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.

July 2, 2013

In My Kitchen- July





Another month of Winter gone, and another month closer to warm weather, Spring bulbs, and budding blossoms.....sigh.....

It can be hard some days to find any Kitchen Inspiration

I love to scour the delicatessens, supermarkets and as always, sticky beak around the Blogisphere with lovely Celia and friends with the monthly In My Kitchen roundup. If you want to be inspired too, check out some of the posts here: http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/07/01/in-my-kitchen-july-2013/ and whisk yourself away from Wintry Woes


In My Kitchen is......

Some more yummy chocolate to add to my stash
a very dark 90%, and a super dark 100% - definitely more for cooking than for snacking I'd say. Also a wonderful rose flavoured raw chocolate bar that is one of the nicest things I've ever tasted in my life- ever! At $7 for just 45grms, it's lucky I don't have a big sweet tooth, but this is certainly going to challenge it for sure :)




Fabulous Fungi Friends: Marinated Shitake, Paddy Straw, Nameko and Porcini mushrooms and a Chantarelle Pesto. Hmmm.... A risotto? Some goat cheese and pesto ravioli tossed with the cute little whole marinated mushrooms?....What would you make Dear Readers?




Changs- How I do love thee! Wonderful range of gluten free Asian sauces and noodles. When I saw these on special I stocked up with one of each on the shelves




Another appliance. I almost left this out of the round up after lovely Ms IHua pointed out how I seem to have a new toy every month, I was shocked to realise that I usually do too! But honest, this one is for health reasons- really truly. I'm Loving my Liver and trying to detox a bit. This is a great raw juicer that grinds quite slowly rather than blitzing everything into oblivion. It makes sure I receive lots of nutritiony things like enzymes and vitamins and all that good stuff that livers love




This mornings juice victims: kale, celery, fennel, purple carrots, beetroot, pear, green apple, cucumber, ginger, lemon, mint and kiwi fruit




Great additions to my recipe book repertoire- Asian desserts that are a bit different and modern and some fabulous Thai classics with attitude




I love to read through these type of books for taste inspiration. I have my tried and true flavour combinations that I tend to stick with, and it's good to wake up my palate with some new ideas




Kitchen Design Inspiration
Earth browns from spices like cinnamon and star anise; shades of cool blues and aqua from my favourite dinner set, and a touch of red for heat from chilli. Sounds delicious doesn't it?




And finally, In My Kitchen is a big pot of chicken necks, veggies, lemon grass and ginger simmering away into stock to make a hearty warming dish of our favourite soup
http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/chicken-and-corn-soup.html
Perfect for a day when it's already after lunch and still just 5*C. Brrrrr.......





So my Dear Readers, what's cooking in your kitchen this month? And where do you get your Kitchen Inspiration?













36 comments:

  1. G'day and who doesn't LOVE chocolate, true!
    Love your sauces, cookbook and Porcini mushrooms and a Chantarelle Pesto too!
    Thanks for allowing me in your kitchen to view!
    Cheers! Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow I've never heard of a slow juicer before!
    I do love your aqua kitchen additions, they're just gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lisa! I'm getting a kitchen makeover shortly and have been picking out all new colours :)

      Delete
  3. What a line up and a new gadget as well!
    Kitchen toys are essential to a good cook. I'm all for more gadgets monthly if you have a place to put them!
    Your last picture of the chicken soup bubbling away is my favorite!
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The trouble is I don't have anyplace to put them Heidiannie! it's becoming a real problem!
      I like the soup too, it's such a nice feeling to be preparing for your family all day :)

      Delete
  4. Rebecca - I love your juicer. I have an old one but it is still working well. And The Flavor Bible...one of my favorite books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ina! The juicer is awesome, I'm really enjoying playing with it and new flavours- BTW fennel, beetroot and banana is not a nice mix :) The book is great too, have you heard of the Flavour Thesaurus? It's fantastic for matching tastes and ingredients as well.

      Delete
  5. Aren't the Spirit House books great? I'm determined to take a cooking class over there this year.

    I loved the peek into your kitchen :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Maureen! They're not too far from my parents place, so I'd love to get there one day for a class as well. The flavours of SE Asia are the best in the world :)

      Delete
  6. Gorgeous colourway on your dinner set, Bec. And what a haul of wonderful treasures you have there. Let me know what you do with that very dark chocolate, please. We still have three packs in the larder, just waiting to be used. Walked many miles (from Circular Quay to Surry Hills or even further) for that! Your Flavour Bible sounds really interesting. And the juicer is very funky. Incidentally, what is your favourite way with truffles?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Lizzy! I haven't decided yet what to do with the chocolate- maybe mole or deep, smokey bbq type sauce for depth?
    Truffles... Such a hard one.. In my kitchen currently, I have: truffle infused rice, truffle honey, truffle butter, truffle oil, truffle salt and truffle balsamic, plus some truffled sheep cheese I picked up on the weekend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Have put all my fruit into stackable drawers from the reject shop ($6) which makes everything much tidier - also made chicken and corn soup from chicken necks yesterday

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good ideaSimcha! I have a kitchen designer coming in to help me plan out how to squeeze more storage into my way-too-small room tomorrow. Great soup, and great minds obviously think alike! :)

      Delete
  9. It's been cold here but so much colder in Canberra! I love the sound of that rosewater chocolate but yikes - it's expensive! I have the Essentially Thai cookbook and think I'm made just about every recipe - such a great book. I'd love to know how you make a risotto while being lactose intolerant. They all seem to have cheese in abundance. What's the substitute? xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. I actually thought of you when I bought these books Charlie! :) I'm really looking forward to getting into them- yummo!
    There is a wonderful cheese put out by Lidells that is completely lactose free!!! You can buy small blocks and shredded packets, both available at Woolies. It tastes great and, melts beautifully. I can also handle small amounts of goat and sheep cheese, and at Coles you can also buy MiniChol soy cheese that is so-so. It's so exciting that these products are becoming more mainstream now for InTolerants like me :) xox

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do enjoy these IMK posts. So much of our time is kitchen based that it's interesting to see where others "work". I really do need to investigate and find me a good juicer. I say this to myself whenever I spot one in an IMK post. Thanks for the nudge in that direction. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love sticky beaking too! This is really a great juicer, but things like ginger need to be chopped very finely as they are too fibrous for it otherwise. The juices are just delicious indeed :)

      Delete
  12. What a great haul as always Rebecca! It's so cold today so that pot of broth looks so welcoming :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lorraine! I love finding something interesting :) It's definitely soup weather indeed, the fog outside is thicker than any soup I've ever seen! Xox

      Delete
  13. Oh I wish I could pinch some things from you kitchen ;) I love the little aqua boys especially, they are beautiful. I can't believe your range of sauces! WOW where do you put them all... My chocolate collection is a little like yours ;)

    I joined In My Kitchen this month if you would like to take a look :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm definitely running out of room in my kitchen! The bowl is part of a dinner set and I'm using it to colour design my whole new kitchen :) I have to remind myself that my 'collection' is for eating, not just admiring or I'll be inundated with chocolate!

      Delete
  14. Becca, every time you do one of these posts, it makes me wish that I could sit in your kitchen and have a cup of tea with you! The juicer looks fab (and yes, you do like your kitchen gadgets darling :)), and my new brownie recipe up tomorrow uses 100% cacao chocolate! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so wish you could Celia, we could gab away the day together! Perfect timing with the brownies, but are they as good as your chestnut flour beauties? Those lovelies would be hard to beat indeed! Yes,I do have a LOT of gadgets, but in my defense BigJ buys a lot of them for me, they are his equivalent of power tools for the kitchen. I had to forcefully ban him from buying me knives after I got one for every occasion for 3 years :) I could open a restaurant tomorrow with all my equipment I'm sure! Xox

      Delete
  15. Mmm, the earthy browns and aqua blues are a delicious combo ~ quite lovely. Good for you loving your liver ... it will love you back, I promise. Some goat cheese and pesto ravioli sounds divine! When's dinner?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Judy! What time can you get here? :) I sure hope my liver appreciates all the effort too, but the juices sure are yummy!

      Delete
  16. It's always fun to pop over your lovely kitchen and pantry :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, sometimes even I'm surprised what I find in there :) Yesterday on my bench I had Carob molasses, oysters, coconut water, Lotus root, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, oyster mushrooms and bacon- it's always an adventure!

      Delete
  17. I love shiitake mushrooms! They're expensive (and I'm still poor :P), so buy them dried and grind them in the coffee mill, so that I can sprinkle the powder onto my meals to add flavor.

    The gluten-free Asian sauces look wonderful! I just bought a bottle of tamari, and I was happy to find a cilantro-flavored tamari at an organic store recently.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea Kath! I usually buy them dried as well and grinding them is brilliant. I'd sure love to try that tamari indeed, I bet it tastes fantastic :)

      Delete
  18. Nice stash there Bec! I adore my copy of The Flavor Bible and use it religiously. (Sorry about the pun.)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Loving the blue themed kitchen items! Also we bought the sunbeam sous vide.. wheeee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks MsIhua! The debate is red or Teal splash back though....hmm..
      Oh goody with the Sous vide! What have you done with it so far? And are you happy with it too?

      Delete
  20. Lovely new gadgets Bec, what's life for but to enjoy. Love your new Spirit House books, they must be great. Hope you are surviving the cold with that lovely soup!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tania, that's the best attitude indeed! I love the Spirit House recipes, full of fire and spice to beat the chill :) x

      Delete