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Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Finding Time
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Pepperoni Pasta
Easy Pasta for One
1tbsp oil
2 anchovy fillets
50g sliced pepperoni, cut into bite-sized pieces
85g pitted black olives, sliced
1 large plum tomato, peeled and chopped
15g fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
75g gluten free pasta (I like Doves Farm Organics penne)
- Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, drain when ready (but reserve a cup of the pasta water for later on).
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the anchovies, cook for a couple of minutes until it breaks down into the oil.
- Fry the pepperoni in the anchovy and oil for a minute. Chuck in the olives and tomato and bring to a simmer. Stir in the chopped basil.
- If the mixture is a bit thick, pour in some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce. Taste the sauce and season as you like - remember that the anchovies and pasta water will be quite salty anyway.
- Add the cooked pasta and mix well with the sauce. Serve with a little Parmesan cheese, if you fancy.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Millionaire's Shortbread
- Melt 100g of the butter while you bash the shortbread into crumbs. The end of a rolling pin works well, or pop them in a freezer bag and whack it with the bottom of a saucepan. This is especially useful for working out the stresses of the day! Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and stir well. Press the mixture into a 20cm springform tin. Put it in the fridge to set.
- Put the rest of the butter, the sugar and double cream in a saucepan oven a gentle heat. Once the sugar had dissolved, bring to the boil and simmer for about 6-8 minutes, stirring often. If you have a jam thermometer, you can used that - you're looking for it to reach soft ball, or 240°F. Pour the caramel over the biscuit base and leave to cool.
- (If you want a darker caramel, heat just the sugar and butter until it is deeply coloured (don't stir), being very careful not to burn. Then add the cream - it will bubble fiercely, so be careful - then simmer as before.)
- Once the caramel has cooled, pour over the melted chocolate and allow to set. Cut into squares slightly before the chocolate has completely hardened. Warming your knife in hot water first will help you to cut cleanly through the caramel layer.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Hot and Sour Soup
- In a little vegetable oil, gently fry the ginger and mushrooms to soften. Add the white part of the spring onion and fry for a further minute.
- Add the vinegar and tamari and combine well, then add the stock, white pepper and shredded chicken. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Combine the egg and sesame oil and trickle the mixture into the soup, stirring gently to produce ribbon-like pieces of egg. Add the cornflour slurry and stir gently as the soup thickens.
- Add bamboo shoots, baby corn and mange tout and leave soup to simmer for 2-3 minutes to heat the vegetables but do not allow them to soften (you want them to have crunch).
- Serve soup scattered with chopped coriander and the green parts of the spring onion.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Chicken Curry
400g tin chopped tomatoes
- In a food processor, blitz the ginger, garlic and chill together to make a thick paste.
- Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and add the onion, fry until it is soft and starting to colour.
- Add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste and fry for 2 minutes more.
- Add salt, cardamon pods, tumeric, cumin and cinnamon stick and stir until the smell of the spices become stronger. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and water and stir well and bring the sauce to the boil. Turn the heat right down and cover the pan, simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat up and add the chicken pieces, stir gently until the meat has sealed. Simmer the mixture until the chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Before serving, stir the garam masala and, if you are using it, methi into the sauce.
(Apologies for the photo, I took it on my phone!) |
- You can also add chopped fresh coriander before serving.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Leftover Haggis?
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut ye up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they strech an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit!' hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,(Address To a Haggis, by Robert Burns)
And dish them out their bill o 'fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Not biscuits, but biscuits
The ratio is actually pretty simple, 3:1:2 - 3 parts flour : 1 part fat : 2 parts liquid. Ruhlman suggests that the lift is created by rolling and folding the dough (as you would with rough-puff pastry), but I added baking powder to help it along!
For the round-up of the Ratio Rally this month, head over to Gretchen's blog at Kumquat.
110g butter, chilled
330g all purpose gluten free flour mix (I used Dove's Farm Plain GF Flour)
1tsp salt
2tsp caster (superfine) sugar
2tsp baking powder (make sure it's gluten free)
220g milk
cornflour, for dusting
a little extra milk
- Weigh the flour into a bowl and add the salt, sugar, and baking powder and mix gently to combine. Add the butter and rub together with your fingertips, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the milk and combine well until a wet-ish dough forms. Tip out on to a floured surface and knead gently, be careful not to knead away those little lumps of butter.
- Dust your worktop with cornflour and roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick, fold into thirds and roll out again. Repeat this rolling and folding 2 or 3 more times. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove dough from the fridge and pat out to 1/2 inch thick and cut out rounds with a 3 inch cutter.
- Place on a baking sheet, brush the tops with a little milk, and bake for 10-13 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius.
- Eat while still warm.
Oh, and my favourite UK/USA word-definition difference? Pants.
And here's the rest of the gang!
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Free From & Festive - Day 6
Saara's delicious Christmas tree decorations! |
Fran's gingerbread cupcakes |
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Free From & Festive! - Day 4
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and mushrooms. Gently fry for about 5 minutes to soften then add the kale and thyme and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes - you want to cook it so that the liquid mostly cooks away or you'll have a stodgy pudding! Remove from the heat, season and leave to cool.
- Sift the self raising mix into a bowl with the suet. Slowly add cold water, mixing gently to form a soft dough. Cover and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes to rest.
- Dust your worktop and rolling pin with flour and roll out 2/3 of the dough to 2-4mm thick and line two individual pudding basins with it. Fill this with the mushroom and kale mix.
- Roll out the last third of pastry and top your puddings. Cover the puddings with a piece of greaseproof paper then with foil and secure with string. (If you fold a crease into both, then you'll make space for the pastry to rise)
- For a better description of how to do this, have a look here.
- Steam the puddings for 45 minutes. I just put them in a covered saucepan of simmering water, on top of an upturned plate.
- Once cooked, remove the string, foil and greaseproof paper and turn the puddings out.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Banoffee Cupcakes
- Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the bananas, unpeeled, on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes. Leave to cool, still in their skins.
- Peel the bananas and chuck in a food processor and pulse a few times to mash.
- Add the self-raising mix, margarine, sugar and eggs and whizz up to a smooth batter.
- Line a cupcake tin with paper cases and pour batter in each case, about two-thirds full. You will get 12-15 cakes with this.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes (at 180 degrees C), until a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin.
- Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the softened butter and the dulce de leche. Whisk together until you have a fluffy icing (frosting). (You can beat the dulche de leche and butter together first, then add the icing sugar, but I find that the icing is too soft when I do it that way.)
- Fill a piping bag attached with a star tip with the icing and pipe on to each cake (or you can spread the icing over each cake - you won't need as much icing to do it that way).
- Decorate each cupcake with a banana chip.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Peanut Butter Cookies
Inspired by that, I made these little peanut-buttery wonders. (The husband is in the USA this week so I'm eating all the things he doesn't; macaroni cheese, cauliflower, and peanut butter!) They are a kind of snickerdoodle/cookie cross, seriously quick easy to make and really very tasty, too!
Peanut Butter Cookies
200g unsweetened smooth peanut butter
50ml rapeseeed oil (light olive oil or sunflower oil would work too)
250g caster sugar
2 eggs
225g plain flour mix (I used Doves Farm Rice Flour)
1tsp baking powder
24 small pieces of chocolate (try caramel nibbles, chocolate chips, or just a chocolate bar broken up)
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- Combine the peanut butter, oil, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
- Beat in the eggs until well mixed
- Stir the flour and baking powder together and add to the rest of the mix. Combine well. (I suggest using an electric mixer with a dough hook, it's hard work by hand!)
- The mixture will look a bit like crumbs, but when you squash it together in your hands it will come together.
- Take a chunk of the mixture and press into a walnut sized ball. Push a piece of chocolate into the middle of the ball and seal the mixture over the chocolate. Flatten the ball and place on a baking sheet. You will make about 24 cookies from this mix.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Allow the cookies to harden for about 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Soup
This easy-peasy soup is perfect for using up the scoopings from your Hallowe'en pumpkin.
1 medium pumpkin (or any squash), de-seeded, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small onion, finely chopped
1tbsp garam masala
1tbsp rapeseed oil
500ml vegetable stock
150ml natural yogurt
salt, to taste.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion and pumpkin. Saute until the onion is soft, add the garam masala and fry for a further minute.
- Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender.
- Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Return to the pan and reheat - add salt if needed.
- Serve with a swirl of yogurt.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Not Barbecue Sauce
This is not barbecue sauce.
I might retire from the attempt to create the perfect barbecue sauce, especially since I am yet to create something that can even be classified such.
Hot and Smokey Sauce
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1cm ginger root, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsps english mustard powder
2 tbsp honey
50ml worcester sauce (check it's gluten free)
100ml tomato ketchup (check it's gluten free, Sainsbury's recently changed their recipe.)
50ml water
- In a little oil, gently fry the onions, ginger and garlic until soft.
- Add the smoked paprika and fry for a further minute.
- Add the mustard powder, honey, worcester sauce, tomato ketchup, and water, stir well to combine. Bring to the boil.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes, then serve.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Gluten Free Pasta? I'm all ears!
The ratio for pasta is 2 parts egg to 3 parts flour. That's it. Easy, right? Well read the other posts to see that it's not that simple. 'Normal' pasta uses flour that is high in gluten to ensure that the dough is pliable, without it you may find it a bit on the crumbly side. The answer, as it turns out is to use more egg yolks than egg whites, I unwittingly did this by using duck eggs with massive yolks, if you are using hen's eggs then I'd add an extra yolk for every whole egg you use.
I don't have a pasta maker. It's a standing joke in my family that a pasta maker is an under-used gadget in my Mum's kitchen (even more so than the ice cream maker...) I have avoided taking the plunge for fear that mine too will become ammunition for ridicule. That said, I opted for orechhiette which is hand shaped, so no need for the fore-mentioned gizmo.
Orechhiette means "little ears", which gives you a clue to what they should look like. If you search the word on YouTube you will find videos of Italian nonas making piles of these at the speed of light. I took much longer and the finished product was far from perfect, but given a number of years perhaps I'll have my own video online!
Orechhiette
As a general rule, one egg will make enough pasta for one serving. The easiest way to measure all the ingredients is to first weigh the eggs, then you know how much flour to use (especially if you are not using duck eggs because they will be different sized.)
2 duck eggs
110g brown rice flour
110g tapioca flour
- Add the flours to a large bowl and combine. Make a well in the middle of the flours and add the eggs
- Combine the flour with the eggs, a little at a time, using your hands until you have a stiff dough.
- Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the dough is chilled, flour your surface well and knead the dough to soften it slightly.
- Break off a chunk and roll into a sausage about 1cm thick.
- Cut of a piece, 1cm wide and using your thumb squash the dough flat then pull your thumb towards you to shape the orechhiette.
- You can round it off in the palm of your hand if you like.
- Repeat until all the dough is used up and you have a pile of little ears.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Bring back to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes, the pasta should still have some bite.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Fine Words Butter No Parsnips
A daunting sight for the parsnip-ambivalent |
- Parboil the parsnips for 5 minutes, then drain and allow to steam dry in the colander.
- Tip parsnips into a buttered, oven-proof dish.
- Combine cream, horseradish sauce, mustard and salt and pepper. Pour over parsnips. (You might need to push the parsnips down to make sure the cream mixture covers it all.)
- Grate nutmeg over the top.
- Bake for 40 mins at 180 degrees Celsius.
I made it again, so here's a wee photo of that one! |
Monday, 18 January 2010
Truffle Shuffling
I dipped these in white chocolate with a few red candy melts thrown in |
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Summer is here?
Perhaps it's the fact that the house we live in is cold all year round, or that every time the sun fights it's way out it rains, or maybe it just that the extra stressfulness of my life is pushing me to seek solace in warm and starchy comfort food. Whatever it is, I'm still a big fan of chicken. Roasted, poached, grilled, or pan fried, I'm happy. Then there's the stock. Risottos and soups are abundant. My craving for comfort food, at the moment, is constant. I finish one meal and I'm planning my next. I'm always hungry! I suppose it's a good thing, it'll help me put on weight. My dietitian is still concerned for my weight and I'd be happy to gain a kilo, or five. And yet, my weight has stayed the same all month, not an ounce, or gram, have I gained. Rubbish.
Well, I'm hungry and I have some chicken and pasta in the fridge...
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Simple Pleasures
"What is it about chicken, coleslaw, and some kind of potato product that is so satisfying?" My husband's musings last night over dinner at Nando's. Maybe it's the soft, therapeutic warmth of well cooked chicken, the creamy, slightly oniony crunch of coleslaw, combined with the cheering full-up feeling from the starch, that makes it the ultimate comfort food. Maybe it was just the thoroughly relaxed atmosphere that we were able to dine in, thanks to Nando's gluten free food (check out http://www.nandos.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=model.faq&cat=CU&description=Contact_Us) and the server who double checked everything in the restaurants' dietary information book. I had wrongly assumed that Nando's was off the menu, but actually, most of the menu is suitable for Coeliacs!
My husband had a point about chicken. Tonight, I poached a chicken (RSPCA Freedom Food Endorsed, of course) in chicken stock with chopped carrots, celery and onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a sprig of rosemary. I chopped more carrot, onion, and celery, gently sauteed until soft, added some of the beautiful, moist chicken meat and the poaching broth. Then, the last of Mrs Leepers Rice Alphabets made a delicious, nourishing supper. I'm a self-confessed comfort food addict and this was truly one of the most pleasing meals I've eaten in weeks.
And, as an added bonus, there's plenty of chicken left to make a salad for lunch tomorrow - with leftovers, and enough stock left to make another pot of soup (I'm thinking about cock-a-leekie with quinoa). Maybe even enough for a risotto?
Monday, 14 July 2008
Soup-er Trooper
My all-time favourites are influenced heavily by my mother and grandmother and by the coffee shop I worked in during my teens. Lentil and bacon, chunky leek and potato, chicken noodle, Cullen Skink, vegetable, Cock-a-Leekie and cream of broccoli soup all succeed in making me feel comforted and satisfied. I am convinced that soup has restorative properties, leek and potato has cured many a hangover in my life and chicken noodle is the only thing I want when I have a cold. Even if the effects are just psychological, it works for me.
Thanks to the rubbish weather we’ve been having this week; I have been revisiting the wonderful world of soup. Despite having no hangover, I have made leek and potato soup. I like to leave some big chunks of potato in there so that I can mash it with my spoon as I eat! The coffee shop I worked in always had big chunks of potato in their soup and squashing them was a good way to pass the time while it cooled enough to eat it. The Husband and I attempted to have a BBQ on Sunday, it was rained off but I cooked everything inside and we ate with our friends in the living room. So much for all the outdoor furniture we borrowed for the occasion! However, there were chicken wings left over – chicken wings make brilliant stock so I used them to make a Thai-inspired chicken noodle soup that deserves mention.
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 chicken skinless, boneless thighs, sliced into thin strips
1 tsp thai green curry paste
1 tsp nam pla (thai fish sauce)
4ooml chicken stock
1 lime leaf
a bundle of thin rice noodles
Add the thai green curry paste to a saucepan with a little oil and saute until the fragrance start to come out of the spices, add the chicken and brown. Then add the fish sauce, lime leaf and chicken stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile pour boiling water over the rice noodles and leave for 5 minutes until soft. Divide the noodles between 2 bowl and sprinkle in the spring onion. pour over the chicken and broth. If it needs seasoning, use gluten free tamari to add saltiness.
On the topic of noodles, Annabel Karmel has a range of baby food (you can buy it online or at Boots) and she produces gluten-free mini pasta stars that are brilliant in soups. I use them in minestrone and in some chicken noodle soup. They’re worth a try.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
I don't know what I ate last summer
It occurs to me now, as we approach summer, that I don't know what to eat when it gets hot! I was so ill last summer that all I ate was rice crispies and tomato soup - not in the same bowl, I hasten to add. This summer, with obstruction removed, Crohn's under control and, hopefully, Coeliacs improving, I need to find summery dishes to eat.
The Crohn's means that I have problems with lettuce so salads are not an option. I should start grilling my meat, I suppose, the BBQ season should help with that. New potatoes - no skins, Crohn's, seasonal vegetables. What's in season? Oh, is it so strange to crave stodge when the sun shines?