Category Archives: Aga cooking

Vegetarian /vegan pie – ‘cottage’ pie made with mushrooms

Posted in Aga cooking, casserole, coconut oil, coeliac, eating disorder, food, food is medicine, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, home cooking, mains, meat free, recipe, specialised diet, superfood, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian by

Don’t let the title deter you if you are a meat eater. My husband, who thoroughly enjoys eating meat, really likes this dish – always goes back for another helping – and frequently requests it.

Preheat oven to 190C / Gas mark 5

Ingredients:

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1 large onion – coarse chopped

1 large punnet of Chestnut mushrooms – chopped in half

2 cups of red lentils

1 large can of chick peas – drained

5 tbsp red wine vinegar

Small jar of sun-dried tomatoes

5-6 sweet potatoes

Coconut oil for frying

3/4 – 1 pint of vegetable stock

Grated dairy / vegan cheese – optional

Black pepper – optional

Method: 

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes – cover with water and boil until cooked. Drain and mash.

Fry the onions in the coconut oil until soft. Add the mushrooms, chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, lentils, vinegar and stock and simmer gently until the lentils are soft adding more stock if required. The mixture should be of a thick consistency.

Put the mixture in to an oven proof dish and top with mashed potato.Sprinkle with grated cheese and black pepper. Place in the oven for 25-30 mins until heated throughout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs – quick and hassle free dishes

Posted in Aga cooking, beating cancer, eggs, food, food is medicine, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, home cooking, mains, recipe, superfood, Uncategorized by

People who know me know that my cooking style is minimum effort but hopefully maximum taste. I am lucky enough to have a small group of my own ladies pecking about in my garden. From them I get a plentiful and daily supply of wonderful power houses of goodness. I adore eggs – scrambled, poached, fried, omelettes, frittatas, Benedict, souffles, Huevos Rancheros, in cakes etc. but I do enjoy trying them in different ways.

Recently I have served all in one breakfast  / dinner dishes – the one pot cooking and washing up dream 🙂  I heartily recommend this approach.

  1. Sausages and fried onion – gf sausages cooked in the tin, add the chopped onion and when all cooked add the egg mixture.
  2. Sausages,Stornaway black pudding, asparagus and tomatoes  – gf sausages and black pudding cooked in the tin. Egg mixture added and then when nearly cooked tomatoes and coconut fried asparagus placed on the top and returned to the oven
  3. Sausage, mushroom and tomato – gf sausages cooked in the tin and mushrooms and tomatoes added. When all cooked add egg mixture.

I have also served up my eggy combinations as breakfast muffins – all ingredients mixed together and baked in muffin tins – bacon rashers cooked first and chopped in to pieces and added to egg mixture, spinach and black pepper.

Serving suggestion – grilled plum tomatoes, avocado and hot buttered toast.

Rocky road

Posted in Aga cooking, biscuits, food, fruit, home baking, recipe, Uncategorized by

Decadent treat to have with a cup of coffee or tea. Really quick and easy to make. I love a recipe that doesn’t need scales. I always use the same basic ingredients – plain and milk chocolate,  marshmallows  and digestive biscuits ( gluten-free or wheat). To these I vary what I add. For this post I used dried apricots and cranberries. Sometimes I use pistachios and other dried fruits.

Ingredients:

100 g plain chocolate 80+%          10-12 biscuits roughly broken

100 g milk chocolate                Packet of Marshmallows roughly chopped

Cup full of cranberries             Cup full of chopped apricots

Method:

Melt the chocolate and add the dry ingredients  and mix up till all coated with chocolate. If excess chocolate, add more biscuits.  Lightly press in to a tin lined with cling film and put into the fridge. Once chilled, cut in to pieces.

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Venison Casserole

Posted in Aga cooking, casserole, food, food is medicine, gluten free, healthy eating, home cooking, mains, meat, Uncategorized, vegetables by

A rich casserole – further enhanced by the addition of dumplings. Perfect for a slow cooker / Aga.

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Ingredients:

500 g venison – diced into bite sized chunks                           Olive oil for frying

1 large onion – coarsely chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

2/3 tbsp plain flour (I use gluten-free)

2/3 tbsp redcurrant sauce / jelly (cranberry tastes equally as good)

Red wine – 1 cup full

Water

Method:

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Fry the onions and venison for a couple of minutes to soften the onions and seal the meat

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Add chopped carrots

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Add flour and stir thoroughly

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Add wine, redcurrant jelly / sauce and sufficient water to cover the ingredients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all ingredients are in the pan pop the lid on and put in the oven and cook on a low heat for a couple of hours  – the longer the better (I leave it in the bottom oven of the Aga all day). One hour before serving increase the temperature of the oven to Gas Mark 5 / 180 C and then after half an hour remove the lid (and add the dumplings) to allow the gravy to thicken.

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Apricot, mixed seed and oat bars (gf) 

Posted in Aga cooking, cake, dairy free, food, food is medicine, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, home baking, home cooking, recipe, specialised diet, Uncategorized by

Quick and easy to make and perfect as an energy bar or snack .

Preheat oven to 160c /gas mark 3  Lightly  grease a 20cm square tin.

Ingredients:

125 g butter                          100 g dried apricots – chopped

100 g muscovado sugar    50 g linseed

125 g peanut butter           50 g pumpkin seeds

200 g porridge oats           50 g sesame seeds

25 g honey                            lemon / orange rind

Method:

Put butter, sugar and honey in a large pan and onto  a low heat. Stir until melted.  Remove from the heat and add all the other ingredients. Mix well. Put in to the tin and press down. Cook for about 30 mins. Leave to cool in the tin – when warm to touch cut in to slices in the tin.  Leave until cold before lifting the pieces  out.

Orange, cranberry and nutmeg gf bundt cake topped with an orange drizzle 

Am a little bit in love with my bundt tin…transforms any cake in to a pretty cake needing very little extra adding in the way of icing.

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5 / 180 C    Prepare a Bundt tin (no need if you use a Prestige tin) or 18cm round cake tin,

Ingredients:

170 g gluten-free self-raising flour        1/2 cup dried cranberries

115 g muscovado sugar                              rind and juice of one orange

140 g butter – softened                             heaped tsp of nutmeg

4 eggs (3 if using non gf flour)

3 tbsp granulated sugar (combine with the orange juice to make the drizzle)

Method:

Put the flour, muscovado sugar, butter and eggs in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the nutmeg, cranberries and orange rind and stir until combined.

Put in to the bundt tin ( or cake tin) and bake for 20 – 25 mins.

If you have used a cake tin then spoon the drizzle over the top whilst the cake is in the tin. If you have used a bundt tin then tip the cake out on to a cooling rack and spoon the drizzle over the fluted top.

Chilli roasted vegetables 

We eat roasted vegetables at least once a week. It is such a versatile dish and one that involves minimum effort – perfect 🙂

Invariably we have it as a supporting dish but it is worthy of being a main dish.

This dish posted is simply an assortment of vegetables – carrots, parsnips, peppers and sprouts – roasted in a drizzle of coconut oil for about 40 minutes with the occasionally gentle turning.Then I mixed in a tin of chopped tomatoes and a generous tsp of chilli powder and  topped with grated cheese. Back in to the oven to heat through. Serve with crusty bread.

Stem ginger gluten free sponge pudding – microwaved

I don’t use my microwave very much – heating up milk for my coffee, defrosting some things. However, when a speedy pudding is needed then it comes in to its own. From getting the ingredients out of the cupboard to eating the pudding takes about 12 minutes!!

Ingredients:

170 g self-raising flour – gluten-free      4 eggs (3 if not using gluten free flour)

140 g butter – softened

100 g muscovado sugar

4 pieces of stem ginger – chopped in to small pieces

2 tsp ginger powder

1 tbsp syrup from the stem ginger jar

Method:

Put all the ingredients (except stem ginger and syrup) in to a bowl and mix well.  Add the stem ginger pieces and syrup and mix until combined. Put in to a microwave proof dish / bowl – I line a 2 lb pudding bowl with cling film so the pudding turns out easily.

Cook on a high setting for 5 – 6 mins and check whether the sponge is cooked – skewer test. It should not take any more than 7 minutes to cook.

Delicious with custard 🙂

 

Chilli with a hint of chocolate 

On a cold evening nothing warms me through like a steaming bowl of chilli. It can be made really quickly, freezes well, tastes even better on the second warm up and fills the house with wonderful aromas.  I always add chocolate to my chilli dishes….the Aztecs were on to something 🙂

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil                 1 large onion – chopped             500 g lean mince

400 g can chopped tomatoes    410 g can red kidney beans – washed and drained

1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder     1 tsp paprika    1 tsp ground cumin

5 squares of dark chocolate

Method:

Heat the oil in a large oven proof pan. Add the onions and cook until soft.  Add the mince and stir untill browned. Add the tomatoes, kidney beans and spices and stir thoroughly. If the mixture seems dry add half a tin of water. Before putting the chilli into the oven to finish cooking add the chocolate  and stir until melted.

Serve with rice and a bowl of melted cheese laden tortilla crisps.

Banana, orange and currant gluten free mini bundt cakes 

I do love a bundt cake – makes an ordinary cake look so pretty. i was thrilled when I discovered the mini bundt tins 🙂  Of course these would be just as tasty in cupcake tins.

Preheat oven 180 c / Gas 5   Makes 12

Ingredients:

140 g butter                                    1 banana mashed

120 g muscovado sugar               Rind of an orange

170 g gluten-free self-raising flour       1/2 cup currants

4 eggs (3 if using non gf flour)

Method:

Put all the ingredients in to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Spoon the mixture in to the tins and  bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.