While we put macadamia nuts to good use in biscuits, cakes, puddings and so on, they also make a great savoury snack for an instant pick-me-up. And, of course, they’re delicious with a cool drink at the end of a day ….
The big flavours of gluten-free walnut crispbread, pickled carrots, spicy nduja and cucumbers with mustard and dill all combine to make an unusual but very delicious entrée ….
I really like this dish of Potted Prawns. It’s simple to make, delicious, a bit ‘old school’ and two of my favourite ingredients, prawns and butter, are the heroes. Use the best quality prawns and butter you can find and you’ll be assured of success ….
Ah, I know, I just know that you’re looking at the list of ingredients for Pan-Fried Prawns in Black Lime Butter and thinking ‘This isn’t for me’. But I encourage you to give it a go as it really is as easy as 123. And it’s really tasty ….
This handy recipe for little Smoked Trout Frittatas is one good reason on its own for keeping a packet of smoked trout in the fridge at all times. With some feta, eggs, a few herbs you can put together a healthy and quite delicious tray of bite-sized mouthfuls that would hit the spot perfectly with something cool and sparkling ….
The flavours and textures of these Fig, Feta and Pickled Lemon Crackers pack a real punch ….
These little Caponata Tarts are designed to make a very welcome appearance at a cocktail party or any other stand-up gathering. Drink in one hand. Delicious bite-sized flavour-bomb in the other, that’s it ….
We have taken a classic Chicken Liver Pâté and topped it with ruby-coloured Cassis Jelly to create this rich and satisfying dish ….
I always have capers and cornichons in the fridge and quite often a packet of smoked trout fillets. And sometimes a container of crème fraiche. When these provision stars align it takes no time at all to whip up this lovely, chilled dish ….
This tasty, vegetarian Tomato and Lentil Samosa recipe is a great one to add to your gluten-free repertoire. I’ve served the samosas as an entrée with some minted yoghurt and a spicy chutney, made mini ones for pre-dinner bites and whipped some out of the freezer for an easy lunch ….
A frittata – fundamentally a mix of eggs, cream or milk and cheese – is a most obliging dish. You can add to this basis just about any vegetable or protein you fancy, or make use of what you have on hand ….
We obviously love a crunchy savoury biscuit at The Coeliac’s Revenge. We have developed gluten-free recipes for buckwheat, chestnut, walnut, besan, hemp, polenta, fig, seedy, cheesy and now seaweed biscuits, crackers and lavosh. Perhaps we should go into production ….
The great thing about this recipe, apart from the tender and moreish chicken and zucchini fritters themselves, is the two-stage cooking process – starts with frying, ends with baking ….
For some time now I’ve taken to keeping a batch of our Revenge Cream Cheese Pastry in the freezer. Which means it's always on stand-by to make one of these quick and tasty Pizza Tarts. Roll it out, top it with good fresh flavours as we’ve suggested here - Tomato and Gruyere, Kabocha and Bacon, and Asparagus and Ham - and bake ….
We’ve taken our Watermelon and Tomato Gazpacho, tweaked the recipe a bit then frozen it to create an accompaniment to fresh oysters. The flavours of the gazpacho and the brininess of the oysters are a great combination, we think ….
Christmas dinner is traditionally a tribute to pleasure and plenty, but there is something to be said for pacing ourselves. And this entrée of Tuna Tartare with Pickled Lemon could be just the way to begin ….
Our Antipasto Christmas Wreath is made of numerous cocktail sticks, offering tasty little morsels, which are then formed into a circle. All very festive looking, we hope ….
Here’s a good menu idea for a cocktail party. Zucchini, potato, spices and mint combined in a tiny ball, flash fried and served with a dash of mayonnaise. They’re moreish and make the perfect one mouthful appetiser ….
One mouthful sausage rolls? What next, party pies? you may be asking. Well possibly. If we can make them as moreish as these little bites then why not ….
Perfect for picnics but equally suitable as a snack, as part of a lunch or for a pre-dinner bite …
Quail eggs are the perfect one-bite snack. By cracking their shells and steeping them in an aromatic mixture, these Tea-Marbled Quail Eggs have a painterly finish and a delicate flavour …
A cute cucumber, dusted with toasted sesame seeds and dipped in its pickling liquid is a fun and tasty bite to have with a drink. Make plenty as they are very moreish ….
It’s hard to resist a carrot stick – so colourful, nutritious and easy. We’ve added to the appeal by pickling long Dutch carrots to enhance their flavour.
Recipe testing can often yield unexpected results. Some good and some not so good. These Gluten-free Buckwheat Crackers are the result of trying to develop a recipe for crisp, tiny tart cases with the flavour of blinis (buckwheat pancakes made famous by the Russian Tea Rooms in New York and topped with melted butter, sour cream and caviar) ….
Coming across hemp seeds in the supermarket recently, I had to take some home to try. They’re said to help with weight loss, improve skin, relieve joint pain and arthritis, aid in digestion, lower blood pressure and lots more. If you’re expecting to hate the medicine, though, the good news is that hemp seeds are quite delicious, even more so when they’re cooked. They add a rich nutty flavour and texture to baked goods, as in these thoroughly agreeable Gluten-free Hempcakes.
Madeleines and Proust? Yes, yes, we know it’s a cliché to mention the famous French novelist when talking about madeleines. However, in this instance we’re fairly sure that Proust would be a bit nonplussed by our version of the classic petite cake. You see, ours are not for dunking in tea. They are savoury …
These naturally gluten-free Baby Potatoes with Caviar are perfect at party-time. Baking the potatoes and scooping out the centres produces the ideal edible package, which is then filled with creamy feta, chives and pickled lemon and topped with a burst of caviar ….
We always need something to graze on at parties, but particularly if it’s a drinks-only event, the nibbles need to be substantial enough to stave off hunger and make good company for drinks. With that in mind we’ve adapted a classic recipe on our blog for Cevapcici, Skinless Sausages, to make these spicy little Meatballs with Mint Yoghurt Sauce ….
We love these cheesy nibbles. Salty, flavour-packed and crisp, they deliver everything that’s required of a small bite to have with a drink ….
What is it? A stick? A baton? A long biscuit? Yes, it’s all of those things but we describe it as a cigar shaped, parmesan-flavoured, tasty snack. Eaten without adornment or wrapped in mortadella or dipped in tapenade, our Gluten-free Parmesan Cigars are lovely bites to serve with drinks or as part of an antipasti selection. There’s something very satisfying about nibbling one from end to end! ….
Cauliflower has become the go-to vegetable of the decade. It seems that now we all love our cauli. Here we’ve used it in a simply-flavoured pickling mix. Pickled Cauliflower is a great addition to mezze or antipasti platters ….
When pickling we prefer to bottle the vegetables separately in case the chillies prove to be fiery ones. The hot heads amongst your family and friends will love the Pickled Chillies while everyone else will thank you for the consideration as they munch on the mild Pickled Baby Cucumbers ….
These Sliced Stuffed Peppers are a little bit fiddly to prepare but they do make pretty gluten-free bites to go with a drink ….
Jan, our resident coeliac, has mentioned that one of the sensations she misses most is crunch. Our gluten-free lavosh have crunch. Lots of crunch. They crunch bigly …..
When seeking inspiration for a pre-dinner nibble to share with friends recently, all I had to do is look up … up is where the avocados hang from our tree. So that’s where I started ….
Gougère are fabulously airy, savoury puffs of choux pastry. The outside is crisp and golden and the inside light, cheesy, creamy and rich with their gruyère or comté addition ….
Everybody loves a meatball. Whether they be called polpettine, gehaktballen or albondigas, they’re a world-wide favourite ….
Most people love a roast dinner. Sometimes, though, it could do with a bit of jazzing up so that it’s not just the same old, same old. Here we’ve dressed some roasted pumpkin and corn with a delicious, healthy and versatile sunflower seed aioli, thinned to a drizzleable dressing ….
For me, tapas is a wonderful invention. Lots and lots of tastes and textures, in miniature, offer the opportunity to try many different dishes without looking like, well, the glutton I may well be. It was in my favourite tapas bar that I discovered the thick, garlicky, pale, richness of White Gazpacho ….
We’re revisiting one of our favourite and most popular recipes this week with our Revenge Lavosh. It is very easy to make, inexpensive and versatile. We have friends (gluten-intolerants and tolerants alike) who often request a batch to be brought along to a lunch or dinner ....
Yes, we're all doing it. Wanting to catch up with everyone before Christmas as if there’ll never be another chance! It makes a crazy time even more crazy but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
We love the idea of catching up over drinks with a few delicious bites, no matter whether it is a huge festive affair with all the friends and neighbours dropping in or something more intimate. Either way, we’ve got you covered.
Our Sticky Rice Cakes can be made weeks in advance and frozen, defrosted in the fridge then fried and topped, ready to serve. They are seriously addictive ....
Here are two simple dishes to offer with drinks when you have a crowd of people. Recently I served them instead of a first course before an Indian meal. The radish and cucumber raita can be made well ahead of time and, if all the ingredients are prepared beforehand, the prawn and coriander pakoras can be cooked in just a few minutes ....
I’d been at a conference all day. He’d been at home, in the studio. We met in the city and wandered down to the newish Barangaroo precinct on Sydney Harbour. We decided to try a few different restaurants on the strip so he chose the Spanish Bórn, where for our first course we had delicious little morsels and sampled for the first time a gluten-free beer and a chardonnay from Spain ....
These smoky, wok fried edamame are streets ahead of the normal steamed ones. Give them a try.
Jan’s daughter-in-law, Zoe, came up with these fabulous Walnut Crispbreads. They are quite rich and make a delicious base for all sorts of canapés. We’ve topped one with goats’ cheese and tobiko (flying fish roe) and the other with gravalax, pickled cucumber and dill and mustard sauce but the toppings will only be limited by imagination and what’s on hand in the fridge ....
These tasty, savoury, cheese shortbread biscuits are quick and easy to mix, a good way to use left over cheese bits hanging around the fridge and the dough keeps well in the freezer so you can bake a batch at the drop of a hat ....
Searching through one of my recipe files recently, (the overstuffed and disordered one - I’m sure you have one of these too) I came across this odd recipe for a cauliflower pizza base ....
When I was a small child my dad used to eat little, foil covered sections of processed cheese and I loved it too. He also ate blue cheese and I hated it. I couldn’t understand why he’d choose to put something so disgusting in his mouth. Many years later while in France I stayed with a woman who took my culinary education very seriously .....
When a cook starts blending together eggs, garlic, a touch of lemon juice and olive oil the expected result is mayonnaise. And yet when the eggs are fish roe the outcome is taramasalata. Having made it recently, I’ve only just realised that the classic Greek dip is in fact a form of mayonnaise ....
Rosie had been to Lario International, the Sydney importer of fabulous and unusual Italian products, and was showing Jan and me her purchases. There was some beautiful olive oil, a bottle of pomegranate balsamic vinegar, an exotic jar of pine bud syrup and a small jar of light green paste. We were given a taste to determine what it was. A pesto of some sort? No. Salsa verde with a difference? No ....
The Gang got together recently for a small cocktail party to celebrate a ‘significant’ birthday by doing what we like to do best – catch up, hear some bad jokes, have some excellent drinks and eat some fabulous food. Of course the food had to fit the occasion and Caren decided she’d like to take the helm on that count....
A bit of last minute preparation is required for Caren's modern take on a classic and is a delicious addition to a canape menu ....
These lavosh are so easy I can make a batch in less time than a dash to the local shop and for far less moolah. They keep really well and are great to have on hand for lunches, drinks drop-ins, with dips and cheese or just a bit of crunch any time....
These tiny tartlet cases and pastry rounds are very speedy to make. No need to rest this very easy to handle pastry, just mix with a fork, roll, cut out with a biscuit cutter, bake and go ....
This rich and tasty pastry is a perfect vehicle for any sort of topping and can be served with drinks or made in a larger size and served as an entrée or light meal. The cooked pastry can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container ready to be titivated just before your guests arrive ....
For years now my everyday gluten-free breakfast food of choice has been fruit and yoghurt scattered with birdseed ..... but recently I've been diverted by chia .....
I had just arrived home in a rush. Any minute friends were coming for drinks before heading out for dinner together. Some sort of hors d’oeuvres were immediately required....
For the last few years I have added the Russian roulette thrill of eating padrones to our Christmas holiday tradition. A kilogram box, picked and posted from Queensland’s Midyimeco and delivered the next day in Sydney, holds a wealth of....surprises....
On a break from work recently I had the luxury of time to spend fiddling around in the kitchen, and with thyme from my garden I decided to make some za’atar as it is such a versatile spice blend...