Goodbye Gluten

If you're looking for cooking inspiration this holiday season, then look no further than Goodbye Gluten, the gorgeous new gluten free cookbook by Sally Holland of Tauranga, New Zealand.
Sally has no shortage of experience with food having worked in the New Zealand Woman's weekly test kitchen under iconic food editor Tui Flower. Sally had to reinvent gluten free versions of her favourite recipes after her husband was diagnosed with coeliac disease several years ago. Goodbye Gluten is a collection of her gluten free recipes.



Sally's team kindly sent me a copy of Goodbye Gluten to review. The same week, I had been invited to visit some friends for dinner so decided to make the New York style cheesecake with blueberry sauce.

I must admit to being a bit nervous as I have never made a cheesecake before but as the photo suggests, the result was fantastic. Smooth and creamy, the slightly sour filling was well balanced against the sweet blueberry sauce and buttery biscuit base. It reminded me of cheesecakes that I've tasted in restaurants and my (non-coeliac) friends were delighted.

Goodbye Gluten is beautifully laid out with stunning full page colour photos of every recipe. Like many gluten free recipe books, the author uses a flour blend throughout the book. Thankfully, the flour blend in Goodbye Gluten is simpler than many others and uses the more common gluten free flours - I already had all of the ingredients in my pantry.

As you would expect, Goodbye Gluten's 90 recipes span the usual sections on baking, appetisers, meals, desserts. But rather than stop there, Sally has also included special chapters dedicated to Christmas foods and childrens birthday parties. I know these will prove popular with our readers and I'm really looking forward to trying out the Christmas mince pies!

This book is printed on good quality stock and bound with a sturdy hard back and would make a great addition to any kitchen.

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Posted by Rory on Dec 5th, 2015 under Cookbooks | Permalink | Comments(0) | Tweet | Facebook

500 gluten-free dishes

It would seem like Carol Beckerman has cooked just about every dish under the sun! Having truly mastered breakfasts with her previous book containing no less than 500 breakfast dishes, she has now turned her attention to gluten free cooking for her new book 500 gluten-free dishes, "the only compendium of gluten-free dishes you'll ever need".

Carol brings to her book a wealth of experience from her time running the kitchen for a traditional English pub, catering to large events and recently cooking baking for local restaurants. 500 gluten-free dishes has a recipe to suit any occasion or taste with vibrant colour photos for every recipe. If the 500 options weren't enough, there are also companion pages with variations to try out for every recipe. As a special treat, I made this chocolate and cherry roulade for dessert last night. It was delicious and very decadent.



Treats aside, as I look through the book, I notice how so many of the recipes are for the familiar sort of foods that I would regularly want to eat, yet bursting with a vibrant array of flavours from Carol's broad and extensive cooking experience. These are nice foods that I want to cook, yet they're simple enough that I don't feel the need to wait for a special occasion to do so.

500 gluten-free dishes contains the following sections:

• breakfast dishes
• appetizers and starters
• breads
• main meals
• side dishes
• desserts

It is available from bookstores at a RRP of $24.99.
You can also buy 500 Gluten-free Dishes online from Fishpond.co.nz*

*By purchasing from Fishpond via this link, you are supporting Gluten Free Land.

Posted by Rory on Oct 7th, 2012 under Cookbooks | Permalink | Comments(0) | Tweet | Facebook

The Family-friendly Gluten-free cookbook

When New Zealander Sarah King's first two young children were diagnosed with coeliac, she quickly realized that keeping them happily fed on a budget would require some fresh thinking in the kitchen. Drawing on her experience running her own catering business, Sarah focussed on creating scrumptious gluten free alternatives for her family. Sarah now shares her best recipes as a first time author in her new book The Family-friendly Gluten-free Cookbook.

Some of our site visitors may already know Sarah and her husband Mitch as the owners of the popular gluten free grocer in Auckland. Sarah also has a long history of catering to the crowds at the farmer's market where she was able to test and refine the recipes in her book until they were indistinguishable from their gluten-containing counterparts. Sarah says that preparation is the key to successful gluten free baking, with all her recipes written with quick and easy methods so that anyone can achieve great results.

New Holland Publishers kindly sent me a copy, so I tried out some of the recipes myself an can attest to the simple approach that Sarah has taken - the instructions are clear and descriptive with ingredients listed in exactly the order that you need them, ensuring great results. Most of the recipes come with a gorgeous full page colour photo by Devin Hart, allowing the reader to flick through and choose from one of the mouth watering options. Sarah does an excellent job of creating colourful, flavour-rich foods with simple ingredients that don't take all day to prepare.

Here are just some of the recipes:

• Mediterranean Vegetable Tart
• Bacon and Corn Muffins
• Garlic Bread
• Homestyle Chicken Pie
• Lemon Meringue Pie
• White Chocolate and Orange Biscotti
• Chocolate Brownies
• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
• Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding
• Baked New York Style Cheesecake

There is also a range of helpful information in The Family-friendly Gluten-free Cookbook on living gluten free, how to avoid contamination in your kitchen, living gluten free on a budget as well as a great set of ideas for children's lunch boxes. Written by a kiwi, the book is well suited to New Zealand tastes and uses low cost ingredients that are readily available locally.

I look forward to lots more baking from this excellent book. In the mean time, here are some of the delicious savoury scones that I made yesterday:



The Family-friendly Gluten-free cookbook can be purchased online from Fishpond.co.nz* or from all good bookstores (RRP $39.99).

*By purchasing from Fishpond via this link, you are supporting Gluten Free Land.

Posted by Rory on Sep 18th, 2012 under Cookbooks | Permalink | Comments(0) | Tweet | Facebook