Gluten free staffordshire oatcakes

It's snowing today, Ive got a stinking cold and a husband laid up with a bad back. The only sensible response to all of that is oatcakes with bacon and cheese for breakfast. Oatcakes freeze beautifully and make a very fast, filling meal. They can be quickly reheated and are a fantastic way to make leftovers into a treat.

 It's hard to say how many this recipe will make. I made around 15 last night, plus a few that went in the bin! It depends on how thick you make them, how wide, and how many go wrong before you get the hang of it.

8 oz/ 225 g gluten free oats
8 oz/ 225 g gluten free flour*
1 Tbsp/ 15g dried active yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 pint warm water
1 pint warm milk (you may need more to thin the batter)
1/2 pint / 284 ml buttermilk

Grind the oats into a fine meal in a blender or food processor. This only takes a minute or so and doesn't have to be perfect. Or you can buy oatmeal but I've never seen a gluten free one. Add the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Stir to mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly. Add the warm water, milk and buttermilk and whisk until it's a smooth batter. Cover and leave for an hour in a warm spot.
 Wipe a frying pan with a little oil and heat it up.  I use a non stick chapatti pan I got from Wilkinson's. It's amazing for pancakes, tortillas, oatcakes... all sorts. Traditionally you should use a cast iron frying pan but mine has bacon in it! You need a medium high heat for these. If your batter seems to be a good consistency (thicker than pancake batter but you need to be able to spread it easily so not too much thicker) then great! You may need to add some extra milk. I find it best to try out an oat cake then adjust as necessary. Put some batter on your pan - how much depends on how big you're going to make your oatcakes. I suggest starting with a fairly small one - a few spoonfuls of mixture. For a full size oatcake a ladle full does the trick nicely. Use the back of a spoon to gently spread the mixture out into a circle - pushing the mixture outwards does this best. You want the mixture to be about 3mm thick while cooking and to have holes forming. While it's cooking, the oatcake is sticky and tricky to move. Wait until the top is set and dry looking (if the bottom is over cooking before this happens, reduce the heat) then flip it over and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Just like pancakes, they tend to get better as you go along!

 The traditional filling is bacon and cheese. However just about anything is great in an oatcake! Sausage, mushrooms, onions, leftover cooked chicken, roasted vegetables... If you insist, you can even have them sweet with pancake type fillings. I tend to fill mine with leftovers and cheese while still hot so the cheese melts.

 One of the best things about oatcakes is how well they freeze and how fast you can make a meal with them from frozen! Cool your oatcakes right down before freezing them with a piece of parchment between them so you can take out however many you want. Wrap them up tightly or put them in a big ziplock bag with the air sucked out to prevent freezer burn.
 When you want to cook them, you can defrost them if you are organized. If you are more like me, take them out and put one in the frying pan. Cook for a minute on the first side, then flip. I then add my filling and transfer it to a plate to roll and eat when the cheese starts to melt. You could also put them in the microwave (I don't have one), steam them between two plates over a pan of water (traditional) or warm them in the oven for a few minutes (just watch they don't dry out).

* I favour the mock better batter blend from the book 'gluten free on a shoestring - quick and easy'. It gives good all round results but sadly is quite pricy. Doves farm plain also works. I would suggest that tapioca starch makes up part of the gluten free flour as its great for making things bendy. If you are using flour with out it, I recommend adding a tsp of xanthan gum to the batter with the flours.

Pakoras

I made some vegetable pakoras to go with our curry this evening. They are a great way to use up leftovers of any type - vegetables, cooked meat - what ever is lurking in the fridge. Tonight I used some chopped chard, onion and sweetcorn.

For the batter
125g gram (chickpea) flour
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
125g water
Ghee or other oil for frying

For the filling
2 cups of chopped vegetables or meat. I recommend cooked chicken and spinach, or half slices of onion

Put the gram flour, spices and baking powder into a bowl and stir well to remove any lumps. Beat in the water to make a smooth batter. Fold in the filling of your choice. Heat the ghee in a frying pan over a medium heat. Put the batter into the oil in spoonfuls, forming rough patties. Try not to fry too many at once as is makes them hard to turn and greasier. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn and fry for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the pan to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Serve with raitha or chutneys.

Lamb Rogan Josh

This can be made with beef too - a very tasty dish. You can vary the heat by changing the proportions of chili and paprika. I made it this way tonight for my kids, but they love a bit of spice!

6 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
500g lamb + a few lamb bones
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp ghee or dripping
6 cloves
6 green cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp paprika + 1 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup yogurt

Put the lamb, bones, garlic, salt and water in a large pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any scum that rises. Remove the meat to a plate, strain the water and set aside and discard the bones. Mix the paprika and chili with a splash of water to form a paste. Heat the ghee and gently fry the onions until they start to darken and become sweet (about 15 minutes). Add the, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds and bay leave and fry for a minute. Then add the chili paste, cumin, ginger and turmeric and fry for another minute. Return the meat to the pan and fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, coating the meat. Pour 4 cup of the water you set aside earlier. Simmer, covered, until the meat is tender. I like to cook this really slowly for an hour or more, so the meat is melting. Then remove the lid and raise the heat to reduce the sauce to where you like it. Taste and season.

Christmas ham

I'm making a glazed ham as part of a buffet on boxing day. This recipe does use quite a lot of sugar but the amount in each serving is small and it's very tasty. I'll also be making smoked salmon crust-less quiches, dips with crudites, king prawns with garlic mayonaise, a big salad, a trifle, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake.

A ham large enough for all your guests
About 10 cloves
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar

Boil the ham for 25 minutes per pound, plus 20 minutes in a large pan of water. You can do this in advance to save time. When the ham is cooled, push the cloves into it, spread around all over it. Score any fat on the top. Mix the honey, sugar and mustard together. Put the ham into a roasting pan lined with foil (this is important - believe me!), and spread the honey mustard glaze over the top and sides. Roast the ham for about half an hour (keep an eye towards to end to make sure it doesn't burn). When cooled you can slice and enjoy.

Beef stroga-not with matchsticks

I read a recipe for beef stroganoff this morning and really fancied making it for tea. Unfortunately I was lacking some of the ingredients but I improvised and came up with something very tasty!

1 large potato
Beef dripping for deep frying
150g mushrooms
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp paprika (hot or mild)
800g minced beef
1 cup stock (anything but fish - I had chicken)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup soured cream/creme fraiche/Greek yogurt
1 tbsp butter

Cut the potato into matchsticks (this link is useful for this). Put them into a bowl of cold water and set them aside. Then finely chop the onion and fry that and the paprika in the butter over a low heat. When the onion is translucent, add the garlic and sliced mushrooms and fry gently for another 5 minutes. Switch off the heat and set aside.
Rinse and drain the potato matchsticks then dry them using a clean tea towel. Heat the beef dripping (or whatever fat you are most comfortable deep frying in) in a very deep pan until a cube of bread turns golden and floats quickly. Add the matchsticks in small batches and fry until golden brown and crispy. Put them on a plate lined with kitchen paper and keep them warm in the oven until you're ready to serve.
Take the onion and mushroom mixture out of the frying pan and set aside. Season the mince and form into meatballs. Heat some cooking oil in the pan and brown the meatballs, in batches if necessary. Pour off the excess oil in the pan if your meat was fatty and then de-glase it with the stock. Put the meatballs back in and cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the meatballs are done. Remove the lid and put the meatballs in a dish in the oven to keep warm. Reduce the stock until thick at the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and mushroom mix and turn off the heat. When it has come off the boil add the lemon juice and add the soured cream slowly, mixing into the sauce. Taste to check for seasoning.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs and serve topped with the potato matchsticks.

We all really liked this although I would have preferred the sauce a little sharper. You could also add a dash of brandy to the stock while making the sauce. Another thought I had was to do mixed root vegetable matchsticks instead of just potato. I can see this recipe being made a fair few more times and tinkered with! But as it is it's very tasty.

Paleo friendly breaded chicken

Today's lunch is baked 'breaded' chicken from Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso. I can highly recommend this book - we've enjoyed every recipe we've tried so far and the exercise tips are great - the whole family has used them.

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp garlic powder
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 eggs *

Mix the flours, garlic powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, let the excess drip off, then press into the flour mixture. Turn over and press in again, making sure that it's well covered. If I have any mixture left over I tend to press it onto the tops of the chicken before baking as it's so tasty! Put the chicken pieces onto a greased baking tray and cook in the oven at 180 oC for 35 - 40 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through and juices are clear).

* to make this recipe egg free you can use melted butter instead. It tastes amazing and sticks just as well but isn't strictly paleo.

Ketchup

I was having a domestic goddess like day today and made three bottles of this! It's from a Jaime Oliver programme I think.

2 onions
2 tsps fennel seeds
2 heaped tsps coriander seeds
4 cloves
2 thumb size pieces of ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 red chilies
500g ripe tomatoes
handful of fresh basil
1 litre passata
250 ml red wine vinegar
50g brown sugar
12 level tbsp sucralose (splenda)

Chop and sweat the onions with a little olive oil for 15 minutes. Grind the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cloves with a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar and add to the onions. Chop the ginger, garlic and chili and add. Halve the tomatoes and add with the passata, vinegar, sugar and sweetener. Cut the leaves off the basil and set aside. Chop the stems and add. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Take off the heat and add the basil. Blend it in batches and sieve. Bottle in sterilised jars.

Note - my kids liked this but much prefered the next batch where I used about 170ml of vinegar instead. I loved the sharper one but it's not so kid friendly.

Tuna melt

Serves 4

2 tins tuna in olive oil, drained
4 tbsp mayonnaise
4 tbsp creme fraiche
1 head broccoli
1 cup grated cheese

Cut broccoli into florets and chop the tender parts of the stem. Lightly steam until just beginning to soften (about 5 minutes). Mix the mayonnaise, tuna and creme fraiche in an oven proof dish and fold in broccoli. Top with cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and golden.

Roasted cauliflower

The first time I heard of this I was dubious. But seriously - this is one of the greatest things you can do to a cauliflower!

Just cut the washed cauli into florets. Add a little sea salt and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in a hot oven until the it browns (takes 20 - 30 minutes). A little blackening around the edges it fine - it will be sweeter.

Apple sauce

Sooo bad at keeping up with this blog! Have been seriously off the healthy food wagon for a few months and feeling it. Ugh! Boy#1 is now off egg, tuna, lentils and crustaceans. Most of those aren't a problem but no eggs or lentil has been hard on our food budget!
I had a load of apples going spare today so I made apple sauce using my crockpot. Love doing that - it is easy and makes the house smell so good.

knob of butter
loads of apples *
spices of your choice

Put a knob of butter in your crockpot. Core and peel the apples and bung them in too Add any spices that you like (I use mixed spice, a couple of cloves and a pinch of ground cardamom). Cook on low for a few hours, until the apples are soft. Mash or puree.

The kids had this with yogurt for pudding and I am going to freeze a load for future pies, crumbles and sauces.

* If you are using a cooking apple like bramley then you may need to add some sugar. I find eating apples are plenty sweet on thier own.