Category Archives: Uncategorized

Roasted vegetable and cauliflower cheese tart

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, Uncategorized, vegetables by

Preheat oven to 200c / gas 6. Prepare a 20cm loose bottom tin.

Ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry:

80 g rice flour, 140 g buckwheat or chestnut flour, 70 g ground almonds, 2 pinches of salt, 2 tsps ground linseed, 1/4 tsp xanthum gum, 100 g salted butter – chilled and diced, 2 eggs 3-4 tbsps cold water.

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients, rub in the butter with your fingertips until  it resembles  coarse breadcrumbs.

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Stir in the beaten egg with a fork. Add small amounts of water as you toss the crumbs together. Continue until dough is formed. I find that a gluten free dough takes up more water than a wheat dough and is quite a sticky dough.Knead briefly to bring to a ball. Wrap

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in parchment and chill for at least an hour.

Roll out and place in the flan tin. Prick the base with a fork ( I trim of the excess pastry after cooking to allow for shrinkage).Line pastry with parchment and baking beans.  Bake blind for 10 – 15 mins.

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Filling

Ingredients:

Carrots, peppers, parsnips and sweet potatoes prepared and roasted in olive oil

Halved mushrooms  – sauteed

1 onion sliced in to rings – sauteed

Tomato sauce: chopped tomatoes, 1tsp of chilli, handful of chopped basil leaves and small carton of passata – simmered to reduce the water content

Cauliflower -cooked

Cheese sauce

Basil leaves

Assembly:

1. Lay roasted veg around the cooked cauliflower
2. Spoon the tomato sauce over the veg and arrange mushrooms, onions and basil on top
3. Drizzle cheese sauce over the cauliflower

Finally put back in oven to heat through – 15-20 minutes (moderate temperature).

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Fruit cake

Posted in cake, food, Uncategorized by

Prepare a 2lb / 900 g loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 150c / Gas 2

Ingredients:

225 g gluten free self-raising flour

175 g butter

160 g muscavado sugar

4 eggs ( 3 if non gf flour)

275 g mixed fruit

rind of lemon

1 tbsp milk if needed

Method:

Place all ingredients together in a bowl and mix thoroughly until well blended.

Turn in to the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for about 2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before turning out.

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Meat…or not?

Posted in food, healthy eating, Uncategorized by

I have been contemplating for a while to try a meat free diet. Not just on a whim, more of an experiment to see the impact on my health. I have always thoroughly enjoyed meat dishes and do wonder how I will find this new diet approach. One thing I am very much aware of is that over the last couple of weeks I have felt my digestion processes to be much more sluggish (not wanting to be too graphic!) and over the last few weeks I have eaten more meat than I usually would. Is this related I wonder?

There are such a lot of conflicting views out there with everyone having strong opinions –  some say to help us live longer then all animal products should be avoided; some state that red meat is harmful whilst others say as omnivores we are designed to eat meat and should.

For me, I want to feel healthier. Actions I have taken so far – being gf and eating miminum fructose have made me feel better.. and so for the next 4 weeks (miminum) this is the additional change I will try.

Here goes…

 

Lemon drizzle cake

Posted in cake, food, Uncategorized by

Preheat oven to 180c / gas 4

Prepare a 20cm square tin

Ingredients:

175 g gluten free self-raising flour

175 g butter

160 g demerara sugar

4 eggs (3 if not using gf flour)

Rind of 1 lemon

1 1/2 tsps gf baking powder

Topping – juice of the lemon and 150g sugar

Method:

Put all the ingredients for the cake in to a bowl and mix well until smooth.

Turn mixture in to prepared tin.

Bake for about 35 mins – until skewer is clean.

Whilst the cake is still hot spoon the lemon/sugar mixture all over the top of the cake. Once cool remove the cake from the tin.

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Granola

Posted in food, healthy eating, superfood, Uncategorized by

Ingredients:

Rolled oats – 2 cupfuls

1/2 cup each of cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Coconut oil – sufficient to lightly coat all the dry ingredients

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Spread out on a baking tray and roast in a hot oven for 10 minutes or until the nuts turn golden brown

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Allow to cool and store in an airtight jar. If it lasts this long, will stay fresh for a couple of weeks!  Enjoy playing with different combinations.

 

Asparagus wrapped in bacon with eggs

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This dish is one we often enjoy for Sunday brunch. An alternative to the classic ‘full English’ breakfast.

Ingredients:

Asparagus, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and (gluten free) muffin.

Method:

Wrap a strip of bacon around 2 pieces of asparagus. Repeat and lay in bottom of oven proof dish. Put in the oven to bake for 5-10 mins. Whilst this is baking saute the mushrooms and tomatoes. Take the dish out of the oven and add the mushrooms and tomatoes and crack the eggs into the dish.

Return to the oven and cook until eggs are the desired consistency.

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Serve with a toasted muffin and dollop of hollandaise sauce.

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Fish pie

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Ingredients:

2/3 types of fish (here I used 2 large pieces of salmon and a fillet of cod)

2/3 leeks – chopped

Butter

50g gluten-free plain flour

500ml of warm milk

Soft boiled eggs

Juice of 1/2 lemon and seasoning

5 medium potatoes peeled and mashed

Grated cheese for topping

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Method:

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Soften the leeks in the melted butter.

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Add the flour and stir through and then add the milk a little at a time to make the sauce.

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Add the chunks of fish and cook for 5 minutes.

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Transfer to an oven proof dish and add the eggs.

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Finally put a layer of mashed potatoes on the top and sprinkle with grated cheese.

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Bake in the oven to heat through and crispen the cheese topping.

 

Coconut bark

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Another very easy but tasty snack.

Ingredients:

Block of coconut cream

Nuts, seeds and dried fruits of your choice chopped into smallish pieces.

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Coconut cream, dried apricots and cranberries, and pistachio nuts.

 

Melt the coconut cream in a bowl over boiling water. Add all the ingredients and mix. Spread out on to baking paper and pop in to the fridge to set. I keep it in the fridge.