Fresh is Best

We all know the adage "fresh is best". Well we are encouraging you to visit your local nursery or raid your parents and friends gardens and start planting. Something that not only tastes good - it looks good and saves on those food bills.  As well as that you got someone to talk to - yea I knows it's only 'grow ya bugger' but, they respond in the most delightful way by producing great flavours and smells that you can't buy in the supermarket.
If you only have a balcony you can still have some beautiful fresh produce producing wonders around the home.. They cost very little to start and they give you so much pleasure to boot. 

 

So buy a few pots (they don't need be expensive) and grab some potting mix - don your rubber gloves and reap the benefits of "fresh is best".
While you are at it throw a few in smaller containers - nurture them and give them as presents for those unexpected or expected presents.  Saves racing to shops and buying something people never use anyway. Lets face it, what you give them is a gift of 'you'.
Everything today is so disposable and commercial - it is nice to give something that keeps on giving joy.
 

While I am on my soap box of giving love - why don't you check out our friends at 'wincwrapincotton' and instead of wrapping stuff in paper that is generally thrown in the bin, give them something wrapped elegantly and can be used over and over again.

 

Beautiful gifts wrapped in cotton

Ok it doesn't make the paper wrapping people more and more money but it gives our children a better future with less pollution more trees and something to remember and re-use after the gift itself has gone belly up.

 

Think about it give us your ideas on thing to save the environment.  Who knows your might help someone along the way and show them the true meaning of giving and that is from a heart full of love.  

Gluten Free Passionfruit Melting Moments #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfreebaking

These melt in your mouth shortbread biscuits are the perfect accompaniment for a cup of tea or coffee. Pack for a picnic or simply have one (or two) when you crave that something sweet with your after dinner coffee. The bonus in these biscuits is that they are gluten-free, yet still have the beautiful crumbling texture of conventional Melting Moments

Shortbread

Ingredients:

Shortbread Ingredients

500 gram butter -chopped
1 cup gluten-free icing sugar
3.5cups gluten-free plain flour
1 cup gluten-free custard powder
2 tablespoons passionfruit pulp
2 teaspoons xanthan gum











Method:

Preheat oven to 160(fan forced).
Line biscuit trays with baking paper.
With a fork, combine the buter and icing sugar till combined.
Add the flour, custard powder and passionfruit pulp.
Combine with a butter knife till it forms into a ball
Using a teaspoon, scoop out teaspoon size balls and roll in the palm of the hand.
Place on trays and flatten slightly with a flour dusted fork.
Bake for 18-20 mins till golden brown.

Press dough onto tray with a fork

Cook till golden

Icing

Ingredients:

Icing Ingredients

125gram chopped butter (room temp)

1.5 cups gluten free icing sugar

3 tablespoons passion fruit pulp

Method:

Soften the butter for a couple of seconds in the microwave if not at room temperature.

Stir in icing sugar and passionfruit pulp.

Stir till smooth.

Spread onto the cooled Melting Moments and press together.

Makes approximately 72 biscuits or 36 when joined together.

Handy Hints:

If the dough is too sticky to roll. add a little more gluten-free flour till it is workable.

Biscuits can be served unfilled if you prefer.

Biscuits can be stored unfilled in airtight container in a dark place for up to three days before filling.

Gluten-free Passionfruit Melting Moments

And the winner is................

Tonight our blog is going to be topical and a little controversial but hey, this is what blogs are for. They are here for us to impart knowledge, express opinions, to laugh and to cry. So this blog is topical and we want your feedback.
Let me start by saying that at Lee and Hock Lai's Kitchen, we love food. We love great menus and we are literally glued to a popular kitchen show on television.
Yes, I understand ratings. I understand that those ratings bring viewers and sell product but where do we draw the line.
Let me have a little pre-amble here:-
We all watch sports stars and celebrities. When they make a slip up with someone shoving a camera in their face, or they act badly, we howl them down saying that they are 'role models' for children and should be punished.
In a football game (let me say I know nothing here) a player gets a bit heated and a spur of the moment jab brings them into controversy.  Again, we as the viewer are divided between right and wrong.  Why in the first place do we set these people as 'role models'?  Maybe it's media hype too and it brings ratings but we are divided on their substance as decent people.
But we are watching our favourite programme and judging by the 'Logies' we are not the only ones. We want our kids to watch and we want them to learn skills in the kitchen. But, believe me - I believe we want them to learn a love of cooking, a love of food, a love of healthy eating habits and a love of exploring our taste buds.
But do we really want them to learn bitchiness? Yes, rating sell, but how far should we let them go? Do kids need this narkiness which borders on bullying to be common place on our screens? We would not tolerate this in our schools, why here on the television?
Television shows are pre-recorded and given that twist is not something to admire.  Isn't it about time Television networks share the responsibilities of being 'role models' als?
Yes in competition we all get a little touchy and bitchy but do we need children to see this as the 'norm' ?
Can anyone debate me on this topic? Do we promote bad behaviour on prime television and punish the celebrities with their occasional 'one of's' or should networks be responsible too?
And while I am on this forum please talk to me about waste. Do these shows really give us a great learning experience, or just teach us, and our children, that we live in a disposable world, and, to enjoy cooking it has only to be done with top ingredients?
Why can't these shows make us think of how to create without the most expensive ingredients? Why can't these programs show that it is possible to create brilliance from the ingredients that the majority of the world uses every day? Yes, it is nice to say open a bottle of expensive wine for a dessert, but, is that what we want our kids to learn?  Just tonight I saw the contestants prep a seafood stock. But, seconds before we saw them throw away lobster heads and tops and tails of vegetables etc that in a real restaurant would never be done.  Lets face it these contestants may win big money to set up their dream restaurant but, if these guys set out like this, their restaurants are doomed for failure just on their waste bills alone. One of the greatest profit losing factors is wastage.  Believe me that restaurant will not last the distance - let alone the first couple of months.
I hope I have left you tonight with a few topics for debate:- Are we accepting of bad behaviour? Are we accepting of pure wastage when millions of people go hungry daily? Please give me your thoughts!

Japanese Inspired Three Cheese Croquettes with Caramelized Onion Jam #glutenfree

Melt in your mouth morsels

These delightful melt in your mouth morsels make the perfect entree fro a Mother's Day Lunch or Dinner. If you prefer you can add salmon or mushrooms instead of bacon for a different taste or vegetarian preference. Once again they are gluten-free and sure to please the fussiest of palettes!

Caramelized Onion Jam

3 Large Onions Sliced

Ingredients:

40g Butter

3 tablespoons Brown Vinegar

3-4 tablespoons Brown Sugar according to taste

3 large Onions - sliced

Method:

Heat butter in saucepan.

Add onion to butter and sautee till soft (Approx 20mins on medium heat).

Add the vinegar and brown sugar, stirring through .

Simmer, till juices combine

Keep on low heat and simmer till the juices combine.

Croquettes

Stir on heat till thick and smooth

Ingredients: 

50 gram Baby Spinach - washed

80 gram Butter

80 gram Gluten-free Flour

1 cup Milk

2 Rashers of Bacon - diced

80 gram Cream Cheese

40 gram Grated Tasty Cheese

20 gram Shredded Parmesan Cheese

3 Boiled Eggs - yolks removed and chopped

Method:

Dice the bacon rashers and fry on heat till just crispy. Set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan. 

Remove from heat ,add flour, stir through and return to heat, add milk and seasoning to taste. Stir till thick and smooth.

Remove white sauce from heat.

Add all the dry ingredients to white sauce and stir together. 

Pour into a lamington tray lined with cling wrap.

Press down the mixture firmly with a spatula.

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight till ready to crumb

Add dry ingredients and stir through

Press firmly into cling wrap lined tray - refrigerate!

Cut the refrigerated slice into twelve pieces

Roll in bread crumbs

  Egg Wash and Bread Crumbs

Ingredients

2 cups Gluten-free Bread crumbed in food processor (not too fine)

1 Egg

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Plain Flour

Method:

Combine the milk and eggs in bowl.

Roll the croquette in egg wash, then roll in flour and then place in crumbs and roll. 

Fry lightly in oil till golden brown.

Place on paper towel.

Arrange on plate and serve with warm caramel onion jam. 

Fry lightly till golden brown

Bon Appetit!

Japanese inspired Three Cheese Croquettes served with Caramelized Onion Jam

Anzac Biscuits #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfreebaking

As tomorrow is Anzac Day, we thought it very fitting that our very first recipe that we share is Anzac Biscuits (gluten fee) of course.

Ingredients:

Gluten Free Muesli

250 g Butter
1.5 cups Brown Sugar
1.5 cups Coconut
1 cup gluten free Flour
1 cup Rice Flour
2 cups nu-vit Original Muesli (Gluten Free)
2 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum (Gluten Free)
4 tablespoons Boiling Water

Butter

Method:

Combine butter and syrup in saucepan on low heat on stove to melt.

Add all other ingredients except bicarbonate of soda and water into a mixing bowl.

Dry Ingredients

Melted Butter

Set oven to 160 (fan forced)

Add soda to boiling water.

Poor into melted butter.

Cool a little.








 
Add to dry mix and stir.

Combine wet and dry ingredients

Onto a tray with baking sheet add rolled balls of dough.

Press lightly with fork

Press lightly with a fork.























Place in oven and cook at 160C until golden brown.

Remove and cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 36 biscuits

 Relax, sit and enjoy these gorgeous biscuits with a cup of tea!

How did we arrive here?

Ok, let me introduce us. We are Lee and Hock Lai. We are partners who discovered early in our lives that we enjoyed food and we enjoyed eating.

We both come from backgrounds where our mothers taught us food - its value for sustenance, for pleasure and for celebrating every day, as a blessing with friends, family and special occasions that become gala events. 

We come from totally different backgrounds of taste and culture. But does that hinder us? No Way!!! We enjoy the complexities of East meets West. We both enjoy diverse educations of food, traveling the continents and sheer bliss of combining our tastes.

Anyway, put all that aside - we simply enjoy cooking. It is our love and enjoyment all rolled into one. We love celebration and we love that every day is a celebration of our love of food. We enjoy presenting it , as much as we enjoy eating it. It is simply part of our lives.

We believe that you will enjoy our journey celebrating great food and entertaining as much as us, and along the way you will get an insight as to what makes us tick.

No-one wants to rock up to a table and eat for the sake of it - they want to enjoy, to feel special and to know every meal is a new discovery for ourselves, our tastes, and titillate our tastebuds. Good for us - yes!! But, sometimes we just want to be decadent and taste the forbidden fruits.

So how did we begin to explore "gluten free'??

For years I have cooked for people and over the years many people have people around me saying "Oh, I am gluten intolerant, I can't eat this and I can't eat that."  OK, I agree it is a bit of a set back and occasionally I even felt that it was more of a fad than medically necessary. You try your best to please them, but there is definitely a mindset that gluten free equals boring. Well, this is definitely not the case!

A while back, my Doctor informed me that I was gluten intolerant! My reaction was 'Oh God, where to now?  I love food too much to to live on lettuce and beans for the rest of my life!'

Then I decided to look into the foods I really loved and quite honestly could not live without.I began to research and realized that I did not have to live on salad for the rest of my life - that I could still enjoy food! Sure, there would be some modifications, some extra expense, and a little more preparation. But, I want to enjoy life, especially through food, and not be dictated to by my body.

Hock Lai and I decided to eliminate the temptations from my life and so our pantry was swept clean of all gluten.  This was a turning point in many of my problems, and I have not looked back. I am really enjoying my food, enjoying being in the kitchen and inventing and re-inventing foods I love to eat.

So come along with us for the ride. We will take you places with a gluten free diet that you never dreamed possible. You cannot cook I hear you say! Follow our recipes and you will be the envy of all your friends. For those of you are not gluten intolerant, we will cater for you as well. 

Bon Appetit!