I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

February 8, 2011

Brookfarm, Slow Food for Fast People



I was recently contacted by the lovely Chontelle and Office Buddies from Brookfarm asking if I would like to try some of their gluten free products.
In my box of goodies I received packet of Cranberry and Macadamia Muesli, a box of Brookfarm Bars, some pouches of Walkabout Snacks and a bottle of Macadamia oil. How exciting!

Living with food InTolerances does not have to be restrictive, companies like Brookfarm that make great gluten free food available 'main stream' are doing such a great job, and I'm sure all us InTolerants are extremely grateful for the thought and effort - and yumminess- that goes into these products.

Founded in 1999 by Pam and Martin Brook, Brookfarm is today Australia's leading producer of premium quality Macadamia products and works on the 3 P's principal, Passion for Quality, Passion for a better environment and Passion for great tasting healthy food.

"At Brookfarm we believe it is not enough to produce healthy nutritious food, the customers have to taste the difference. People with gluten intolerance often have a limited choice of foods, our mission was to create a Gluten Free Muesli that was full of flavour and didn't taste like cardboard. Pam Brook, the creator of Brookfarm's Gluten Free Muesli, took over 12 months to source the high quality ingredients, create and refine the recipes"



First I tried out the muesli.


It has a nice mix of textures with lots of fruit and big chunks of nuts.(I hate it when manufacturers skimp on the good bits) I poured on my lactose free milk and tasted.... a light taste of honey was my first impression, followed by the great crunchiness of a cereal that can take a dousing without going instantly soggy- it even maintained it's structural integrity while I took a few photos. As with all good muesli's, you really don't need a lot to be satisfied, but it is yummy, so try to take it easy!

Brookfarm bar with Macadamias and Cranberries

I'm not usually a fan of these type of bars, they are way too sickly sweet for my taste, but these ones are much better, as they're geared for grownups instead of the kiddies. They hold together crisply with a nice amount of fruit and nuts and manage to escape the stickiness that I also find unappealing in other commercial bars. I'm not a big snacker, so used these as a light breakfast on the go instead. I enjoyed them very much and hid them from the children citing 'research' as my excuse.



Walkabout snacks

Now these were really yummy. What impressed me was how fresh tasting everything was. You know what it's like with nut mixes, all the flavours melding together with one slightly dominating and a slight mustiness over all. But I could taste all the flavours properly and they worked together beautifully. My favourite was the with the dark chocolate buds. They are tiny little gems of sweetness like gracenotes in the nuttiness. The only downside of these little baggies, is that I was soo full after having one. That's when I read the packaging and realised it served 3. Ooops! That just shows how much I liked it I guess.



These are the type of thing I keep in my handbag or locker for those emergency times when no one has thought of me, the InTolerant, and think that some rice crackers are a suitable option for me at a luncheon buffet. The only option. That's when I break out my yummy stash and think happy thoughts, instead of plotting revenge on the host.




There was also a recipe card tucked in with my goodies for an interesting sounding chocolate cake. I really wanted to try it, but begrudged the amount of muesli needed (see, told you I liked it). I decided to compromise by making a half quantity instead.

For those of you not lucky enough to have some Brookfarm muesli available, substitute it with another-probably less yummy one or use almond meal.
I also used butter as it's practically lactose free, and Lindt extra dark chocolate for the same reason.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Recipe created by Anthony Telford. Serves 12

Ingredients
125g/4oz unsalted butter
200g/7oz quality dark chocolate
250g/9oz Brookfarm Gluten Free Muesli
4 large eggs
225g/8oz caster sugar

Method
- Line a 22cm spring form cake tin with baking paper
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F
- Place butter and chocolate together in a heat proof bowl over gently simmering water
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature
- Place muesli in food processor and blitz until it resembles a "nut meal"
- Mix the eggs with the sugar until combined
- Stir the egg mixture into the chocolate mix with the muesli meal.
- Pour into prepared tin and bake for about 45 mins or until skewer comes out clean
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
- Serve with cream and fresh berries
- This cake will last one week in an airtight container in the pantry or fridge, but I bet you won't leave it that long!









The end result is a lovely, rich fudginess with the surprise of an odd bit of cranberry here and there. Because I used a smaller tin it created a higher cake which is why mine has the exaggerated cave in. It doesn't matter with such a dense cake like this, merely dust it with some icing sugar or cocoa or maybe a spoonful of cream or berries or coulis, or perhaps them all, and no one will complain. There will be silence around your table except for the scraping of spoons on plates and surreptitious licking of fingers when no one is looking.



For more information on the lovely Brookfarm and online shop and distributor list, check them out at http://www.brookfarm.com.au/ **I also just discovered they are stocked at Belconnen Westfield in the little health food shop, oh so dangerously close and accessible to me!


See, we can change the world, one Gluten at a time! Thanks Brookfarm for helping me make this possible!









So Readers, what do you think of companies who make gluten free mainstream?













Goodies supplied by the lovely people at Brookfarm. Thanks Guys!
http://www.brookfarm.com.au/
 

17 comments:

  1. oooh I love the Brookfarm bars - so tasty!
    I am a real fan of companies that make gluten free mainstream. I find that they offer a much better product that those companies who elect to offer a GF product in addition to their regular products?!

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  2. Yum! I adore Brookfarm products and that cake looks divine. I've bookmarked it for future use! :)

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  3. That cake looks so yummy. I'll check the website out for the muesli - my husband is a muesli freak!

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  4. Looks like a nice range! I don't think I've seen them in the stores before although I think I ate one of their muesli bars on a Qantas flight recently. And yes I also like it when there are lots of "bits"!

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  5. I think companies have to look ahead and start making products for all sorts of people. People everywhere seem to have intolerances now and the number seems to be increasing so it makes sense to cater to those needs.

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  6. Mmmmmmmmm, so many delicacies on here again! The trail mix looks awesome, must be great to use for making nut and dried fruit chocolates.

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  7. Wasn't that nice of them? It all looks delicious, even to us non-gf eaters! :)

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  8. ooh! I really want to try that muesli now!! It looks great! And what an interesting idea to use it in the chocolate cake. Will have to try this twist! ;)

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  9. Oh how true! Fast people should eat slower...

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  10. These cakes look amazing!!! I use Carmen's gluten free muesli, but I find that they tend to skimp on the almonds, which is my favourite bit! I would love to try Brookfarm muesli, I wonder if I can get it in Townsville.
    InTolerant Chef, have you had any luck finding coconut flour?? I would so love to try it!

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  11. I love the fact that there are so many more gf products out there now. And so many of them are actually edible too. Bonus!

    Healtheries used to make a great baking mix but it has not been available anywhere for about a year now. I even look for it in NZ when I have been there on work - home of Healtheries and I am willing to stuff my wheelie bag full of it if I can find it.

    I have tried the Brookfarm stuff ages ago...think I liked it. Might have to try it again one of these days.

    @Lisa - coconut flour is available at both Santos and Honest to Goodness - both online and with cheap delivery charges.

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  12. The Gluten Free Company sells it - they are wholesalers but İm sure you could ring them to find out which retailers they sell to.
    213 Ruffles Road
    Willowvale QLD 4209

    info@glutenfreeco.com
    07 5546 7582
    Or Fax: 07 5546 7322

    www.glutenfreeco.com

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  13. Muesli in the cake - love it! they look like great products, thanks for the r/v, i'll be telling my GF clients!
    Heidi xo

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  14. Hello Lovelies,

    Thanks for all the comments Lovely Readers.
    Brookfarm have an online store for anyone who needs some breakfast yumminess, but check out your local health food places as well.

    Lisa, I've used a few types of coconut flour, one of them was NuiLife, and you can get it fairly cheap on line. I got mine at an organic wholefoods market stall. It's a good product, but takes a bit of getting used to cooking wise. I'll try to get around to posting about it for you in the next few weeks.

    I hope everyone is doing OK with all our floods, fires, cyclones and heatwaves- or winter for our northern neighbours. Keep safe, and keep cooking!

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  15. There are so many GF varieties and choices now. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. It's always great to hear of a range that don't skimp on the taste & bits..., any product that has PASSION in its mission statement sounds good to me. Love the picture of the chocolate cake, those raspberries look incredible Chef.

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  17. Hi, I've been gluten free since 2008, and found Brrokfarm Muesli at the Gluten Free expo. Very delish, but also very expensive! So decided to try and make my own. I have it on my blog (which I need to keep more updated!!)
    http://terrisglutenfree.blogspot.com

    Love your blog, have become a follower!!

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