Happy New Year - Fish & Chips

Of course we had a wonderful gluten free Christmas Dinner complete with turkey for Christmas Dinner. The holiday dinner my family loved most though, just because we hadn’t had anything like this for years was my new gf recipe for Classic English Fish & Chips. My husband said this was one of his favourites, way back when. He had given up ever having it again. Of course I have tried, but it never quite made muster till now.

The fish was wonderful and the batter didn’t fall off. The fries were so delicious, I think it was due to the wonderful farm fresh potatoes I had bought locally at B C Pickering Produce. The woman at the cash register said they were very particular about their produce and everything was so fresh.


Classic English Fish and Chips
A Gluten Free Adaptation by Trina Astor-Stewart

Fish & Chips is classic English street food and many would not go a week even today without heading down to their favourite locale. The first shop opened in London in the mid 19th century. By the 1930s, shops were located in towns all over England.

If you want to be authentic and have a fish fry night. Place newspaper placemats on the table, a basket on top, lined with parchment paper, pile in the fries and fish and serve with apple cider vinegar, tartar sauce, ketchup and a nice gf ale on the side. Serves four.

Wash and peel and cut into strips, about
4 large potatoes (if new potatoes leave the skins on)
Pat dry with paper towel.
Heat sunflower oil in a wok, or deep fryer (depth should be 2 or 3 inches to cover) to 375 degrees or until just about sizzling heat.
Fry potatoes about 7 minutes or until golden brown and remove from hot oil with a slotted spoon, (or basket in deep fryer) Place potatoes on a baking sheet lightly salt the chips and reserve warm in a 250 F oven.

Fish

About 1 lb fish, cut into chunks. Each piece of fish should be about 2 inches by about 3 inches. Traditionally Cod or Sole are the fish most commonly used to make fish and chips, any firm, white-fleshed fish will work.

Prepare fresh or thawed Fish by draining thoroughly. Pat fish dry. Sprinkle fish on both sides with salt and pepper.
Place about ½ cup of ‘Astoria Mills All Purpose Mix #1’ in a bowl, mix in ½ teaspoon Herbs Provencal ( optional) and dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture until well coated, shaking off excess.

Prepare Batter:

Blend together dry ingredients
¾ cup Astoria Mills All Purpose Mix #1
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
In a separate bowl, whisk together,
2 tablespoons vinegar

1 egg
1 cup water or Gluten Free Beer ( I used water)
Mix dry ingredients and wet together with a whisk to make a smooth, thick batter.

Dip one piece of fish at a time in the batter, and then slide into the hot oil. Repeat with 4 or 5 pieces and fry turning each piece of fish over frequently, until deep golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Then fry remaining fish in batches of 4, returning oil to 375°F between batches.

Serve in a basket lined with parchment paper

(if you like, my crew couldn't wait, so just plunkt it on a plate,)

and have GF vinegar available for each person to use over fish or you can also serve with lemon wedges.

Serve with Homemade Coleslaw and Tartar Sauce, and GF Ketchup on the side.

Here is a photograph of the inside of a piece of the gf battered fish. And yes, the family is used to the drill, gotta take a picture of it!

Happy New Year, have a great 2008 everyone.
Try my new Fish & Chips Recipe I think it qualifies as a guilty pleasure for sure, since I’m supposed to be trying to lose weight. Let me know what you think, glad to hear from you.
email: trina@astoriamagazine.com

Blue Cheese, Gluten Free?

Blue Cheese ….Gluten Free?

Blue cheese is generally made from cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses and have Penicillin type cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined with blue or blue-green mould. Traditionally it was started on wheat bread, and so not gluten free. However, many lists now state that most blue cheeses are now started with an artificial or synthetic culture. So best to read the label for contents such as wheat or gluten.

Last year Gluten Free Living magazine had a great article on blue cheese. As I recall from the article, most blue cheeses are safe. However, some people are sensitive to moulds, and then that is another story. Brown rice can’t be tolerated by some, because it tends to grow mould before being polished. Then some people are allergic to Penicillin also, so you are the best decision maker for your own dietary needs.

Just wanted to write about this as my Gluten Free Goodies –Christmas Edition book has a couple of recipes, out of the over 150 in there that call for a bit of blue cheese in the salad dressing and such. If you want to you can always substitute for something else. We like blue cheese every now and then and so included this in the e-book.

Apparently, ‘Wishbone’ blue cheese salad dressing is gluten-free. For all of you out there looking to hit up some home made buffalo wings and blue cheese for an impromptu holiday treat, there's a great source. A guilty pleasure for sure. We deserve out little gluten free guilty pleasures don't we!

There's absolutely no comparison to home made blue cheese dressing on a salad, Central Market in Dallas, Texas makes a wonderful Blue Cheese dressing, that is wonderful!

A gluten-free diet brings about all kinds of changes. Many people who have emailed me are actually adopting a gluten free lifestyle simply for the health benefits. Yes, we're forced read every label, make a lot from scratch, but before we know it, we're trying new things. Sometimes I think our family has been saved from the junk food life style, so much of it has wheat and gluten in it that it is off limits. Life goes on, and more happily when we're feeling good.