low lactose – Clinical Alimentary

The Perfect Watercress Soup – low FODMAP

Watercress soup is sublime and tradition in our household means that we have it as a starter every Christmas. I have considered the fact that we can’t use onion – the complete taste profile onion gives to the dish – including the slight amount of sweetness it provides and I have replaced the onion with alternatives in hope of retaining it’s benefits without its nasty gut side effects.

Watercress is a member of the brassica family of vegetables, therefore it is related to broccoli, cabbage, radish and rocket. Watercress has lot’s of peppery goodness, but although it is rich in some nutrients you would only gain benefit if you include it in your diet regularly – luckily it has lots of uses. It tastes excellent with salmon and watercress is great to use as the leaves for a salad, if you enjoy it’s slightly hot taste! It contains some vitamin A, vitamin K and folate, plus iron (plus is a reasonable source of vitamin C to help absorption of the iron – it is probably better eaten as a salad leaf to achieve this benefit.) As it is a source of iron it is therefore useful for vegans to include in their diet alongside other sources – but this recipe would have to be made with almond milk and dairy free margarine instead of butter to make in suitable. Perhaps I could try that next!

The soup does contain butter and uses full cream milk – but this is a soup for special occasions – so it is OK to have this amount of fat occasionally and you could change to semi skimmed milk and 20g fat, if needed, if you do find that rich foods result in symptoms. The garnish I have used is watercress leaves, radish sprouts and dried seaweed – radish sprouts and seaweed are not integral to the dish, however – and the conkers in the picture are not edible. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

1 bag of fresh watercress
500ml of full fat lactose free milk
1 sprinkle of asafoetida
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste
40g butter
1 tablespoon of corn flour

Method

Melt the butter in a pan and add the cornflour whilst mixing and the sprinkle of asafoetida and the sugar. This will not form a traditional roux, but not to worry.
Slowly drizzle in the milk – note that it will start to thicken at this stage and a whisk might be a better tool to use to ensure that no lumps are formed.
When all the milk is added then bring to a slight boil to thicken.
Add the watercress and cook until wilted then blend the soup
Season to taste.
Serves 1-2

October 6, 2019

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Italian meatballs with Fodmapped sauce – a review.

I have purchased some Fodmapped sauces and soups to try, so I thought I would give you the low down. I bought them through the IBS Network website so that they would benefit from the purchase – were you aware that if you buy a starter pack you get membership covered for 1 year? The sauce was really tasty and gave an added advantage to tomato pasta sauces as you could really pick out the flavour of the aubergine – one of my favourite vegetables. Shortlisted for the Free From Food Awards I would say they are a great contender and tremendous to see a low fodmap product being reviewed. Any drawbacks? Yes, the price – the sauces are expensive compared to other sauces but they are onion and garlic free, which most ready made sauces (except plain passata and some pure tomato based pasta sauces) are not. Sometimes following the low fodmap diet can mean dry food unless you make your own stocks and sauces, you could argue that this needs to be done, but not everyone has the time. You could make a very simple roasted vegetable sauce yourself, however if time pushed these products are certainly a consideration. Putting additional pressures on busy lifestyles by making everything from scratch is sometimes unhelpful to symptoms. The packet gave a serving for 2 people. I have made an Italian dish, a comforting winter recipe, and in the process increased the portion size to 4!

Ingredients

500g lean minced beef

1 egg

100g gluten free breadcrumbs

10g of basil leaves

10g oregano

1 packet of Fodmap Easy roasted vegetable pasta sauce

200g of dry polenta

60g parmesan

Seasoning

Method

Place the mince in a bowl and add chopped herbs, egg and breadcrumbs and some seasoning, mix well. Roll into even sized meatballs – I made about 14 from the full mix. Set them aside.

Fry the meatballs in a dry non stick frying pan till browned.

Add the meatballs to a casserole dish with the sauce mix and 300mls of water. Place in an oven at gas mark 5 or 190 degrees C. Cook for 1 hour.

Using the directions on the packet for 200g of polenta add water to a pan and bring to the boil and pour in the polenta whilst stirring. Add extra liquid if needed to form a thick sauce, add parmesan (retain a small amount for serving) and seasoning (not much salt needed here!) to taste.

Serve

Serves 4 for a main meal.

February 17, 2018

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Celebration trifle – low fodmap

It’s New Years eve and if you want a celebration dessert that can help people following a low fodmap diet but is also tasty for all your New Years Day party guests, this is ideal – it is made with lactose free mascarpone and lactose free creme fraiche (you can buy these at Tesco) plus gluten free sponge. Whilst this trifle is low fodmap it is not low in fat – if you have issues with foods high in fat resulting in symptoms take care – a small portion only is probably best!

Ingredients

Sponge

100g gluten free self raising flour

2 eggs

100g margarine

100g castor sugar

Rhubarb

250g rhubarb

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of orange oil

1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

100ml of water

Topping

50g chopped pecan nuts

Cream

200g lactose free mascarpone

100g of lactose free creme fraiche

1 tablespoon of icing sugar

Method

Sponge

Make the sponge – this is better prepared the day before to allow it to stale a little

Add the margarine and castor sugar to a bowl and using a hand mixer mix until light and creamy

Add one egg and beat till incorporated into the mix – if it curdles or separates just add a little of the flour to the mix.

Repeat with the other egg.

Add the flour and mix it in slowly with a metal spoon.

Pour into a 7 inch lined cake tin and put in an oven to cook at gas mark 5 190 degrees C for 45 minutes – or until a metal skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool and slice length ways into two circles

Rhubarb

Wash slice and cook the rhubarb with the water, maple syrup and sugar and orange oil until soft – cool and save the cooking liquor. I like my rhubarb quite sharp to counteract the sweetness – add sugar or syrup to your preference here.

Cream

Mix the mascarpone with the creme fraiche and icing sugar – keep in the fridge

and build….

Build the trifle, one layer of rhubarb, then sponge – add some of the rhubarb cooking liquor to the sponge, then mascarpone – repeat until all the mixes are used up ending with a layer of mascarpone. Add chopped nuts to the top of the cake to decorate.

Serves 8

🎇🎊 Wishing all my followers a Happy New Year!🎊🎇

December 31, 2017

Jules_GastroRD1 Comment

Spaghetti Cabonara -low fodmap

Whilst reading the Guardian newspaper recipe booklet this weekend I decided to have a go at one of the recipes in the pasta special and reduce the parmesan and low fodmap modify it. OK – this recipe scared me, adding egg to freshly cooked pasta – surely a recipe for scrambled egg, right? This is a classic Italian dish and no cream in sight and is a rich dish that is suitable for a low fodmap diet. It is easier to make than I first anticipated and much to my surprise, no scrambled egg in sight. This is a really creamy dish without adding cream and a tasty supper for chilli winter evenings.

I used bacon rather than pancetta as it is slightly leaner and 2/3 of the parmesan. Sometimes pecorino cheese is used instead – it really doesn’t matter. Having bacon occasionally is fine – I can’t actually remember the last time I did eat bacon, but obviously not a choice that should be included in your diet regularly and certainly not every day. This recipe was so easy but it could be included in an Italian themed dinner party or a relaxed meal with friends – it doesn’t take much effort at all – so give it a try.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks

6 rashers of lean bacon

60g parmesan

400g of gluten free spaghetti

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet – make sure that you follow the instructions carefully as this is the key to cooking the perfect gluten free pasta.

Whilst the water is boiling separate 4 egg yolks from the white (you can use the egg white to make meringue later) and beat.

Grate the parmesan

Add the olive oil to a pan and fry the bacon.

Drain the water from the pasta sauce saving a cup full.

Add the pasta to the bacon, off the heat and ensure the pasta is coated with the oil.

Add the eggs and cheese to the pasta with some of the pasta water and stir well till combined. The heat of the pasta will cook the sauce.

Add some freshly ground black pepper before serving and serve on warmed plates.

That’s it – serves 4.

November 11, 2017

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Tzatziki – low fodmap

Over 2000 years ago Socrates stated “All disease begins in the gut”. Clearly not – but most symptoms of IBS start in the gut and having a dip made with lactose free Greek yoghurt will help keep it calm and symptom free if you have lactose intolerance! Tzatziki is so refreshing and great for long hot summer days and a suitable accompaniment to barbecue meats and fish. So make this easy recipe and enjoy! You could also make this dish suitable for a low fibre diet (if your dietitian has advised it) by peeling and removing the seeds from the cucumber before preparing the dip.

Ingredients

150 g Lactose free Greek yogurt (I purchased it from Tesco)

1/2 cucumber

1 tablespoon lemon juice

seasoning

Method

Cut the cucumber in half and grate one half

Squeeze out all the juice

Chop the other half of cucumber into small cubes

Squeeze a lemon and add a tablespoon of juice to the yoghurt

Then add the cucumber and mix well

Serves 2 as a starter or dip with gluten free Pitta bread.

August 8, 2017

Jules_GastroRD4 Comments

Zucchine (courgette) Pizza gluten free low lactose

Just the job for using up all those extra glut of courgettes that you have in the garden! Courgettes are great for the low fodmap diet, this recipe used yellow courgettes but green ones will work just as well so don’t feel you need to produce this recipe exactly – although the pizza dough does need to be followed closely and it is a modification of one of Jamie’s gluten free pizza bases, but using lactose free milk and one or two tips from someone who is familiar with using the ingredients and fickleness of cooking gluten/wheat free.