Anything gluten-free Recipes from Becky Excell

ANYTHING GLUTEN-FREE

Most people have a bucket list of things to do before they die. But not me. I have a bucket list of 100 things that I wish were gluten-free.

Freshly baked bread, Chinese takeaway, fried jam doughnuts, homemade pastry, fresh pasta, classic cakes, bakery-style cookies, noncardboard-tasting pizza... Sorry, I’ve just realized that I’m just literally listing foods that I can’t eat. But, if you’re gluten-free yourself (or you know someone who is) I bet you’ll totally understand why I often get lost in my bucket list. That’s because, when you’re gluten-free, all your favourite food instantly gets put on the list of things you used to eat. But do you forget about them and get on with your life?

Of course not!

Instead, you gaze through the window of every bakery you pass, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a lamp post. You might occasionally catch yourself day-dreaming about when you last ate a real jam doughnut*. You’re probably also filled with food envy whenever a fast-food ad comes on TV, uttering, ‘I wish I could eat that’ for the millionth time.

Being gluten-free made me realize that, when you’re told you can’t eat something, you only crave eating it ten times more. But there was one big problem with my gluten-free bucket list: I was probably never going to be able to eat any of the things on it ever again. After all, most things are utterly impossible to make glutenfree, right? And if they’re not impossible, a ‘gluten-free version’ always tastes and/or looks worse – agreed? Well, I’ve got a little news-flash for you that took me years to realize: it’s not true. And I totally understand if you’re filled with scepticism upon reading that. When I first became gluten-free twelve years ago I wouldn’t have believed me either. But honestly, through years of travelling to gluten-free bakeries across the world and creating/ sharing my own recipes online, I’ve discovered this: You can make anything

gluten-free

So, no – nothing needs to taste any different or look any worse either. Nor do you need tons of strange, unobtainable ingredients or a top secret blend of gluten-free flour. I actually use a simple commercial gluten-free flour blend (if needed) for nearly every recipe in this book.

So what’s the big secret then?

Well, in the early years of being gluten-free, I’d naively try to replace wheat flour with glutenfree flour when following a recipe. Or even worse, I’d just skip those gluten-containing ingredients entirely. Not surprisingly, I’d always end up wondering where it all went wrong and with a big mess to clear up. But of course that didn’t work! That’s like reading a book, but removing the main character. Yes, you can still kind of follow the story, but the ending is probably going to be a big, confused mess. To truly get that happy ending, a gluten-free recipe needs to be its own unique story from start to finish.

That’s the secret!

Most of my recipes can easily be made dairyfree or lactose-free with simple swaps and lots are easy to make vegan/veggie too. Plus, there are loads of recipes that are low FODMAP, which is handy if you suffer from IBS like I do. So remember my bucket list of all the things I thought I’d never be able to eat again? Yep, I did it – I finally made them all gluten-free with zero compromise.

Now I can make them whenever I want, and so can you. But if you still believe it’s impossible to make anything gluten-free without compromise, that’s OK. Because once you take a bite of something you haven’t eaten in years and it tastes even better than you remember… you’ll be so happy that you won’t even mind me saying: Told you so!

Beer battered fish and chips

Serves: 2 Time: 45min Ingredients:

1.5 litres vegetable oil 4 medium potatoes 6 tbsp gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour 2 white fish fillets, skinless (I recommend cod or haddock) For the batter: ¾ cup gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder 1 tsp salt 150ml gluten-free beer or carbonated water

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until it reaches 170°C, making sure the pan is not more than half full, as the oil will bubble up when cooking. Combine the dry batter ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1cm thick chip shapes then pat dry with some kitchen paper. On a large plate spread the flour out. Place fish fillets on the plate and dust until lightly coated. Once your oil is hot, add your chips and cook for 8 minutes, then remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and place onto a wire rack set over a baking tray to drain. Make sure your oil is still at 170°C then add your glutenfree beer or carbonated water to the dry batter ingredients and whisk until consistent (it’s important not to add this any sooner or it will lose its fizz). Dredge your fish fillets in the batter mixture, then carefully lower each fillet, one at a time, into the oil. Cook for 7–8 minutes until the batter is golden and crispy, bearing in mind that using carbonated water makes it a little lighter in colour. Remove from the oil and place onto the wire rack set over a baking tray to drain. Lastly, add your chips back intot he hot oil and cook for around 3–4 minutes until golden. Allow to drain once more on the wire rack before serving with tartare sauce and mushy peas.

Serves: 2 | Time: 45min and fry until the fat begins to 12cm pastry circle. Transfer this Ingredients: brown, then add the leek and to a pie dish and gently push 1 quantity of gluten-free chicken. Fry for 3–4 minutes the pastry in leaving a little shortcrust pastry chilled for until the chicken is sealed. overhang. Trim off any excess. 25 minutes Add in flour and mix until Form the leftover pastry scraps 1 egg, beaten evenly coated, then add the back into a ball and re-roll out Handful of poppy seeds stock and rosemary, and to a 3mmin thickness. Place Rose-vanilla bath melts (optional) For the filling: season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer your second pie dish face down onto the rolled-out pastry and 250g boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets for 10 minutes or until the gravy has thickened. Remove trace around it with a knife to create a lid. Repeat with the 100g diced smoked streaky bacon from the heat and, after 5 minutes, stir in the cream and other half of your dough and second pie dish. 90g leek, chopped leave to cool. Divide your pie filling between 2 tbsp gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour 400ml gluten-free chicken stock Preheat oven to 200°C fan/ 220°C. Remove pastry from the fridge. Don’t handle your dough excessively as this will the pie dishes and brush the overhang with egg. Place your pastry lids on top and pinch the edges together. Sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped warm it up and make it more fragile. Cut the ball of pastry Brush each pie with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. 2 tbsp double (heavy) cream in half and lightly flour your rolling pin. On a sheet of nonLastly, make a small hole in the very middle or each lid with a Salt and pepper stick baking parchment, roll out sharp knife. Cook in the oven Method: Cut the chicken into one portion of the dough to a for 30 minutes until golden, 2cm strips. Place a large pan 3mm thickness. then serve with mashed potato, over a medium heat, add bacon For a 10cm pie dish, cut out a veggies and my lazy glutenfree gravy.

This is an edited extract from How to Make Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell published by Quadrille RRP $39.99 and is available in stores nationally from 17 February 2021.

Pop tarts

Makes: 5 | Time: 45 minutes Ingredients:

1 quantity of gluten-free shortcrust pastry, chilled for 25 minutes Gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting 1 egg, beaten with 2 tsp milk For the jam filling: 150g / ½ cup raspberry jam 1 tbsp cornflour 1 tsp lemon juice For the icing: 1½ cups icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Multi-coloured sprinkles (ensure gluten-free) Method: Preheat your oven to 160°C fan /180°C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. In a small bowl, mix the jam, cornflour and lemon juice until well combined. Set aside. Remove your pastry from the fridge. Lightly flour your rolling pin. On a sheet of non-stick baking paper, roll out the dough to a rectangle, 2mm thick. Cut as many 10 x 7.5cm rectangles out of your pastry as you can. Use a knife to gently place them to one side. Re-roll your pastry scraps to cut out more rectangles. Brush around the border of half of your rectangles with some beaten egg mixture, then add a tablespoon of your jam mix and spread, leaving a 1.5cm clear border around the edge. Using a fork, prick some holes in the remaining rectangles (which will allow steam to escape when baking). Place these rectangle lids on top of the ones with jam on and gently press the edges down so they stick together. Then, using a fork, press down on the edges all the way around to crimp together. Transfer to the baking tray, brush the top of each pop tart with a little more beaten egg and bake in the oven for 20–22 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack and allow to fully cool. For the icing, grab a mediumsized mixing bowl and add your icing sugar and vanilla. Mix together, gradually adding a few teaspoons of water and mixing until it reaches a smooth, slightly thick and spreadable consistency. If your icing is too thin, it’ll dribble off the pop tart! Once the pop tarts have fully cooled, spoon a dollop of the icing onto the centre of each and neatly spread up to the crimped edge. Add a few sprinkles and repeat until you’ve decorated all of your pop tarts. Allow to set and enjoy!