Tag: Special Diets

Remember, remember the 5th of November – bangers and roots!

I hated history at school, queen this, king that, on this date such and such, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah yawn, zzzzzzz , then awoke with a start as my head dropping forward jolted my brain awake, before the teacher noticed – I hoped. It all seemed to merge into one confusing mess, I could never remember any of it, even with a very young brain. Perhaps it was the way that it was taught, I don’t know, or perhaps it didn’t really appeal to me. No Horrible Histories for us as children, wish I had this when I was younger. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7exoXGUbIA

I have found as I have got older that actually I am quite interested in history, linking historical events to festivals is one very good way of remembering. Guy Fawkes was part of a band of catholics who plotted an assassination attempt against James the first and others at the state opening of parliament in 1605. He was found just about to light the gunpowder, arrested, sentenced then hanged, drawn and quartered – nasty business! The discovery of the plot is commemorated every year with bonfires – traditionally with a burning Guy, fireworks and lots of warming food to eat!

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/File:Sparkler.JPG

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England’s overthrow.

By god’s mercy he was catch’d
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

I found the above copy of the traditional poem on the website for Leigh School – some really cool information on celebrations – check it out here

http://www.leighinfants.co.uk/southendpn/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=print&ceid=68

Now on nights were you want to be out watching fireworks and doing other fun stuff cooking is probably in the back of your mind. How about this bangers and roots recipe? – really simple to make, FODMAP friendly and just the ticket to eat outdoors, if you wish. If you are having a barbecue you can put these vegetables on skewers instead and put them on the barbie.

Ingredients

1 orange carrot

1 purple carrot

1 yellow carrot

2 Parsnips

Small handful of chopped pumpkin

Small handful of cherry tomatoes (care with the amount)

1/2 dozen gluten-free sausages (if you are following a Low FODMAP diet please check flavoured sausages for onion and garlic powder.)

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil.

Method

Wash vegetables and peel carrots, parsnip and pumpkin, chop. Chop potato with skins on and add them all to a large baking tray. Pile ’em all in – no need to be prissy about it.

Drizzle over garlic infused oil and lay the sausages on the top. Sprinkle over the chilli powder and smoked paprika, add a small amount of salt (I didn’t need salt – perhaps you should taste it after cooking and add it if needed.)

Place in an oven (or on the barbie, cut vegetables thinner and skewer) gas mark 6.

Cook at the top of the oven till nicely browned – yum, a real crowd pleaser on a chilly November night (the purple carrot looks a bit burned, I assure you it’s not – it’s just the dark purple colour, perfectly done!) This should keep you warm whilst outside enjoying the festivities, serves three.

Take care with your real bangers and keep your furry critters in the house away from harm.

Related articles

Jules_GastroRD2 Comments

Spooky Spaghetti – Halloween recipes for your scaredy guts!

It’s getting close to Halloween now, what are your plans? The following is a recipe for halloween night – not to upset your digestion! Although I can’t guarantee a scare free evening!

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillets

1 tablespoon of soy sauce*

*gluten free

salt

poaching water

150g Black rice noodles

Spray oil

2 carrots

2 tsps Garlic infused oil

1 Green Pepper

Radishes to garnish

Serves 2

Method

Place salmon fillets in an oven proof dish and cover in water and soy sauce, poach till cooked through.

Boil a large pan of water and add the noodles to the pan and heat till softened.

Peel carrots lengthways to produce carrot strips, chop up the green pepper and peel the radishes (to look like eyeballs, scary!!!)

Add oil to a wok and add the salmon (flaked) chopped vegetables and a little more soy sauce, if desired. Add a little of the poaching liquid. Cook on a high heat till cooked through.

If you are following a gluten free diet ensure your soy sauce is a gluten free variety. Suitable for Low FODMAP, gluten free, lactose free, egg free, wheat free.

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Kedgeree, breakfast like a king! Low FODMAP, low lactose, wheat free, gluten free

Imagine that you are in Edwardian England and a rather wealthy person! As part of the many breakfast choices would be this dish, originating in India and traditionally composed

Downton Abbey cooks Kedgeree

of hard-boiled egg, fish and rice. You can just taste the opulence, great to breakfast like a king – but this meal is great for a light brunch, served on wheat free bread also – really yummy! I often like to imagine if I was alive in Edwardian times as I love the dresses and the lifestyle – but the reality would be more likely to involve wearing plain clothes, clogs and working in the mills in Lancashire, as my relatives did!

© IWM (D 25995)

This dish is very mild, no spicy hot flavours, just like a fishy korma – some of the Lancashire men I spent my early working career with, used to call chicken korma ‘chicken soft lad’ and were merciless in their deriding of any man choosing this option when going out for a curry after the pub! However its good and mild for dodgy guts, so enjoy your fish ‘soft lad!’ If you have coeliac disease then check your spices have not been contaminated with gluten! My version of this wonderful dish is as follows:

Ingredients

175g of smoked Haddock

175g of Basmati Rice

4-5 dry green cardamom pods

5cm strip of cassia bark

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon of cardamom powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

300 mls of lactose free milk

4 teaspoons of cornflour

2 hard boiled eggs.

Method

Poach the haddock in lactose free milk until cooked, drain off the milk and retain for the sauce. Flake the fish and remove any bones and retain till later.

Add the rice to a pan, cover with water about 2 cm above the rice and add crushed green cardamom, cassia bark, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, when boiling turn down the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes until the rice is cooked. Remove cardamon pods and cassia bark. Cool.

Hard boil eggs for 10 minutes and cool under running water, remove shell and cut into slices – retain till later.

Add oil to a pan with the rest of the spices and cook till the spice aroma is released. Add cornflower to the pan and cook for about a minute. Slowly add milk to the pan – this will form a thick paste initially and needs to be mixed well to avoid lumps. After 1/3 – 1/2 of the milk has been added you can add the rest quickly and bring to the boil and stir till thickened.

Add the sauce to the rice, add fish and mix well, taste and add more seasoning if needed. Warm in the microwave prior to serving, serve with sliced eggs on the top.

If you are interested in Edwardian food check out the following website http://downtonabbeycooks.com/

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Breakfast bars

It’s really well into Autumn now and there was a very pretty spiders web on our Acer tree – unfortunately my photography skills really doesn’t do it justice, you can only see the twinkling colours of the water droplets in the web at the bottom of the picture. Made these breakfast bars this morning, I’m getting a little bored with my usual breakfast so I thought I would try this instead:

110g of oatmeal bran

20g of milled flaxseed

80g of oatmeal

1 heaped tsp of cinnamon

1 heaped teaspoon of mixed spice

3 teaspoons of artificial sweetner powder

1 tin of gooseberries in light syrup

50 mls of ginger cordial

50 mls olive oil

Sieve out the gooseberries and retain the fluid (should be around 150ml), to this add olive oil, ginger cordial and mix well.

Place all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl (typed bowel initially – ha ha ha,  lol 🙂 just shows my job is in my unconsciousness.)

Mash the gooseberries, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add liquid and gooseberries, mix well till amalgomated.

Spread out the mixture on an oiled baking tray and place in a preheated oven at gas mark 6, or 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes, check after 15!

Cut into 8 or 12 bars, cool on a baking tray and sprinkle with icing sugar.

These bars do have fibre therefore please ensure you have a drink if liquid when you have these, a cup of tea, coffee, or glass of water would suffice. Take care if you are not used to eating foods containing fibre – don’t scoff too many at one go! These should also fill you up as they are based on oats – a low glycaemic food choice, they are also nice with yoghurt.

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Saturday – Chicken Curry Low FODMAP

Last night I cooked a chicken curry here is the recipe.

Ingredients

6 skinless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

1 aubergine

2 large tomatoes

3 teaspoons of cornflour

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of coriander seeds

4 split cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida

1 teaspoon of chilli powder (Omit this if it makes your symptoms worse)

1/2 yellow pepper

1 Green pepper

200 mls of water or home-made chicken stock (without garlic and onion)

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cut up the aubergine into small pieces, also cut the tomato

Add oil to pan and heat

Add spices to the pan and cook for a minute to release the aroma

Add chicken

cook for 5 minutes

Then add stock and the aubergine and the tomato, add cornflour (mix with a small amount of water to blend first and make a smooth paste)

cook for 20 minutes. (10 minutes in start to make rice – see below)

Add chopped pepper and cook for 5 -10 minutes.

Rice – 300g basmati rice (2 cups) place in a pan and cover with water 2cm above the rice, add salt to taste then add 4 cloves, a 2cm piece of cassia bark, 4-5 black peppercorns and 2-3 green cardamom pods, curry leaf. Bring to the boil for 15-20 minutes remove spices prior to serving. This tastes a little like pilau rice – add colouring to make this more authentic if you wish.

Serves 4

Jules_GastroRD6 Comments

“Read your labels” – retrospectively is no good! A reflection, a survey and slight feeling of dietetic hypocrisy.

It’s Saturday, I wake and stumble down the stairs bleary eyed, hairdo that wouldn’t look amiss on Edward Scissorhands. Cat’s breakfast is made first and then I make my morning cup of tea. First mistake of the day, I use cows milk – damn, now my inner consciousness devil voice starts to say “it’s only a splash of milk can this make a difference?, go on drink it” I think for a couple of seconds and decide that I will make another cup of tea with lactose free milk, then I make my porridge, again with lactose free milk. First critical lapse incident managed, cool!

Now for the confession. On Saturday I like to go for a coffee at a cafe and have my weekly treat a small biscuit or cake with my coffee. Now I asked for lactose free milk coffee  – ok so far, and then chose a coconut macaroon, wheat free – I did enquire if this was the only wheat free choice and I was told it was. Now, I’m not that fond of macaroons but it was the only choice, so I bought it and sat down to drink my coffee and read the paper. The more savvy of you here will be shouting at the screen “DID YOU READ THE LABEL?”, did I? Well, err, (feeling REALLY sheepish) not before I had bought it and certainly not before I had eaten a good portion of the biscuit :-(. I then decided unconsciously to take a peek at the ingredients list. This is where I was totally disappointed with myself because guess what? Yes!! Someone had added a FODMAP to my biscuit. SORBITOL of all

I don’t go this far! No finger wagging in my clinic.

things, in my biscuit, I felt so disappointed and really guilty of hypocrisy. You may be wondering why I feel hypocritical, well, in my clinic when I see people who have to use special diets reading labels is very important. When it gets to this part I furrow my brow and look quite serious and say “reading your labels is very important to following your diet and here is a list of what to look for”. People often say when I see them again that they have made mistakes and a good proportion of those are through not looking at the label. I suggest to them that this is part of the learning experience and then the advice is then reiterated, read the labels FIRST, before you buy and certainly before you eat.

So, I have joined the ranks of people who make retrospective label reading mistakes, perhaps this is a normal part of changing your diet and maybe everyone does this? At least I suppose you read it to see and are then aware of your mistake, but the damage is already done. It really makes you consider human behaviour in this, why would I do this now, when I was successful earlier on in the day? Was it because earlier I had another choice available, do you think? How many of you make this mistake – perhaps we could do a survey?

Survey is anonymous and will close in 1 month – if you wish to know more check this out  http://polldaddy.com/privacy/ or contact Polldaddy directly http://polldaddy.com/about/

Jules_GastroRD2 Comments