Mehr in Winnipeg

Nabeel and I went to Hu's on First for lunch on Eid. It is one of my favourite restaurants in Winnipeg and guess what? Yes they have two or more gluten free options in appetizers and entrée. I was introduced to it by my best friend who has moved to Toronto. Hu's on First is an Asian Bistro in the midst of Winnipeg down town near waterfront. Every time I go there, I am reminded of wooden verandas in Pakistan. The red and orange shades of light contrasts the warm tones of the wooden-bamboo décor. The atmosphere vary from quite romantic dinners to loud family gatherings. Anyway, back to the most important question. What did I eat? We ordered Shrimp and Mango Summer Rolls. The rice paper rolls were filled with rice vermicelli tangy-sweet mango, crispy fresh cucumber, shrimp cooked well and basil that just added the depth to the taste. It was served with two different sauces; Nouc Cham and Peanut sauce. We are all familiar of peanut sauce, which is lightly spicy and sweet at Hu'

Here are the list of restaurants and retailers that were compiled by members of CCA Manitoba chapter. The restaurant names have little tit bits beside their info about gluten free or friendly menus. Click on the following site address: http://www.celiac.mb.ca/knowledge/food/restaurants.pdf

The awareness about gluten intolerance and Celiac's disease is increasing and the GF products shelf in department stores are getting bigger and bigger i.e. Safeway, Walmart and Superstore. I am still discovering bakeries and speciality stores that carry gluten free products in Winnipeg. I hope to find more and more. Winners' usually carries gourmet high-end condiments, cookies and sauces. Today I found more than five gluten free snacks that included, GF cinnamon roll's batter, GF lemon biscotti and chocolate biscotti, GF lentil cracker,GF qinuoa cookies and GF ginger snaps. These products are different from what I have seen in stores. Hence more variety for us snack eaters. Here it is, my lucky find. I hope you find some as well and let me know.

Roasting chicken is common in every cuisine in the world. People use ovens, grills, steamed pots, gas burners and clay ovens. The best part of a roast chicken is crispy skin, bronzed and moist meat that falls off the bone with just a touch. I read on another blog, that recipes of roast chicken differ the way time differs on every clock. Yesterday for dinner I made Kabsa inspired chicken roast. Kabsa is a middle eastern dish popular in Saudi Arabia. There the chicken is marinated in salt pepper and lemon juice and then chicken roasted on a circulating rotisserie. The chicken gets crispy all over and is served with fragrant rice and a fresh tomato chutney. I cut up my whole chicken into four pieces; two leg and thigh and, two breast piece and wings. I left the skin on for crispy texture. I marinated the chicken with spices and let it rest for fifteen before putting it in the oven. Ingredients for Marinate: Cloves                    4 whole Black Pepper         1/2 tsp whole Coriand

The regular soy sauce ingredients are soybeans wheat, salt and water. It is produced by a very strenuous process of fermentation where the sauce is aged for months. Hence I can't eat it :( Bragg-All purpose soy seasoning is a gluten free alternative. It is made up of soybeans and purified water. http://well.ca/products/bragg-all-purpose-seasoning-from_17694.html Compared to regular soya sauce Bragg all purpose is lighter in color and is less dense. When tried on it's own, it is very salty. When I use it to cook as an alternative to soya sauce I minimize the amount of salt I usually put in those dishes. It adds a good taste of soy. Note: I mix wasabi and pickled ginger in Bragg all purpose when I eat sushi as it cuts through the salt. - by MKH

I tried a lot of breads after going gluten free. The first time I saw gluten free bread in an isle of a store I felt relieved. Not knowingly that gluten free bread are rarely like wheat bread. Most that I tried tasted very bland, starchy and when toasted or buttered it always broke like rusk. Udi's was discovered my husband and I in a nearby store. There were Udi's brand breads and bagels. I bought the whole grain bread. I came home and toasted a slice and without butter. ....... Pleasantly surprised Happy Hungry Appreciative All the things I felt when I took one bite. It was toasted well. when I bit into it it was lightly crunchy from outsides and soft and stringy from in. When I broke it instead of becoming sand in my hand a piece tore away like wheat bread would. This bread gets **** out of five stars from me. - by MKH