The best things in life are free…fresh caught mackerel

Sometimes its the simplest freshest dishes that are best.  Yes, we all love the fun of complicated recipes that “hopefully” taste great and wow are friends, but as well know you can’t go wrong with good fresh ingredients…

…so what could be better than a freshly mackerel!

This poor little fella had only just been caught an hour or two previously, and boy did he taste nice.

Mackerel is a real family favourite in our house, saba-zushi (mackerel sushi) is a huge fave of mine.  I’d have loved to do that (although one of his friends did end of being eaten raw which was fabulous), but instead opted for popping the fish (having already gutted it) under a very hot grill until the skin starts to blacken and crisp (don’t waste mackerel skin its super tasty and definitely part of the enjoyment of the meal.

Once the skin has blistered, flip the mackerel open and lift out the bones in one easy movement and then just pour over a little soy sauce, and if you have it to hand also some grated daikon (radish).  Lovely simple fresh tastes that don’t need anything more complicated…

To make the meal complete all it needed was a bowl of hot steaming rice from the Cook Japan rice cooker, miso soup and a nice cold beer…what could be better?

AK'S FIRST FRUIT PUREE

The First Fruit Puree

This is for babies aged 6 months, it makes 6 portions, it takes 4 to 8 minutes to cook and is suitable for freezing.

Ingredients:  2 medium dessert apples or 2 pears peeled, cored and chopped

1-2 tbsp water or pure unsweetened apple juice {OPTIONAL}

Place the chopped fruit into a heavy-based saucepan and if using apples add the water or juice. If you opt to use the pears you will not need to use the water or juice as the pears do not require extra liquid. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low heat until they are tender. Generally this is about 6-8 minutes for apples and 4 minutes for pears. Blend the fruit to a puree. Set aside a portion to eat, refrigerate or freeze the rest depending on time lapse before next use.  Serve lukewarm.

ANNABEL KARMEL

Here We Go Again

Good morning,

what is the effin’ matter with me? It seems like my body only tolerates a very, um, restricted diet these days, meaning that I’ll crave one dish like crazy for a couple of days, and then move on to another obsession. After my ‘tomato-and-avocado-phase’ I have now entered into a ‘apple sauce-and-yogurt-phase.’ Duh.

I made fresh apple sauce the other day (’recipe’: cook apple chunks with a little water and a little sugar), and I cannot stop eating this stuff. I especially like it hot, with cold yogurt straight from the fridge, and dusted with a little cinnamon.

Maybe it’s the weather – it’s fall, it’s stormy and rainy and lovely, and everybody needs comfort food. Which reminds me, I’ll bake some ginger snaps this afternoon. If they turn out well, I’ll post some pictures.

Goodbye for now! Eat well!
xoxo, F.

Baking Bread (#54)

I have officially crossed out the first goal on my list! Last night Liz and I made bread from scratch. Now, it’s important to note that “baking bread from scratch so that it comes out exactly as it is supposed to” was not the goal. It’s a good thing too. This is the recipe we used. If you will notice, it is not written so well. There are raisins and nuts in the list of ingredients and no mention of them in the execution of the recipe.

Needless to say, while delicious, our bread was quite dense. It is hard not to be delicious when you are filled with honey and molasses. While I am crossing this off the list, I plan on trying again, using a more simple recipe that isn’t from cooks.com. (probably the recipe suggested by Knile)

Here are some pictures. Clearly we had fun getting messy!!

Spicy Avocado and Chicken Baguette

Ingredients:

• 1 Toasted French baguette cut to half, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
• Tomato slices
• Crispy Iceberg Lettuce

Spicy Avocado:

• 2 nos Ripe avocados
• ½ cup Red onion, finely chopped
• 1 no Serrano/Jalapeno Chili, seedless, finely chopped
• 2 tbps Coriander leaf, chopped
• 1 tbsp Fresh lime or lemon juice
• ½ tsp Fine sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Chicken Salad:

• 2 nos Chicken breast, skinless
• 1 tsp Paprika powder
• 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• Oil for grilling, fine sea salt and crushed black pepper to taste

Method:

Spicy Avocado:

1. Cut the avocado into halves, then scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl.
2. Using a fork, mash the avocado with lemon or lime juice to ensure it does not turn brown due to oxidization.
3. Add all the items, mix well, cover with a lid and keep in a chiller.

Chicken salad:

1. Marinate the chicken breast with paprika and seasoning.
2. Then sauté in a non stick pan or grill until cooked.
3. Then chop it coarsely using a knife, mix it with extra virgin olive oil and adjust the seasoning if required.

Presentation:

1. Drizzle the bread with extra virgin olive oil, and then toast it in the oven just to warm it up.
2. Then arrange iceberg lettuce and tomatoes.
3. Spread the chicken salad then top it with spicy mashed avocado.

Notes:

Chef Kasdi has today made for us another simple but healthy snack you can make for your children or loved ones. Make sure that the baguette is nice and crispy and serve the sandwich as soon as it has been assembled. This will ensure that the bread does not become soggy. Don’t forget your honey mustard or your favorite spread!

Happy cooking!

A Little Taste of The Pipline - A great On-Line Monthly Newsletter

Here is just a taste of the hottest new Celiac Newsletter to hit the web!

“October is here and we’re ready for all of the happy and fun fall activities that lay ahead of us.  What isn’t to love about crisp fall air, over sized sweaters, trips to the pumpkin patch, and of course, Halloween!  My kids are already planning their costumes and the CANDY!  Oh, the candy that is all that is good and great about this month.  When my kids lug their bags of booty home and dump it out on the carpet with all intentions of tearing open every piece at one time and filling their mouths till they are no longer able to speak, I will burst their bubbles and sort the candy into the “can eat pile” and the “must donate to orphans” pile.  It’s a sad sight to see, but all is well when they have their much smaller bowl of sweet goodness that will be used as currency for all of November among every school aged child.  Good times…good times! In this Pipeline, I will share some great information regarding local haunts, more awesome gluten free recipes, and very useful health links.  Sit back, take a sip of you favorite beverage, and enjoy The Pipeline!”

Subscribe now!

 

Website: www.theceliacshack.netE-Mail: theceliacshack@yahoo.com

Blog: www.theceliacshackstore.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Theceliacshack
MySpace: www.myspace.com/theceliacshack
LinedIn: www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2008393/

Gling: www.gling.com/profiles/theceliacshack/

G.F. Faces: www.glutenfreefaces.com/profile/TheCeliacShack

 

 

Oden – a Japanese winter stew

Oden is a classic winters dish in Japan – simmered over a low heat for hours its a wonderful warming dish that is also really good for you.

Its easy to make, all it needs is a bit of forethought so that you have time to really bring out the flavours of the ingredients.  Quite simply, put some dashi soup stock in a large pot with water and then add sake, soy sauce and sugar.  Pop your ingredients in, bring to the boil and then leave on a low heat for several hours – in Japan its not uncommon to make this the day before and leave it on a really low heat.

This dish was therefore a perfect experiment for the Cook Japan rice cooker; all the ingredients went in, it was brought to the boil then simply left on “keep warm” until we were ready to eat.

Yesterday was a simple oden, we didn’t have time to get to the specialist shops that would have other ingredients, so we just used tofu, daikon (Japanese radish), potato, boiled eggs and shin beef.  Each mouthful was then dipped in a little plate of karashi (hot mustard) for extra taste…

With time to shop, or if we were back in Japan, we’d have tried to buy and use some of these common Oden ingredients as well:

• Tsuji – beef tendons
• Chikuwa – tubes of mixed processed fish meat (sounds weird, but tastes divine)
• Konnyaku
• Deep fried tofu, or fried tofu pouches (Atusage and Aburaage)
• Tsukune – fish or meat balls
• Pumpkin, and other Japanese regional twists on this classic stew

Ultimate Oden…