Gluten-free

Almond cake - Gluten and Dairy free

June 6th, 2010 by Jackie

A gluten and dairy free cake which is best served the day after making to allow the flavour to develop. This is another BBC recipe and is a firm favourite.

Ingredients

  • 5 egg whites from local eggs (at room temperature)
  • pinch of salt
  • 75g/3oz organic, fair trade or unbleached caster sugar (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 175g/6oz organic ground almonds (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 1 orange, zest only, grated
  • 1 tbsp orange liqueur (optional)
  • 25g/1oz organic slivered almonds (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 1tsp almond extract

    • Method

  • Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
  • Grease and line a 20cm/8in springform cake tin.
  • Whisk the egg whites with the salt until they stand in soft peaks. Whisking constantly, add the sugar a little at a time. Continue whisking until the mixture is firm, shiny and very thick.
  • Fold in the ground almonds,almond extract, orange zest and the liqueur, if using, with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Allow to stand in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen, turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

    • Posted in Baking, Gluten-free, Puddings and icecream, Recipes, Simple | No Comments »

    Gluten Free Bakewell Tart.

    June 2nd, 2010 by Jackie

    This is the Bakewell tart served at the recent AGM - I left the skin on the almonds to give a more wholesome appeal - you will have to grind your own almonds to achieve this as most ready ground almonds have been blanched. The recipe includes links to the bbc food pages, which have a good recipe for gluten free pastry. If you are not sensitive to gluten, then ordinary shortcrust or sweet pastry would do.

    Ingredients

  • 500g/1lb 2oz  Gluten Free shortcrust pastry
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 175g/6oz organic butter, softened (available from MacLennans)
  • 175g/6oz organic, unbleached or fairtrade caster sugar (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 4 free-range local eggs
  • 175g/6oz organic ground almonds (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 4tbs Meridian Raspberry Fruit Spread (from the wholefood co-op)
  • 40g/1½oz flaked toasted organic almonds (from the wholefood co-op)

    • Method

  • Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
  • Roll the shortcrust pastry out onto a lightly dusted work surface to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness.
  • Carefully line a 23cm/9in, deep-sided tart tin with the pastry, pressing the pastry into the edges of the tin.
  • Next beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
  • Crack in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until all of the eggs have been fully incorporated into the mixture.
  • Fold in the ground almonds until well combined.
  • Spread the raspberry jam in an even layer all over the bottom of the tart. Spoon in the almond mixture and smooth the surface with a palette knife.** Dust the top of the tart with icing sugar, then sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
  • Place the tart to the oven and continue to cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling has risen and is cooked through and the surface is pale golden-brown (NB: The filling is cooked through when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.) Remove the tart from the oven and set aside to cool slightly before serving.

    • ** If you prefer an iced tart then omit the icing sugar and flaked almonds.  Allow tart to cool before icing with water icing and perhaps decorating with glace cherries.

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    Courgette and herb risotto

    May 30th, 2010 by Jackie

    This recipe can be adapted to take in any herbs that you like, and was first posted on the bbc website. .  The courgette can also be replaced with carrot which makes a striking colour addition too.

    Ingredients

  • 900ml-1.2litres/1½ -2 pints  vegetable stock, eg marigold (from wholefood co-op)
  • 60g/2oz organic butter (sometimes available in MacLennans)
  • 1 onion, locally grown, chopped
  • 600g/1lb 5oz courgettes
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin organic olive oil, (from wholefood co-op)
  • 225g/8oz risotto rice(such as Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)(organic, from wholefood co-op)
  • 150ml/5fl oz white wine
  • small bunch fresh parsley, locally grown
  • small bunch fresh basil leaves, locally grown
  • small bunch fresh chives, locally grown
  • small bunch fresh tarragon (can be grown locally, but doesn’t overwinter)
  • small bunch fresh mint, locally grown
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 30g/1oz parmesan, freshly grated

    • Method:

  • Melt 15g/½oz of the butter with the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Chop the remaining courgettes into 1cm/¼in cubes. Add the chopped courgettes to the pan with the butter and olive oil and saute over a medium to high heat, until they’re tender and beginning to turn brown. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
  • Add the rice to the pan with the onion and grated courgettes and stir for 30-60 seconds to mix well. The rice should become translucent.
  • Pour in the white wine. Simmer until the wine is absorbed.
  • Chop the herbs finely. You should aim for about two tablespoons each of chopped fresh parsley, basil, chives and mint and half a tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon.
  • Season the risotto with salt and pepper. When the wine is all absorbed, add a ladleful of the hot stock and keep stirring, until that has been absorbed. Keep adding the stock in the same way, stirring as frequently as you can, until the rice is cooked al dente (that is, tender but still with a slight resistance to the bite). This will take 20 minutes or more. If you run out of stock before that, just add boiling hot water. At this point, the risotto should still be fairly wet, and moist, but not swimming about in a lake of liquid.
  • When the rice is cooked, stir the sauteed courgettes and most of the chopped herbs (keeping aside a sprinkling for serving the final dish) into the risotto and cook for a further 1-2 minutes to heat through.
  • Finally, stir in the last of the butter and the parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve, sprinkled with the reserved chopped herbs.

    • This works really well with lamb stock as well, if you are not vegetarian.

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    Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Spicy Tomato Sauce

    May 27th, 2010 by Jackie

    Quinoa is a South American grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. Wheat and gluten-free, and packed with protein and vitamins, it can be served in much the same way as couscous.

    Serves: 6

    Ingredients

    1 butternut squash
    2 tbsp olive oil (organic, from wholefood co-op)
    Salt and freshly ground pepper
    300g quinoa (from wholefood co-op)

    Spicy Tomato Sauce:
    2tbsp extra virgin olive oil (organic, from wholefood co-op)
    2 small red onions, chopped
    2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    2 tbsp ground cumin (from wholefood co-op)
    2 tbsp grated ginger
    1 red chilli, finely chopped
    400g can chopped tomatoes (organic, from local shops and from wholefood co-op)
    100ml red wine (optional)
    150g cashew nuts (from wholefood co-op)
    225ml water
    2 tbsp tamari (from wholefood co-op)
    1 tbsp maple syrup (organic, from wholefood co-op)
    ½ x 80g pack fresh coriander, chopped

    Method

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5.
  • Peel the squash and cut into small cubes. Toss in a roasting dish with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until soft, stirring once or twice.
  • Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa well in a sieve. Place in a saucepan, cover with 750ml water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down, cover the pan and simmer over a gentle heat until all the water has been absorbed: about 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave, covered, for at least 5 minutes, for excess moisture to evaporate.
  • While the quinoa and squash are cooking, heat a deep frying pan over a medium heat, add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and the chopped onions, lower the heat and gently fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, ginger and chilli and cook for 5 minutes more. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, wine if using, and let the whole thing simmer for a final 5 minutes.
  • In a blender, purée the cashews, the remaining olive oil, the water, tamari and maple syrup. Add this mixture to the tomato sauce, and heat through, then stir in the coriander. Season. Serve the sauce on a bed of the quinoa, topped with chunks of roasted squash.

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    Chocolate Roulade (Gluten and Dairy free)

    April 18th, 2010 by Rhona

    I’m not entirely sure where this recipe came from. I might have lifted it from my old home economics class, or found it on-line. It’s one that’s probably a mix of different recipes that I’ve been told. It’s completely gluten free, and can be dairy free depending on the filling you prefer.

    Ingredients

  • 175g Fair trade/organic Dark Chocolate
  • 175g Fair trade caster sugar
  • 6 large local free range eggs, separated
  • 30ml fair trade/organic cocoa powder
  • 300-250ml double cream, or a few large spoonfuls of jam

    • Method

  • Set the oven to 180°C.
  • Break up and melt the chocolate in a bowl set in a pan of boiling water, or a Bain Marie if you’re lucky enough to have one, stirring occasionally.
  • Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and egg yolks until light and creamy.
  • Allow the chocolate to cool slightly, then stir into the egg yolk mixture.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Take a spoonfull of egg white and stir it gentle into the chocolate and egg yolk, to loosen up the mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites and cocoa powder.
  • Pour the mix into a lined and lightly greased Swiss roll tin (15” by 10”), making sure the mixture is evenly spread. Tipping the the tin gently from side to side is the best way to do this, so you don’t loose much air from the mixture by disturbing it.
  • Bake for 20 mins or until the sponge feels springy to the touch. Set the sponge aside while you prepare the filling, so it can cool. How long it is allowed to cool can be important. Too long and it can become hard, and too short a time will cause the filling to melt out. Some recipes I’ve read recommend covering the sponge with yet more greaseproof paper and then a damp towel, then leaving it for 30 minutes. I imagine this keeps it from drying out while letting it cool completely, but I’m impatient and usually don’t bother. I usually let the sponge cool for just as long as it takes to chop any fruit or whisk the cream. By then it’s cool enough to spread with the filling but hasn’t dried out at all.
  • Dust a sheet of greaseproof paper with sugar and gently tip the sponge onto this, with the bottom of the sponge facing upwards. Carefully peel off the paper from the back of the sponge, then trim the edges if they need tidying up.
  • Your filling can be entirely up to you. Whipped cream with pieces of fresh seasonal fruit is delicious, but a dairy-free option that I love it just a thick spreading of marmalade. Spread your chosen filling evenly over the sponge, leaving a gap of a few inches at the end you intend to roll from. Make a score about half way through the depth of the sponge at this point, then roll up your roulade using the paper it’s resting on to help you. Decoration is another bit that’s up to you. A sprinkle of icing sugar or some melted chocolate are simple and go well, or you could make it into a Yule log with chocolate butter-cream icing.

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    Chestnut Bourguignon pie

    November 3rd, 2009 by Jackie

    My lovely sister was making me jealous with tales of the lovely harvest of apples, pears and plums from the surrounding orchards, down in kent where she lives.  She suprised me this weekend by sending me a box full of plump, shiny, perfect chestnuts - freshly picked of course.

    I knew exactly what I was going to do with them - make my favourite vegetarian pie.  If you don’t have a lovely sister to send you fresh chestnuts, then you can sometimes buy tinned or vacuum packed ones locally or alternatively, buy them, dried from the wholefood co-operative.  This recipe is taken from the BBC Good Food magazine.  It can also be found on their website.  Its wonderful with creamy mash and sweet potato. 

    Ingredients marked * are available organically from the Wholefoods Co-op, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers. ” indicates produce that can be grown locally

    Ingredients

    250g/8oz of fresh chestnuts OR  125g/4oz dried chestnuts, soaked for 6-8 hours *
    2 bay leaves “*
    1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1 tsp/5ml dried rosemary *
    210ml/7fl oz vegetarian red wine *
    300ml/10fl oz Marigold vegetable stock or water *^
    25g/1oz butter or soya margarine ^
    8 small pickling onions or shallots, peeled
    125g/4oz chestnut mushrooms, wiped
    125g/4oz button mushrooms, wiped
    2 tsp Dijon mustard
    2-3 tbsp G.F. tamari or soy sauce *
    freshly ground black pepper *
    fresh parsley, finely chopped ”
    225g/8oz pastry.  You could use Gluten Free Pastry.

    Method

  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
  • Place the soaked chestnuts, herbs and 150ml/5fl oz of wine in a saucepan with vegetable stock to cover and cook until just tender - approximately 50-60 minutes. Drain the chestnuts, reserving the liquid.
  • Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions until slightly browned.
  • Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 4-5 minutes.
  • Add the chestnuts, the remaining red wine and sufficient chestnut cooking liquor to cover.
  • Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes to reduce the liquid a little.
  • Stir in the mustard, tamari and black pepper to taste. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
  • Check seasoning and adjust as necessary.
  • Spoon the mixture into a pie dish. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place on top of filling.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes until golden.

    • All of the ingredienst marked * are available through thehiho catalogue. The chestnuts are: HiHo Prepack - CHESTNUTS DRIED (250g) Code 14610  

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    Review of Orgran Gluten Free Apple and Cinnamon Pancake Mix

    October 27th, 2009 by Jackie

    I bought a box of this mix a few months ago and finally got round to making them this afternoon with the children. This mix is very versatile in that you choose whether to add milk and/or eggs.  It also works perfectly well with plain water. I chose to use free range eggs from my own chooks and half milk/water. Simply add the mix to the water/milk/egg, whisk and cook. I have to say I did think that there were lots of lumps in the mixture, but these were actually little pieces of apple. I did also add an extra 1/2tsp of cinnamon as we are all addicts of this wonderful spice in our house. I managed to make approximately 30 pancakes each about 2inches wide. The children were very impressed with the taste, as was I; I manaaged to quickly squirrel away half a dozen for my breakfast in the morning. We also had them for tea, spread with a little butter. You can order the mix from Highland Wholefoods : Orgran PANCAKE MIX APPLE AND CINNAMON   375g  9807 or occasionally you can purchase from the Co-operative store in Creagorry.

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    Pumpkin curry

    October 27th, 2009 by Jackie

    Ingredients marked * are available organically from the Wholefoods Co-op, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers. ” indicates produce that can be grown locally

    Ingredients 

    2 tablespoons sunflower oil *
    1 medium onion ”
    2 cloves of crushed garlic
    1 peeled large diced carrot ”
    450g mixture of chopped pumpkin/butternut squash/sweet potato
    2 teaspoon each of ground cumin,turmeric, chilli powder, and ground coriander *
    1 tin organic plum tomatoes, chopped *
    1 pint of water or vegetable stock (marigold brand *^)
    ½ block of solid creamed coconut, or one sachet powdered creamed coconut *
    2 tablespoons tomato puree *
    Salt and pepper to taste
    1 tbsp chopped corinader leaf, (optional)

    Method

  • Sautee the onions and carrot in a large pan.
  • Add cloves of crushed garlic, diced carrot and pumpkin/sweet potato/butternut squash
  • Stir round softening the vegetables in the pan without browning
  • Add 2 teaspoons each of ground cumin, chilli powder, ground coriander and turmeric and stir round for a few minutes to cook out the spices
  • Pour in the chopped tomatoes and water and creamed coconut.
  • Cook until all the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced down and thickened.
  • Add the tomato puree. If the curry looks too thin at this point, boil for a little longer. If it is too thick add a little water
  • Finish off by adding a hand full of chopped fresh coriander and serving with a plain yogurt and rice.

    •  If you have any of this delicious curry left over, thin with vegetable stock, blitz with a blender and this then doubles up as a tasty soup.

    Posted in Gluten-free, Pumpkin, Recipes, Vegetarian | No Comments »

    Curried Pumpkin Soup

    October 27th, 2009 by Jackie

    As usual, ingredients marked * are available organically from the Wholefoods Co-op, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers. ” indicates produce that can be grown locally

    Ingredients

  • 30 g butter ^
  • 25 g plain flour (or gluten free flour) *^
  • 15 g curry powder *^ (be careful that there is no gluten in the curry powder fora gluten free version
  • 950 ml vegetable broth such as marigold *^
  • 900g cooked pumpkin
  • 355 ml single cream
  • 30 ml soy sauce *
  • 10 g white organic or unbleached sugar *
  • salt and pepper to taste

    • Method
                                                   

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  • Cut your pumpkin into wedges, remove seeds and then bake,  skin side down, for approx 1 hour.  Allow to cool then remove skin.   
  • Mash pumkin flesh.
  • Arrange pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until seeds begin to brown
  •  Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, then stir in flour and curry powder until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble. Gradually whisk in broth, and cook until thickened.
  • Stir in pumpkin and cream. Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Garnish each serving with roasted pumpkin seeds.

    • Posted in Gluten-free, Pumpkin, Recipes, Vegetarian | No Comments »

    PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD

    October 27th, 2009 by Jackie

    This recipe fits in really well with the surfeit of pumpkins in our house…

    Ingredients marked * are available organically from the Wholefoods Co-op, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers. ” indicates produce that can be grown locally

    Ingredients

  • 250 g sugar *^
  • 100 ml vegetable oil *
  • 3 eggs ^
  • 65 ml water
  • 500g pumpkin puree
  • ½ tsp ground ginger *
  • 1 tsp ground allspice *
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon *
  • ¾ tsp ground cloves *
  • 180 g plain flour /gluten free flour *
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda *
  • pinch salt
  • 1 ½ tsp  baking powder

    • Method

  • Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Lightly grease  9×5 inch loaf tin.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs and beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended.
  • Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice and cinnamon.
  • In medium bowl, combine flour, bi-carb, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Spoon into prepared loaf tin.
  • Bake in preheated oven until, about 1 hour

    • Posted in Baking, Gluten-free, Pumpkin, Recipes, Simple | No Comments »

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