Hand Rolled Rice Noodles

Tonight my lovely husband is cooking and I'm observing and blogging. He's making rice noodles from one of our new cookbook purchases Beyond the Great Wall (by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid) and inventing his own stir-fry to fit. Here's what he's up to...

Ingredients

For the noodles
2 cups rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
Scant 1 cut boiling water
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for surfaces

Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. It will look lumpy at this time but you haven't failed! Keep mixing into a smooth paste with you hands.

Pinch off small pieces and roll with the palm of you hands (see picture) until all mixture is used.

Boil for five minutes in a large saucepan. Add a tiny amount of oil and store. You can store them overnight and use the next day if you wish.

For the stir-fry
250g beef fillet (we used scotch but oyster blade would work), cut into thin strips
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
1 capsicum
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Combine the beef and honey in a bowl. In a wok heat oil and add beef/honey mixture. When beef is almost all cooked (a minutes or so only). Remove and set aside.

In the oily liquid left from scotch fillet frying add onion. Cook until beginning to become translucent. Add capsicum and cook for a minute.

Add beef, sweet chilli sauce and pre-prepared rice noodles. Stir through until just until all ingredients are combined.

We were so impressed with these noodles we will definitely make them again. They have a lovely texture- firm and slippery. Stay tuned for additional ways to use these noodles.

Cauliflower Salad

This is a yummy alternative to a tired old potato salad.


Ingredients
1 Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 Carrots, quartered
4 tbsp olive oil

2 slices gluten free bread, made into breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic

2 handfuls of roquette
salt/pepper to taste

Method
Toss cauliflower, carrots and olive oil in a roasting tray. Make sure oil is well tossed to cover vegetables. Roast in 180c oven for 40 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting heat a frying pan with olive oil to medium. Add breadcrumbs and garlic. Keep stiring until browned (about 5 minutes).

Combine roast vegetables, roquette and arrange in a bowl. Sprinkle bread mixture and season.

Wonton Wrapper Ravioli

This is my first posting on my new blog. This blog is going to be a recipe diary of my wheat and sugar free cooking explorations. I hope you enjoy!

I've been on this wheat-free/sugar-free thing for a while now. One thing that has really got to me is the quality of gluten free pasta. The texture is too slippery and it doesn't hold sauce. So I am embarking on a pursuit of the perfect pasta.

Won Ton Ravioli

For the pasta
Wonton wrappers (used for soup wontons)
250g Ricotta cheese
1-2 Shallots, finely diced
1 bunch of spinach, lightly steamed

For the sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
200g of mixed cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
cheese to serve

Ravioli preparation (begin night before).
Squeeze any remaining water out of the steamed spinach. Combine spinach, shallots and ricotta cheese in a bowl.
Put a small teaspoon of mixture onto wonton wrapper, touch the outside edge with a wet pastry brush and fold in half. Repeat process until all ricotta mixture is finished. Freeze overnight ensuring ravioli do not stick together (lay them out on baking paper). The ravioli are best boiled when they are frozen as they will hold their shape better.

Sauce preparation (on the night) Add oil and onion to frying pan, cook onion until just beginning to brown. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until some of the tomatoes have mushed up. I used yellow pear tomatoes and standard red cherry tomatoes and the yellow ones tended to loose their form first- making a nice yellow sauce highlighted with glossy red cherry toms.

In a large pot of salted boiling water put the ravioli for 5 minutes. Depending on size they might need less so keep your eye on them.

Combine and serve topped with basil and cheese of your liking.