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.

Madeira cake low fodmap gluten free

I haven’t posted anything to my blog for a long time but this recipe is perfect for a bank holiday weekend. This is a lovely cake for a treat. Its texture improves after a couple of days in a cake tin and is just about right. It is also a great base for a trifle but it might not last log enough to make it! Try it and see if you like it.

Ingredients

150g butter

150g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

1/2 grated lemon rind

1/2 teaspoon Xanthan gum

100g gluten free self raising flour mix

Butter for the baking tin

1 500g loaf style baking tin

Method

Heat the oven to 170°C, Fan150°C, 325°F or Gas mark 3

Butter the baking tin well

Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and cream till pale colour.

Sieve the flour in a separate bowl add the xanthan gum and mix well.

Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mix and beat well after each one. If the mix appears to be curdling add a tablespoon of the flour mix

Add the grated lemon rind

Add the rest of the flour mix slowly till it’s incorporated fully.

Mix well and add to the baking tin, smooth the top and cook for one hour or until a cocktail stick pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Enjoy! If you can leave it a couple of days before you eat it, do as the texture does become more moist.

Staffordshire Oatcakes with a vegan filling

So, for those people following the low FODMAP UK method kidney beans are now allowed and I would advise you to use tinned and rinse them well prior to using them. Beans are an excellent source of iron and fibre for vegans. Plus I was very surprised at how well these pancakes turned out with no eggs or milk added – just oats and water. If you like a savoury breakfast these pancakes are just the ticket!

Ingredients

  • 85g Oats (use gluten-free for people with coeliac disease)
  • 85g gluten free plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 350mls luke warm water
  • 250g tinned rinsed kidney beans
  • 250g chard or spinach works just as well
  • 1 teaspoon of Moroccan spice
  • 50g pumpkin seeds

Method

  • Toast the oats for 5 minutes in a non stick frying pan.
  • Add the oats to lukewarm water and mix with a hand blender for a few seconds, then add the salt.
  • Add the gluten-free flour sugar and yeast to the mix and leave to rise for 1 hour – or until you can see bubbles forming in the mix.the sugar is to feed the yeast and cannot be detected in the final mix.
  • Make pancakes with a small spray of oil and a hot pan. The amounts make approximately 5 pancakes.
  • Keep them warm.
  • Use another spray of oil in the pan and fry the dry spice mix. Then add rinsed kidney beans, chopped chard and pumpkin seeds and fry until cooked.
  • Add the beans mix to the pancake and serve.
  • Makes five servings.

Orecchiette con Cima de rape – Low FODMAP

This recipe was in a newspaper supplement but wasn’t really Low FODMAP friendly so I decided to give it an update and make it suitable for those with food intolerances. It is a traditional Puglian recipe using broccoli tops (Cima de Rape), which is a winter vegetable in Italy but is a really refreshing recipe for spring in the UK using broccoli tops makes it a suitable low FODMAP version.

The other problem is that there is no suitable gluten free Orecchiette pasta that is available in the UK, so fresh gluten free pasta has to be made if you want an authentic dish. The other point to note is that only if you find cooking relaxing should you attempt to made home made gluten free pasta. An important factor is not making more work for yourself if you don’t find cooking relaxing and dried pasta is suitable for this dish.

I have decided to make a longer recipe today as it is Bank Holiday weekend and the forecast suggested that it was going to rain although it hasn’t done yet. I have also posted some bluebell images from this weekend – bluebells are everywhere at the moment and are quite a spectacle.

Ingredients

Pasta (wheat free)

250g Pure maize flour (wheat contamination free if you are coeliac)

50g Gluten free bread flour

2 Eggs

Salt

1/2 Teaspoon xanthan gum

Enough water to bring the dough together

Stock

1 Ladle of pasta cooking water – top up to 500ml with water

20g Carrot chopped

30g Celeriac

1 Bay leaf

Small amount of salt and 6 peppercorns

Sauce

1 Head of broccoli (250g) stalks removed

1 Anchovy

1 Lemon

20g Parsley

20 Bay leaves

20g Rocket

30g Parmesan

3 Tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil

25g Butter

100ml White wine

Salt to taste

Method

Pasta

Weigh the flours into a bowl and add salt and xanthan gum. Mix the dry ingredients well before adding any liquid to the mix. Add the eggs and start to mix the flour, then add water to bring the flour together into a dough. Add just enough to ensure a soft mix – it is not possible to give a volume as this will depend on the fineness the flour mix you use. Once the dough is formed work it well to incorporate it together and make a smooth mix. This will take time, don’t worry about over working – this is not the same as making standard pasta. Roll out logs of the dough to the thickness of you thumb and then slice finely. To make the orecchiette shape press your finger into the centre of the disc. Bring a pan of water to boil and add salt and the pasta. Cook till the pasta rises in the pan remove and drain.

Zest the lemon and juice.

Chop the broccoli tops, celeriac, carrot, anchovy finely and add to separate bowls.

Then chop the basil, rocket and parsley and add to a bowl with the rest of the lemon juice.

Make the stock adding the pasta cooking liquor, carrot, celeriac, bay leaves and pepper to a pan and cook for 10 minutes, drain and save the stock. You could add the carrot and celeriac to the main dish but remove the bay leaf and peppercorns.

Add the olive oil to a pan and add the broccoli, anchovy and the zest of 1/2 the lemon and cook for four minutes then add the stock, wine, 1/2 the parmesan and butter and simmer for 10 minutes until the broccoli is soft.

Add the herbs and the rest of the lemon zest to the pan and then gently mix in the pasta to warm through. Serve and finish with a tablespoon of the lemon juice and the rest of the parmesan.

Serves two

Remember, remember the fifth of November – Low fodmap parkin.

Parkin is a rich spiced cake from Yorkshire or Lancashire that is consumed during bonfire night. Are you unsure of what Bonfire night is? It is a festival in the UK marking the failure of a plot to blow up parliament by Guy Fawkes. This is celebrated by lighting bonfires and fireworks and making a Guy to collect pennies. If you want to know more then this short version of a video by the excellent Horrible Histories series is a great way to find out – tongue in cheek of course!

Ingredients

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

100g dark muscovado sugar

175g golden syrup

175g black treacle

125g Margarine

1 Large egg

100ml Lactose free milk

225g Doves Farm Gluten Free self-raising flour

200g Oats (contamination free if you have coeliac disease)

Method

Sieve all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well.

Add the egg to the milk and mix

Melt the butter and sugars in a pan until dissolved – cool a little

Mix the ingredients together

You are looking for quite a wet mix, add more lactose free milk if required

Place some baking parchment into a round tin 9 inch baking tin and grease the tin if needed. Or if you wish this can be used as a tray bake. Cook at gas mark 4.5 until a skewer placed in the cake centre comes out clean. Top with icing sugar and star shaped sprinkles to represent fireworks.

Aubergine stuffed with lamb and pine nuts

This recipe is another Ottolenghi recipe which I have modified to make it low fodmap and is quite simply delicious the original version can be found in his Jerusalem recipe book. It was very easy to modify really- just don’t add any onion to the recipe! Cinnamon is low fodmap and one of my favourite spices. It does take time to prepare so it is probably a recipe for a Sunday evening meal – slow food and great for fodmaper’s with IBS. Serve with wholegrain rice for a complimentary starchy carbohydrate.

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Ingredients

4 aubergines

6 tablespoons of oil

11/2 teaspoons of ground cumin

11/2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

500g mince lean lamb

50g pine nuts

20g flat leafed parsley

2 teaspoons tomato puree

3 teaspoons of sugar

150 ml water

1 teaspoon of tamarind

4 cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

seasoning

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Method

Slice the aubergine length-ways and place skin side down in a roasting tin. Brush with 1 tablespoon of oil and season. Cook at 220 degrees C, gas mark 7 for about 20 minutes.

Whilst the aubergines are cooking make the sauce. Add the remaining olive oil to a pan and add half the dry spices and cook for 2 minutes to release the flavour of the spices. Add the lamb, pine nuts, parsley, 1 teaspoon of the tomato purée, 1 teaspoon of sugar and seasoning. Cook for about 10 minutes till the meat is browned.

Place the remaining spices in a bowl and add water, lemon juice, tamarind, remaining sugar, 1 teaspoon of tomato purée, cinnamon sticks and season well. Remove the aubergines from the oven and top each with a quarter of the mince. Pour the sauce into the bottom of the roasting tin. Place the dish back in the oven cover with foil or a lid, reduce the temperature to 195 degrees C or gas mark 5 and cook for another one and a half hours. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Serves 4