The nuts and bolts of gluten

I've had a few readers contact me and tell me that they have not only enjoyed reading the blog, but particularly learning about gluten and the impact it has on some people.  I was honoured to have such comments, this meant that my goal of reaching people through this blog is well on the way to being achieved.

When I reflect on the posts I have written, I haven't really given a description of what a coeliac is or the difference that and a gluten allergy/intolerance. This might help readers understand the puffer fish and why it is so important to follow the gf diet, we aren't being a pain in butt when we ask thousands of question when we eat out, its really important that we don't accidentally eat gluten.

The following information is from the Coeliac Society of Australia http://www.coeliac.org.au. I guess the first question is what is coeliac? Firstly it's an autoimmune disease which affects 1 in 100 people! "It is a permanent intestinal intolerance to dietary gluten". Left untreated the lining of the small bowel becomes damaged. Unfortunately coeliac isn't something that just happens you are born with a genetic predisposition to the disease, so thanks alot mum or dad!!! (in my case I think dad!!). Basically in coeliacs any consumption of gluten causes an abnormal reaction predominately inflammation and damage to the small bowel.

What are the symptoms? For those of you who have been reading my blog you will know that bloating (I describe it as the puffer fish) is one of the most obvious symptoms, ummmm wind (yuck and perhaps not polite to talk about but one of the symptoms, and I have to confess that I still find 'fart' humour rather funny!), anemia (I also suffered from rather severely), tired/lethargic (a side affect of anemia too), there are other symptoms (your bowel working too much or hardly at all) and some more serious ones left untreated can lead to miscarriage, infertility (both very scary for me as I have endometrosis which has its own horrible statistics for this), depression and cancer! Not very pleasant to say the least.

How do I find out if I have it? Unfortunately the only exact diagnosis is a endoscopy, a camera down the throat (I call in channel 9 camera crew doing some research, you have to make light of the situation). There are blood tests that can be done but they aren't conclusive.

Can it be cured? At this stage there are no cures, the science and medical world are in the trial process of developing a vaccine for gluten. The very good news is that it is very controllable, by following a strict diet, the symptoms disappear and you are able to live a happy regular life.

What's the difference between a gluten allergy/intolerance and coeliac disease? An allergy/intolerance to gluten gives a person similar symptoms to that of someone with coeliac disease but it doesn't have the same damaging affect on the small bowel and extreme health issues. Some people with an intolerance may choose to eat small amounts of gluten if it doesn't affect them or they may completely remove it from their diet. My advice would be if you are experiencing any of the symptoms check with your doctor, you need to ensure that you aren't a coeliac. There are lots of health benefits from gluten containing grains if you don't suffer from coeliac disease or have an allergy to gluten, so not always a good thing to remove completely from your diet if there isn't a medical need.

I hope that this information has been relatively helpful and given you an understanding of the nuts and bolts of coeliac disease and gluten. In future post this week I plan on writing about the pros, cons and success of a gluten free diet for autism and various behavioural problems (particularly in children, as I am a qualified, and experienced teacher I feel that my experience teaching students with various problems combined with research I will do, may be beneficial to parents and care givers).

Recipe of the Day
Stuffed Chicken Breast with handmade chips and vegetables
Serves 2 (double ingredients for 4)

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast (I used 2, 1 small and 1 medium, and there is half left for dinner tomorrow night!)
2 slices gf ham
Dijon mustard
2 pieces of swiss cheese
approx 1/4 cup white wine (I used a traminer riesling, it was what we had in the fridge, any white would work)
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
Olive oil
3 washed potatoes cut into eighths
Rosemary
Thyme
Sea Salt
Mixed vegetables (I used frozen vegetables that you steam in microwave for 3minutes, easier than chopping lots of vegetables or throwing away vegetables that have gone rotten)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place cut potatoes into a baking dish lightly coat with olive oil (the less oil the more crispy the chips will be), sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary and place in the oven.

Flatten chicken with the back of a wooden spoon. Coat chicken with mustard add ham and cheese, fold the breast in half and place in a baking dish/tray. Lightly sprinkle rosemary and thyme on chicken breast. Put some oil over chicken and add wine and chicken stock (in liquid and on chicken). Put chicken in the oven for 25 minutes.

Put vegetables in microwave for 3 minutes or as specified.

Plate up chicken, potatoes and vegetables and lightly pour liquid over all.

Enjoy
xxxx

This is ridiculous!!!!

This is ridiculous!! The words my husband uttered after walking out of two restaurants because there was nothing that I could eat on the menu! It was lunch and we were having a nice meal out.  We weren't in our local area and we decided to go to one of the rather large clubs in western Sydney with numerous dining options.

The first choice only did fried seafood etc, they did provide an all you can eat buffet but as my husband reminded me how do you know there's not gluten in the satay???

Off we trotted to the second option, my first gripe isn't about the lack of gf food it's the advertising. There was a rather large sign out the front stating lunches for $15 with a soft drink, this was also at the table. But in very fine print was weekdays only!!! What a marketing ploy! Then we sat down, there was no little gf symbol on the menu but I asked if they did gf pizza bases, no they didn't. My second option was soup of the day, but that was minestrone, so full of pasta! There were a few options that I could have had, but I wasn't paying $30+ for a steak for lunch! Once we were informed of the food options, I said to the waitress we are going to have to go somewhere else!

Option three was back to place one to ask if they would do a grilled piece of fish for me, 'We only do fried food here, you will have to go to the other cafe for that!'!!!!

Now we are up to option four!!!, we went to the cafe, the prices were ridiculous for most things, but I did find a risotto on the menu. After the issues I've had in the past with risotto I went asked if there was gluten in the stock. The girl at the counter was rather polite and asked the chef, who was a cow (this would be the most polite way I could describe her)! I heard 'risotto? It's rice,why would it have gluten!!!' I had to explain to her that there is gluten in some stocks, she had no clue!!! Seriously love where are your manners!!! And your a chef, surely you should have some knowledge of whats in the food you cook!

We were running out of options, so I braved it and ordered the risotto. Thankfully the puffer fish didn't emerge, but we were both still annoyed at the lack of options and the attitude of the chef. On the way home I was already drafting a letter by telling my husband what I would say to them in an email if the puffer fish emerged!

Maybe I will write the email about the complete lack of gf options at the number of dining facilities at the club and we can't forgot the attitude of the chef!

On a different note I've set up a Facebook page for the blog, Its Mishaps and Mayhem of a Gluten Free Life
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mishaps-and-Mayhem-of-a-Gluten-Free-Life/227061153975947
have a look at the page and click on like.

Recipe of the Day
This is from the book Gluten Free Bible, I'm sorry there's not a picture of this recipe, I made these the other day and they were gone before I had a chance to take a picture. I will upload a picture later this week.

Coconut macaroons
Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1  cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons rice flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
Optional 1-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I haven't cooked these with the zest)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks form (I use hand held electric mixer) and fold in coconut, flour and sugar, mix well.

Form little mounds of the batter on the tray and bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown (set timer for 18 minutes just to check).

Cool on a rack before storing

Enjoy xxx

GF baking isn't easy

Gluten free baking is not like normal baking, cakes don't usually rise as much, dough has a different texture and things don't always work out.

I've had lots of success with gf cooking and baking but it is important to share there have been lots of interesting concoctions......

I remember one morning getting up to cook myself and my husband some pancakes for breakfast, I had a packet mix which a friend had given me. Good idea but a massive mishap! They turned out a weird grey colour and had the consistency of a glue like dough. My husband took one look at the pancakes and put some toast on, I had to prove a point, so I smothered a few pancakes in golden syrup and tried to eat them. Tried is probably the best word to use, I could only eat a few mouthfuls, they were rather disgusting! So the whole lot got tossed in the bin!

Then there's the shortbread that I attempted to make.... You have to make the dough and put in the fridge for 30minutes to 1 hour, we had to leave a family emergency and it was several hours before we got home. I got the dough out of the fridge when we returned and proceeded to cook it. I really don't know if it was because the dough was in the fridge too long (that's my excuse and I'm sticking too it!) but it wouldn't brown up and was in crumbly chunks! I tasted a bit and it did resemble shortbread but it was just too hard to eat. After all that time and effort, the shortbread too ended up in the bin. Washing up endless dishes after baking is bad enough, when you have an end product that you can eat and enjoy, it sucks when you ruin the dish and you are washing up what seems like thousands of dishes with no reward at the end!

My most recent blunder in the kitchen was actually the day I posted up the recipe for brownies! I've cooked these endless times before and thought it would be nice to have for afternoon tea. I was caught up in the excitement of starting the blog and mixed everything up but forgot to put the sugar in. As I poured it in the tin it didn't look quite right and I couldn't figure out why, then I tasted it. YUCK!!! No sugar, I poured the mixture back into the bowl added  sugar and put it back in the pan. It just didn't turn out right, it tasted a bit funny and stuck to the pan, most of it ended up in the bin too!

I thought it was important to share my blunders as well as my success stories. Each day I post up a recipe that I cook and it works out, but there are often things that don't. So don't be afraid to have a go with cooking and messing up a dish is part of learning, the important thing to remember is to make sure you get back in the kitchen and have a go again and have fun while your doing it!

Recipe of the Day
White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Hazelnut Sauce
From The Gluten- Free Kitchen by Sue Shepherd

I cooked this for the first time last night, everyone loved it, every last mouthful was eaten! I didn't have panna cotta moulds, so I just used some glasses.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used essence and it was fine)
1/3 cup sugar
50g white chocolate
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine

Hazelnut sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons coco powder, sifted
11/4 tablespoons GF cornflour
11/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico)

Method
Heat cream, milk, vanilla, sugar and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally until chocolate has melted.
Combine the boiling water and gelatine in a small heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a larger bowl of boiling water, stirring constantly until the gelatine has dissolved. Stir the dissolved gelatine into the chocolate mixture. Pour into panna cotta moulds (or glasses, see picture if unsure of amount) and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight until set.
To make the sauce, combine the sugar, cocoa and cornflour in a small saucepan. Stir in a little milk to form a thick paste, then add remaining milk and mix well to ensure there are no lumps (I used a whisk for this). Stir over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, then remove from heat and stir in hazelnut liqueur. Transfer to a jug, over and refrigerate until ready to serve, pour over the panna cotta.

Enjoy
xxxx