Tag: free from

Gluten free Lancashire cheese and thyme scones.

These are tasty little treats but not for every day as they are quite high in fat. Lancashire cheese is sharp and goes very well with these scones along with the almond yogurt of course! I chose crumbly Lancashire instead of creamy Lancashire so it can be very easily crumbled before adding it to the mix.

Ingredients

  • 250g gluten free Plain flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
  • 100g butter
  • 5 or 6 springs fresh thyme
  • 100g Lancashire cheese
  • 50g Lancashire cheese for sprinkling on the scones
  • 1 egg (and one for brushing)
  • 100g almond yoghurt
  • seasoning.

Method

  • Sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well
  • Add the butter using the rubbing in method
  • Crumble the Lancashire cheese and remove the stalks from the thyme, add to the dry ingredients
  • Add the egg to the yoghurt and add to the mix, add slowly as you can always add more but not take it away!
  • combine and on a floured surface roll to about 2.5cm thick and cut out using a cutter
  • Brush with beaten egg and add a small amount of crumbled cheese to each one.
  • Cook for 20 minutes at gas make 6/200 degrees C

Makes 9 scones.

Jules_GastroRD2 Comments

Low FODMAP sausage rolls

Christmas party food is important for people who need to follow a free from diet. Here is a popular choice for most parties and the pastry worked out really well and was fairly easy to make.

Ingredients

  • 200g Plain flour
  • 150g butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 50mls water
  • Flour to use to roll out the pastry
  • 500g low fat pork mince
  • 2 Sprigs parsley
  • 2 Sprigs thyme
  • 1 Sprig rosemary
  • 2 sprigs oregano
  • Egg
  • Salt to taste

Method

  • Sieve flour, Baking powder, xanthan gum and salt into a bowl, mix.
  • Weigh out the butter and divide into three.
  • Rub 1/3 of the butter into the flour and then add the water.
  • Bring the ingredients together and roll into a rectangle, mark out into three sections – to the bottom 2/3 and add blobs of butter to the dough.
  • Bring the bottom 1/3 of the pastry over the middle third and then fold over the top third. Rotate a quarter turn, roll and repeat the above at least three times.
  • Rest for 30 minutes before use.
  • Add the pork to a bowl and season.
  • Chop the herbs and add to a blender with the pork mince,
  • Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out. Add a line of pork mince and fold over the pastry.
  • Cut the pastry and wash with egg wash before using.
  • Cook in an oven gas mark 6, 220 degrees C.
  • Better served warm.

Enjoy!

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Elderflower Cordial

On a walk this afternoon I gathered a handful of elderflowers. This recipe is based on a recipe from the book Hedgerow Cookbook. The elder is a wonderful bush although it generally doesn’t look that way when you find one. It is generally a wizened looking gnarled tree with moss growing on it but it produces the most wonderful flowers and fruit – the only decision to be made is whether to pick the flowers or save them till the berries arrive later. Or you could pick a smaller amount and save some berries for later in the year, if you can get to them before the birds do. Making this squash fills the whole house with the odour of elderberry blossom and is a wonderful treat – don’t forget this is concentrated squash and yes it does contain some sugar – but this can be drunk occasionally as a treat.

 

Ingredients

12 elderflower heads

18g citric acid

1 unwaxed lemon

400g granulated sugar

3/4 pint water

 

Method

Wash the flower heads under running water and add to a bowl with lemon peel and sliced lemon.

Add the water to a pan and then the citric acid and granulated sugar.

Heat the water till the sugar and citric acid has dissolved

Pour the liquid over the flowers and lemon and leave overnight to steep.

Strain off the liquid and put it into bottles.

This will keep a few days in the fridge.

Jules_GastroRD4 Comments

How does the free from toad get in the hole?

It’s March and it is snowing today! I have been out and I did get soaked to the skin – urgh! It is not nice snow – more the sloppy sort that doesn’t stick around long enough to freeze properly. If you are thinking of cooking a really warming comforting meal you need go no further than the recipe for toad in the hole. But there is a catch if you are lactose and gluten or wheat free. How does the toad get in the free from hole? Make the following recipe and find out!

Ingredients

400 mls of lactose free milk

6 gluten free sausages

200g of gluten free self-raising flour

1 teaspoon of gluten free mustard powder

salt & pepper

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Method

weigh the flour into a bowl and add the mustard powder and mix well

break the three eggs into the bowl and add the lactose free milk

add salt & pepper and mix well

add the oil to a dish and heat in the oven

prick the sausages and add to the pan

pour around the batter and place in the top of an oven at gas mark 7 or 220 degrees C till the surface is nice and brown.

Serves four for a meal – if you have a problem with higher fat foods and your IBS then you might need to be cautious with your portion size. Also don’t forget this is a high fat meal so it is for occasional consumption only – when you really need a lift midwinter after going for a long walk in the snow perhaps! 😉

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Purple sage & parsnip gnocchi

Today the weather has been grim again so I am stuck in the house being creative, or perhaps you should decide if I am! I adore parsnips, they are a tasty root vegetable that is not too hard on the digestive system. It is getting towards autumn now so a nice recipe using parsnips in place of potato sounds an interesting idea. Not that I have anything against potatoes or I not that I reckon parsnips are some kind of ‘super root’ – if you have been following my blog for some time you will know my views on this 😉

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Ingredients

500g of parsnips

80g of gluten free flour

20g of Parmesan cheese

2g purple sage leaves (you can use ordinary sage if you wish)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

a sprinkling of asafoetida

Method

wash, peel and boil the parsnips until they are quite soft in salted water

mash them well

whilst still warm add the gluten free flour and mix well

empty the mix on to a floured surface, split into four equal amounts

roll each into a sausage shape and cut into disks evenly

roll each disk into a ball then squash flat with a fork

Boil a pan of water and add a few gnocchi at a time they will float when they are cooked

remove them from the water and drain.

using the olive oil fry the sage and asafoetida and mix with the gnocchi

add grated Parmesan to serve

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the gnocchi can be served as they are if you are vegetarian or they will taste great with meat, chicken or fish too!

If you follow a vegan diet then you should use a dairy free Parmesan alternative.

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I hope you like them – the recipe serves two for a main dish, it is also possible to use them as a side dish serving 4. If you are following the Low Fodmap Diet parsnips are low fodmap – have a small portion. I am seriously wishing the weather to improve a little – it is much to early for wintry weather to be a feature but of course being situated in the middle of the Pennines this is a distinct possibility. Although I don’t want to end on a negative note so enjoy the recipe and I will blog again soon from happy valley!

Jules_GastroRD8 Comments