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Hello Fresh

On March 7, 2012 in celiac, Chinese, dinner, gluten-free, healthy recipes, Masterchef, recipes, wheat-free

There are two types of people in this world – those who love grocery shopping and those who don’t. I love to cook and eat, but my fortnightly supermarket excursion is a constant source of dread.  Frankly, wheeling a trolley around a supermarket in a dazed stupor is simply not my idea of fun. In fact, sometimes I fantasise about moving abroad so I can enjoy the daily pastime of shopping at open-air markets like Union Square Greenmarket or the Parisian roving markets. 

Thankfully this week’s supermarket torture session was put to an abrupt halt when someone kindly offered to hand deliver a bag of groceries to my front door. No, it wasn’t an angel sent from above, it was ex-Masterchef contestant, Tom Rutledge who has set up a dinner delivery service called Hello Fresh. He asked if I’d review it on Food Crush, and who was I to say no? It’s not every day a bag of fresh dinner ingredients lands on your doorstep.

While food delivery services per se are nothing to write home about, what’s interesting about Hello Fresh is it takes care of the shopping and the menu planning. So, instead of madly scrambling around the kitchen when you get home from work desperately trying to work out what on earth to cook, you can pull together a healthy dinner using their ingredients and corresponding recipe. Perfect for the time-poor among us who don’t want to forgo the pleasures of cooking.

“It’s not always as easy for people to cook at home as it should be,” says Tom Rutledge. “Our business is about providing simple recipes and beautiful ingredients to allow people to prepare a healthy meal quickly after they get home. Cooking is fun and it should be more accessible than many with busy lives perceive it to be.”

The Hello Fresh model is up and running in five countries around Europe. The set menu changes weekly and is influenced by availability and seasonality. You don’t need more than 30 minutes or any fancy kitchen equipment.  While the ingredients aren’t organic, Tom tells me they’re free-range and ethical and sourced locally wherever possible. The biggest downfall (or greatest opportunity depending on how you look at it) is the lack of options for those of us with food allergies or special diets.

On this week’s menu are the likes of Herb Barramundi Fillets with Warm Bean Salad; Eggplant, Tomato and Oregano Penne Pasta; and Caramelised Pork Fillet with Asian Greens. On my foray into Hello Fresh, I cooked Lemon Chicken with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables which was perfectly lovely and fresh but needed some sauce or Greek-style yoghurt to jazz it up. See below for the recipe.

So, what’s the damage? Well, you can subscribe for three to five meals a week, with the average cost per meal per person working out at around $10.  So, it’s an expensive option if you’re the kind of person who dutifully does their grocery shopping each week, but on the flip side, it’s more cost-effective than ordering takeaway.

With the likes of Woolworths going high-tech with their virtual supermarkets (buying groceries with your mobile phone by scanning an ad at the train station),  it’s unlikely businesses like Hello Fresh can compete on a national scale. I see their competitive advantage in building out specialist lines for people with food sensitivities, special diets or weight loss goals.

The good news is Hello Fresh is offering Food Crush readers a 30% discount. Simply go to Hello Fresh and enter the discount code, “foodcrush” when you place your order.

And without further ado, here’s their recipe for Lemon Chicken with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables. I recommend serving it with a dollop of thick Greek-style yoghurt.

Lemon Chicken with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables

Lemon chicken with grilled Mediterranean vegetables

Lemon chicken with grilled Mediterranean vegetables

Serves two
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 free-range chicken breasts
1/2 tbs lemon zest
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 red capsicum
1/2 eggplant
1 zucchini
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbs olive oil
2 sprigs oregano

Method:

1. Heat a griddle pan or barbecue to medium heat.

2. Slice the chicken breasts long ways to make 1-2cm thick fillets. Sprinkle with lemon zest and a good grind of salt and pepper.

3. Prepare the vegetables by slicing the eggplant into 1cm-thick rounds. Slice the zucchini lengthways into 1/2cm-thick ribbons. Chop the capsicum.

4. Cook the chicken and vegetables on a lightly oiled barbecue or griddle pan. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side or until done. Turn the vegetables and cook until they are tender. About 5-6 minutes on each side. My pan wasn’t big enough to hold the chicken and the veggies, so I used to separate pans.

5. Once the vegetables are cooked through, layer them on the centre of a serving plate. I used a big, white platter. Place the cooked chicken on top. Dress with lemon juice and sprinkle over the fresh oregano leaves. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Gluten-free banana choc muffins

On December 2, 2011 in Baking, brunch, cakes, comfort food, cooking, food, food sensitivities, gluten-free, recipes, snacks, wheat-free

Remember Goldilocks? The chick who broke into the home of three unsuspecting bears and ate their porridge, sat in their chair and slept in their bed? What exactly a young girl was doing walking into a stranger’s home unannounced and ransacking their stuff is another blog post altogether. But the point is, Goldilocks was quite a fussy lass. She liked things to be “just right”. While I can’t relate to gatecrashing a bear’s house, I can relate to her fussy tendencies. Take bananas, for instance. I won’t go near them unless they’re just right. And when I say “just right”, I mean not too ripe and not too green, but somewhere in between.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place in my kitchen for over-ripened bananas. The riper the bananas, the better the baked goods and the sweeter the smoothies. I whipped up some gorgeous gluten-free banana choc muffins last week with a sad old banana that looked ready for the scrap heap. Needless to say, just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, don’t judge a banana by its skin. Here’s the recipe.

Banana choc muffins

Makes 12

 

Banana choc muffins

Piece of cake to make

Dry ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 2 cups gluten-free plain flour
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

Wet ingredients:

  • 11/4 cups soy milk (gluten-free)
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • 3 tbs canola oil

Flavourings:

  • 1 large ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 tbs crushed walnuts
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt)

Toppings:

  • 1 tbs crushed walnuts

Method

  1. Sift the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl, and add to the dry ingredients.
  3. Add the chocolate, banana and walnuts and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
  4. Fill a 12-hole muffin tray with cases (or lightly grease with oil) and fill with the mixture.
  5. Sprinkle with walnuts and bake at 180 degrees celsius for approximately 25 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to sit in tray for five minutes before placing on a cooling rack.
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Gluten-free bread

On October 17, 2011 in Baking, bread, brunch, celiac, dairy-free, food, food sensitivities, gluten-free, healthy recipes, recipes, wheat-free

What superpower would you most like to have? Laser vision, mind control, healing hands, psychic vibrations? Call me boring, but I would love the ability to squeeze more hours out of my day. Just three more hours would be ideal. Enough time to have an extra hour’s sleep, walk more slowly and write, cook and eat more. Superpowers aside, I recently found an antidote to my busy life – a little something to slow it down a notch or two. It’s called bread making and it works wonders.

I used to marvel at people who make their own bread – in the same way I am awed by people who exercise in the morning. While I am unlikely to ever uncover the secret to early morning exercise, I am pleased to say I have embraced my inner baker. And it was a whole lot easier than I imagined.

If it wasn’t for kissing gluten goodbye, I would have remained oblivious to the joys of bread making. Gluten eaters are spoilt for choice here in Sydney with more than a smattering of good artisan bakeries like Sonoma and Brasserie Bread sprouting up all over town. The gluten-challenged among us, mind you, are left out in the cold when it comes to gluten-free options. It seems most cafes, restaurants and bakeries are positively obsessed with the stuff. And don’t get me started on the gluten-free bread they sell in supermarkets. I’m yet to find a good one.

To set things right, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own bread. There’s something  positively grounding about making a loaf of bread from scratch – from mixing the flour and kneading the dough to watching it rise and seeing the finished product greet you from the oven door. I challenge you to feel stressed while kneading dough. It’s simply not possible. And what’s not to love about the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house?

If you like the idea of homemade bread, but you’re more likely to travel to Mars and back than whip up a loaf from scratch, I have a toy that might be right up your alley. It’s called a bread making machine. It does all the kneading and rising for you, leaving you more time to do important things like read the paper, paint your nails, watch Mad Men and the like.

Breville recently leant me their whiz bang bread making machine for a test run. It’s called the Custom Loaf Pro and boy is it big! If, like me, you have a poor excuse for a kitchen, you might as well stop reading this now as the machine will dwarf your kitchen and gobble up most of your precious bench space. But if you’re one of those really annoying people (who I aspire to be one day) who has a kitchen bigger than Paris Hilton’s handbag collection, then keep reading.

So, what’s so special about this Breville bread maker? Well, it has a few cool features, like gluten and yeast-free settings and an automatic fruit and nut dispenser that adds ingredients at just the right time in the kneading cycle. There’s also a pause function that allows you to create decorative crusts or a glazed finish. It gives you four loaf sizes to choose from (500g up to 1.25kg) and three crust settings. It also features a collapsible kneading paddle which folds down after mixing to maximise the loaf size and make it easier to remove the bread after baking.

Another feature is the 13-hour delay start timer so you can wake to the scent of freshly baked bread. Good in theory, but the timer doesn’t work with the gluten-free setting, so it’s not much use to people like me. Sob.

So, what’s the verdict? If you’re bread crazed and have a huge kitchen and bake on a regular basis, then you would be wise to consider investing in this fancy machine for $349.95 RRP. For me, I’m sticking with old-fashioned bread making. It’s good for my mental health and my kitchen bench space.

Here’s a recipe for gluten-free wholesome seed bread that I’ve baked on two occasions with the help of the Custom Loaf Pro. The texture is light and the crust is crunchy. And I love the addition of cumin as it imparts an aromatic flavour throughout the bread. The bread goes nicely with pea, lettuce and tarragon soup.

Gluten-free wholesome seed bread

Makes 1.25kg

Wet ingredients:

200ml gluten-free soy milk
200ml water
3 tbs olive oil
3 eggs
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Dry ingredients:

2 cups white rice flour
11/4 cups potato flour
1/3 cup soy flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour (arrowroot)
pinch salt
1 tbs xanthan gum
1/4 cup LSA mix
2 tbs cumin or caraway seeds
2 tsp gluten-free yeast

Method:

Mix liquid ingredients together in a small bowl. Do not use electric mixer as this will aerate the mixture.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using a pliable spatula, combine liquid and dry ingredients. Mix to a soft dough ensuring all ingredients are well combined. Fold in additions if applicable.

Spoon dough into bread pan, pressing down a spatula after each spoonful, to eliminate air bubbles. Insert bread pan into baking chamber.

Press ‘SELECT’ to access GLUTEN-FREE setting.

Press ‘LOAF SIZE’ to 1000g if required.

Press ‘START/PAUSE’ to commence operation.

At the end of the setting, press ‘STOP’.

Remove bread from the bread machine and bread pan. Cool bread on a rack.

Top tips: To achieve a well-risen and well-baked loaf, check the dough when mixing. If it appears too dry, add 1-2 tsp of water extra. If it appear to runny, check the correct amount of Xantham gum has been added, otherwise add 1-2 tbs rice flour extra.

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Broad bean hummus

On September 25, 2011 in celiac, cooking, dairy-free, dips, food, food sensitivities, garlic, gluten-free, healthy recipes, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, hummus, lunch, recipes, seasonal, snacks, wheat-free

Who’s your favourite chef? Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is fast becoming one of mine. He wasn’t on my radar until Paul introduced me to his cookbooks last year. His food philosophy is all about respecting the ingredients and sourcing the best possible produce. Hugh’s cookbook ‘River Cottage Every Day’ never fails to inspire me. I’m yet to get my hands on the TV series of the same name – I’ve heard it’s brilliant.

Broad bean hummus

Broad bean hummus

Today’s recipe comes from ‘River Cottage Every Day’. It’s a delicious broad bean hummus that won’t disappoint. With broad beans in season at the moment here in Australia, now is the perfect time to grab a couple of handfuls when you’re next at the grocer and whip them into a gorgeous, green, garlicky dip. That’s what Paul and I did yesterday. It took about 30 mins from start to finish and even less time for us to polish it off with some homemade tomato salsa, a couple of slices of ham, some marinated goat’s cheese and some homemade gluten-free seed bread. What a great lunch!

The hummus was the most verdant green colour – so green in fact that it could be mistaken for guacamole. Only problem was a severe case of garlic breath that plagued us Paul and I (and anyone who came into close proximity to us) for the rest of the day. We sprinkled the dip with lashings of cracked pepper and smoked paprika.

Without further ado, here’s Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s broad bean hummus.

So tell me, who’s your favourite chef and why?

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Chicken soup

On July 5, 2011 in chicken, comfort food, dairy-free, dinner, egg-free, gluten-free, healthy recipes, recipes, wheat-free, winter warmers

There’s two types of eaters in this world – those who live to eat and those who eat to live. No prizes for guessing which camp I fall into. What type of eater are you? Is your relationship with food based on passion or necessity?

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who regard food as fuel and regularly forget to eat. It would save me from having to constantly think about food. It would probably save my waistline too. But on the downside, it would mean the death of this blog. A food blog written by a food hater? Forget it.

A surefire sign of a food lover is a healthy preoccupation with comfort food. In other words, eating when you’re not hungry. Comfort eaters are masters of the art of eating for the sake of it. They’ll find any excuse to put food in their mouths. The most frequently cited reasons being boredom, sickness, procrastination, heartache, depression, joy and tiredness.

Ice-cream, biscuits and chocolate are popular forms of sweet comfort food. Hot chips, pizza, burgers, bangers and mash, anything involving carbs are highly sought after in the savoury department. A common misconception with comfort food is that it has to be unhealthy. This is not the case. Take chicken soup, for example. It’s one of the best comfort foods around and happens to be very good for you. Some even go as far as saying it cures sickness.

In the interests of curbing my reliance on unhealthy comfort foods, I decided to soothe my soul with a big pot of homemade chicken soup. I made the whole thing from scratch, including the broth. This isn’t a mid-week meal as you need to leave the soup in the fridge overnight so you can skim the solidified fat off the surface the next day. It’s really worth the effort. I’ve never tasted soup this delicious.

chicken soup

Classic chicken soup adapted from Taste

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 x 1.4kg (size 14) chicken (make sure it’s free-range)
2 large brown onions, finely chopped
2 cups loosely packed fresh continental parsley leaves
4 garlic cloves, crushed
60 mls (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
2 tbs soy sauce
5 celery sticks, cut into l cm pieces
5 medium carrots, cut into l cm pieces
2 medium tomatoes, halved
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1.5L (6 cups) water

Method:

Rinse the inside of the chicken. Remove the tail and neck, and as much skin as possible from the chicken.
Combine the onions, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and soy sauce in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until the onions are soft. Add the chicken, celery, carrots and tomatoes and season with pepper. Add the water and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until the chicken is tender and comes away from the bones easily.
Remove from heat, cool for 10 minutes and place the soup in the fridge to chill overnight. (This allows the fat to rise to the surface and set.)
Next day, remove the soup from the fridge and use a large metal spoon to remove the layer of solidified fat from the surface.
Remove the chicken from the soup and place in a large bowl. Use your fingers to remove the meat from the bones and shred into pieces.
Discard the bones. Return the chicken meat to the soup.
Bring the soup to the boil over medium heat and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are heated through. Remove the soup from the heat and skim a piece of paper towel over the surface to absorb any excess fat.
Season with salt and ladle the soup into deep soup bowls. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

 

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