Friday, November 13, 2009

Lamb marinade - GF

One fine day we were planning a family BBQ at the holiday house when we suddenly realised, that there weren't enough chops and sausages for everyone! :s Then I remember I had a boned half leg of lamb and got to work.

Dish: Lamb marinade
Special need categories: gluten free, low fructose
Special needs translated: no gluten, no onion

Ingredients:

  • Lamb (I had a boned half leg)
  • Lemon juice & zest
  • Rosemary
  • Lemon thyme
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Method:
Combine all ingredients in bowl and add the lamb (or add to the lamb). Now to get your hands dirty. Massage the marinade into the meat and make sure the lamb is well covered, including non-liquid pieces. Allow the meat to marinade for at least an hour, longer would be better.

The water is basically used as a filler to allow the marinade to cover the lamb a littler better however most of the liquid came from the lemon juice. Before I marinaded the lamb I made a few extra cuts to allow it to sit flat on the BBQ because that's how we were cooking it. This marinade could be used for roasts or lamb fillets or chops.

Don't forget that you can put your cooked meat back in the marinade or use it as a dressing but only if it has been cooked. This could be either with the meat (i.e. roasted) or separately (i.e. in microwave or saucepan).

Monday, November 9, 2009

Mushroom & prosciutto pizza (Gluten free)

Remember those gluten free pizza bases I got last month, well I finally got around to using them and they were yum yum yum. Aside from the actual base, a GF pizza is not much different from normal but it is a good idea to double check your ingredients.

Dish: Gluten free pizza
Special need categories: gluten free, low fructose
Special needs translated: no gluten, no onion

Pizza Base:
Topping:
  • Tomato paste (double check it, not all are gluten free)
  • Garlic - crushed
  • Herbs
  • Celery
  • Prosciutto (again double check ingredients)
  • Spinach
  • Mushrooms
  • Grated cheese
  • Salt & Pepper

I know there's a million different ways to make a pizza and I would wouldn't be surprised if my way is 'wrong' but this is how I made mine...

The sauce:
Most pizza sauces had onion and/or some sort of gluten in them so it's probably best to mix up your own sauce, it doesn't take long and it super easy. Just combine your tomato paste with some garlic and your favourite blend of herbs to taste, you could even add some onion or onion powder if you don't need it to be fructose free. Because I was putting mushrooms on the pizza I added quite a bit of garlic coz they always go well together.

The build (yes I'm an engineer...):
Fri st up was the sauce, next I added finely chopped celery (instead of onion), then added the cheese (to form a bond between the base the the higher level toppings), then prosciutto, some spinach (just a little, some token green stuff), a big pile of coarsely chopped mushrooms, then a tiny bit of cheese, a little sprinkling of herbs and salt & pepper to finish.

The bake:
I cooked mine on a pizza stone with the oven set to around 200 deg C (I think). Basically let the stone heat up, sprinkle some flour (obviously use GF flour) or polenta on the stone and put the pizza on top. It cooked in about 25 min (I think. Brain no remember no details no more).

The verdict:
Incase you didn't catch it earlier; yum yum yum. The pizza base was tasty and the toppings worked well, have since done another one that had half as above and half with a marinaded roast lamb (might have to write that one up too) and roast pumpkin, or did the roast pumpkin go with the prosciutto, I forget. Anyway yummy! Highly recommended.

Notes:

  • As I said earlier, check all ingredients, particularly the tomato paste and processed meats.
  • Make sure pizza trays and stones are clean, this stone has only had GF products on it, but being a porous surface I'm not sure how clean is safe.
  • Don't forget to experiment and report back with a comment on how it went!