Tag: IBS

Ramen Eggs – low fodmap

These mini ramen eggs are great for a party as a snack food, they have a strong umami flavour and taste great! The eggs were free range, which is obviously really important to ensure the quail that laid them are able to forage and live as far as possible as they would in the wild. They are also just the right size to add to a Bento lunch box salad and are used in Japanese cuisine. I bought mine at a farmers market a few days ago. They are very simple to make and can also be made using hens eggs if you prefer to do that. Tamari is made without wheat and is therefore gluten free if you are also have coeliac disease, but do check the label before you purchase just in case.

Ingredients

  • 12 Quail eggs
  • 200ml Mirin (japanese sweet wine wine)
  • 100ml Tamari dark soy sauce
  • 2 star anise
  • Black and white sesame seeds – you only need a small amount to decorate the eggs when finished

Method

  • Add the mirin, soy sauce and star anise to a pan and heat till boiling and cook for five minutes to impart the star anise flavour.
  • Allow the marinade to cool
  • Add the quail eggs to a pan and warm to boil and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the eggs to a pan of cold water to stop the cooking.
  • Tap the base (the more rounded end) on a surface and peel the egg under a tap – take care as you should avoid damaging the egg surface if you can as this will be more obvious after the eggs are marinaded.
  • Marinade the eggs for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
  • Cut each egg in half and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  • The marinade can be used again and makes an ideal marinade for salmon or tuna too!

Serves 3-4 as a party hors d’oeuvre to serve with drinks.

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Ratatouille – lowfodmap.

Ratatouille is a really healthy dish and the best way to make it is to roast each of the vegetables separately. This might appear to be a bit of a faff, but it does ensure that you can taste all the individual flavours in the dish. It is a dish for those days where you feel like pottering about in the kitchen and have time to prepare a meal. I find cooking relaxing and I enjoy it – but it is also worth mentioning that some people don’t enjoy it at all and find meal preparation a chore, there is tinned ratatouille available but most will contain onion which is a fructan’s, so if you can tolerate fructan’s by all means have the tinned variety instead. (I don’t have an issue with tinned vegetables – they are perfectly acceptable and contain good sources of nutrition.)

The above infographic from Compound Interest https://www.compoundchem.com/ shows the colours of peppers and how this develops with ripening. Yellow and red peppers are the sweetest so are best for this recipe. Note that I have not removed any of the skins from the roasted pepper – this is what I would call a faff and why would you want to remove a source of fibre from the dish? The Mediterranean diet is good for health and this classic French provencale dish is a Mediterranean stew that ticks all the boxes.

Ingredients

  • 1 courgette
  • 1 aubergine
  • 2 packs of mini sweet peppers or 300g yellow or red bell peppers
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • a few springs of fresh thyme (or a tablespoon on dried)
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • Salt

Method

  • Wash the vegetables and chop
  • Add each vegetable to it’s own tray, drizzle with olive oil, thyme sprigs and season with salt.
  • Add the trays to the oven and roast until soft on gas mark 6/200 degrees C. Watch carefully to avoid burning.
  • Whilst the vegetables are roasting add a tablespoon of oil to a pan and fry the asafotida for a few seconds to release the onion flavour then add the tin of plum tomatoes and mash them. Add the teaspoon of sugar to reduce the acidity of the dish and then add the oregano. Reduce the tomatoes by boiling to a half in volume.
  • Combine all the ingredients and serve.
  • Serves 4 and tastes lovely with fish!

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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.

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Oatmeal and ginger crusted salmon -low fodmap

I have not posted anything on my blog for some time but hopefully I will be on here more often from now. This may surprise you considering we have all been locked in for 3 months but I have been working from home and with a new job my focus has been on that really. Anyway glad to be back. This recipe is a great summer evening meal – light and tasty just right for those long hot days.

Ingredients

  • 60g gluten free flour
  • 60g oatmeal (this does not need to be gluten free unless you have coeliac disease.)
  • 11/2 teaspoons ginger
  • Pinch of salt
  • Handful of chopped coriander
  • 1 egg
  • 4 salmon fillets
  • Spray oil

Method

  • Wash the salmon and remove the skin (you can ask the fishmonger to do this for you if you find it difficult)
  • Dust in flour.
  • Break the egg into a small dish and blend with a fork
  • Add the ginger to the oats, coriander and salt and place on a plate
  • Add the salmon to the egg wash coat and allow the excess to drain off.
  • Place the salmon fillets on the oats and coat well
  • Spray the top with spray oil
  • Cook in an oven at 204 degrees C/gas mark 6 for 15 minutes
  • Enjoy with a green salad and boiled salad potatoes

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Pecan and maple syrup marzipan – low fodmap

Ok, so why do we need a marzipan based on pecans? Well, marzipan is based on almonds and these are limited on the low fodmap diet, it also contains honey – it would be very difficult to know how much FODMAP sugars are ingested with most Christmas marzipan containing dishes – so I thought I would see if I could make an option where amount consumed doesn’t matter (from a FODMAP content anyway!) Now, although Italians probably would balk at this statement but I think my version is actually better than the original. It is really tasty and a good treat for a Christmas winters evening whilst avoiding the winter weather. Or gift wrapped for friends or family – everyone likes a home made treat.

This dish is certainly not a healthy option – despite being high in nuts and containing a natural sugar – maple and ‘brown sugar’ – it is a sweet and should be treated as such. Too many people on Instagram post recipes for ‘energy balls’ and state they are healthy because they are based on natural ingredients – sugar is sugar – despite the source. Eat sparingly and Christmas is a good time to partake.

Ingredients

  • 200g finely ground pecans
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • 3 Medium egg yolks
  • 2 tsp liquid glucose
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp glycerine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Grind the pecans in a food processor until smooth and place them in a bowl with the sieved icing sugar – then mix together.

In a saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, egg yolks, glucose, maple syrup, glycerine and vanilla, then cook over a low heat whisking constantly until pale, light and boiling. Take care as this is HOT.

Pour the above liquid over the pecan mixture and stir well to make a smooth paste. Leave to cool, then wrap in cling film.

Makes 20 balls – I have coated them in gold and silver powder to make them great for a gift. They are just as nice eaten with a bit of hygge – curled up in front of a roaring fire with a good book . Enjoy.

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Christmas Eve tear and share Low FODMAP

Christmas eve is a time to start the celebrations but it is often very busy wrapping presents, last minute gift purchasing and perishable food shopping. I would usually do my food shopping perhaps a day before Christmas Eve as the supermarkets can be just too busy for me. However, every year I plan to have it all finished by Christmas eve and I have never achieved my goals. So, if you are entertaining guests you perhaps might need a stunning dish that’s easy to prepare? The pastry can be made earlier and frozen and then all the preparation is in rolling out the pastry and decorating the top. Which means chopping vegetables and grating cheese – what could be easier?

Ingredients

  • 200g Plain flour
  • 150g Butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 Teaspoon baking powder
  • 50mls water
  • Salt
  • Flour to roll out the pastry
  • 100g cheese
  • 2 Heritage carrots purple and orange (or standard ones will do just fine!)
  • 1 small parsnip
  • 30g pine nuts
  • Spray oil

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. Or freeze at this stage if planning to use the pastry later.
  • Roll out the pastry into an oblong and score around the edges with a sharp knife taking care not to score through.
  • Where you are planning to place the vegetables prick the pastry with a fork.
  • Grate the cheese and sprinkle over the pastry.
  • Wash and slice the carrot and parsnips thinly.
  • Arrange the carrots on the pastry and spray with oil.
  • Cook in an oven at 220 degrees C or gas mark seven for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Five minutes before the end of the cooking time sprinkle the pastry with pine nuts.
  • Serve.

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