These cookies are so good.  Don’t be fooled by the picture (my stupid oven slightly overcooked them).  So good are these cookies that I couldn’t stop eating them.  I almost got on my exercise bike because I had been stuffing so many... almost.  This would have involved removing washing which was hanging on said bike and then removing a thick layer of dust from the seat and handle bars, a work out in itself.  When I set out to make these cookies I wasn’t convinced they would work.  No butter, no sugar... could they really be considered cookies?  The result was a wholesome cookie with a chewy texture and delicious bursts of thick dark chocolate which worked wonderfully with the hazelnuts.  You also get to work out your aggression while making these cookies as you can bash up the chocolate with a rolling pin.  Just make sure it doesn’t fly everywhere like mine did. 

Recipe adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

Makes 20 – 24 cookies depending on size.

12 oz 340g mashed ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

60ml barely warmed extra virgin coconut oil

4.25oz 120g gluten free oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

2oz 60g ground almonds

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

3.5oz 100g hazelnuts or other nut of your choice

6oz 170g dark chocolate chopped in to small chunks

75oz 20g quinoa pops

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 180°C.  Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a mixing bowl or blender combine the bananas, vanilla and coconut oil (rather than mashing my bananas I just chucked them in the blender).  In another bowl mix together the oats, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.  Add the chocolate and hazelnuts followed by the quinoa pops and fold these in to the mixture.  Shape the mixture in to small balls about 1 heaped tablespoon in size and flatten to a cookie shape.  I left mine quite chunky.  Place on the baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven, swapping the baking sheets from top to bottom half way through cooking.  Once the cookies are golden on top and bottom remove from the oven and place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.

A few of my favourite things

Beans on toast, when I first found out I was coeliac one of the first foods I checked for gluten was Heinz baked beans.  Enough said.  FYI the bread is home made.  Recipe soon.

Already dreaming of a gluten free version of this

Love this restaurant a safe haven for coeliacs, I’ll be back again soon.

Wish I’d found this before my last trip to Paris.  The terrifying speed of French waiters had me flummoxed.

On a favourite walk with my lovely husband, this tree.

And coffee with my Dad by the sea on a sunny day in September.

Have a good weekend.

Sort of Pizza but not exactly

When you are first diagnosed with coeliac disease or find out you are gluten intolerant you start to run through the foods you aren’t going to be able to eat anymore.  Aside from the obvious things like bread, pizza is often pretty high on the list.  For me the hardship was not going out for pizza anymore.  I have learned to sit across from friends in a restaurant while they tuck in to pizza and I eat a salad without glaring at them enviously.  I have grown...but I have also forgotten what pizza tastes like.  Although in the cookery book this recipe calls itself pizza its really more pizza meets tart as the crust is made from pastry.  It still works pretty well to satisfy my pizza cravings.  Because it is essentially a pastry crust it is much heavier than normal pizza. Also it will crumble like all gluten free pastry.  It is imperfect or rustic as I like to call it but just go with it.  The result is delicious and can be eaten cold the next day.  This recipe serves 4 with salad or 2 on its own.

Recipe from Apple Tree Cafe Wheat and Gluten Free Recipes

Making the crust

200g rice flour

100g soya flour  *you can sub another flour here, I quite often use quinoa

150g margarine or butter

1 egg

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5, 190°C.  Sieve the flours into a bowl then rub in the margarine to make a breadcrumb like consistency.  Add the egg and mix together until the pastry begins to form.  You might have to knead it with your hands a little here.  Sprinkle a baking tray with rice flour then press the pasty into the tray to make your base.  Blind bake your pastry in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

Adding your toppings

Passata

Toppings of your choice.  I topped my pizza with roasted aubergine, courgette and red onion.

Mozzarella cheese sliced

2 large tomatoes sliced

Spread the passata over your pizza base then add the sliced tomato and mozarella.  Finish with the toppings of your choice.  Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is golden brown.

Mini Scones!

No it’s not summer, there are no strawberries and cream.  It’s grey outside and you just sat next to a man who smells on the train home from work.  But there are scones warm from the oven with butter and jam (not the homemade one, we ate that!) and on a cold, grey day that’s more than enough.  These scones are light and buttery, studded with sultanas they melt in the mouth.  Brew up your favourite tea (because you have to have tea with scones) and eat as many as you can allow yourself.

Slightly adapted from Healthy Gluten-free Eating by Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearney

275g/10oz brown rice flour

50g /2oz tapioca flour

4 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons organic golden caster sugar

110g/4oz butter diced

110g/4oz sultanas or other dried fruit

2 eggs

175ml/6fl oz natural yoghurt (I used sheep milk yoghurt)

Egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 9, 250°C

Sift the dry ingredients in to a large bowl and mix well.  Add the butter and rub in to the flour to form breadcrumbs then add the dried fruit and gently fold in.  In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yoghurt until well combined.  Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the egg and yoghurt mixture.  Combine to make a soft dough. 

Turn the dough out on to a rice floured surface and knead gently.  Shape the dough in to a round and roll out to about 2.5cm thick.  Using a 5cm cutter stamp out the scones and place them on a rice floured baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown on top.  Move the scones to a wire rack to cool.  They are delicious warm or cold with butter and jam and a cup of tea.

Makes 15 to 18 scones.

Burgers and Bonfires

You may have guessed by now I’m not a big meat eater, I love my veggies and always have, even as a small child.  Except broad beans, I still can’t stand broad beans.  I’m always in search of a good veggie burger and I think I have found it in these quinoa burgers from 101 Cookbooks.  (I know quinoa again).  They are my current favourite thing to have for lunch at weekends.  They also keep really well so are great for packed lunches or if you are going to a firework display this weekend they’d make a good fireside snack.  I also made some sweet potato chips to go on the side. 

I made these just as Heidi’s recipe says.  The only thing I omitted was the toasted cumin and the baking powder but they still tasted so good.  For the bread crumbs I used gluten free bread.  Everything I have made from 101 Cookbooks and from Heidi’s book Super Natural Every Day has turned out perfectly.  You can find the recipe here

Sweet Potato Chips couldn’t be easier.  Simply peel, wash and cut your sweet potatoes in to long thin wedges.  Line a baking tray with baking paper, place the chips on top and drizzle with olive oil.  I also like to sprinkle some dried rosemary over the chips, the flavours go so well together.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes on Gas Mark 7, 220°C until crisp.  Don’t be tempted to make these without the baking paper as you may end up with soggy chips stuck to the tray and nobody wants to eat soggy chips by a bonfire no matter how good the fireworks are.

Enjoy your weekend!

Roasted Fennel Risotto

Until recently I found risotto pretty daunting.  I have flash backs of early attempts resulting in undercooked rice and a dried out sticky mess at the bottom of the saucepan.  Of course at the time we were renting a crummy flat with an electric ring for a stove top that was difficult to control...it couldn’t possibly be my fault.  Now risotto and I are great friends and I’ve begun to get more adventurous with my ingredients.

This risotto mixes arborio rice with quinoa which gives it a health boost without being over powering.  If you hate the thought of quinoa in your risotto then just substitute it for more rice. The quinoa adds a nutty flavour, the lemon gives the risotto an extra kick and pairs beautifully with the fennel.  Roasted chicken works really well here too if, like me, you happen to live with a carnivore.

Roasted Fennel Risotto adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine

Serves 2

1 large fennel bulb

knob of butter

1 onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

100g arborio rice

50g quinoa

150ml white wine (optional)

550ml chicken or vegetable stock

zest of 1 lemon

25g parmesan, grated

olive oil

Directions

Thoroughly rinse the quinoa and set aside.  Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7, 220°C.  Chop the fennel in to chunks removing the green leafy fronds.  Put some oil in a roasting tin and add the half the fennel.  Roast until the edges are crispy.  Meanwhile heat some olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the onion, garlic and half the fennel and cook until soft but not coloured.

Add the butter and the quinoa and stir for 1 minute.  Then add the rice and stir for another minute.  Pour over the wine if using and simmer until evaporated (if not using wine then use a bit of stock instead).  Keep your stock hot by heating it in a separate saucepan on low and begin to add it a ladleful at a time to the risotto, stirring between each addition until it is absorbed and has reached the desired consistency.  You may find you need more or less stock.  This process should take between 20 and 25 minutes.

When the quinoa and rice are cooked, stir in the lemon zest and parmesan.  Remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave for 2 minutes.  Serve in bowls topped with the oven roasted fennel and roast chicken if using.  Sprinkle a bit of extra parmesan on top too.

Lunch in Lausanne

This weekend we took a trip to Switzerland to catch up with a friend.  Travelling abroad when you have to maintain a gluten free diet can be pretty daunting.  My first challenge was eating out in a traditional Swiss restaurant in Lausanne.  My friend contacted the restaurant in advance and explained my condition with the help of these travel cards from Celiac Travel  This is a great site for advice about travelling to a variety of destinations on a gluten free diet.

Restaurants are busy places, things can get lost in communication between the waiter and the kitchen, cross contamination can be a big risk.  Throw in a foreign language too and it can all seem like too much trouble.  I was lucky.  I had my friend to speak with the waiter on my behalf.  I ended up having a rösti which is a traditional Swiss potato cake with a fried egg on top and a variety of mushrooms including chanterelles and shiitake sautéed in butter on the side.  The food was delicious and I ate safely.

Sadly I don’t have any pictures!  Thinking only of my stomach I left my camera in the car.  I managed to take a few more pictures once I had retrieved it.

To aid digestion our friend took us up this tower after lunch!

We ended our afternoon of site seeing with fresh mint tea at a local cafe.