Slow Cooked Beef Curry

Ingredients

• Oil
• 800g Gravy Beef or Osso Bucco, cut into 2.5cm pieces.

I prefer the Osso Bucco as the bone marrow adds a smooth texture and buttery flavour to the gravy. Bone marrow is also essentially beneficial for your health and strengthens the immune system.

• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• 2 potatoes peeled and chopped into 2cm pieces
• 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
• 2 x 400gr can diced Italian tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 small hot chillies, finely chopped
• 2.5cm piece fresh root ginger in curry grated
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 beef stock cube
• 2 bay leaves

Home grown Pequin chilli peppers

To Serve:

• Greek style yoghurt
• Fresh chopped coriander
• Finely diced Lebanese cucumber
• Pappadums

Method

• Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the beef pieces for 4-5 minutes, or until browned all over. 
• Place whole diced tomatoes in slow cooker, then the browned meat.
• Heat remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the onions for five minutes, then add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the spices apart from garam masala and fry for another minute, then tip the mixture into the slow cooker.
• Add half of the empty diced tomato tin with water, pour into fry pan, add crumbled stock cube and stir to dissolve and soak up remaining spices before adding to slow cooker.
• Add Bay leaves and stir everything together, making sure everything is covered in liquid and cook for 8 hours on low.
• About 30 minutes before serving, stir in garam masala.
• Plate curry on a bed of steamed rice, topped with a dollop of yoghurt, finely diced Lebanese cucumber and chopped coriander.
• Serve with Pappadums

Variations:

I sometimes use sweet potato in place of ordinary potatoes.
May like to add more chilli - depending on your taste.

Broccoli Salad

A quick, healthy Snack;

Nights when I go out dancing, I don't like to consume anything too heavy,

so a couple of hours before I am due to leave home I fix myself

a substantial, healthy and energising snack.

Anything goes really, it all depends what you like and have available.

Here I diced up some celery, cucumber, a tiny bit of red onion

(don't want to have onion breath when dancing up close),

halved cherry tomatoes, chopped raw broccoli, raw cashews

and some crumbled Lemnos feta cheese.

I also added a pinch of chopped fresh basil and mint,

a drizzle of avocado oil, verjuice and a squeeze of lime juice.

You may even like to add some diced capsicum,

avocado and/or a small can of kidney beans.

It's really just a matter of preference.

Gluten Free Pizza

Gluten free vegetarian pizza

...must say, I took a punt with this one!

On deciding to make a quick and easy homemade vegetarian pizza for dinner,

I set off to the supermarket to buy a gluten free pizza base.

Once I reached the pizza/wrap section, it reminded me why I rarely make a pizza,

for I only had two choices:

A - use a gluten free, wrap that looked as exciting as a shoe sole,

or B - pay $7.99 for an "authentic Italian" pizza base.

.... So I opted for C - go home and make my own!

I recalled recently reading a recipe for a Mediterranean-style pizza, in a magazine,

where the dough was made using self-raising flour and Greek style yogurt.

On my return home, I checked it out online to find it had numerous ratings of 5 stars!

Gluten free pizza dough

With a tub of Greek-style yogurt in my fridge

and gluten-free SR flour in my pantry,

I decided to give it a go...

It called for:

1 cup sifted flour mixed with 200 grams of yogurt until it forms a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes. I found it to be very soft and light.

Roll out the dough to form the base and placed onto a baking tray.

My pizza ready to pop into the oven

Onto the base, I spread tomato paste and topped with crushed clove of garlic, diced red onion and chilli. I then added grated tasty cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, capsicum and left over roast pumpkin. I added sliced pitted olives, chopped fresh basil and oregano.

In a 220 degree C preheated fan forced oven, I baked my pizza for 20 minutes.

The base was crusty, the

aroma of fresh basil wafted through the air

and the topping was scrumptious!

Ready to eat

Gluten Free Pineapple Fruit Cake

This has always been a favourite of mine and is very moist and wholesome... an ideal cake for Christmas.

Makes an ideal Christmas Cake

Ingredients:

470 gram can crushed unsweetened pineapple

500 grams Sunbeam gourmet mixed fruit

125 grams butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 large free range eggs

1 cup gluten free self-raising flour

1 cup gluten free plain flour

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Line a deep 20 cm round cake tin with two sheets of baking paper, bringing the paper 5 cm above the edges of the tin.

Combine undrained pineapple, chopped fruit, butter, sugar, spice and soda in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved, bring to boil and boil uncovered for 3 minutes. Allow to become cold.

When boiled fruit is cold, add beaten eggs and sifted dry ingredients, mix well.

Spread mixture evenly into the prepared tin.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees fan-forced for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until cooked when tested.

Cover and leave in tin until completely cold. 

Stuffed Roast Butternut Pumpkin

Tonight I thought I'd creative and trial a couple of vegetable side dishes to add to our Christmas buffet.

Butternut Pumpkin

Butternut pumpkin is always a favorite, so I halved one lengthwise, scooped out the seeds, rubbed a little virgin oil and seasoned with salt and cracked pepper, before roasting for a little over an hour at 180 degrees (fan forced oven).

In a bowl, I combined:

1/2 finely chopped red onion
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp ground paprika
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use gluten-free)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 cup tasty grated cheese
1 egg lightly beaten

Mixed all ingredients, using only 1/2 the grated cheese.

Removed butternut pumpkin from oven, spooned mixture into hollows, then returned to oven for a further 15 minutes.
Removed once again, sprinkled remaining grated cheese over top, then popped back into oven for a few minutes until cheese melted.


I also had a zucchini in the fridge, so I halved it lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and filled it with the remaining breadcrumb mixture.

Having placed the halves on a tray, I popped it into the oven to roast for 25 minutes, then removed the tray, sprinkled a little grated cheese on top and returned it to the oven for a few minutes to melt.

Roast Stuffed Zucchini 

Whilst the pumpkin and zucchini were roasting, I roasted a small sweet potato, cut into 1 cm slices and remaining red onion, sliced, so it cooked nice and crispy for 40 minutes.







I also added a few halved cherry tomatoes during the last 10 minutes of roasting.

This made for a scrumptious, healthy gluten free, vegetarian meal and I will definitely cook the stuffed roast butternut pumpkin on Christmas day. 

Roasted Stuffed Butternut Pumpkin

Julie's Gluten Free Carrot Cake

This has always been a favourite with family for many years, though since I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease several years ago, I have had to modify a couple of the ingredients.

Also, depending who I am making it for (as some prefer it with fruit) I use only ¾ cup of soft brown sugar when adding ½ cup of chopped dates, then it's not overly sweet.

Ingredients for cake

3 eggs
1 cup grape seed oil

1 cup soft brown sugar (3/4 cup if adding dates)

1 ½ cups of gluten free self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon grond nutmeg

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped dates (optional)

2 cups grated carrot

Preheat oven to moderate 180 degrees or 170 degrees for fan forced.

Prepare a deep 23cm (9 inch) square cake tin by lining the base and sides with baking paper.

Mix to combine the eggs, oil and the brown sugar in a large bowl.

Add the sifted flour, soda, salt and cinnamon and beat with electric beaters until the mixture is smooth.

Stir in the grated carrot, walnuts and chopped dates (if desired)

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave for at least 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Some prefer the cake without a icing, but then again, depending who I am making it for I make a cream cheese topping as follows:

Ingredients for icing
125 grams softened cream cheese

30 grams butter

1 cup soft icing mixture

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Beat all these ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Spread over the cake and top with a few chopped walnuts.