Gluten Free Bake Off

We have been busy little bees baking up a storm in our kitchen, because this year we have decided to enter the Vitarium Gluten Free Bake Off! After many tantrums and flour covered surfaces, we finally narrowed our recipe list down to our Buttermilk and Ricotta Sage Scrolls. 

Check out our entry and leave a comment of support! 

The great thing about the recipe below is that you can make so many different variations with the filling. We also love making ricotta, sundried tomatoes and olive scrolls – just substitute the sage with sundried tomatoes and pitted olives. Or if you have a sweet tooth, simply sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the ricotta! 

BUTTERMILK & RICOTTA SAGE SCROLLS

 

3 cups GF self raising flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

80g firm butter, chopped 

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, plus extra for glazing 

200g ricotta 

60g greek fetta 

20g goats cheese 

12 sage leaves 

1. Preheat oven to 220◦C. Grease a 30cm x 20cm lamington tin with butter. 

2. Sift GF self raising flour and salt into a large bowl and then rub in the butter using finger tips. Make a well in the centre and pour in buttermilik. Stir until combined and a sticky dough forms.

3. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Use rolling pin to roll dough out into a rectangle. To make this step easier, place the dough onto a piece of baking paper smeared with oil – it prevents the mixture sticking to the bench when rolling out. 

4. Crumble ricotta over dough and spread with spatula. Crumble fetta and goats cheese over the top of the ricotta layer. Scatter over the sage leaves. 

5. Roll the pastry into a log, using the greased baking paper to guide you. 

6. Cut into 1 inch thick rounds, place scroll-side up into the prepared tin, making sure buns touch. Brush top of buns with extra buttermilk. 

7. Bake for 25-30 mins until scrolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Allow to cool & serve.

This recipe leaves you with some extra goats cheese to use up. Here’s a little tip on how to store the extra cheese, simply cut the goats cheese into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Add good quality extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove of garlic (crushed or chopped), light sprinkle of sea salt and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Very decadent but this makes a nice addition to a cheese platter! 

This will keep in the fridge for a while as the olive oil will help preserve the cheese, just make sure all the cheese is submerged in the oil.

www.thegreatvitariumbakeoff.com.au

 

It’s Moustache Season – Movember 2011

The Chaplin, the Handlebar, and the Walrus… there are all sorts of shapes and sizes of moustaches, and in the month of November we see them all. Currently known as Movember, the month where men all around the world grow their moustache with pride, raising money for men’s health. 

The funds raised in Australia go towards the two biggest issues of men’s health today – prostate cancer and depression. All money raised goes direct to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue: the national depression initiative. 

In 2010, over 130,000 Australian Mo Bros and Sistas got on board, raising $25 Million AUD. This year Two Silly Sisters have decided to get behind our fellow Australian Mo Bros and show our support by becoming Mo Sistas. For more information about Movember head to au.movember.com 

Did you know that gluten could affect behaviour patterns? Studies show that symptoms of coeliac can include an inability to concentrate or focus, known as ‘foggy brain’, as well as lack of motivation and irritability. Some doctors think coeliacs, in rare cases, can also be affected by autism, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Studies show that these conditions can improve on a gluten free diet. Have a read of this very interesting article on the link between gluten free diets and mental health.

Please show your support by clicking on the link below and donating to the Two Silly Sisters Mospace 2011

http://mosista.co/TwoSillySisters

Spring has finally sprung!

After some truly miserable weather, and most possibly the coldest and rainiest winter in years, spring is finally here. You can feel it in the air. Days and nights are warming up, and people are just generally happier. Flowers are blossoming and fresh, vibrant spring fruit and vegetables are in season. As the warm weather sets in, our social lives seem to come back to life – BBQs, picnics, beach gatherings, and lazy Sunday afternoon drinks while the sun sets. No more excuses about the rain and wanting to curl up on the lounge with a movie and tea. And the best part – it might be a girl thing - but you can leave the house without a jacket! 

So what fresh produce is available in spring? You will find grapefruit, lemons, blood oranges, blueberries, honeydew melon, new season mangoes, papaya, rhubarb and strawberries are in season. As well as artichokes, asparagus, beetroot, brussels sprouts (for those who dare!), cabbage, fennel, leeks, peas and spinach. 

With this in mind I decided to make a spring inspired asparagus and goats cheese frittata. Here is the recipe.


ASPARAGUS AND GOATS CHEESE FRITTATA 

20g butter

1 medium brown onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

8 eggs

1/3 cup pure cream

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley and basil

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 bunches asparagus*

60g goats cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat grill to medium-high. Whisk eggs, cream, chopped herbs and parmesan in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Melt butter in a 22cm non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden.

     

3. Blanch asparagus in hot water, drain and add to frying pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes or until bright green and just tender. Pour egg mixture over asparagus. Lift and tilt pan to distribute egg mixture. Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle goats cheese over the top. Cook for 10 minutes or until almost set.

  

4. Place pan under grill. Grill for 3 minutes or until set and golden. Stand for 3 minutes. Loosen frittata with a spatula. Slide onto a plate. Serve with salad.

*TIP: The ends of asparagus can be quite dry and woody. Remove these by snapping the ends off. The stems will naturally break where the tough woody part ends and the tender stem begins.

 

Eat, Talk, Laugh @ Hugo’s Manly

A girls day out at Hugo’s in Manly was the perfect way to catch up with my sisters.

We had so much to catch up on, that our plan of attack for the day was to talk, talk, talk until we ran out of things to say to each other (it could take hours or maybe even days before we would run dry in conversation!) and eat to our hearts content.

Hugo’s Manly is located on Manly Wharf, right on Sydney Harbour. The day was overcast but warm enough to sit at a table near the huge open windows, looking right onto the water. What an amazing view! We couldn’t have asked for a better location to start off our girly day.

So in between our conversations that seemed to go off into tangents as we all excitedly pushed each of our stories in, and telling the waitress to come back in 5 mins (about 3 times!), we decided to share gluten free pizzas, (even though sister number 3, Lori, is not coeliac!) a bowl of polenta chips and a nice bottle of red wine.

We chose to share the Fig pizza with fresh figs, pancetta, gorgonzola, tomato & basil, the Prawn pizza with chilli prawns, roasted capsicum, tomato & salsa verde and the Lamb pizza with potato, fetta, olives, capsicum, onion & chilli. Yum, yum and yum!

The pizza base is nice and thin, which made it taste like a “real pizza” – even Lori agrees! My favourite was the Fig pizza with the Prawn coming in a close second.

The polenta chips with truffled parmesan were heaven. They were nice thick pieces, which made them crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside. They were accompanied by a condiment of red tomato salsa, but the truffled parmesan really made the dish.

We enjoyed the long afternoon chatting, eating and sipping nice wine while the rest of the world went by!  And then it happened, maybe it was the wine making us sleepy, but there was a small silent pause.  Have we run out of things to say?? No, never!

As the lights dimmed and the dinner crowd approached, we decided to move on to Lori’s place.

Awaiting us at home was a marathon of the “Barefoot Contessa”. We LOVE that cooking show, so we were in heaven. As the marathon ended, we continued to sloth on the couch and decided to watch Eat Pray Love.

Lori had prepared some baked chocolate mousse desserts which she topped with freshly whipped cream and some chocolate flakes.  Decedent to say the least! It went down way too well, with a nice warm cup of Lady Grey tea.

All in all, today was a great “girls only” kind of day and we can’t wait till next time!

Hugo’s Manly
Shop 1, Manly Wharf East Esplanade, Manly NSW

(02) 8116 8555

www.hugos.com.au

Down the rabbit hole to a GF Wonderland

Where has the year gone? It’s coming up to my first year wedding anniversary which got me reminiscing about the lead up to our wedding and it brought back some very happy memories. 

One of the best food related memories was my kitchen tea. My two beautiful sisters and mum threw me a kitchen tea to remember. Knowing how much I loved Alice in Wonderland, they themed the event as the Mad Hatters Kitchen Tea Party. 

They transformed my parents living room into my very own wonderland! With huge playing cards, teapots full of flowers, hanging lanterns and they even had a digital projection of the original animation on the wall! 

Guests were told to wear their maddest hat, my sisters dressed up as the white rabbits and of course I dressed up as Alice. 

There was an abundance of gluten free food and all the desserts were to die for. But the highlight of the day was my themed cake. It was shaped as a Mad Hatters hat - moist orange syrup cake on the inside with a velvety purple icing on the outside. King & Queen playing cards were placed on one side of the hat and cute little mushrooms surrounded the base. All my guests - gluten free or not - loved it!

My amazing Mad Hatters cake!

Chocolate mousse with orange mascarpone

If you are looking for a good gluten free cake maker, I highly recommend Carol Medcalf at Cake Plus. She made this amazing creation for my Kitchen Tea and also made the top layer of my wedding cake.

Carol Medcalf
(02) 94391171
info@cakesplus.com.au
www.cakesplus.com.au

Guests were asked to sign my very own Wonderland DVD cover