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14
Sauces and spreads
Discovering you have a wheat, dairy or yeast intolerance doesn't necessarily mean being
confined to a future of dry, bland, sauce-less cuisine.
A variety of toppings and sauces can be enjoyed despite the elimination of wheat flour,
cow's milk and yeasty vinegars and soy sauces.
Substitute the likes of rice, corn, rye, soya or chick pea flour for wheat flour and use
one of the many dairy alternatives when making a white sauce. Olive oil can be used in-
stead of
butter, but as butter is made only using the fatty part of the milk, little milk remains,
and it can thus be tolerated by many of those who are dairy-intolerant.
Homemade pesto is a fantastic way to add zest to chicken and fish dishes, and goes won-
derfully with pasta if you can tolerate the wheat, rice, buckwheat or corn varieties:
1 large bunch fresh basil, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 red peppers, grilled for 5 minutes then roughly chopped
2 tablespoons water
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, the transfer to a blender and whiz for a few seconds.
Give the mixture a stir, then whiz for a bit longer until a smooth pesto is formed.
Serve as a sauce, or marinate fish and chicken in the pesto before grilling or steaming.
This can also be used as a dip served with crudités.
Sundried tomatoes, sold dry as opposed to those preserved in oil, can make an excellent
spread to serve on rye crispbreads or rice cakes. Simply whiz them up in the blender
with some chopped fresh tomatoes, mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Spinach or courgettes
can also be used in the same manner, but the green colour can be off-putting!
Polenta cake
with citrus syrup
Ingredients
3/4 cup plain flour*
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup finely ground
polenta*
4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 orange, rind grated
1 lemon, rind grated
Citrus syrup
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
1 each of lemon, orange and
lime, zested, juiced
Method
1.
Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 20cm spring-form baking
tin
2.
Sift flour, baking powder and polenta into a bowl. In a separate
large bowl, use an electric beater to beat together egg yolks and 1/2 cup
sugar until pale. Beat in the vanilla and lemon and orange rind.
3.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until just foamy, then add the
remaining sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gently fold
into the egg yolk mixture until just combined, then fold in dry ingredi-
ents, being careful not to over mix. Pour into baking tin and bake for 30
minutes or until golden brown.
4.
Meanwhile, to make the syrup, add sugar, citrus zest, juices and
enough water to make 1 cup liquid to a small saucepan. Stir to combine,
then bring to the boil. Reduce by half. Set aside to cool.
5.
Remove cake from oven and set aside to cool slightly before turning
onto a cake rack sitting over a tray (to catch syrup). Carefully prick cake
all over with a cake skewer and pour over syrup.
*From larger Supermarkets or Health Food Shops
* Gluten free flour can be used
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