A Jewel Bright Salad for a Rainy Day

I've been rain splashed thoroughly today, on account of the mud-guard-less bike I had to borrow while mine was at the doctor's. So tonight I needed a supper that shook the rain out of my coat and fetched my slippers. Whilst a lovely lemon thyme stuffed organic chicken roasted, I threw together a winter salad. Saturated with colour and redolent of warmer places; it made my kitchen a steamy, exotic cinnamon scented heaven.

Jewel Salad (Serves 2-3 as an accompaniment)

1 cup of brown basmati rice
1 large knob of salted butter
1 scant tsp ground turmeric
3 tsp dried barberries
1 small cinnamon stick
1 small handful of green raisins
1 small handful of raw pistachios
1 fresh pomegranate halved horizontally
lemon juice to taste

Melt the butter over a gentle heat in one of your pans that has a close fitting lid. As soon as it has melted toss in the turmeric and stir for 30 seconds to cook off the bitter taste. Add the rice and barberries, stirring to coat evenly.

Pour on enough water to come about half an inch above the rice, adding the cinnamon stick to the pan. Bring up to the boil and then put the lid on and turn down to a simmer. Cook until all the water has been absorbed (check by pushing the rice aside gently with a fork).

Whilst the rice is cooking, put the green raisins in a largish bowl, chop the pistachios and add these and then get medieval on the pomegranate. I do this by pulling the skin so that the halved fruit starts to crack a little and the seeds get a little loose. Then turn it seedy side down over the bowl and bash the skin with a wooden spoon - taking care not to enthusiastically bash your hand. Any bits of white pith that go in, need to come out again - they are seriously bitter.

When the rice is done, turn off the heat and put a doubled up tea towel over the top of the pan, placing the lid back over. Allow the rice to steam covered, for about 10 minutes and then fluff with a fork and add to the bowl of other ingredients. Squeeze over a little lemon juice until the balance of sharp and sweet is just how you like it and eat whilst still a little warm or at room temperature.

Eat this salad with a simple herb stuffed roast chicken and some spicy winter leaves or steamed greens. It would also be great with pheasant or chicken cooked in pomegranate molasses.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Well what I really wanted to title this post was; Rice Flour and Potato Starch are Not the Only Substitutes for Wheat Flour. But it wasn't that catchy you know?

What I am fumbling to say is that there are so many grains out there that don't contain gluten, so why do all gluten free recipe books seem to focus on the white tasteless ones? The starches that rush into your bloodstream like an overenthusiastic puppy and stress out your poor old pancreas? I thought this way of eating was supposed to be for my health, right?



I've been trawling Amazon for something interesting to get my teeth into baking wise and there I found book after book that simply substituted a 'gluten free flour mix' for wheat flour in everything from cakes, to pastry to bread.



But grains have a taste! Root starches have subtly different tastes. Nuts can be made into flour and boy do they have rich and varied flavours.



Go into any bookshop and there will be an artisan baking book, full of luscious images of, dark sourdough rye breads, fluffy Danish milk bread, oily focaccia, wholemeal loaves, and dense barley breads; all celebrating wheat, rye and barley in a fantastic way. So what do we gluten free bakers try to do? We try to emulate these breads. Forgetting momentarily that what we have is the opportunity to make breads and baked goods that celebrate the qualities of all the different grains available to us - the gluten free ones.



I made some Teff bread last night and when it came out of the oven I tore off a piece of the crisp crust to taste it. The loaf inside was dark and dense like a sourdough rye and when I bit into the crust I thought - 'ooh, that's got a bit of a bran flake taste to it' (bearing in mind that it's a good many years since a bran flake came anywhere near me). What I was unconsciously doing was trying to liken it to bread I had tasted before - to see if it measured up. When I tasted it for itself I realised that the Teff was nutty and moist, ok it did have Rye like qualities, but it was also something in itself. It had a slight bitterness too which might need softening, but made the loaf pleasingly adult.



The nuttiness was great with peanut butter. I decided to experiment with other nutty flours to play up the flavour of the Teff, maybe even stud the loaf with some walnuts? Hmmm.



If anyone knows of a gluten free recipe book, other than Shauna Ahern's delightful Gluten Free Girl, that uses some more interesting grains and pushes the boundaries of interesting food a little - please let me know. Meanwhile; I'm working on it.

Oh Lord! Won't You Buy Me Some Arrowroot Flour?

Well chaps, it seems that I am to be endlessly thwarted in my search for some arrowroot flour to make a light and chewy biscuit to dip in my afternoon tea.

My flour order arrived this morning and as I tore off the packaging and lifted out the bags of Teff (ooh!) , pecan meal (ahh!) , and tapioca starch (mmm!) there appeared to be a space at the bottom of the box where the arrowroot flour should be (also the brazil nut meal and coconut flour). I made a strangled noise as the realisation of my disappointment hit me - something like, 'whaark?' - and I understood that there would be no arrowroot anything emerging from my oven today.

I think I may have to put arrowroot on my list for Santa - or Farmer Christmas as Finley resolutely calls him.

I like to think of Farmer Christmas toiling in the snowy fields of Lapland and pulling up completely wrapped presents as though they were frozen turnips.

Anyway, I digress. I'm putting arrowroot on my Christmas list - Fin emailed his already to farmer Christmas at northpole dot com, asking for some Lego star wars figures, some blackcurrant Pastiglie Leone (gorgeously packaged pastilles) and some Bonfante Specialita Noccionlini (tiny hazelnut macaroons). That boy has taste! He was going to put a chocolate item on the list too, but I said Father Christmas would probably have to choose between that and the nocciolini, so he left it off. 'I really want those nocciolini mum' he said wistfully.

Now I have to find somewhere outside Italy that sells these niche items or perfect my tiny macaroon skills......

All The Floury Goodness a Girl Could Ask For

Well I have done a little more snooping about on the old Internet and found a great site for anyone with obscure dietary needs (or even not so obscure ones) in the UK. It's based in Worcestershire and their site is easy to navigate, with each product clearly labeled for intolerance.

Their range of flours is impressive - in fact, too long for me to list here, just let me say that they had the longed for arrowroot, Teff flour (woo hoo!) chestnut flour, tapoica flour, coconut flour, various nut flours including pecan and Brazil nut (yum!) and all the extras you might need to get your gluten free baking kicks. I ordered a few bits, so look out for some new and exciting breads, muffins and cakes coming your way soon. I might have to take up some sort of sport to burn off the carbs, but it will be worth it!

The site is called Dietary Needs Direct and you can order anything from one bag of flour to a whole cupboard full. They charge postage on the weight of the package, not at a flat rate - so don't buy lots of glass containers! I'll put a link up on the side bar too.

Just What The Doctor Ordered

Well I woke up this morning feeling a little brighter. In fact Nick mentioned that I seemed a little brighter this morning as I shuffled into breakfast with my pyjamas baggy at the knee and my hair bizarrely parted. I mean yesterday, I must have looked really quite lukewarm. It may have been the vitamin C that did it, or the homeopathic remedy I took. Or maybe it was the curry that I craved and ordered, and Nick bought home like a knight in a very well fitting black coat with a bag full of tinfoil covered spicy joy.

I think they thought me a little odd when I ordered because it was just curry and vegetables.
'Any nan bread madam?' no thanks!,
'any poppadoms?', no thanks!,
'rice?' erm, no thanks!
(now with a slightly alarmed tone), 'no bread, no poppadom, no rice madam - are you sure?' yes, I'll cook my own rice, thank you for your concern for my carbohydrate needs but that really is all. (I didn't say that - it's just for your benefit)

You see, I always like to have a nice chewy bit of brown basmati with a curry and toss in a few chunks of something salady - like fresh tomato. Then I can kid myself it's not quite so full of ghee.

Bleh....

Hmmm. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. A bit weak and headachy and sore throaty. I was going to get on with my retro recipe book challenge dish, but I just feel a bit too, you know, bleh....

Anyway, I didn't start writing a post to let you know how limp I'm feeling and garner lots of e-sympathy. I have been doing a little research on UK gluten free flour suppliers and come up with a few websites that should be useful. Be warned that only Dietary Needs Direct sell certified organic flours. If you buy from the other suppliers it may be worth getting a machine to test for the presence of gluten. Celiac Travel have information about these.

Dietary Needs Direct
This site is my favourite so far for all the basic ingredients a celiac might need - but they also do a great line in catering to many other food allergies too and everything is listed according to allergy. They have too much to list and so far the only flour I haven't been able to get from them is sorghum. For everything else, from brazilnut meal, teff, arrowroot and coconut flour to quinoa pops and some gluten free liquorice that made Fin's eyes pop out with delight - shop here for a great selection and great service. Sell certified gluten free flours.

Flourbin.com
Supply the following: Xanthan gum, brown rice flour, chestnut flour, chickpea flour, cornflour, cornmeal, maize flour, potato flour, quinoa flour, white rice flour, brown rice flour and tapoica flour. Not certified gluten free.

Natco-online
Supply the following: coconut flour, chickpea flour (gram flour), ground rice, rice flour and white maize meal. Not certified gluten free.

The Asian Cook Shop
Supply the following: dhosa mix flour (pea and rice), matpe flour (bean and rice), glutinous rice flour, chickpea (gram) flour, ground rice, maize meal, red lentil (masoor) flour, millet (bajri) flour, cassava flour, nigerian bean flour, sorghum (juwar) flour and the elusive sweet potato flour. They are good communicators and will let you know if there is any problem with the order. Free delivery over a certain amount. Not certified gluten free.

Spices of India
Supply the following: Pearl millet (bajri) flour, sorghum (juwar) flour, red lentil (masoor) flour, finger millet (ragi) flour, red amaranth (rajagro) flour, dhokra (chickpea and rice) flour and puffed rice (mamra). Plus any number of spices and Indian ingredients - I bought rose powder and some herbal hair preparation that promised to make me young again.... Free delivery over £30. Not certified gluten free.

Daring Bakers Challenge! Potato Bread

Now I'm not big into making bread since I went gluten free - we get the odd packet of gluten free pitta breads for Fin's lunch but otherwise, I guess we just do without. See most gluten free breads upset your blood sugar balance because they use starches that are high on the glycaemic index - meaning they charge into your blood stream unhindered and your body has to release a load of insulin to get it out and then your poor old liver has a big old clean up and conversion job to do - not to mention your tired old pancreas, akk! It makes me sleepy just thinking about it...

But I have been watching the Daring Bakers for a while now and loving the community aspect of it and the standards which they aim for. And you know I love to bake. However, I thought to myself - I can't really join a traditional baking group who use the old dreaded gluten and insist on all using the same recipe, can I? Well you know what? It turns out I can, and they welcomed me with their lovely warm bakers arms into the fold, to make those recipe challenges gluten free. Woo Hoo!

So this month's secret challenge was to make Tender Potato Bread using a recipe from, Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World (yeah, they weren't down with snappy titles) written by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid.

Our gracious host was Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups.

Well I had been reading Shauna James Ahearn's book Gluten Free Girl and really wanted to try substituting sorghum flour for part of the flour total as that's what she uses in her breads. However, this flour was elusive and the deadline was looming near. So I reached down my recently discovered chestnut flour, got the hemp flour out of the freezer (in there to keep it fresh as it is high in protein and precious oils) and decided that I would use these with some brown rice flour to make the bread. The chestnut and rice provided the white flour element and the hemp flour , the wholemeal element.

I got some fresh yeast from our local award winning bakery (the one I usually pass right by whilst trying not to inhale), it was creamy coloured and fudge textured with a wonderful mushroom smell. The last time I had yeast in my hands was y-e-a-r-s ago!

I asked the grocers which potatoes were the floury ones and he led me to a paper sack full of proper mud covered local spuds, telling me the variety name, which I blushingly admit to forgetting by the time I got home with my loot. They were floury though - so thanks for that.

So I got down to the recipe early in the evening as I was preparing Fin's supper. Boiled the spuds, mashed them up, added yeast and flour, butter, salt and xanthan gum (to mimic the gluten) and put the oddly greenish grey dough up to prove for 2 hours. I don't think the other Daring Bakers will have experienced the green dough - it came from that hemp flour.

Fin had his supper, we played a bit and then off to bed with Daddy for some Harry Potter. I settled down with some hand sewing and comforting TV. Two hours came and went and it was almost three hours by the time I realised that there was bread proving in the kitchen. I rushed in and saw that the cling film over the top of the bowl was puffed up with gas from the yeast. So why did I run to the bowl, tear the cling film off and stick my nose in to take a good sniff?

I won't make that mistake again, because the gas from the yeast rushed up my nose excruciatingly, causing me to reel back from the bowl and clutch my burning septum like a drunken brawler. That dough slapped me in the face!

Thankful that nobody had witnessed such a foolish event, I punched the dough back down to get rid of some of that gas (already fearing that the loaves would be sour and flat) and formed the loaves as instructed. They rose up again and looked pretty respectable as they went in the oven to bake. After 50 minutes I took then out of the oven and they looked and sounded, well, just like bread! What with all the mixing and proving and reading the five pages of recipe instructions and being punished by the yeast, it was now well past my bed time - so I took some photos and left tasting the bread till the morning.

The next morning I sliced the bread and it had a real crust, although the inside was a little moist. I think it should only have had one proving - being shaped into a loaf straight away, as there is no need to develop the non existent gluten. That said, we all sat down to some potato bread toast for breakfast and Fin's face said it all. 'My God!' he exclaimed, as though having a religious experience, 'This bread is fantastic! You can't even tell it's gluten free', as he licked honey and butter off his wrist. Nick proclaimed it the best gluten free bread he had tasted so far and I was just busy, chewing the savoury crust and thinking about what I would do different next time. 

Oh yes! and licking butter and honey off my wrist.

I will post my version of this recipe when I've given it a few more tweaks. If you want to check out any of the other Daring Bakers just click this link for the Blogroll.

I Said Doctor! Is There Something I can Take? Doctor! To Relieve This Belly Ache?

Dear Reader, I went to the doctor this morning to see about getting Fin tested for celiac and she said, 'you put de lime and de coconut and drink em all up, woohoo woo woo wooo hooo'....

Or something like that. Well actually what she did say was, 'I don't know why you are concerned, he's a healthy boy - tall, good weight, handsome (ok so she didn't say that). What we look for in celiac is a failure to thrive and your boy is thriving!'

And while her mouth formed those ridiculous words I found myself thinking, why did I come here expecting anything different? But I went ahead anyway and told her that Fin was on a gluten free diet like me because he had awful symptoms in the past, diarrhoea, eczema, sore spots around his mouth and worse at the other end of his alimentary canal, recurrent boils, poor sleep, excessive flatulence and probably a horrible feeling of things not being right which he couldn't articulate because he was too young. These symptoms resolved when we cut out gluten - not just wheat, the rye bread I switched to was exactly the same.

I explained that we had tried reintroducing gluten at various times and it always aggravated him, although he seemed fine with a small amount of oats. 'But oats are wheat aren't they?', replied this doctor, this person with a medical degree and the power to tell us that these things were probably all figments of my hypochondriacal imagination.

Do you know what? Even though I realised that she knew less than I do about health, about celiac, about how medicine is not just packaged up in a fancy bottle by a pharmaceutical company, about how food can damage or heal. I still wanted her advice. What is that about?

Tears sprang up in my eyes as she told me that it wasn't worth getting tested for anything, 'we doctors don't really believe in all these food allergies you know - that's more alternative medicine and there's no scientific proof for any of it'.

Fin put his cycling helmet back on and got into his coat. 'Oh you cycled here, that's great! What a strong healthy boy you are!', and to me, 'just continue as you are, I don't really think either of you should worry too much you know'. And I bit my lip as Fin said goodbye and what a nice doctor she was (because she didn't suggest going back onto wheat as he feared).

I dropped him off at school, a happy, healthy, gorgeous gluten free child, and went home to make some almond milk for my breakfast tea and boil a delicious orange yolked egg. And then I sat down and wrote this.

Seeds of Change Fig Chocolate and That Cream Again....

Yes Folks, believe it or not, cream was consumed by Finley at two meals today. I bought home a bar of Seeds of Change organic, dark chocolate with orange oil and figs and Finley had plans for it almost immediately.

'I would like some of that cream in a glass and a long piece of chocolate so that I can dip it in and suck the cream off' were his exact words.

But Finley, don't you want some fruit with that cream, a banana or a lovely ripe persimmon, or look, a pomegranate (Fin loves pomegranates with a sprinkle of rosewater).

'Look, just give me the cream in a glass and a piece of chocolate ok - that's all I want'

And that's what he had. Contentedly sucking away on the chocolate until it had mostly melted into his fingers and on his face. I liked the simplicity of the desert so much, I just had to share an image with you.

Don't Take My Chestnut Muffins...

After listening to me whingeing on about how I don't get on with the usual pre mixed gluten free flours - and how these flours were both stifling my creativity and giving me wind; my local health food shop obligingly trawled through their suppliers list of gluten free grains and ordered what they could to keep me quiet and get me out the shop quick. They came up with, chestnut flour, hemp flour and amaranth grains, that I intend to try popping in a hot pan for breakfast, like Shauna does. I found tapioca flour in another town, but still no joy on the sorghum - anyone know of any UK sources?

So this morning I got down my bags of flour and thought, hmm, chestnut flour muffins. Now because I hadn't used it before I wanted to taste the chestnut for itself, so I mixed it up with some brown rice flour, a little honey to sweeten and yogurt to make it light and moist. The result? A tender crumbed, fluffy, bread-like muffin with an indefinable yeasty taste, which comes I guess from the combination of chestnut, yogurt and honey?

'Ooh!' said Nick, when I allowed him to sample the merest chunk of mine, they've got a brioche like quality to them'. Finley put his arm around the plate in case Nick got ideas about sampling his share of the five muffins I had produced.

We happened to have some un-pasteurised organic cream in the fridge (yes, I don't know how it got there!) and we scooped some of that on too, thick and yellow and, um, creamy. I'm telling you it was like manna, just calling out for a spoonful of Seville marmalade or some high fruit conserve. Mmmm, mmmmm, mmm!

The honey I used was French sunflower honey that has a very beeswaxy taste - I think this contributed to the breadiness too. Try to use a honey that has a definite taste, not one of those bland, blended runny ones.


Again with the American Cup Measures, so sue me! Oy Vey....

Chestnut Muffins (makes 10-12)

3-4 heaped tsp Delicious Honey
1/2 cup Organic Vegetable Oil
2 large Free Range Eggs
1 cup Live Wholemilk Yogurt (I used sheeps)
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Chestnut Flour
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
2 level tsp Cream of Tartar
1 level tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan assisted) and fill a 12 bun muffin tin with cases.

If the honey is thick, put it in a small pan and heat very gently until it becomes runny. Cool the bottom of the pan by putting it in some cold water and mix in the oil.

Add the rest of the wet ingredients, eggs, yogurt and vanilla and beat till smooth.

Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix just until the lumps of flour disappear. Spoon into the waiting cases (10 if you want them overflowingly plump, 12 if you are feeling a little less generous) and bake for 15-18 minutes, until risen, firm to the touch and with little patches of gold on the crusty tops.

Cool until warm and enjoy as above with the jam of your choice (and maybe a dollop of the best cream you can buy...)

Celiac or Not Celiac, That is The Question?

I haven't really written much about my own dietary issues besides indicating that I'm gluten free. I guess that's because I have just accepted the way I need to eat to keep myself pain free and healthy. See it's been a bit of a long journey for me this food thing, and unfortunately I didn't find anyone to be very helpful near the beginning when testing for celiac disease would have been appropriate - because I was still eating gluten. I was told that I probably had IBS and that there was nothing much to be done. We are talking about 8 or 9 years ago now.

I think it started when I was doing a very stressful job running a department of the luxury department store, Liberty in London. A couple of years out of college and pretty disillusioned with the world I'd spent 3 years preparing to enter (costume design), I found myself working my way up the career ladder in retail - just because it seemed easier to follow than my disappointment at not enjoying working in film.

Surprising as it would seem to anyone who knows me now, I did not pay attention to my diet. I lived on a heady combination of cigarettes, coffee and biscotti. Now I don't mean I had these in addition to other sustenance, like maybe vegetables or home cooked food, this was my diet! Needless to say, I got pretty thin, had headaches, bad skin and suffered from anxiety. I was in pretty constant pain with my guts, but I didn't pay it that much attention - I just thought I was hungry or something, and that's good right? (wrong - duh)

Eventually life moved along, I got all burnt out and just had to take care of myself. I started to look at my diet and eat better. But my stomach seemed to react to so many foods I didn't understand. This is when I got the IBS diagnosis. So I tried to avoid things that aggravated my stomach and was always trying some new combination of avoided foods. Nothing worked really, I still got alot of pain, but I thought that I just had to put up with it.

Then I cut out wheat and that seemed to make a big difference. Ah, I thought! I have a wheat intolerance. So I ate rye bread and oats instead, pot barley and spelt occasionally too. I still had pain, but it was ok - much better than before. 

Eventually I realised (only a couple of years ago now) that I couldn't really tolerate dairy either (except cream and butter, ha ha!) and when I cut out all forms of gluten I was pretty much ok. I hadn't even realised that the Barleycup I had been washing down my breakfast with for years, could have been causing me problems.

Fin too seemed to be sensitive to wheat, although ok with oats. So he just ate the same food as me. It was tough when he went to friends houses, or his dad had a big crusty sandwich, but as he began to connect the symptoms with the gluten, he didn't want to eat it either.

Now I come to the crux of this rather long post. Neither of us have been diagnosed as celiacs - although I'm pretty sure we are. I recently had oats for a week as a test to see if I could cope and I had a foggy head, achy joints, no energy, eczema on my cheeks and gut pain which went after three days of cutting out the oats (celiacs - sound familiar?)

I have been reading up on celiac diagnosis and all the tests rely on consuming gluten in large amount for six weeks to induce damage in the intestines and cause changes in the blood (antibodies to gluten and raised white blood cell count). Given that I know how much gluten affects me, I don't want to give over six weeks to feeling awful just so I can get a badge telling me what I know already. But for Fin, I think I need a diagnosis so that when we enter teenage years I know whether I can let him make his own mind up or insist he sticks to the diet because he is a diagnosed celiac.

We're seeing the doctor this week and I guess he's going to prescribe weetabix for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta for supper. Any thoughts on this dilemma would be welcomed with open (and slightly tearful) arms.......

Molasses Gingercake Muffins

molasses is one of those words that you write down and then have to look at a few times before you believe that it's correctly spelt. I just spell checked mine, but my eye keeps being drawn back to it even though I know it's right. Mol-ass-es, hmmm.....

Anyway, I'm very fond of muffins at the moment, and I sure do love molasses! Nick, who has an unexplainable fear of both molasses and dates, can be seen reeling from the kitchen with a look of horror on his face when Fin and I tuck into our favourite breakfast treat of sheep's yogurt with chopped dates and a spoonful of molasses drizzled strikingly over the top. Needless to say, I didn't create these with Nick in mind, I just reached down the molasses and some raisins and thought, aha! gingercake muffins! Yum!

So here it is.

Molasses Gingercake Muffins (Gluten free - Makes 12)

1/2 cup melted butter
4 heaped dessertspoons molasses
2 large eggs
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup ground rice
1/2 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 heaped tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup milk (or soya milk)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
3 handfuls raisins

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan assisted) and fill a 12 bun muffin tray with cases.

Over a gentle heat melt the butter and treacle together. Cool by putting the bottom of the pan into some cold water while you weigh out the other ingredients.

When the treacle has cooled to luke warm beat in the eggs, vanilla and milk until smooth.

Sift all the dry ingredients together and stir into the wet ones with the raisins until just combined. If it looks too stiff, add a little more milk. It wants to be a very soft dropping consistency.

Pour or spoon into the cases and bake for 10-12 minutes until the top springs back slightly and they are risen.

Put onto a rack until they are just cool enough to eat and then eat one, blowing on each mouthful to cool the raisins - they really keep the heat. These are delicious spread with a little salted butter.

If you manage to keep them until the next day, unusually for a muffin, they will still be good, the top acquires a gingercake tackiness and the muffin will be dense. Split and spread with butter and marmalade or something with ginger in it - or for a Finley special, some more molasses......mmmmmmm..........

Waiter! There's a Horse in my Baby Food!

Whilst browsing the supermarket shelves in Cityper on our recent trip to Italy we came across this startling suggestion for baby's supper. Hmm, should I choose veal and chicken or horse? You know what, I might just plump for the vegetarian option - ah yes, ham.......

Banana Muffins for Breakfast

Thank you to sugoodsweets for this image of muffins - mine were gone in a flash and the camera was out of juice.

There's nothing quite like whipping up a batch of muffins on a Weekend morning to make you feel like a domestic goddess (or god). Muffins are also a great thing to make with kids - for these, Fin mashed the banana, filled the trays with cases and beat the wet ingredients together whilst I measured and sifted. I use American cup measures here because it's easier - get some, you won't regret it.

You can substitute other flours; maize instead of tapioca flour would give a yellower, denser muffin; quinoa gives a grassy flavour and moist texture, buckwheat is sweet and dense (but hard to digest). Play around....

All you need to do is shuffle downstairs in your PJs (unless you live in a bungalow), turn on the oven, mix everything up and pour into the cases. Then whilst the muffins are baking you brew up a nice pot of coffee or tea and luxuriate in a warm kitchen filled with the rich smells of bananas and baking (and hopefully during that time, someone will have thought to nip out and buy the papers). These muffins don't need jam or butter unless you are feeling completely decadent, in which case, may I suggest fig jam or butter and thick creamy honey.

Banana muffins (gluten free) makes 12

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan assisted)

Ingredients
2 medium bananas
1/2 cup milk (or soya milk)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use organic rapeseed)
2 large eggs
4 dessertspoons of fruit sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 level tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp vanilla extract

12 bun muffin tin filled with muffin cases

Mash the bananas and put into a largeish jug (or large bowl) with the oil, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla extract. Beat it all up till amalgamated.

Sift the remaining ingredients together (important to avoid lumps of bicarb) and stir into the wet ingredients until just combined. Pour or spoon into the waiting muffin cases.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until firm, risen and golden. Cool slightly on a rack and then gobble them all up joyfully whilst reading the papers (or playing the egg slicer).

Play That Funky Music White Boy

Fin and I were mooching in our favourite second hand place, 'Pam's' - bizarrely run by a lady called Carole, maybe she just thought that 'Carole's' might suggest a hair salon or a tea room? Nick is oblivious to the name difference and blithely calls her Pam, which I guess she gets a lot.

So anyway, mooching we were, to feed my vintage crockery habit and Fin's penchant for board games of any type. I found a lovely Poole platter and some mismatched aperitif glasses (for the soon to be ready hedgerow liqueurs ripening in the cupboard). Fin with his bargain hunters knack, dug up a 1980's roulette set and a similarly aged game called Therapy. 'Fantastic!' I cried, 'we can acquire a dangerous gambling addiction and then DIY fix it with that Therapy game!'. Sold, to the optimistic lady with a plateful of other peoples unwanted glassware - Ker-ching!

As I was paying up and wondering how on earth all this booty was going to fit into my bike panniers, Fin came sprinting over with an egg slicer, all twinkly eyed with wonder, 'can I get this too please?'.

'Fin darling, what do you want an egg slicer for?'

Fin looked at the egg slicer a moment, puzzled by this new bit of information. An egg slicer eh? Then he began delicately plucking the wires to produce the sound of a slightly out of tune Oriental harp; humming and smiling at me triumphantly whilst Carole clapped her hands with delight.

So I handed over another 50p and my heart felt big enough to fill my chest as we cycled home to supper.

Gluten Free Fig Newtons

I am currently devouring my new copy of gluten free girl by Shaun James Ahearn. This recipe is my adaption of her Fig Newton recipe, which is the rather bizarre name for a fig cookie which Americans would recognize from their childhood. Me, I never heard of em. Fig Rolls I do remember - those log shaped biscuits filled with tooth clogging, gluey fig jam and covered in a soft Farleys Rusk type exterior? I know they were supposed to be the healthy alternative, but I have a sneaking suspicion that our parents were kidding themselves there.

The biscuits pictured above in no way resemble Fig Rolls. If you are looking for something like that, I fear you may have stumbled across the wrong blog. They are a satisfying combination of gooey, dark figginess and moist, spiced cakey biscuit that yields pleasingly to your bite. The little seeds breaking under your teeth provide a nice contrast to the soft fudgy interior.

The combination of flours is up to you - I just used what I had - the ground rice gives a nice grainy texture, but you could also use a little fine polenta. Chestnut flour might work well (I plan to try it) and the original recipe uses sorghum flour, but I can't find that here yet. The key with gluten free flours is to mix as many types as possible together. You will get a more rounded flavour and better texture. I'm afraid I've given cup measures as the original is an American recipe - you can find them in any cook shop. Xanthan gum is a naturally produced gluten substitute - a little goes a long way.

Fig Newtons

Start the filling the night before:


Filling
8oz Dried Figs
1/2 cup Crab Apple Brandy or Calvados or Brandy and a big squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 cup of Pomegranate juice - or apple or grape juice
Remove the tough stalk and chop the figs roughly. Put them in a bowl and pour over the liquids. Leave to soak overnight and when you come to make the cookies, drain and puree the lot in a blender - adding some liquid only if it seems too stiff. You want thick jam, not gloop.


Dough
1/2 cup soft butter
2/3 cup fruit sugar
2tbs molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a total of 2 1/2 cups of flour made up in my case like this:
1/2 cup maize flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup ground rice
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour

In the food processor, blitz the butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg, vanilla and molasses and process again. The mixture won't look uniform, but have faith!

Sift all the dry ingredients left, into a bowl and then spoon into the processor. Pulse mix, scraping down a couple of times, until you have a very soft looking dough.

Flour the bowl and scrape the mixture into it, dividing it into two pieces. Put the dough into the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.

About 10 minutes before you plan to start assembling the biscuits, preheat the oven to 160C (fan assisted).

Take the dough out of the fridge and flour a clean surface well. Roll out one piece until it is about half an inch thick and put this on a baking parchment lined tray. Spoon the fig jam into the middle of this and spread out evenly, stopping an inch short of the edge, all the way round.

Roll out the other piece of dough the same size as the first and place on top of the fig jam. Crimp the edges shut with a fork.

Bake for about 40 minutes until the top has cracked a little and the edges are starting to brown.

Leave to cool for a good half an hour and then cut off the edges to square it up and cut into pieces. Leave to cool completely - whilst eating all the cut off edge pieces - and store in an airtight container.

Gluten Free Fish Fingers

No pictures for this one I'm afraid - Fin gobbled it up as I went to get the camera!

I made my first attempt at gluten free fish fingers last night and by all accounts they were a hit (see above).

They won't be ok for true celiacs as oats are often processed on the same production line as wheat, thus contaminating the oats. But those of you wishing to cut out wheat go right ahead.


Fin is gluten free just like me and hasn't had fish fingers for a few years now, very touchingly he said (whilst crunching through the crust and dropping bits of haddock in his lap), these are just like I remember, but even better!', and holding up the one that was uniformly shaped for appraisal added, 'look this one even looks like a fish finger'. Ok, so they looked more like small wiener schnitzels than captain birds eye's best fillet fingers....

Again, this is a method thing. All you need is:

Fillet of fish (haddock, plaice, salmon etc) Taken off the skin and de-boned.
1 beaten egg in a bowl
Fine oat cakes crumbled to dust in a bowl (about 6 per medium fillet)
vegetable oil (I use organic rapeseed)
Kitchen paper

Cut the fish into fingers and toss each one in the crumbs till coated.

Dip each of these into first the egg and then the crumbs, tossing around and turning to coat. Place on a board or plate while you do the rest.

Heat about a 1cm (1/2 inch) of oil until it is really hot but not smoking, and place the fingers carefully in the pan. Watch them and turn after about 1 minute - don't let the crust burn. After a minute on the second side, take then out using a fish slice and drain on kitchen paper.

Enjoy with some home made relish - or even good old Heinz ketchup.

Persian Ambrosia

This is one of those dishes that I read in a Claudia Roden book ages ago and thought, nah - that sounds just like fruit salad with cream on top. Then one night I tried it and realised that it was way more than that. Now you have to be a fan of cream to like this, but if you are, well come on in - the water is fine.

On our way home from school today Fin spotted these English raspberries outside the green grocers. I thought they were long gone so we snapped them up, along with some plump dates, local cream and bananas. I already knew what Fin was planning - Persian Pudding.

I'm not going to give a recipe because it's really a method thing.

Basically you layer up your sliced fruit in small pretty bowls, sprinkling it with chopped nuts (Pistachios, almonds, pecans or shredded coconut) and chopped dried fruit (dates, figs or prunes) as you go.

Banana is a good one to use alongside a tarter fruit such as a berry. Don't slice the berries. Mango and Persimmon would also be fantastic if they are in season near you.

When you have this all ready, sprinkle over a few teaspoons of rosewater or a half teaspoon of orange blossom water. Pour double cream (heavy cream) over the whole lot, allowing 70-90ml per person. Cover the bowls and put them into the fridge for a few hours or even overnight to allow everything to become friendly. The cream absorbs into the dried fruit and nuts, making the whole thing a little cheesecakey when you finally come to eat it.

Allow it to come up to room temperature a little before eating or you won't taste a thing, and don't eat this after a rich meal!

Chestnut and Chorizo (a match made in heaven)

As soon as we see the chestnuts at the grocers we snap them up for this delicious spanish soup. I have always made it with chorizo, using the recipe in Moro for a guide, but when we were in Italy staying with the wonderful Cole family I made it with a local random salame that had some fennel in it, and it was really good! I have also made it using squash instead of the chestnut (no need to pre-cook) and it was velvety, rich and gloriously bright orange. In fact, once you have mastered the art of a good soffrito, you can play around with which starchy veg and which salami you use.

No pictures of the soup itself because we took it up the road in a flask to a friend's bonfire night party. We stood in the street with bowls of the stuff steaming gently and taking advantage of a neighbour's firework display.

Approximate measurements only I'm afraid!

Sopa de Castanas (Chestnut soup)

1 stick of celery chopped finely

1 large white onion chopped finely

1 large carrot (2 small) chopped finely

3 cloves of garlic

a large chunk of chorizo or salame (approx 120g)

300-400g chestnuts

big pinch saffron infused in 3tbs hot water

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (1/2 tsp dried)

2 tsp tomato puree

2 medium fresh tomatoes chopped

Roast the chestnuts in a hot oven until they are done (15-20 minutes) remembering to make a cut in the top so they don't explode in the oven. When they are cool enough, peel, chop and set aside until you want to make the soup. You can also use pre prepared chestnuts - but you won't get the same smoky flavour.

Saute the carrot, celery and carrot in a little oil gently in a deep heavy based pan until translucent. While this is happening, take the skin off the chorizo and cut it into small chunks and then add it to the pan and continue to saute gently for at least 20 minutes until the vegetables have taken on a deeper colour and started to caramelise.

Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan with the thyme leaves, stirring for 1 minute and then add the tomato paste, cooking for a couple minutes more until the tomato smell rises. Add the chopped chestnuts, fresh tomato and saffron water with all the bits, stir to coat and then add enough boiling water to cover everything by about an inch.

Bring up to a simmer, put a lid on and reduce the heat so everything bubbles away for about 15 minutes. Check that everything is nice and soft and then mash so that the soup still has texture - you're not aiming for smooth here. If it's too thick add a bit of water - too thin, just leave the lid off the pan and turn the heat up a little until the soup thickens up a little.

If the chorizo is mild you may want to sprinkle a few chilli flakes over the soup (pul biber or urfa biber are nice), also nice with a spoonful of Greek yogurt on top.

Au Revoir Rose Schnapps

You held your breath as I waited for the bottle to arrive in the post and have journeyed through my obsession with rose flavoured everything, rose martini, ice-cream, Turkish delight martini, syllabub, more ice cream, cakes.... Not all flavoured with rose schnapps I hasten to add.

Now I give you, my last glass - captured here in all it's shimmering pinkness and soon to be gently shaken over ice with a smidge of good gin and an extra kick of rosewater. I didn't think it would be over this quick, but boy did I enjoy the ride.

And just in case you think I'm an inveterate boozer, half the bottle went into the rosewater syllabub that I made for a wedding dinner I catered....honest.

A Little Smackerel of something....

Nick handed me a small piece of chocolate when he came home from work recently. 'Ah!', thought I fondly, 'what a thoughtful and intuitive man I have here - I just fancied a little smackerel of something, in fact I'm sure there was a little something I was going to...?'

Although Nick is an unusually kind and thoughtful person, he had in fact found this piece of chocolate neatly placed next to the folded jumpers in the bedroom and was only coming to ask me how it had got there.

I think there may be others waiting to be discovered.

Perhaps now is a good time for a little pre Christmas abstinence? By which I mean a little less, not a total ban, but when one wanders the house with a piece of chocolate in hand I think things have gone a touch too far no?

Retro Recipe Challenge #10

For any of you that missed the original post, click here for a link to details for retro recipe challenge #10- Story Book Food.

Then dig deep, dust off those books your mum kept all those years, or simply cast about in your memory for a story book favourite and see what pops out. I'm expecting great things from all you creatives out there.

Visit the retro recipe challenge blog for resources to help you recreate your story book food.

Doh!

Every time I posted recently the text would appear all in one block - no matter how many breaks I put in. I was starting to feel like me and the computer were at war! Well I just discovered that it was a weeny box that I checked when I was last having a tinker...... Doh!

Usual service is now resumed, so read away without feeling out of breath by the end of every paragraph.