Welcome all, fill your tum with my num num nums.


Gluten, Dairy & Legume free recipes; some by design, others are just nice recipes that happen to be! There are recipes and also shopping 'finds', all of which are good for free from people and all yummy whether you are following a particular diet or not! Just because something is 'free from' doesn't mean everyone can't enjoy it - and you may be surpised at how much happier your body is.

'Special' is how my friends describe my food and me, I don't think it's entirely complimentary!

Saturday 26 February 2011

French Toast with Maple Syrup & Strawberries

Not exactly a ground breaking recipe but life is better with French Toast!
The strawberries & maple syrup are fairly self explanatory - but always try & get the best maple syrup you can, your taste buds will thank you for the few extra quid spent! Blueberries work really well with this too, or if you are feeling naughty some really crispy streaky bacon. Bacon & maple syrup are one of those American combos that sound mental but it is a revelation & once you've tried it you will wonder how you lived without it!
The French Toast is something I've tried out different ingredients for but the mixture stays basically the same:
3 slices of gf bread (equal to 1.5 slices of standard bread coz they tend to be small! I find Genius works best but others are ok too!)
1 xl or 2 s eggs
2-3 tbsp milk (rice works well, but the newly discovered Kara works great!)
Pinch of salt
Put a frying pan on a medium heat with a little oil or Df spread. In a wide, shallow bowl mix together the milk, egg/s & salt. You want to break the egg/s up but they don't need to be whisked! Dip both sides of the bread slices in the mixture, so they are well coated & semi saturated - don't let them soak too long though, gf bread tends to break up easily if it gets soggy! Fry on both sides until they are golden brown. While they are frying prepare the fruit & serve the toast with maple syrup poured over. I tend to drown them but to your taste!

Friday 25 February 2011

Shopping: Kara Dairy Free Milk

wow ... easily the best dairy & soy free milk I have had so far. Actually a milk consistency rather than the very watery rice milk. Have had cereal for breakfast for the last 3 days and I haven't had cereal in aages! Well I have sat on the sofa and eaten it out of the box while watching telly but that doesn't really count! (Doves Farm Chocolate Stars if you're interested!)

I haven't baked or anything with it but they have recipes for things like that on the site so I'm feeling pretty confident!

I got this from ocado (ie Waitrose) but the stockists sections lists Tescos & various Health Shops.

I've got some strawberries at home so I might try a shake later!

click on the title to go to their site

Sunday 20 February 2011

Moroccan-ish Poussin

Not really a recipe, more flavours & ideas to share. I am a big poussin fan; some times you want that roast chicken taste but living on my own its a lot of left overs to commit to! 1 poussin does me 2 meals but I'm sure a hungry guy could polish off one! They could certainly posh up roast chicken for a dinner party & are nicer than a full sized bird.
I gave this a Moroccan feel by smearing pomegranate molasses over the poussin & then sprinkling za'atar (moroccan spice blend, pretty easy to get) over the poussin & the veg (beetroot, carrot & celery;a combination of it feels middle eastern & its in my fridge!). I pre-heated the tray & cooked it all for about 45 mins - the size of the poussin does mean you can chuck everything in together! None of the veg was parboiled just cut into similar sized pieces. I certainly don't mess about peeling beetroot - the skin comes off easily after its cooked anyway.
Pomegranate Molasses is one of my favourite thing; at once both sweet & tart it lends itself to both savoury & sweet dishes - try mixing some in with sliced strawberries & letting them sit for a bit.  

Crunchy Mackeral Fillets with Watercress & Radish Salad

So obviously I burnt this a little but it was still nice! This sort of treatment works on any kind of fish, though with a lighter fish I just tend to dust it in seasoned flour, maybe with a bit of lemon zest.
I'm sure this dish must be massively healthy too; oily fish & watercress on one plate, I feel like I have made up for the candy floss I ate yesterday!
To serve one:
2 mackeral fillets
1/4 cup of flour
S&P
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 egg
1/4 cup gf bread crumbs, crushed up crackers, I used crushed up pretzels
Handful of watercress
Radishes with leaves attached
Half a lemon
- set up 3 dishes in a row, in the first mix the flour, s&p & mustard in the second whisk the egg, and in the third the crumbs.
- rinse & pat dry the fillets then dip them in the flour (shake off excess) then egg then crumbs.
- heat a little oil in a frying pan & put in the fillets, skin side down. You want to cook them 75% on the skin side.
- while they cook, scatter the watercress & radish leaves & slice the radishes over
- squeeze a little lemon juice over the salad
- put the fillets onto the salad & pour over a little of the cooking oil
- squeeze over the rest of the lemon
 

Sunday 6 February 2011

Shopping: Patchwork Pate

I've tried to order this from ocado a few times but this time I got it. I usually have pate as an easy lunch or tea, so even though I have missed pate a LOT since giving up dairy & gluten making some didn't really appeal. This is their venison liver & chilli variety though they do have others which I will be trying if ocado let's me!

This had a tasty, earthy meatiness with a flavourful warming kick. I had it on thick slices of genius with onion relish & an apple. A win for sure & I might actually get round to making those grapeseed crackers from Elanas Pantry now!  

Sent from my HTC
addendum - Monday morning & I have found a link to their site which you can order directly from & stockists. Click on the title to go there. There are a lot of tasty looking dairy free options. There is a stockists near where my receptionist lives (shopping for me is now part of her job description) and of course I can get it direct so I am a happy girl who will be eating a lot of pate!