Author: drceit

Gluten free pastry

I tried out this recipe first in 2009, after trialling a few. There are two key  differences from standard pastry making when dealing with GF varients.  Firstly  you MUST knead the pastry for a good 2 minutes.  This helps to prevent the pastry from breaking up when cutting out and placing in your chosen tin.  Second, GF pastry does not need to be blindbaked so this cuts down on cooking time considerably. It also has less shrinkage as it is not so stretchy.  Once you have made your pastry – let it rest for 5 minutes and then away you go.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 250g gluten free flour (Doves Farm)
  • 125g soft butter
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • cold water

METHOD:

  • Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
  • Add the salt and the egg and mix well, adding just enough cold water to make a soft dough.
  • Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for at least two minutes, until the dough is smooth and pliable. Let it rest for five minutes
  • Roll out on a floured surface and use as for conventional pastry, but without blind baking.
  • Bake at 180 C

Munchy Seeds

Here’s a recipe from a previous wholefoods co-op member. These are healthy, easy to make, and are ideal to have in kids lunchpacks too.  Sprinkle a handful onto your dough before baking for a tasty topping to homemade bread as well.  Quantities are entirely according to your own needs. This can be popped in the oven after you have finished cooking something else.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Equal quantities of sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds
  • Small handful of poppy seeds and linseed (go canny with the linseed, it is a bit of a laxative)
  • 2-3 tbsp soy sauce

METHOD: 

  • Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl, so that all the seeds are coated in soy sauce. If you have a large batch of seeds, you may need more sauce. 
  • Spread the seeds on a large baking sheet and place in a cool oven, 160C, until the seeds are dry. This should take around 20 minutes
  • Turn off the oven and leave until the seeds are cool 

The seeds keep well in an airtight container. 

Organic Lamb Casserole with Ras el Hanout, Mint and Chickpeas

Here is another recipe for organic shoulder of lamb. These local lambs have a lot of shoulders! We have just finished eating this, and it was tender and delicious. We adapted it from Two Fat Ladies: Full Throttle and I used herbs and spices from seasoned pioneers.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 shoulder of lamb, about 2kg
  • 2 cans of chickpeas, drained
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 2 onions, finely sliced
  • 1 pint of water or stock
  • 1 tsp dried mint
  • 2 tsp Ras el Hanout
  • Salt and pepper
  • 450g local potatoes peeled and chopped into large dice (e.g. Charlotte potatoes)
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or more to taste.

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 140C
  • Trim the joint of any superfluous fat
  • Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown the lamb. Set the lamb aside. 
  • Add the onions and cook until they are soft but not brown.
  • Add the chickpeas and water, bring to the boil and then stir in the herbs, spices, salt and pepper, and the lamb. 
  • Put the casserole in the oven for 3 hours
  • Add the potatoes and lemon juice, cover again and cook for a further 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. 

Any left-over chickpeas and gravy are excellent as a separate dish. I served this with couscous and a salad. 

Banana and Cinnamon Steamed Pudding

This recipe is courtesy of the splendid ‘Pudding Club’ recipe book. We tried it on account of the two elderly bananas in the fruit bowl, and very good it was too. We customised it with a couple of pods of cardomom, ground and added this in with the cinnamon.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 120g butter
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 120g self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 cardamom pods, optional, grind the seeds
  • 2 bananas
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

METHOD:

  • Cream the butter and sugar together, then gradually beat in the egg and milk. 
  • Sift the flour, spices and baking powder together
  • Mash the banans until they are smooth, and add the lemon juice. 
  • Stir the bananas into the egg mixture, then fold in the flour
  • Spoon the mixture into a greased 1 1/2 pint (900ml) pudding basin. Cover securely, and steam for an hour
  • Turn out and serve with custard or cream, or even vanilla icecream.

Bread with Tofu

This is a very tasty high protein recipe which I have adapted for the bread maker.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 110ml water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 3 tbsp organic sunflower oil
  • 300g Tofu
  • 3 tbsp mixed seeds, for example sesame and sunflower
  • 500g white flour (you may need slightly less depending on how moist the tofu is)
  • 1 tsp organic dried yeast

METHOD (BREADMAKER)

  • put the yeast in first, followed by the dry ingredients then the wet ingredients. Select the bread dough program. 
  • Once the dough is made, shape by hand and set to rise in a bread tin
  • Bake  at 200C for 45 minutes

METHOD (BY HAND)

  • Warm the water, and mix in the yeast with a little sugar and keep in a warm place until frothing. 
  • Sift together the flour and salt, and then mix in the tofu and oil then water/yeast mixture.
  • Kneed together by hand, adding flour if required. Keep kneeding until the tofu is well incorporated. The dough will be sticky.
  • Leave in an oiled bowl until double in volume. Knock back and kneed again for at least five minutes. 
  • Put the dough into a well-greased loaf tin, and leave to prove until double in volume. 
  • Bake in a hot oven, 200C for around 45 minutes. 

Butternut squash and black-eyed beans

I love black-eyed beans. This is a really easy stew that can be frozen in portions, and the flavour improves after cooking. I got the recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s book ‘Curry Easy’. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 350g black-eyed beans, soaked overnight in lots of cold water
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 hot green chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • a small pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 level tsp salt
  • 350g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed in 2cm pieces. 

METHOD:

  • Drain the soaked beans
  • Pour the oil into a heavy pan, and set over a medium heat. When it is hot, add the cumin and fennel, and let them sizzle for 10 seconds
  • Add the onion, and stir to cook, until it is beginning to brown
  • Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir in for a  minute. 
  • Add the tomato paste, stir in and then add the beans, salt, cayenne, squash and 1.12 litres of cold water. 
  • Bring to the boil and then turn to a simmer for an hour. 

Serve with nan bread, a yoghurt dressing, pickles. I found that it was good cooked an hour in advance, and then kept warm until the guests arrived. 

Stew peas – red kidney bean and vegetable stew with spinners.

This is a great, tasty and filling stew, from ‘Original Flava‘ by Craig and Shaun McAnuff. It is also vegan, and very tasty. We used tinned beans and tinned tomatoes, but you could use dried beans and fresh tomatoes. As usual, we had to substitute a few things to dried versions; you could use whole allspice berries, fresh thyme, or a scotch bonnet pepper, but these are not readily available. 

The spinners are like long dumplings, but they should be very dense and quite chewy. There is more information about them here: https://www.thespruceeats.com/jamaican-spinners-recipe-2138153 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 2 cans of red kidney beans, or 500g dried beans soaked overnight
  • 250ml water if using dried beans
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
  • 2 heaped tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 level tsp salt
  • 1 to 3 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 can of coconut milk
  • 2 large waxy potatoes cut into 2cm cubes
  • 400g butternut squash or sweet potato, or a mix of the two, peeled, deseeded and diced into 2cm chunks
  • 3 large carrots, peeled and diced into 2cm chunks
  • 1 can of tomatoes, or 4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp scotch bonnet paste
  • For the spinners: 250g plain flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 100ml water

METHOD:

  • Soak the beans overnight if you are using dried beans. Drain and rinse the soaked beans and put in the pan with 250ml water, and bring to the boil.
  • Add garlic, thyme, allspice, spring onions, salt, black pepper and coconut milk. If you are using tinned beans, use this as the base along with the water that is in the tins, rinse out with a little fresh water to get all of the flavour in. If using fresh beans you’ll need to simmer together for 30 minutes. Tinned beans won’t take so long.
  • Once the beans are hot and tender, add a little more water if required, along with the potatoes, carrots, squash, tomatoes and scotch bonnet paste. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. 
  • While all of the simmering is going on, start making the spinners. Mix together the salt, flour and water, and make into a stiff dough, kneed this and let it sit for about 15 minutes, before rolling out to make spinners the shape of a pointy sausage, about the size of your little finger. 
  • The beans should be soft. Add a little water if needed, and put the spinners into the stew. Don’t worry too much about stirring them in; they are quite heavy and will tend to sink. Simmer for a further 15 minutes. 

This is quite carb heavy, so we ate it on its own, but it is usually served with rice. It is good with a side dish of a green vegetable such as broccoli. 

 

 

Courgette risotto

This is a delicious vegetarian risotto, although it can also be made with a chicken stock. It is adapted from a basic recipe with a few ideas stolen from elsewhere. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 small onion, or shallots, finely chopped (about 2 tbsp)
  • 1 stick of celery, stringed and finely chopped
  • 40g unsalted butter, plus an extra 20g butter for the end
  • 200ml dry white wine
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock, simmering and hot (or chicken stock for a non-vegetarian version)
  • 300g risotto rice
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 large or 3 medium courgettes, grated
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • A splash of olive oi
  • 1-2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

METHOD:

  • Start frying the courgettes in a pan with a little olive oil and the garlic. Keep the heat quite high and stir frequently. You are looking to see bits of the courgette starting to brown. When they are cooked, season with a little salt and pepper.
  • In a small pan, cook the onion and celery very slowly in melted butter, until soft and translucent. 
  •  Put the fried onion into the risotto pan, and continue to cook over a low heat. Add the rice and stir it all together, until the rice starts to get a bit shiny and translucent around the edges. 
  • Add a glass of wine, and once it is simmering, add the courgettes, and stir together, along with the chopped mint. 
  • When the mixture is simmering and looking a little dry, start adding the hot stock. Add this a ladleful at a time, and simmering and stirring until it is all hot and incorporated, before adding the next bit. Towards the end of cooking, check the flavour, and add salt and pepper to taste. Remember that the cheese will be salty. 
  • Once the rice is cooked, tender but still firm, take the risotto off the heat, and stir in the parmesan. When that has all melted, stir in the butter, cover and let the risotto sit for a few minutes before stirring and serving. 

Courgette and sweet potato soup

I got this recipe from the women who run the cafe at Hebridean Jewellery, which is just down the road. I’ve now made it a couple of times, using slightly different herbs, and it is delicious and creamy, whilst being completely vegan. I got the idea of using mint from the incomparable book ‘A celebration of soup’ by Lindsay Bareham. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 2 large courgettes, peeled and sliced
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
  • 4 white potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2 red chillies, finely chopped, or a 1/2 tsp dried red pepper
  • 3 tsp dried basil, or 2 tsp dried mint
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil and chopped parsley to serve

METHOD:

  • Saute the onions in the olive oil over a low heat. When they are soft, add the chilli and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more. 
  • Add the other vegetables, herbs and stock, and bring to a simmer. Cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender. 
  • Use a soup wand to blend the soup thoroughly so it is smooth
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper; I used salt-free stock and I needed to add a level tsp 
  • Serve with a small swirl of extra-virgin olive oil and chopped parsley. 

 

 

Sicillian Rabbit Cacciatore

Another recipe to add to my quest to find good recipes for wild rabbit. This time, my rabbit arrived skinned but whole, so I followed the directions here: https://www.jamieoliver.com/videos/how-to-joint-a-rabbit/ – if the liver is still there, separate the lobes and remove the central gristle as this is a good addition to the stew. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 wild rabbit, jointed, 
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 stick of celery (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil 
  • a bunch of mint, chopped
  • 350ml wine
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 100g chopped green olives
  • freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

  • Heat a little oil in the pan, salt and add the rabbit joints, until beginning to brown. Remove and set aside on a plate
  • To the same pan, add more olive oil, with chopped garlic, onion, celery, and fry gently until beginning to brown. 
  • Add the mint, red wine and the rabbit, and the liver if this is available. Bring to a simmer. 
  • As the wine reduces, add the chopped olives, pepper and tomato puree, and bring to a simmer
  • I cook at a low heat in the oven for a couple of hours, at around 140C. 

We had this tonight, with potatoes and steamed broccoli