Chicken stew - winter warmer

This one has worked out better then I planned. I used home made stock for the base however I did cheat and use a gravy powder. Still, won't argue with results. It tastes yummy!

Ingredients:

Flour (gf if needed)

2 chicken breasts, diced

1/2 cup of gravy powder (again gf if needed)

1 cup diced leek

4 cloves diced garlic

Italian herb mix to taste

Salt to taste

3 medium potatoes, diced

3 carrots, diced

2 parsnips, diced

For stock: 

Reserve of chicken bones and off cuts

Water

Directions:

1) Flour the diced chicken and brown in a well oiled pot (preferably the base of a steamer). Removed chicken from heat and place pieces in a bowl. Keep oils/juices in pot.

2) Place the bones and off cuts in the base of the steamer. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Place the carrots, potato, and parsnips in the second level of the steamer and place over boiling stock. Leave to boil until veggies are soft.

3) Remove veggies and place to the side. Seperate stock from chicken leftovers and left stock to cool in a bowl.

4) Using the now empty steamer based brown the garlic and leek.

5) Add the stock back to the pot with the browned chicken and bring to a simmer on a low heat.

6) Mix the gravy stock with some cool water, blending well.

7) Add veggies to chicken and stock, and then the gravy mix. Add water to cover veggies if needed and then bring to a boil.

8) Add herbs and salt to taste.

Homemade donuts

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour. (self-raising)
3 tbs of sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tbs margarine
3/4 cup milk/dairy alternative

Large quantity of oil for deep frying
Sugar for dusting

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients well.  Melt margarine and stir the liquids into the flour to form a thick batter.

Bring your vat of oil up to a medium level of heat and drop portions of the batter in the oil to cook.  Because the dough will float naturally you will have to turn one during cooking to ensure the donuts cook all the way through.

When even golden brown remove the donuts from oil and drain.  When cooled slightly dust with sugar.

The cheaters guide to homemade flapjacks

Home made flapjacks the easy way.  All you need

- a 500g box of muesli

- 2 cups gluten-free flour

- 1/2 sugar

- enough water to combine

Stir all the dry ingredients, mix in water, then whack in the over at 220 celcius or gas mark 7 until cooked and you have hassle free flapjacks

Allergen friendly batter

This must seem like an odd choice to devote a whole post to.  However batter is an important fashion of preserving meat flavors in all sorts of cooking methods.  It can also be used to add a unique taste to your dish with simple additions to a basic recipe.

The only ingredients you need for batter are flour and a liquid of some form.  Below I have listed some unique batter flavours you might like to try.

Plum batter - excellent for dishes that benefit form a sweet kick

1 cup flour, 1 tbs plum jam, and enough water to make a thick batter

Lemon batter

1 cup flour, 1/4 lemon juice, 1 tbs sugar, and enough water to make a thick batter

Herbed batter

1 cup flour, 1 tbs mixed herbs, as above

These are just a few varieties.  The actual combinations really depends on your tastes.

Almond pancakes

Today's sweet treat is an Almond flavored pancake.  For a healthy but slightly more expensive recipe you could use actual almonds - i will add a note on variations after initial recipe.

Ingredients

3/4 gluten-free flour

1/2 milk or dairy alternative

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 almond essence

1 tsp golden syrup.

Directions

1 mix flour and spice in a bowl.  

2 heat milk until it is warm - not hot!  Stir the golden syrup and almond essence into the warm milk. 

3 Stir the milk mixture into bowl until you have a thick batter. 

4 Fry in oil until cooked - turning the pancake when you see 'bubbles' on the uncooked surface.

Variations

Using Marzipan

Grate up roughly a tbs of mazipan (depends on taste at this point) and mix it in at stage 3.

Using chopped almonds

Straight forward option - mix in at stage 3.

Almond puree

Soak a handful of fresh almonds in water overnight.  Puree in a blender with a small amount of milk alternative of your choice.  Mix into recipe as normal.  Please note that this option adds to the liquid content of the pancake batter, so you therefore may wish to adjust accordingly.

Ramen

  Today's food experiment was Chicken ramen.  I neglected to even take a photo of the finished product.  Needless to say it didn't turn out anything like the picture,  I didn't have some of the more traditional ingredients and I refuse to taint it with an egg.  Still making it from scratch was worth the effort cause this a simple dish that is gentle on the stomach being that is compromised entirely of broth, veggies, noodles and a little meat.

Recipe

Stock - home made or seasoned stock of choice
Noodles
cooked, seasoned Chicken
Veggies of choice


Directions:

The idea with ramen is that all the items are combined after having already been cooked - ie. fry off the chicken and cook noodles before combining with stock.  Essentially you should really be putting together.

Boil your noodles, add to the hot stock and garnish with slicked chicken and veggies.

Sweet meat treat - Bacon dipped in chocolate

Bacon dipped in dark chocolate

Okay, I know this one seems the slightest be peculiar.  However these treats do actually taste really good and are ideal as an alternative dessert or unique party snack.  If you choose your chocolate and bacon wisely it is even allergen free.  It is also a really simple to make - the most complex part is trying not to burn the chocolate while melting it as it goes very bitter.  You also only need to two ingredients Chocolate of your choice and bacon.

My one suggestion would be to choose a sweeter chocolate for this recipe as bitter chocolate overrides the bacon flavor.

Directions

Crisp up small pieces if bacon in a frying pan.  Boil water in a saucepan.  After the water has boiled take it off the heat and place to a side.  While the water is still hot break chocolate into small chunks and place in a small bowl or mug.  Sit the utensil containing the chocolate in the water, being careful not get the water in the chocolate in the process.  Stir the chocolate as it melts.  When melted simply dip the bacon pieces in the chocolate and put aside to cool.

This treat is enjoyable when hot or cold.

Coconut chicken curry.

First night in Oxford and ended up on autopilot cooking dinner for my aunt. Made a yummy simple curry. Very easy recipe for beginners.

Ingredients:

3 Chicken breasts
Spinach, 2 handfuls
Runner beans, a handful
Carrots, 1 large
Coconut cream
Onion, 1/2 medium
Ginger root, tablespoon.
Tandoori Curry powder, 2 tablespoons
Soy or almond milk
Rice
Olive oil
Salt
Cornflour, 1tsp

Directions:

Peel and finely dice your ginger and onion. Peel, quarter and finely slice your carrots. Small triangular shapes are perfect. Cut the ends of the beans and slice into small pieces. Lastly dice your chicken breast into small chunks.

Through cooking you will want to keep at hand the milk, coconut cream and tandoori curry powder as this cooks a bit like a stew so the liquid will boil off. Before you remove from the stove and during cooking you may want to add more of these ingredients.

Sprinkle some oil and salt into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Add rice, and simmer till cooked.

Place the ginger, onion, carrots, beans and chicken in a cold pan. A wok would be perfect but a large pot would suffice. Pour some oil onto the mix and sprinkle salt to taste. Mix so that the oil covers all the ingredients. When everything is covered in oil place on the stove at medium to high heat. Stir while the onions become clear and the chicken browns. When the chicken is par-cooked and onions turn clear add 1/4c coconut cream, 1c milk and 2tblspoons of curry powder. Stir until a light boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cover pan and stir frequently until carrots are soft. At this point you may need to add more coconut cream, milk and curry powder. Add spinache and stir until wilted. If the sauce is not thick enough add some cornflour and simmer until thicker.

Serves 2.

Lemon Chicken; Gluten-free

Another in the range of budget recipes.  I love being poor. :)  This makes an excellent main with side dishes of mashed potato, pasta, honeyed carrots or practically anything else you can think of.


Ingredients:

4 Breast Fillets; diced
Lemon Juice; 1/8 cup
Corn Flour; 1/4 cup
1/4 Onion; Diced
3 Garlic Cloves; diced
Tarragon; 2 teaspoons

Directions:

Mix the chicken, corn flour, tarragon, and lemon juice together in a bowl.  Stir the mixture throughly so that there are no flour clumps.  Fry the onion in a pan until it is brown.  Add the chicken mixture and Garlic to the pan and cook until golden brown.

Chickpea and sweet corn bolognese; gluten-free, vegan

I have a very strict budget currently.  Not only do I have to make every meal at home but I'm also forced to resorting to cheaper recipes.  This was a excellent solution to both while remaining allergen friendly.  It is high in protein and high in nutritional content.  It's simple, tasty and very filling.

Ingredients:

Tinned tomatoes; 400g
Onion; 1, small, diced
Garlic cloves; 5, peeled and diced
Tarragon; 1 teaspoon
Sage; 1 teaspoon
Sweet-corn; 330g; drained
Mushrooms; 3 medium sized, diced
Tinned Chickpeas; 400g, rinsed and drained
Gluten free pasta; Cooked

Directions:

On medium heat, gently cook the onion.  Add the tinned tomatoes, juice and all. Add the herbs, garlic, sweet-corn, chickpeas, mushrooms. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.  Stir through warm, cooked pasta and serve.

Potatoes

Potatoes are often quite cheap.  They can easily bought in bulk and can be stored at room temperature in most conditions.  They are one of the most useful vegetable you can keep in your kitchen.  They can be used in soups, stews, pies, side dishes such as mashed potato, chips, wedges and on their own and roast potatoes.  Cooked potato can last quite awhile in the fridge.  So you can cook up a batch of roast potatoes, for example, and store them for a lunches and dinners later in the week.

Potatoes are a good way to bulk out your diet when trying to avoid wheat products as most food places will have a friendly potato option on the menu such as chips or jacket potatoes.  They might even have nice potato salads. They only thing top be wary of is that oil that is used to fry things like chips.  Quite often every fried food in the shop with be cooked in the same vat, meaning that the oil will contain traces of gluten.  Most places are quite happy to cook it separately if asked.

Strawberries and chocolate sauce; dairy free, gluten free

This is a perfect example of why you shouldn't blog while very hungry because you've cut all junk foods out of your diet.  I am sitting here trying to think of something that is edible but doesn't contain to much sugar or fat.  This is extremely hard when all I currently want is fatty, sugary foods.  Like, mmm donuts.  Or fresh strawberries with chocolate sauce... yummy.

Although I refuse to believe this option is anything but healthy.  It has fruit! You don' have to have a lot of sauce, really.  The preparation for this is in two parts




Ingrediants:

Strawberries:

A punnet of fresh strawberries
Lemon juice.






Sauce:
A block of Dark chocolate (Vegan/raw); 100g
soy milk or preferred alternative; 1/4 cup
sugar; 1/4 cup
corn flour; 1-2 teaspoons




Directions:

The directions for this comes in two parts as, obviously strawberries and sauce are prepared separately.  It is recommended you prepare the strawberries first as by you have prepared then the sauce would have cooled.

Strawberries:

Wash the strawberries and remove the leaves.  Slice in half and place them all in a bowl.  Drizzle the lemon juice over them and stir around so that the lemon juice has covered the strawberries completely. Cover and place in the fridge while you prepare the sauce.  The lemon juice will prevent the strawberries browning in the mean time.

Chocolate sauce:

For the sauce you will a pot and a heat-proof bowl, the bowl must be able to rest in the pot.  Half fill the pot with water and place on the stove.  Place the bowl in the pot and turn to med-high.  Break up the  block and drop into the bowl. Pour the milk and sugar in and stir until the chocolate is melted.  If the mixture is to runny add the cornflour to thicken it up.  Remove the sauce from the heat and serve with the strawberries.

Home made stock; gluten free.

Stock is very easy to make at home.  The best part is it can be made from the off cuts or scraps that we don't use in cooking so it is a very good way to make use of food that would other wise be wasted.  No matter what kind of stock you choose to make the process is identical so I will write directions for making it before creating lists of ingredients for the different kinds of stocks.

Directions:

Place all the ingredients into a pot and fill with water and boil.  Boil until the mixture has reduced to a quarter of the original amount. 1 litre of water will make 250mls final product.  Remove from heat and strain solids out of the liquid stock and throw away.


Vegetable stock - bits to include

Any peelings, off cuts, left overs and waste parts.

Chicken stock

Bones
Skin
Off cuts

Beef stock

Bones
Off cuts
Gristle
Excess fat

Fish stock

Bones
Heads
Off cuts.

Chicken soup; naturally gluten, dairy and egg free

Thought I'd share this yummy recipe.  Soups and stews are always a good option because they are naturally allergen friendly, unless you are allergic to veggies; and I know a lot of people who think they  are. Most soups and stews don't need stock or gravy powders providing you have have bones.  They are, by far, one of the easiest things to cook from scratch.  All you need to do is cut everything up and let it boil.  Although I would recommend using parts of the chicken that have larger bones as smaller ones can get lost in the soup and present a choking hazard.  Chicken thighs are ideal.  However you could make stock from scratch and add it too the soup rather then incorporate the stock creation into the soup process - and I will create a how to for home made stock.




Ingredients:

Chicken on the bone; 400g, diced with bones seperated
Small sweet potato; washed, unpeeled, and diced
Medium carrots; 2, diced
Mushrooms; 4, diced
Spinach; 2 handfuls, washed
Onion; 1/2, diced
Tin diced tomato; with juice
Small tin of sweetcorn
Sage; 1 1/2 teaspoons
Thyme; 1 1/2 teaspoons
Chives; 1 teaspoon
Garlic; 5 cloves, peeled and minced
Water

Directions:

Cook off the diced onion and the brown the diced chicken pieces.  Add the bones, root vegetables, sweetcorn, tomatoes, tomato juice and all herbs.  Top with water so that the veggies are covered and bring to a boil.  Simmer on medium for 45 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.  Add the mushrooms and spinach and cook for a further 10 minutes.  The soup will be ready to serve; carefully remove the bones.

Lemon Chilli Battered Fish; Gluten free, Egg free, dairy free.

Content is still going to be sporadic but here's a nice fish recipe.

This is is a nice variation on plain old battered fish.  It can be heart smart or deep fried and fatty; it tastes good either way.  It goes well with any fish but I would suggest you choose fillets you like the best.

Ingredients:

Lemon juice; 1/4 cup
Chilli pepper; 1, finely diced
Salt; 1/4 teaspoon
Pepper; 1/2 teaspoon
Corn flour; 1/2 cup
Gluten free, 1 cup

Fish fillets, 2-4

Directions:

Preheat the over or deep-fryer to 200 degrees Celsius. Take two reasonably sized plastic containers - they need to be big enough to fit the fish fillets in.  Tip the gluten free flour into one container and the corn flour into another.  Mix the lemon juice, chilli, salt, and pepper into the cornflour.  This should form a glue.  Dip the fish fillets into the cornflour mix ensuring both sides are completely covered. Then take the fillets and dip it in the gluten free flour, again covering both sides.  Place the fish on an over tray and place in the oven until cooked evenly.  Alternatively you can cook the fish is a deep fryer, when cooked the battered fillets will float to the surface.

Serving suggestions:

Classic with chunky oven chips or perfect with salad.

Home-made Burger Patties; Gluten free, Egg-free

I was looking back at the recipe I posted and realised that maybe posting just muffin recipes was not a good idea.  Here's a burger on for variety. :)

Ingredients:

Beef Mince; 500g
Salt; 1 teaspoon
Corn Flour; 50g
Gluten-free Gravy Granules; 2 tablespoons
Tarragon; 1 teaspoon
Chives; 1 Teaspoon
Sage; 1/2 Teaspoon
Marjoram; 1 Teaspoon

Directions:

Stick the mince in a large bowl and just dump the other ingredients on top.  Get your hands in the bowl and mix the mince around until the ingredients are evenly distributed through the mince.  The mince will naturally form a large ball.  Break this into 2 or 4 smaller pieces and form the pieces into balls.  Just squash these balls down and you have your burger patty.  I recommend cooking these on a hot frying pan at medium heat.  Too hot -you will have a burnt crush and red insides; Too cold - and it will take forever to cook through.


Serving suggestions:

Toasted Gluten-free bun with peppered tomato, lettuce and beetroot slice.

Toasted Gluten-free Bun with spinche and roast mushroom

Toasted Gluten free bun with lettuce, peppered tomato and pineapple slice.

Spiced Banana Muffins

More evidence of my banana obsession.  But, hey, they are really good for you.

Ingredients:

Gluten-free flour, 2 cups
Soy Milk, 2 cups.
Egg replacer, 2 teaspoons
Bicerbonate of soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar, 1 cup
3 large Bananas; Mashed, 1 1/2 cups
Cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger; minced, 1/2 teaspoon

Directions:

Pre-heat the over to 180 degrees. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir the egg replacer, sugar, bicarb and spices.  Mix in the soy milk thouroughly; an electric mixer may need to be used as gluten-free flour has a tendendcy to form lumps.  Mash the banana in a seperate bowl and stir it into the muffin mix.  Grease a muffin tray or two.  If you have muffin paper cups it is advisable to line the muffin tray with these as it makes it easier to remove the muffins from the tray.  Place the muffin mixture into the lined trays and pop into the oven. The Muffins will be ready when a poker through the center comes away clean.

Spiced Strawberry Muffins

This one is a little more unusual - strawberry muffins.  These are worthy of a dollop of cream, regardless of the dairy allergy. :)

Ingredients:

Gluten-free flour, 2 cups
Soy Milk, 3 cups.
Egg replacer, 2 teaspoons
Bicerbonate of soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar, 1 cup
Strawberries; de-leafed and diced, 1 1/2 cups
Cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger; minced, 1/2 teaspoon

Directions:

Pre-heat the over to 180 degrees. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir the egg replacer, sugar, bicarb and spices.  Mix in the soy milk thouroughly; an electric mixer may need to be used as gluten-free flour has a tendendcy to form lumps.  Gently stir in the strawberries.  Grease a muffin tray or two.  If you have muffin paper cups it is advisable to line the muffin tray with these as it makes it easier to remove the muffins from the tray.  Place the muffin mixture into the lined trays and pop into the oven. The Muffins will be ready when a poker through the center comes away clean.

Spiced Blueberry muffins

A simple twist on classic blueberry muffins. :)  Absolutely yummy with honey or jam.

Ingrediants:

Gluten-free flour, 2 cups
Soy Milk, 3 cups.
Egg replacer, 2 teaspoons
Bicerbonate of soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar, 1 cup
Blueberries, 1 1/2 cups
Cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger; minced, 1/2 teaspoon

Directions:

Pre-heat the over to 180 degrees. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir the egg replacer, sugar, bicarb and spices.  Mix in the soy milk thouroughly; an electric mixer may need to be used as gluten-free flour has a tendendcy to form lumps.  Gently stir in the blueberries,  with care as blueberies bruise easily.  Grease a muffin tray or two.  If you have muffin paper cups it is advisable to line the muffin tray with these as it makes it easier to remove the muffins from the tray.  Place the muffin mixture into the lined trays and pop into the oven. The Muffins will be ready when a poker through the center comes away clean.

Toffee almond Muffins; Dairy, gluten, and egg free

These taste so nice with some margarine.  Making me hungry.

Ingredients:

Gluten-free flour, 2 cups
Soy Milk, 3 cups.
Egg replacer, 2 teaspoons
Sugar, 1/2 cup
Bicarbonate of soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Toffe syrup, 1 cup
Almond flakes, 1/2 cup

Directions:

Pre-heat the over to 180 degrees. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir the egg replacer, sugar, bicarb, and almod flakes.  Mix in 2 cups of soy milk thouroughly; an electric mixer may need to be used as gluten-free flour has a tendendcy to form lumps.  Swirl the toffee syrup through the mufin mix, don't allow it to mix in completely.  Grease a muffin tray or two.  If you have muffin paper cups it is advisable to line the muffin tray with these as it makes it easier to remove the muffins from the tray.  Place the muffin mixture into the lined trays and pop into the oven. The Muffins will be ready when a poker through the center comes away clean.