brewers show that their scientists feel confident that their product is non-harmful to those who are gluten intolerant. However, there is some concern and evidence that the claim is not true. Although the barley hordeins in such tests may not be detected, smaller pieces of these proteins, known as peptides, may remain and be toxic for coeliacs. However, while it is likely that most coeliacs will be able to drink beer with less than 20ppm such as Budweiser or beer made with rye malt (in moderation) without causing themselves any harm, it is likely that each person has a different level at which an autoimmune response will be activated and there is some debate over the gluten "level" acceptable to coeliacs.  There are brewery statements that "normal beverages" such as Budweiser are safe, tempered with advice that they should be drunk with caution."

This recipe is modified from the amazing Ishay's blog - Food and the Fabulous. I wanted a simple recipe and this one seemed to tick all the boxes.

Beer Bread with Lemon and Thyme:

Ingredients:

2 Cups Sifted Glutagon Cake Flour

1 Cup Sifted Maizena

2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Baking Soda

2tsp Salt

50ml Sugar

340ml Bottle Beer (Windhoek Light)

1/2 Cup Oil (I used Canola)

Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice of Half a Lemon

1Tbsp Thyme Leaves, removed from stalks

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius
• Grease a standard baking loaf tin
• Mix all ingredients together, until well combined
• Pour batter into tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (My bread took 35 minutes, but I am assuming it is because I had the fan on)
• Allow to cool for 20 minutes before turning out onto wire rack

Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream on RSG with Nina Timm

The lovely and uber talented Nina Timm from My Easy Cooking blog asked if I would like my blog to appear on the radio station, RSG 100-104fm, during the show where she chats about food bloggers and their blogs - of course I said, "YES PLEASE"!!

This morning, I had the pleasure of making my chocolate ice cream, which I originally blogged about here, in Nina's kitchen. Nina is an unbelievable lady - she is the most kindhearted person and is extremely generous with her time and the "secrets" that she has gained through cooking, blogging and photography. I could listen to her recount stories, all day. It was an absolute joy and a privilege to spend the morning with her. Thank you Nina!

What makes this ice cream so special is that it is dairy and egg free, but still rich and creamy, and extremely simple to make. It also serves as a base for wonderful flavour combinations such as chocolate and orange, chocolate and mint or chocolate and nuts.

As Nina and I also discovered these same ingredients would make a wonderful chocolate sauce or chocolate pudding - your imagination is the limit!

Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream

(Makes about half a litre)

Ingredients:

2 Cups Full Fat Coconut Milk
1 Slab Albany Smooth Dark Chocolate
1 - 2 tsp Vanilla Extract or 1 Vanilla Pod with seeds removed and used
1/2 Cup Sugar/ Fructose/ Xylitol (sugar alternatives)
2 tsp Good Quality Cocoa such as NoMU

Optional Extras: Pecan Nuts/ Walnuts/ Fresh Mint/ Orange Extract or Rind
As a chocolate alternative try using the Woolworths Organic Dark Chocolate and Orange

Method:

• Combine all ingredients in a pot on the stove
• Slowly heat, while stirring, until the chocolate has melted
• Bring mixture to a gentle boil for about 20 minutes
• Add any extras at this point and stir to combine
• Transfer to a freezer container
• Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours

Tune into RSG 100-104fm tomorrow morning, just after 9am, to listen to Nina.

Butternut and Mushroom Risotto

For some reason, the popular consensus about rice is that it is a gluten grain. Rice is NOT a gluten grain, it contains starch yes, but is in fact 100% gluten free and easily digested by the body, without fermentation, which makes it one of the best food stuffs to eat if you are intolerant to gluten.

I love risotto, but the laborious task of whisking and stirring and waiting for the stock to absorb, and waiting and waiting and waiting some more, is a bit of a turn off - therefore when Neill Anthony, personal chef, mentioned that he had a short cut for risotto, the same method used in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, where he trained, I was most intrigued.

The secret is to boil the rice for 7 minutes and then not to rinse the starch off before using it. This little tip takes the mission out of making risotto and provides the same results - how cool is that huh?? :)

With the rice sorted, let's move on to the second most important ingredient in a risotto - the stock.

Have I mentioned to you yet, the reason why I love NoMU fonds? No? Ok - well here are the many reasons: Firstly, a fond is described as concentrated stock. Not only are NoMU fonds free of artificial flavourings, colourants and preservatives, but they are gluten free too. This is such a relief to me - because yes, it is possible to make your own stock, which is what I have done in the past as most stock cubes and powders contain gluten - but NoMU fonds taste so great, that it is no longer necessary to do.

YAY for NoMU and their delightful fonds, which come in a variety of flavours; vegetable, chicken, beef and lamb.

Now that we have two brilliant time savers - let's make this speedy risotto - chop, chop!

Taken from website

Butternut and Mushroom Risotto:

(Serves 2 - 4)

Ingredients:

250g Arborio Rice

500g Roughly Diced Butternut

20ml NoMU Fond (I used Beef)

250g Sliced Brown Mushrooms

20g Dried Exotic Mushrooms (I used Chanterelle), Rehydrated with Liquor Reserved

1 Diced Onion

4 Tbsp White Wine

2 - 4 Tbsp Grated Hard Cheese, such as Parmesan

2 - 3 Tbsp Butter

Olive Oil for Frying

 Method:

• Rehydrate dried mushrooms and reserve the mushroom liquor - should take about 30 minutes
• Boil butternut in enough water to just cover the cubes until broken down and puree-like
• Add the NoMU Fond and the mushroom liquor to the butternut - make sure that you have about 600mls of liquid here as this is going to be your stock
• Boil the rice for 7 minutes, drain but don't remove the starch
• Fry onion in olive oil, until translucent
• Add half the sliced mushrooms and the exotic mushrooms and continue frying
• Add the rice and cook for about 2 minutes
• Add the wine and cook until it has evaporated
• Add the stock a ladleful at a time, it should absorb quickly - the rice should take about 10 minutes to cook
• Fry the remaining mushrooms in butter, salt, pepper and garlic (if desired)
• Add to the risotto with the cheese and butter
• You may also like to add some chopped flat leaf parsley
• Serve immediately with a final grating of cheese

Tips for Allergen Free Baking

The top allergens in baking are nuts, milk, gluten and eggs. 

It is not always possible to eliminate all allergens at the same time, during baking, as the texture of the product may be drastically altered.

But, here are a few tips when baking without them: 

Milk:

Goat’s and sheep’s milk are not possible alternatives to cow’s milk because they all contain casein, which means that the immune system is unlikely to differentiate between the different milks.

Substitutes are soya milk, rice milk, almond milk and coconut milk.  Although, soya is closely linked to nuts.

The texture and even-rising of baked goods such as cakes, cupcakes and quick breads is achieved by creaming butter and granulated sugar; margarine is the easiest substitute in these recipes. Most margarines contain casein, however, therefore reading labels is important. Blossom is one of the few margarines that doesn’t contain dairy. 

Oils, such as Canola, generally work best in recipes that use liquid sugars such as honey, maple syrup or molasses; combined with a baking agent, a solid fat like ground nuts and an emulsifying ingredient like eggs or an egg substitute.

When using oils it is advisable to start off using one or two tablespoons less than the amount of butter that would have been used.

Oil-based vegan and dairy-free cakes that do not use eggs are often a little dense. This can be remedied by combining oil with a solid fat, such as ground nuts or chocolate. For example, combining melted dairy-free chocolate, oil and soya yoghurt with dry ingredients allows the cake to remain moist and rich.

Replacing butter with margarine in biscuit and shortbread recipes usually works as the butter is used for richness and density and not for the lift. Oil can also be used in these recipes, with the correct combination of ingredients. 

Applesauce and other fruit purees or jams add body and moisture to batters and can be a healthier alternative to using fats. 

Gluten:

Alternatives to wheat include corn, rice, quinoa, amaranth, millet and buckwheat. 

Gluten-free flours are generally light, medium or heavy in texture.

The heavier grains tend to contain more protein. Flours like buckwheat, quinoa, millet, cornmeal, nut meal, and bean or legume flours are similar to baking with whole-wheat flour.

Medium flours are similar to all-purpose flour; these include sorghum and superfine brown rice flour.

Light flours include white rice flour and starches such as tapioca starch, corn starch and potato starch (not potato flour).

A blend of medium and heavy flours combined with some starch to lighten and help bind the batter or dough seems to work best.

Example (For breads, muffins, biscuits, cakes and cupcakes):

Combine:

1 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup millet, almond or buckwheat flour

1 cup tapioca, potato or corn starch

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Ready-made flour mixes include: Glutagon, Orgran and Entice and can be found at some large food chains, such as Pick ‘n Pay, health food shops and Dischem.

Daniela Govetto of Daisy Health Foods and Entice says, “We focused on rice for our flour because it is totally digestible and digests without fermentation. That way, a person with a food allergy will not experience any symptoms during digestion.” 

Egg: 

In a cake, for example, the eggs serve as a leavening agent, helping to make the cake light and fluffy. In baked goods such as biscuits and muffins, the eggs add moisture and act as a binder, gluing all the other ingredients together.

Generally, the fewer eggs a recipe calls for, the easier they will be to substitute. If a biscuit recipe calls for one egg, using an egg substitute will work much better than in a recipe that requires three or four eggs.

An Egg Replacer, such as that made by Ogran, is very versatile and is available in most health food stores and Dischem. It works best in baked goods, such as biscuits, muffins and cakes, by following the directions on the packaging.

Ground flax seeds can be used for binding by mixing two tablespoons with 1/8 teaspoon baking powder and three tablespoons water for each egg called for.

Bananas and applesauce add the perfect amount of thick moisture, like eggs, but they don’t help dishes to rise or to become light and fluffy. Baking powder and baking soda is needed in these recipes.

Tofu can be used in recipes such as quiches as the texture is similar to that of eggs. Use 1/4 cup tofu for every egg replaced and add some extra baking powder.

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake (Gluten free)

Two words that make me very happy - cheese and cake... They make you happy too, don't they? Huh? Huh?

(Due to my intolerances, I haven't been able to enjoy these two "words" much. BUT, a few weeks ago I had my allergies retested and the levels of my intolerances were much lower, some have even been eradicated, except for gluten.) 

Time for cheese and cake, I'd say!

Keeping with the theme of gluten free cheesecakes, I wanted to make something extra special.

The special ingredient I decided to use in the base of my cheesecake was Nomu's Sweet Rub. (Excellent idea, if I could find it!) I just knew that the sweet, vanillary, spicy combination would complete my cheesecake and compliment the strawberry compote.

 

Pic taken from website

Cue "The Great Sweet Rub Run."

ACT 1

SCENE 1

The scene opens to the baking isle of Pick 'n Pay in Constantia Village with a somewhat overeager Leaine casually looking for the sweet rub - but alas, no sweet rub to be found here.

Pan across to Woolworths. 

Leaine begins to panic slightly as she asks if they stock the Nomu sweet rub, only to be told that they do not.

Leaine gets into her car and thinks of the next stop - being new to Cape Town only increases the challenge.

Fade to black.

SCENE 2

The scene opens to the baking isle of Checkers, with a nervous Leaine, trying desperately to act casually and failing, as she runs up and down; a bead of sweat lingering on her forehead. You guessed it - no sweet rub here either.

Close up of Leaine's face as the thoughts start racing through her head.

Fade to black.

SCENE 3

Close up of Leaine's hands and phone.

Finally, Leaine has a brain-wave and sends off a frantic tweet to @NoMUChirps "Paul, this is an emergency. Where can I buy your sweet rub?" Instant reply from @NoMUChirps "If it is urgent, Cape Quarter Spar or Giovanni's." 

Close up of Leaine doing a happy dance.

Fade to black.

SCENE 4

Awesome!! Leaine decides to phone the Spar just in case - lucky she did, as she was told that they do not have it in stock. As she dials Giovanni's, her heart is beating in her throat and she is silently sending out a message to the ether to please have it in stock. 

We have a winner - Giovanni's is a life saver - the precious sweet rub is in stock.

The relief is painted all over Leaine's face.

Fade to black.

SCENE 5

A quick trek from Tokai to Seapoint and back (the things we do for the love of food) and Leaine is now ready to begin her cheesecake.

The cheesecake works out amazingly well.

Everyone claps and cheers.

THE END

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

125mls (1/2 cup) melted butter
200g ground almonds (for added texture use 100g ground and 100g crushed)
2tbs Nomu Sweet Rub

Filling:

4 large eggs
1 cup fructose/ sugar
75mls (5tbs) lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
3 x 250g tubs of smooth cottage cheese
250mls (1 cup) cream
125mls (1/2 cup) Glutagon cake flour
1tsp Nomu vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 °C 

Grease a round 23 cm loose-bottom cake tin with a little of the melted butter

Mix the remaining butter with the ground almonds and press the mixture onto the bottom of the cake tin 

Whisk together the eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes or until pale yellow 

Add the lemon juice while beating 

Stir in the cottage cheese, cream, lemon zest and flour and mix well 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 10 minutes 

Reduce the temperature to 140 °C and bake for 1 hour or until the filling has set 

Switch off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven

Strawberry Compote:

Ingredients:
250g strawberries, chopped
2tbs Verlaque Honey Infused Balsamic Reduction (Wild Flower Honey and Rooibos)
2tbs fructose/ sugar
1/4tsp Nomu vanilla extract


Method:
Add all ingredients to a pan and cook until the strawberries have softened and become jam-like
Allow to cool and spread over the cheesecake

Lemon and Honey Fridge Cheesecake (Gluten Free)

Yesterday, I was asked if I had a recipe for a gluten and sugar free cheesecake by a lady who was craving cheesecake, but needed to be good. There is a recipe for a mock lemon cheesecake on my blog already, but I decided to rise to this challenge and enlisted the help of personal chef, Neill Anthony.

Together, we came up with this little masterpiece and it tasted pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself!! :)

Lemon and Honey Fridge Cheesecake (Gluten Free):

Ingredients:

Crust:

125mls (1/2 cup) melted butter

200g ground almonds

Filling:

2 x 250g tubs smooth cream cheese

200mls honey

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of half a lemon

250mls cream

5 leaves of gelatine soaked in cold water

50g fructose

Method:

Toast ground almonds in a dry pan on the stove until golden

Add the melted butter to the ground almonds and press the mixture onto the bottom of a loose-bottom cake tin

Place the tin in the fridge to allow the base to set while you prepare the filling

Combine cream cheese, 100mls honey, lemon juice and lemon zest

Whisk 200mls cream to soft peak state and fold into the cream cheese mixture

Heat the remaining honey and fructose on the stove for about 10 minutes until it becomes almost caramel-like

Cool down the honey a bit with the remaining cream and briskly mix in the squeezed out gelatine

Mix some of the cream cheese mixture into the gelatine mixture and slowly transfer this new mixture into the original cream cheese mixture, folding all the time to prevent lumps

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and allow to set for a minimum of 4 hours in the fridge

Serve with a drizzle of honey and a grating of lemon zest

Apple and Almond Cake (Vegan and Gluten Free)

When I first read that the amazing Nina from My Easy Cooking was hosting a Monthly Mingle and her chosen theme was Apple Affection, I knew I had to take part and I knew exactly what I was going to make

an Apple and Almond Cake!!

I found this super simple recipe on What Kim Ate (and Grew)'s blog.

This cake is moist with a subtle hint of lemon and warm spices and has a delightful crunch from the almonds. The texture is wonderful and it has been added to my ever growing list of baked items that I could eat all the time, this list includes the gooey chocolate brownies that I blogged about at the beginning of the month.

My perfect winter Sunday lunch would consist of Beef Bourguignon and this Apple and Almond cake.

What utter, indulgent bliss :)

Apple and Almond Cake:

(makes 1 standard size cake)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped Golden Delicious apples (about 4 medium)
• 1 3/4 cups sugar (or fructose)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp chopped dried lemon peel
• 1/2 cup canola or other mild vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup cup red currant jam, at room temperature (I used St. Dalfour Red Raspberry Jam)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Glutagon cake flour)
• 2 tsp baking soda (I used 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp bicarb of soda)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I used all spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped blanched almonds (I used half cup chopped almonds and half cup ground almonds)
• Icing sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease a 33 by23 cm baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, and lemon peel; let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Add the oil, jam, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the apple mixture; stir until the jam is well dissolved.
3. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg/ all spice and salt. Gradually stir into the apple mixture. Add the almonds, stirring well to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
4. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cooled, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Advance Preparation

The completely cooled cake can be covered with foil and stored at room temperature for up to two days.