Swiss Chalet Rotisserie Channel

Rice Pasta: Rediscover Pasta!!!

When I was first told that I was celiac my first thought was “Oh no, I can’t eat pasta anymore”.  Pasta for me was this amazing comfort food.  I never ordered it in a restaurant because I could always make a much more delicious sauce with all my favourites in it; everything from Sausage and Pepper Penne to Seafood Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo.   Pasta was not something I ate every week, maybe once a month I would make a yummy savoury dish to indulge in.  But celiacs’ can’t have pasta, right?  Wrong!!!  Rice pasta to the rescue.  There are many different brands of rice pasta on the market.  The two brands I have tried are:  PC Organics Brown Rice Pasta and Pastariso Organic Brown Rice Pasta.  There are other gluten-free pastas on the market with corn or quinoa, but I have only tried the brown rice variety.

Some people argue that brown rice pasta is healthier than the whole wheat variety.  For those non-celiac’s who have the choice I have added the nutritional information of both varieties for you to choose.

Nutritional Facts
PC Organics Brown Rice Pasta	CATELLI Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Pasta
91 gram serving	85 gram serving
Calories                                330	Calories           310
Fat                          2g (saturated 0.4 g/trans fat 0g)	Fat                   1.5g (saturated 0.4 g/trans fat 0g)
Cholesterol         0g	Cholesterol         0g
Sodium                 0g	Sodium            0g
Carbohydrates  70g (fibre 3g/sugar 1g)	Carbohydrates 62g(fibre 8g/sugar 4g)
Protein                                 7g	Protein            12g

Nutritionally both rice pasta and whole wheat pasta are very similar.  If you are not celiac, it will come down to personal choice.

Brown rice pasta is slightly more expensive then whole wheat pasta.  This is due to production and consumption. 

I have served rice pasta to people without letting them know the difference and they were unable to tell the difference (even kids). 

The biggest difference between brown rice pasta and whole wheat pasta is the cooking process.

Here are some tips I have discovered while cooking brown rice pasta:

• You need to use more water then whole wheat pasta.
• It helps to use some oil in the water while cooking
• You must stir brown rice pasta more often while cooking then whole wheat pasta to prevent sticking.
• You must immediately rinse with cold water when done to stop the cooking process.
• Rice pasta should only be used in a salad when eating immediately; it does not keep its consistency very well.  Also, you may need to add more dressing when using in a pasta salad.

I will post some pasta recipes soon :)  Enjoy!!!

Sunday Morning Cinnamon Rolls

One of my indulgences in the past was a warm and gooey cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing.  Since discovering I am Celiac, these treats have been hands-off.  I looked at gluten-free recipes online and they seemed very complicated with lots of steps and ingredients.  Someone forwarded me this link to another blog with a gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe.  While I used the base of this recipe I made a big changed, which was a gamble.  I bought a gluten-free all purpose flour at the Bulk Barn and substituted the potato starch and corn starch for the same amount of flour.  They turned out AMAZING.  I also used my own cream cheese icing recipe instead of the glaze.


Cinnamon Rolls
Serves 8 

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of almond milk, room temperature
1 packet quick rising yeast (about 1 tablespoon)
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO SPRINKLE ON BOARD COVERED WITH PLASTIC WRAP
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - optional

CREAM CHEESE ICING
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine shortening and sugar. Mix well. Measure milk and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve.

Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft and sticky.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square. Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and then reposition it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. You might have to occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got ABOUT a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough.

Remove top piece of wrap. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (Original recipe poster suggested leaving about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in; otherwise all the sugar spills out).Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge. Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log". Then cut into 8 or 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a pan.  If using a glass pan, grease.  I used my baking stone with high edges (Pampered Chef)

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine icing ingredients into a bowl and blend. Spread over rolls once they have cooled slightly.  Enjoy licking the beaters and bowl :)

Person who wrote about this recipe included this note: These are lovely with coffee in the morning. They're very light and fluffy - not too heavy or dense. I've also discovered that you can make these the night before and stop short of baking them. Wrap them up in their pan or glass dish and leave them in the fridge for the night. The next morning you can take them out and bake them and they come out just the same! I've found that this is a great thing to bring to a friends house for brunch. I just pop them in their oven - and you've got a great GF contribution and you know there's no cross contamination!

I have included a picture of the cinnamon rolls before icing so you can see the colour of the rolls out of the oven and post icing.  I will re-iterate these are fantastic.  While they are gluten-free, they are not fat-free and will be reserved for special occasions.  I am very excited that I am no longer cinnamon roll deprived.

Saturday Afternoon Snowshoe in Marysville

I am not a winter sports person, but took up snowshoeing a few years ago to help me get outside, stay active and prevent cabin fever.  Since we have had a lot of snow in Fredericton this winter, some friends and I decided Saturday afternoon would be a great day to go out snowshoeing with our dogs.  We started out by the Marysville Bypass and went up into the mountain bike trails.  We spent about 2 hours on the trail (approximately 8 km).  It was a beautiful afternoon and the dogs loved it.  I also took this opportunity to try a pair of Nordic Walking Poles while snowshoeing.  They helped tremendously going up hill, and when breaking trail that had fresh snow.

Here is the equipment I used:

Snowshoes:  Tubbs Women's Xplore21 Snowshoes
Nordic Walking Poles:  Louis Garneau Helium Nordic Walking Poles Nordic Walking Poles

The most important items I had on Saturday were my base layers.  While it was cold outside we still worked up quite a sweat.  And since your skin can not breathe properly when wearing your outdoor gear, base layers help to wick that sweat away.  Any dri-fit base layers will work.  Anything that is non-restrictive and comfortable.  The best part of all this fun in the snow was the hot chocolate after :)  Thanks Tracey, Lee, Shannon and Jason.  Oh, and thanks to Jersey, Maverick and Kikapu.  Hopefully we will see some of you out on the trails before the snow melts.

Here is me, Jersey, Maverick, Shannon, Kikapu and Tracey.  The boys were trailing behind.


I also have to mention the supper I made that evening.  Grilled rib eye steak (which I bought locally from the Boyce's Farmers Market and is hormone and antibiotic free), with sauteed mushrooms in a balsamic reduction.  Smashed potatoes and roasted zucchini, eggplant, onions and peppers.  I served this with a Las Moras Malbec.

Gluten-Free Chicken Pad Thai

I love Thai food and in Fredericton we do not have a Thai restaurant.  I have been wanted to make a Pad Thai for some time, but all the recipes seemed very complicated.  I found this great recipe thanks to my friend Linda on About.com.  I have used many recipes from this site, all with great success.  This one is no different.  I paired it with Lineman's Bin 85 Pinot Grigio.  I am not a Sommelier, like my friend Eric, but this is one of my favorite white wines and thought the crispness of this wine would pair well with the spicy of the dish. I have also discovered Saigon, an Asian market here in Fredericton.  I will be doing all of my shopping there for any Asian dishes.  Go check it out.

This was one of the best Pad Thai dishes I have even had.  My boyfriend, Jason loved it too.  You could omit the chicken and use shrimp or tofu.  However, if you are vegetarian or vegan you would need to find an alternative to fish sauce.

Here is the recipe from about.com with my comments adding in:

Chicken Pad Thai

Prep Time: 15 minutes (yes)

Cook Time: 12 minutes (yes)

Total Time: 27 minutes (yes)

Yield: SERVES 2 (definitely more than 2 servings!!!)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz  Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguine-width
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced (I used breast meat)
• Marinade for Chicken: 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• optional: 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced (I used 2 green chilies)
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 3 spring green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped cashews
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
• vegetable oil for stir-frying, and wedges of lime (I used high quality olive oil) 
•  PAD THAI SAUCE:
• 3/4 Tbsp gluten-free tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce + more to taste
• 1-3 tsp chili sauce or substitute 1/2 tsp or more dried crushed chili or cayenne, to taste (I used 2 tsp chili sauce)
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of pot to a boil and remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. Note: you will be frying the noodles later, so you don't want to over-soften them now. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm and a little "crunchy". Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve the tamarind paste and brown sugar. Set aside. Note: this may seem like a lot of sugar, but you need it to balance out the sourness of the tamarind - this balance is what makes Pad Thai taste so amazing!
3. Place chicken slices in a small bowl. Pour the marinade (2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce) over the chicken. Stir well and set aside.
4. Warm up a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus garlic and minced chili, if using. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds).
5. Add chicken together with the marinade. Stir-fry 30 seconds to 1 minute. When wok/pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, to keep the chicken frying nicely. Continue stir-frying in this way until the chicken is cooked (5-8 minutes).
6. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Using two spatulas, wooden spoons, or other utensils, immediately stir-fry the noodles. Use a gentle "lift and turn" method (like tossing a salad) to prevent noodles from breaking. Stir-fry in this way 1-2 minutes. If you find your wok/frying pan too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom (but no more broth, or the noodles will become soggy).
7. Add the bean sprouts and sprinkle over the pepper. Continue "tossing" 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer "hard" or crunchy, but chewy-sticky wonderful!
8. Taste-test for seasoning, adding more fish sauce until desired flavor is reached (I usually add at least 1 more Tbsp. fish sauce). Toss well to incorporate.
9. Lift noodles onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander, spring onion, and crushed/chopped nuts. Add fresh lime wedges (lime is great squeezed over top).

Welcome and Thank You

Well after much thought and encouragement, I have finally decided to create a blog.  My reason for creating this is to share my gluten-free recipes with all my friends.  But also, I want to promote a balanced way of living.  I am a certified personal training and fitness instructor and currently teach at the Fredericton YMCA.  I believe in healthy clean eating, but also think that enjoying food and the simple things in life create a balanced, happy life.  My goal is to help others and motivate myself to love life, food, activity, friends and the simple things.  Please comment and enjoy :)