Oh, today we’re in for a treat! Gwyneth Paltrow this week releases her latest cookbook It’s All Good in Australia and – hoorah for us – I’ve been very lucky to be granted a sneak peak and an extract.
Gwyneth and I are very much on the same page with food and lifestyle stuff and she contributed a recipe to my I Quit Sugar cookbook. You might recall her last cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, was a rippa…but it used sugar in the recipes; this time around, Gwyneth has switched most of her recipes to xylitol, rice malt syrup and stevia. We’re straddling a revolution, I tell you!
She’s also a fan of slow cooking. Anyone who follows my style of eating here will no doubt love the lamb tagine. The recipes are also hit with a “Vegan”, “Protein Packed” and “Elimination Diet” so you can choose your own adventure, with various modifications specified. Clever, hey?
But over to Gwynnie and her nouriture…
Sweet Potato + Five Spice Muffins
Gluten-free baking is not for the faint of heart. At first aswe tested this recipe, we produced heavy or bizarrelytextured muffins, but we finally hit the nail on the headwith the perfect mix of ingredients. These muffinsare super-tasty and are always a smashing successin my house.
Makes a dozen (vegan) muffins
- 1 large sweet potato
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¾ cup xylitol
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (if the flour doesn’tinclude xanthan gum only add 1 teaspoon)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ tablespoons Chinese five-spice powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Preheat the oven to 200 C.Prick the sweet potatoa few times with a paring knife or a fork. Bake untilsoft (when a paring knife can cut through with zeroresistance), about 1 hour. Set the sweet potato asideuntil it’s completely cool.
Peel the sweet potato, discard the skin, and mash theflesh in a mixing bowl with a fork. Whisk the olive oil,almond milk, xylitol, and vanilla into thesweet potato. In a separate bowl, whisk together theflour, baking powder, baking soda, five-spice powder, andsalt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and evenlydistribute the muffin batter among the cups.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comesout clean. Let the muffins cool before serving.
Many-Mushroom soup
This soup gets so much depth of flavor from the driedmushrooms and such a creamy texture from being pureedthat it’s hard to believe no chicken stock or cream isinvolved. If you’d like to add a little texture, quickly sautéa few thin slices of the mushrooms in olive oil with somesalt and pepper and float them in each bowl.
Serves about 6
Elimination Diet, Vegan
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 leeks, white and light green parts only,thoroughly washed and finely chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- coarse sea salt
- 450 grams crimini mushrooms, stems removed andcaps roughly chopped
- 1 large portobello mushroom, stem removed andcap roughly chopped
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- Italian parsley for serving
- freshly ground black pepper
Place the shiitakes in a small bowl or teacup with theboiling water and set aside for at least 10 minutes. Drainthe mushrooms, being sure to reserve their soakingliquid. Slice off and discard the stems and thinly slice thecaps and set them aside.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot overmedium-high heat. Add the leeks, onion, garlic, andthyme, along with 2 heavy pinches of salt, and cook,stirring now and then, until softened but not browned,9 or 10 minutes. Add the crimini and portobellomushrooms and the reserved shiitake mushrooms. Stirto combine with the leek mixture and cook until themushrooms begin to release their liquid, 5 to 6 minutes.Add the vegetable stock and the reserved mushroomsoaking liquid (avoid any grit that might be at the bottom)to the pot and turn up the heat.
Once the soup comes toa boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes to bringit all together.Carefully puree in a powerful blender. If you want a reallyrefined, smooth texture, you can pass the pureed soupthrough a fine-mesh strainer. Serve immediately with abit of parsley for color and a healthy grind of black pepper.
Lamb Tagine with Squash + Chickpeas
Hearty and warming, this slowly cooked dish makeslean lamb seem the most comforting food in the world.Serve the dish with cooked millet, which has theappearance and texture of couscous with none of thegluten, to absorb all the lovely juices from the tagine.
Serves 4 to 6
Elimination Diet, Protein-Packed
- ½ cup coriander leaves, plus 2 tablespoons roughlychopped for serving
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- A 2-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled
- 1 small red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- coarse sea salt
- 1kg boneless lamb top round, cut into2-inch cubes
- A pinch of saffron
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 650 grams squash (you can use butternut, acorn,or kabocha), stemmed, seeded, and cut into2-inch pieces
- 1 small preserved lemon, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Combine the ½ cup coriander leaves with the garlic, ginger,onion, cumin, pepper, and olive oil in a powerful blenderalong with a large pinch of salt. Blend everything togetheruntil completely pureed. Place the lamb in a large bowland pour the marinade over it. Using your hands, makesure every bit of meat is completely covered with themarinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it inthe fridge for at least 6 hours, or as long as overnight.Take the lamb out of the fridge and let it sit at roomtemperature for ½ hour.
Place the lamb, along withall of the marinade, into a large, heavy pot (we use aLe Creuset Dutch oven for this) set over medium-highheat. Cook, stirring now and then, until completelybrowned all over, a solid 15 minutes (do this in batchesif the lamb doesn’t fit into your pot in 1 layer). Once thelamb is just browned, sprinkle it with the saffron, stirto combine, and add the chicken stock. Bring the mixtureto a boil and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bitsthat might have stuck to the bottom. Turn the heat off.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit inside the pot,crunch it up into a ball, and wet it. Smooth out the dampparchment and lay it over the lamb like a blanket (thiswill help keep in the moisture). Put the lid on the pot andtuck it into the oven for 1½ hours. Take the lid off thepot and set aside the parchment. Stir the chickpeas andsquash into the pot, put the parchment back and the lidon, and return the pot to the oven for a final ½ hour. Thelamb should be meltingly tender and the squash shouldbe cooked through but not disintegrated. Season thetagine to taste with salt and serve immediately, scatteredwith the preserved lemon and chopped coriander.
Risotto with Peas + Greens
Risotto, usually made with tons of cheese, wine, andbutter, is one of the most decadent dishes I can think of.Because Arborio rice is a beautiful grain, I wondered ifI could make an equally decadent version without any ofthe no-no ingredients. Mission accomplished.
Serves 4
Vegan
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, finely diced (about ¾ cup)
- 1 leek, white and light green parts only,thoroughly washed and finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme
- coarse sea salt
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 2 cups baby spinach or any other baby greens(like tatsoi)
- 1 cup fresh English peas (or you can substitutesmall frozen peas)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
- freshly ground black pepper
Warm the vegetable stock in a small pot and set it on theback burner over low heat.Using a Microplane grater or a zester, zest the lemon andset the zest aside. Cut the lemon in half, juice it, and setthe juice aside.Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot setover high heat. Add the onion and leek, turn the heatdown to medium, and cook until the vegetables justbegin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic andthyme along with a big pinch of salt and cook until all thearomatics are, well, aromatic, another 2 minutes.
Turn theheat to high, add the rice and the reserved lemon juice,and stir to combine all the ingredients. Cook until thelemon juice is just evaporated and then stir in a ladlefulof the warm stock. Continue to stir the risotto until thestock is absorbed, then stir in another ladleful of stock.Continue in this manner until the rice is cooked throughand you’ve used all your stock, about 20 minutes. At thispoint your arm should feel as if it’s going to fall off andthe rice should be luxuriously creamy and rich. Stir inthe reserved lemon zest, the greens and peas (these willcook with the risotto’s residual heat), the basil, and a fewhealthy grinds of pepper. Serve immediately.
It’s All Good is available on Amazon.com and in all good bookstores.
