If you follow me on Twitter you may already know that I am in the process of relocating. It is all very exciting, but there is a lot to get organised, and it is keeping me very busy at the moment. I am looking forward to getting settled into my new home in the next month, and baking and blogging will resume as normal once I am. For now, enjoy the recipes I have posted so far and check back for new ones soon.
Fran x
I’ve always loved breaded things… fish fingers, chicken Kiev’s, chicken nuggets… and although I have treated myself to gluten free versions occasionally, they tend to be really expensive which always puts me off. So for this weeks challenge I wanted to get the hang of ‘breading’ (is that a word?) things myself, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was!
The best thing about doing this yourself is that you don’t have to stick to plain breadcrumbs. You can add whatever flavours you want to, and I loved this Italian themed combination of Italian Herb Seasoning and Parmesan. I’ve also been wanting to try out sweet potato wedges for ages, and it turns out the two go really well together. So here it is, the tastiest ‘chicken nuggets and chips’ I’ve ever had!
Crispy Parmesan Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges
Serves 3/4
For the sweet potato wedges
1tbsp olive oil
1tsp ground paprika
5 – 6 sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
For the crispy parmesan chicken
400g chicken, cut into strips (I used mini breast fillets)
100g butter, melted
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 slices gluten free bread (I used Genius seeded loaf), crusts removed
25g Parmesan, grated
2tbsp parsley, chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch of Italian Herb Seasoning
First prepare the potato wedges. Mix the olive oil and paprika in a large mixing bowl. Toss the sweet potato wedges in the oil mixture until thoroughly coated.
Tip onto an oven tray lined with silver foil and arrange in a single layer.
Cook at Gas Mark 6/200°C for 40 minutes until cooked through.
Meanwhile, prepare the chicken. To make the crispy topping, put the bread, Parmesan, parsley, salt and Italian Herb Seasoning into a food processor and pulse until all the ingredients are combined and the mixture has the texture of breadcrumbs.
Mix the melted butter and garlic together in a bowl. Take the chicken pieces one at a time, and coat first in the garlic butter and then in the breadcrumbs. Arrange the coated chicken pieces on an oven tray lined with silver foil.
Cook at Gas Mark 6/200°C for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Following on from this, I want to try making my own gluten free breaded fish, so look out for that in the next few weeks!
Fran x
This week has flown by in a blur! I’ve been so busy, and haven’t had much time for cooking anything too creative, but as it’s always good to have some speedy meals on standby I thought I would share one of my favourites this week. Jacket potatoes are always good when you’re in a rush. They do actually take a while to cook (about 1 – 1½ hours in the oven) but after a good scrub they can be left to their own devices in the oven while you carry on. You can microwave them if you’re really short on time, but you won’t get the lovely crispy skins that way.
My favourite jacket potato topping has to be tuna and sweetcorn mayonnaise, but lack of time has led to lack of food in the house, and tonight I experimented with a ‘use up what you have in the fridge meal’ to make jacket potatoes filled with minced beef and vegetables and topped with melting Parmesan. The result was a delicious combination, and I thoroughly enjoyed my plate of winter comfort food tonight.
Tip
This recipe is gluten free, wheat free and egg free. For a dairy free version, either omit the cheese topping, or use lactose free cheese in place of the Parmesan.
Jacket Potatoes with Minced Beef and Vegetables
Serves 4
4 jacket potatoes, scrubbed
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
500g beef or lamb mince
250ml boiling water
1 beef stock cube
2tbsp tomato puree
1tbsp Parmesan, grated
Pierce the scrubbed potatoes with a fork and place on an oven tray lined with silver foil. Cook at Gas Mark 7/220°C for 1 – 1½ hours until the skins are crisp and the flesh is cooked through.
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for a few minutes to soften. Add the red pepper and the carrots and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook for a further 5 minutes until browned. Pour in the boiling water, crumble in the stock cube and add the tomato puree. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Cut the jacket potatoes in half and spoon over the mince. Top with grated Parmesan.
Fran x
I love Bakewell Tarts, but had never made them myself before. I have brought gluten free versions a few times, but I do like to make things myself, and it seemed like a good project for a Saturday when I hadn’t really planned to do much at all. I was really impressed by how easy this was to make, and by how much it tasted like the ‘real thing’!
Looking around for inspiration, I noticed that many Bakewell slice recipes don’t include icing, but instead suggest scattering flaked almonds over the top. Feel free to do this if you prefer (and it’s probably a healthier option), but to me, a Bakewell Tart isn’t a Bakewell Tart without the white icing and a cherry on top!
Bakewell Tray Bake
Makes 15 slices
For the pastry
225g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)
1tsp xanthum gum
110g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
80g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
For the filling
6tbsp seedless raspberry jam
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
75g ground almonds
75g gluten free self raising flour (I used Doves Farm)
1tsp almond extract
For the topping
300g icing sugar
15 glace cherries
First make the pastry. Mix the flour and xanthum gum together in a bowl. Add the butter, and crumble with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar. Mix in the egg with a fork, and then use your fingers to bring the pastry together in a ball. Roll out on a floured surface and use to line a greased 34cm x 20cm brownie tray.
Spread the jam over the pastry.
To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add 1tbsp of the ground almonds with each egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Stir in the remaining ground almonds, flour and almond extract. Spread over the jam inside the pastry case.
Bake at Gas Mark 6/200°C for 20 – 25 minutes, until the cake is firm and springs back when touched and the pastry crust is crisp and golden.
Leave to cool in the tin. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a fairly stiff icing. Spread over the cooled cake. Whilst the icing is still wet, arrange cherries on top based on where you plan to cut your slices (so that each cut slice will have a cherry in the middle).
Once the icing is set, cut into slices with a sharp knife.
Fran x
This week I’ve gone for a twist on an old favourite. I used to love quiche, and as soon as I had mastered gluten free pastry it was one of the first things I started making on a regular basis. It’s great for a light supper with salad, and makes a very convenient gluten free packed lunch the next day. I usually make Quiche Lorraine, with bacon and cheese, but as it’s still pretty cold out there, I went for a wintery variation with roasted vegetables.
The quiche was just how I’d imagined when I planned it out last week. Crisp pastry, creamy cheesy filling, and chunks of soft and tasty winter vegetables – delicious! I think this variation may have the edge over my Quiche Lorraine… At least in this cold weather!
Roasted Vegetable Quiche
Serves 4 – 6
For the Filling
1 red onion, sliced
1 sweet red pepper, cut into small chunks
1 courgette, cut into small chunks
½ butternut squash, cute into small chunks
½tbsp olive oil
130ml low fat crème fraiche
130ml double cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
50g mature cheddar, grated
For the Pastry
225g gluten free plain flour (I used Dove’s Farm)
1tsp xanthum gum
½tsp salt
110g unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
First, roast the vegetables for the filling. Line a shallow roasting tray with silver foil and add the chopped red onion, red pepper, courgette, butternut squash and olive oil.
Tip
You can use different vegetables if you prefer. I used what I had to hand, but it turned out to be a delicious combination!
Toss the vegetables to coat them in the oil, and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 25 – 30 minutes at Gas Mark 6/200°C, until soft.
Meanwhile, make the pastry case. Mix the flour, xanthum gum and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, add to the flour mix, and crumble with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir the egg in with a fork, and then bring the pastry together with your hands. Knead it a bit until you have a soft ball of pastry. Roll out on a floured surface and press into a greased loose-bottomed flan tin. Prick the bottom with a fork, line with silver foil (shiny side down) and fill with baking beans (I used rice which worked fine too).
Remove the vegetables from the oven and leave to cool. Put the pastry case in and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and the baking beans and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Make the filling by beating the crème fraiche with a wooden spoon while slowly adding the cream. Stir in the beaten eggs until well combined.
To assemble the quiche, spoon the vegetables into the pastry case and add ⅔ of the grated cheese.
Pour in the cream filling, top with the remaining cheese, and bake at Gas Mark 5/190°C for 25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to sit in the tin for 5 minutes, before moving onto a serving dish.
We ate our quiche warm from the oven last night, served with fresh green salad. It was also delicious eaten cold today for lunch.
Fran x
Cupcakes are probably my favourite cakes to bake. They are relatively quick to make, you can have so much fun decorating them and they are great to experiment with! I hadn’t baked any in a while, and when I tweeted about baking some cakes the other day, I got a great suggestion that I couldn’t resist trying out this week. Thanks to Saara (a.k.a. @CoeliacStudent, author of The Gluten Free Student Cookbook) for the brilliant idea of… Crunchie Cupcakes!!
I adapted my all time favourite chocolate cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days cookbook. Adding chunks of Crunchie to the cake mixture made the cupcakes taste even more chocolatey, and they had a delicious soft gooey texture. Topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkled with Crunchie ‘dust’, they are right up there in my list of favourite cupcake combinations.
Gluten Free Crunchie Cupcakes
Makes 12 large cupcakes
For the cakes
120ml whole milk
1 egg
40g unsalted butter, softened
140g caster sugar
100g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)
1½tsp baking powder (make sure it’s gluten free)
20g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 Crunchie, chopped
For the buttercream
150g unsalted butter, softened
350g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
For the decoration
1 Crunchie, crushed
Pour the milk into a measuring jug. Add the egg and beat together with a fork. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt together with an electric handwhisk. When the mixture becomes too stiff, and ⅓ of the milk mixture and beat it in. Add the rest of the milk mixture and beat for a few minutes until everything is thoroughly combined.
Break the Crunchie into chunks. I put mine in a plastic bowl and smashed it with a wooden rolling pin, but you could chop it up with a sharp knife. Stir the chunks of Crunchie into the cake mixture.
Tip
Keep the Crunchie chunks quite large. If crushed to crumbs, they just melt into the cake mixture.
Line a 12 hole cake tray with muffin cases, and divide the mixture between them.
Line a 12 hole cake tray with muffin cases, and divide the mixture between them.
Tip
These cakes rise… a lot! While most recipes recommend filling your muffin cases ¾ full, I wouldn’t fill them more than ½ for this recipe.
Bake at Gas Mark 5/190°C for 15 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched. Leave to cool.
To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft. Beat in the icing sugar, a little at a time. Finally beat in the vanilla. Add a little milk if the icing is too stiff.
Once the cakes are cool, either pipe icing swirls on the top or spread with a thick layer of icing. Crush your second Cunchie bar and sprinkle over your cupcakes.
These cupcakes were a real success, and I am already busy making a list of new gluten free cupcake combinations to experiment with! Feel free to send me any suggestions or requests, and as always, let me know if you give the Crunchie Cupcakes a try. I love to hear what you think!
Fran x
It’s the second week of my Meal a Week Project for 2012, and I set myself a proper challenge, making gluten free cannelloni. I haven’t eaten cannelloni since being gluten free, but I used to love it, and I thought this project was the perfect excuse to have a go at making it myself. It’s been a week of trial and error, but I’m really happy with the final result. We had it again for dinner tonight, and here it is, looking delicious!
The rolls held together, the pasta cooked through, and it was full of flavours that went together perfectly.
Cannelloni is essentially tubes of pasta stuffed with a filling, topped with a sauce and baked in the oven. I made a ham and mushroom filling, and took inspiration from this recipe to make a topping of béchamel sauce and Napoli sauce.
Tip
Leave out the ham to make a vegetarian version.
The biggest gluten free challenge was the pasta. If you’re making this with normal pasta you can get a head start with ready-made cannelloni tubes. I’m not sure if there are such things available for us gluten free cooks, I’ve never seen any anyway. So I substituted gluten free lasagne sheets (I brought mine in Sainsbury’s) and rolled them up myself.
Before I get onto the recipe, here’s a quick guide to getting the pasta right.
• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
• Cook your pasta in batches, with a maximum of 4 sheets at a time.
• For each batch, drop your pasta sheets into the water one at a time as this helps prevent them sticking together.
• Cook for 8 minutes (This may depend on the pasta you use. Too little cooking and your pasta sheets won’t be soft enough to roll, too much cooking and you’re pasta will start to fall apart. 8 was the magic number for my pasta).
• Remove your pasta sheets from the water and leave to cool for a few minutes so that they are cool enough to handle (meanwhile put your next batch into the pan of water to cook).
• Have the filling ready to go so that you can spoon it in and roll your pasta up while it is still hot. The pasta got harder to roll as it cooled down.
And now onto the recipe…
Gluten Free Ham and Mushroom Cannelloni
Serves 3/4
8 gluten free lasagne sheets (I used Sainsbury’s Free From)
For the filling
Olive oil for frying
250g chestnut mushrooms, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
80g ham, chopped
125g ricotta
1 handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
For the béchamel sauce
25g butter
25g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)
½ pint milk
1tbsp grated Parmesan
For the Napoli sauce
Olive oil for frying
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
250g tomato passata
1 handful of fresh basil leaved, chopped
To top
1tbsp grated Parmesan
First make the filling. Fry the mushrooms in oil for 5 minutes, until soft. Spoon into a mixing bowl, tipping away the water. Stir in the garlic, ham, ricotta and basil. Set aside.
To make the Napoli sauce, fry the garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the tomato passata and the chopped basil and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and stir into a paste. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously. Once all the milk is added, turn up the heat and bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring continuously as it thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan.
As the sauces are cooking, prepare your pasta as described above. As each batch is ready, spoon a heaped dessert spoon of filling into the centre of each pasta sheet and roll up. Arrange in an ovenproof dish so that the pasta tubes are packed closely together.
Once all the pasta tubes are arranged, pour over the béchamel sauce. Spread the Napoli sauce over the top and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
Bake at Gas Mark 5/190°C for 40 minutes.
Enjoy!
Fran x
When I posted up my Crunchie Chocolate Mousse last week, I mentioned that I wanted to try a Mint Aero version since I am currently addicted to it. So here it is!
The recipe is the same (see it here), just swap the Crunchie bars for 80g Mint Aero. The taste is amazing! Less rich than the Crunchie version (so you can eat more of it!) and really minty and chocolatey. Well worth a try!
Fran x
I’ve been really excited to get started on my Meal a Week Project, and I’ve made a huge list of meals I want to work my way through this year (Follow the project on this page). This week I’ve been getting to grips with using spices in my cooking. It’s taken a while for my stomach to cope with spicy foods, and as a result I haven’t really cooked with spices since being gluten free. I’ve been wanting to try making some mild spicy meals for ages, so to kick start the project here is my recipe for week one, Creamy Spiced Chicken.
This is essentially a mild chicken curry, inspired by Chicken Korma recipes but with a tomato base. Although mild and creamy, the curry is full of flavour thanks to a variety of spices. I was also surprised how quick this was to make – The whole thing took just over half an hour, so it would be perfect for a midweek meal. After a few successful practices with the family and the boyfriend I’m happy to share the first addition to my list of go-to recipes.
Creamy Spiced Chicken
Serves 4
2tbsp olive oil
400g chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
¼tsp ground white pepper
½tsp chilli powder
½tsp ground ginger
½tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground turmeric
250g tomato passata (or tinned chopped tomatoes)
½chicken stock cube
2tbsp ground almonds
4tbsp low fat yoghurt
4tbsp double cream
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and fry until cooked (this took about 15 – 20 minutes).
Meanwhile, make the chicken stock. Dissolve the stock cube in 100ml boiling water.
Once the chicken is cooked through, stir in the pepper and all the spices.
Followed by the tomato passata and the prepared chicken stock.
Simmer on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the ground almonds and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Finally, reduce the heat and add the yoghurt and cream. Cook for a few minutes to warm through.
I would suggest serving this curry with the rice of your choice.
(Recipe adapted from here)
Fran x
First of all, Happy New Year everyone! I’m so excited to be at the start of a brand new year, and feeling positive about the goals I have set myself for 2012. Here’s to a brilliant year, I hope it brings you all you are wishing for.
Onto the first recipe of the year… Chocolate Mousse is one of my favourite puddings to make. It’s quick and easy, it can be served up to look really impressive and it tastes delicious! My basic recipe has just 3 ingredients, and tonight I’m making a variation with the addition of honeycomb Crunchie bars.
Tip
Feel free to experiment with chocolate bars of your choice. Next on my list to try is mint aero (current obsession!)
Crunchie Chocolate Mousse
Serves 4 – 6
100g milk chocolate
4 egg whites
75g caster sugar
2 x 40g Crunchie bars
First break the milk chocolate into pieces and melt in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Tip
Melt the chocolate in a medium sized bowl rather than a tiny one. You will be adding all the other ingredients to the chocolate bowl in the end.
While the chocolate cools, whisk the egg whites using an electric hand whisk until stiff. Beat in the sugar. Place the Crunchie bars (or chocolate bars of your choice) in a food bag and crush with a rolling pin.
Finally, combine all the ingredients. Spoon ⅓ of the egg whites into the melted chocolate and mix in well. Mix in most of the crushed Crunchie (leave a little for decoration).
Add another ⅓ of the egg whites and fold in, followed by the final ⅓. Fold the mixture gently but make sure that it is properly combined.
Spoon into glasses or teacups and sprinkle with the remaining crushed Crunchie. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
Fran x
P.S. Check back on Friday for meal one in the Meal a Week Project!
