What you need: Fish of your choice (I had a mixed bag of salmon, haddock and smoked haddock – diced), Gluten free breadcrumbs, gram flour, coriander (or other favourite spice/herb), vegetable oil, a lemon and salt & pepper.

The main challenge was to make a mixture that would stick the breadcrumbs to the fish.

• In a small bowl I mixed a tablespoon of gram flour with a a pinch of coriander, salt and pepper. Then added a squeeze of lemon and a drop of water to get a slightly thick liquid.
• Coat your pieces of fish in the mixture and leave to one side.
• In a large wok heat enough oil to allow a 1 inch covering on the pan (kind of semi deep frying)
• Add a few tablespoons of the breadcrumbs to  plate
• Roll the coated fish one piece at a time in the breadcrumbs to coat them
• When the oil is ready fry the breaded fish gently a few pieces at a time in the pan, turning and browning on both sides.
• Once ready remove the fish from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
• That’s it the fish is ready to serve.

I enjoyed my Gluten Free Breaded Fish, with peas, mash potato and a big squeeze of lemon. They went down a treat with me and my partner Phil loved them.

Things you need: Gammon, Agave Nectar, fresh ginger and cloves.

• Soak the gammon either over night in water or added to a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to the bowl then remove gammon from the pan.
• In a baking tray place two very large pieces of foil and arrange one lengthways and the other widthways, put the gammon in the centre of the foil and fold to seal (leaving room around the gammon  for air to circulate).
• Bake the gammon in a preheated oven – 20 minutes per pound (450 g) – that is 4 hours for a 12 lb (5.4 kg) piece or 4 hours 40 minutes for a 14 lb (6.3 kg) piece.
• 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the gammon and increase the heat to gas mark 7, 425ºF (220ºC).
• Sounds odd but now peel off all the skin from around the gammon, leaving the layer of fat below in tact.
• Score the fat making a diamond pattern. Stud a clove into the centre of each diamond shape.
• Smother with my special dressing, in a small bowl mix some finely chopped fresh ginger with a large squeeze of Agave Nectar. This alternative glaze will give the gammon a fantastic golden colour and a lovely sweet/spicy taste.

Return the gammon to the tin and bake for a further 30 minutes or until it is a glazed. Leave to rest before serving.

I served my baked glazed gammon warm with potatoes and leeks/courgettes in a dairy FREE white sauce (top tip if using soya milk loosen and flavour the white sauce with a big squeeze of lemon and season to taste). If you are looking for a change to the normal Sunday roast give this recipe a try – it might not be exactly what my mum made but its taste just as good.

I am getting hungry just thinking about it – Rick Stein is a food genius. The book its self is packed full with recipes from Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia and runs alongside the TV show, which if you havent seen is def worth a look too, it will really give you some inspiration to get cooking.

A couple of substitutes to bear in mind for food intolerance’s: Agave Nectar (good when a little sugar is required), and check out Wheat Free Soya Sauce. If you want help tweaking any of the recieps to be friendly for you let me know which recipe you want to give a try and I will send over some tips.

“Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is an epic culinary journey along rivers, through jungles and around coastlines. Along the way, Rick visits traditional family-run restaurants, street vendors, floating markets, night markets, fishing villages, and the local cinnamon and rice farmers to learn about the authentic food of the Far East, and to sample the delicious spectrum of exotic flavours.

In Vietnam he tracks down the best recipe for pho, a searing soup of vegetables, shrimp, chilli and fresh mint; in Cambodia he makes kroeung, a kind of aromatic curry; and he samples jhol, a light fish stew, in Bangladesh. Travelling on through Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia, he’ll enjoy (and show us how to make) an array of inspired dishes.”

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is currently on offer at amazon for less than £15…

Watch this space for my take on Rick Stein Far Eastern Odyssey recipes including how to make Thai satay sticks with peanut sauce Fussy Foodie style- which are my BBQ favorite.

Banana Free From Muffins (6 muffins):

• 8oz Gluten free flour – I used 4oz Rice Flour, 4oz Gram Flour
• 2 1/2 tsps Gluten free baking powder
• 1 large bannana
• 2 tbsps Ground Almonds 
• 1 tbsps Agave Nectar (2 big squeezes)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum
• 1/2 pint Rice Milk ( I used Vanilla Rice Milk)
• 3 tbsps Water

Free From Muffins Recipe:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (Gas mark 6). Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir in the ground almonds, xanthum gum and Agave Nectar.

Measure out the rice milk and add at once to the flour mixture and stir to combine thoroughly. (I mixed mine in a food processor for speed)

Pour the free from muffin mixture into special silicone muffin cases or greased muffin / fairy cake tins then bake in the over for 15 – 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the muffins for a few minutes to cool, then pop them out of the tin or cases.

These free from muffins are wheat, dairy, sugar, egg and soya free and they prove that with a bit of know how about the products available to people with food intolerances, we too can eat foods that we love and enjoy.

PS. I love my “Lakeland Silicone Cupcake Moulds” a must have for Fussy Foodies as free from backing does have a tendancy to stick.

Try them warm with an afternoon hot lemon to brighten up a winters day. We would love to hear you Free From Muffin ideas – I an thinking next time I might try a carrot version.

Dairy free broccoli soup with goats cheese

Broccoli Soup with Goats Cheese Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 50g/2oz Dairy Free Spread (I use Pure it seems to be being good for cooking)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 900g/2lb broccoli, chopped (seperate the florets and stalks)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 litre/1 3/4 yeast free vegetable or chicken stock (I use boullion stocks)
• 600ml/1 pint of soya milk (you could also use rice milk)
• 100g/4oz medium soft goats cheese chopped

1. Melt the dairy free spread in a saucepan and add the onions, brocolli stalks and and nutmeg, fry for 5 minutes until soft.
2. Add the brocolli florets, stock and milk then cover and simmer gently under the brocolli stalks are soft.
3. Using hand blender or stand alone blender puree the soup.
4. Add seasoning to the soup to taste.
5. Ladle the soup into the required number of dishes, just before serving crumble some goats chees into each bowl and hey presto your Broccoli Soup with Goats Cheese is ready to serve.

If you wanted to make this soup for freezing don’t add the goats cheese until you reheat the soup and serve.

Just a note for anyone thinking if this recipe is dairy free why does it have goats cheese, goats cheese has a different fat makeup to cows cheese or milk, somepeople that are intolerant to cows dairy find they can have goats dairy products, it is usually lactose that people react to, this is not contained in goats milk.

Enjoy your Broccoli Soup with Goats Cheese!!!

For a decent sized jar full of my sugar free cranberry sauce add the following ingredients to a small non-stick pan:

• about 100g cranberries
• a large handful of  chopped dried fruits (I used apricots, prunes and figs)
• the juice of an orange
• a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg
• a couple of teaspoons of cider vinegar
• agave nectar

Simmer all the ingredients until they become mushy and most of the cranberries breakdown (this only takes about ten minutes). Towards the end of the cooking add a squeeze of agave nectar to taste and pop the mixture into a sterilised jar to cool.

That’s it my tasty sugar free cranberry sauce done!

I love the combo of ginger and apple so was excited to see how the ice cream would work out. As with the raw ice creams I have made so far the main base is nuts (cashew nuts)

Other ice cream links: Booja Booja Ice Cream | Home made vegan ice cream | Vanilla Booja Booja

For the basis of the ice cream you need a ratio of 1:1 nuts and water, and the key to the ice cream is how the nuts are processed.

Raw ice cream recipe

In a blender place a large mug of cashew nuts (about 200g), then pulse initially to break up the nuts. After a few pulses put the blender on constant for a few minutes. The nuts slowly break down so that they end up in tiny pieces so that when pressed with your finger they are almost paste like. This is when they are ready, if you are not sure then blender for longer as more pulsing will ensure the ice cream is not bitty.

This is the point when you can flavor the ice cream. So for apple and ginger ice cream I juiced three apples and an inch of ginger in my Lequip Juicer, taste the juice and add more apple of ginger as needed, I like mine with a ginger kick.

In a jug add a mug of filtered water  (same volume of water as nuts) and the ginger/apple mix. Whilst blending the nuts slowly slowly add the flavoured water to the mixture – the slower the better. After a about a third of the water the mixture will change to almost cream like, and then become more watery as the rest of the water is added. Once 1/2 the water is added give the mixture a stir with a spatula to make sure everything is combined and then carry on blending and adding the water until all the liquid is added.

Once the nuts and water are blended you can add two big squeezes of Agave Nectar and a tsp cinnamon (for extra spice) then blended to combine. At this stage taste to check for sweetness and flavouring  as one point to bear in mind is once the mixture freezes the tastes are weaker so over flavour slightly at this stage, else the mixture can end up tasting just of cashew nut.

Once the mixture is ready, place in a bowl and in the freezer for 10 mins. This puts it at a good temperature before you add it to your ice cream maker. After 10 mins remove from the freezer and place in your ice cream maker mine takes 30 to 40 mins, the ice cream will be a Mr whippy style. I like to have a sampling at this stage and then add the ice cream to a few small tupperware containers (each being the size for one large portion), this way you can easily get them out of the freezer as individual portions to slightly defrost (say 10 mins) before eating and they are less likely to go icey.

That’s it my apple and ginger raw ice cream recipe – love to know what you think! Sorry no photo but my camera is on the blink.

Gluten Free Flat Bread Ingredients:

• 300g gram flour
• 300g gluten and wheat free bread flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 heaped tsps gluten free baking powder
• Herbs / spices for seasoning – we used 1 tsp fennel seeds. Alternatives: 1 tsp dried herbs or even cinnamon
• 6 tbsps olive oil
• Warm water

Flat Breads Recipe:

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and herbs / spices in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and approx. 150ml warm water. Use a fork to bring the ingredients together. Add a splash of water if the mixture feels too dry. Once the ingredients start to combine, wet your hands and use them to bring the dough together into a ball.

Dust your hands and a clean flat surface with flour.Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth and elastic. Using gluten free flour, you may find the dough will need extra water to prevent it from crumbling, if so, gradually add splashes of water until you achieve a smooth elastic dough, stick at it, it will get there!  Place the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave to relax.

When you’re ready to cook your flat breads, divide the dough into equal sized balls, dust your hands with flour and squeeze each ball between your palms to flatten them. Pat and slap the dough from one palm to another, turning and twisting the dough about in a circular movement until each flat bread is approximately 1cm thick (mine seem to end up thinner than this which still works).

Heat a dry frying pan on a medium high heat and cook the flat breads in batches for a few minutes on each side, turning regularly to prevent them from burning. They will begin to puff up and turn a golden colour when they are ready. Serve warm.

If you make a batch keep some aside to cool then pop in the freezer, easy to pop in the toast to warm up again.

Some examples of how I have used my Gluten Free Flat Bread so far: spread with some Sugar Free Fruit Spread, use with a curry a bit like a naan, with special Sugar Free Baked Beans or simply just spread with some dairy free spread and enjoy!

Jamie Oliver Inspired Roast Lamb Ingredients: (serves 6)

Lamb Marinade:

• 1 medium leg of lamb on the bone (approx. 2 kg)
• 8 juniper berries / handful of fresh cranberries (I used cranberries as I already had them in my fridge)
• 8 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• Bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

Salsa:

• 3 fresh red chillis
• 2 green peppers
• Small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• 2 spring onions, trimmed
• 3 ripe plum tomatoes / 8 ripe pomodorino tomatoes
• Salt & pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Swig of white wine vinegar
• 1 heaped tsp sumac (optional, we couldn’t get hold of any so left this out and it still tasted good)

Jamie Oliver Inspired Roast Lamb Recipe:

In a food processor blitz the berries, spring onions, garlic and mint leaves with a good pinch of salt & pepper and a glug of olive oil to make a paste.

Lay the lamb on a board and pierce around the leg with a small knife, then use your finger to make the holes bigger. 

Now rub the marinade all over the lamb and work it into the holes.

Wrap the lamb in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, overnight if possible.

Take the lamb out of the oven and leave it to stand to come to room temperature. Preheat your over to its top temperature. Put the lamb on a roasting tray, season all over with salt then put in the over. Turn the temperature down to 200 degrees / gas mark 6 and roast for about 1 hour for a 2kg leg, about 1.5 hours for a 3kg leg. When the meat comes away from the bone, take it out of the oven, tip any juices into the roasting tin, cover the lamb with foil and leave to rest for 15 – 20 minutes.

Meanwhile make your salsa. Prick your chillies and put them and the peppers over a flame on the hob or into a hot dry griddle pan, turning them until black and blistered all over. Place them in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow them to steam for 10 minutes. Peel away the skins, then chop the flesh on a board with the mint leaves, spring onions, tomatoes and a pinch of salt. When it is the texture you are happy with, place in a bowl with a swig of extra virgin olive oil and add the white wine vinegar and sumac (if you are using it). Taste and season to your liking.

Side Dishes

To accompany the lamb and salsa, Jamie Oliver recommonds making a side dish of beans and flatbreads. We used both of his suggestions, create our own fussy foodie friendly versions. These dishes were a great accompaniment to the meal, here are the recipes:

Bean Side Dish

Bean Side Dish Ingredients: (serves 3)

• Tin of haricot beans
• 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
• Salt & black pepper
• Lamb juices from roasting tin
• Hot water

Bean Side Dish Recipe:

After removing the lamb and tipping out the juices, place the roasting tin on the hob on a medium heat. Pour in a splash of hot water and mix with the lamb juices. Stir slowly and let it heat through. Add the beans and chopped tomatoes and stir together. Add hot water to achieve the consistency you desire, taste and season accordingly.

Flatbread

Flatbread Ingredients:

• 300g gram flour
• 300g gluten and wheat free bread flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 heaped tsps gluten free baking powder 
• Herbs / spices for seasoning – we used 1 tsp fennel seeds. Alternatives: 1 tsp dried herbs, sumac
• 6 tbsps olive oil
• Warm water

Flatbreads Recipe:

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and herbs / spices in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and approx. 150ml warm water. Use a fork to bring the ingredients together. Add a splash of water if the mixture feels too dry. Once the ingredients start to combine, wet your hands and use them to bring the dough together into a ball.

Dust your hands and a clean flat surface with flour.Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth and elastic. Using gluten free flour, you may find the dough will need extra water to prevent it from crumbling, if so, gradually add splashes of water until you achieve a smooth elastic dough, stick at it, it will get there!  Place the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave to relax.

When you’re ready to cook your flatbreads, divide the dough into equal sized balls, dust your hands with flour and squeeze each ball between your palms to flatten them. Pat and slap the dough from one palm to another, turning and twisting the dough about in a circular movement until each flatbread is approximately 1cm thick.

Heat a dry frying pan on a medium high heat and cook the flatbreads in batches for a few minutes on each side, turning regularly to prevent them from burning. They will begin to puff up and turn a golden colour when they are ready. Serve warm.

(Note – these flatbreads can be reheated or once cooled, can be frozen for another time).

And there you have it, a full on feast…. 

A BIG thank you goes out to Jamie Oliver for sharing his recipes and so allowing us to make Jamie Oliver Inspired Roast Lamb. We highly recommend it. Let us know what you think!

Sugar Free Granola -try sprinkled over yogurt

I think I have cracked it with a simple but effective formula for sugar free granola. The great thing is it’s really easy to scale up the ingredients so you can make as much or as little as you like.

Sugar free granola ingredients (makes 3-4 portions):

• Oats 100g
• Dried fruit, nuts and seeds 100g (I recommend 50g fruit, 25g nuts, 25g seeds)*
• Rapeseed oil 1 tbsp
• Agave nectar 3 tbsp

* I used dried apricots and nectarines, brazil and hazelnuts and a mixed seed pack but you can get creative and use whatever fruit, nut and seed combo you fancy!

Sugar free granola recipe

Roughly chop the nuts and fruits and mix with the seeds and oats in a large bowl. Gradually stir in the agave nectar and rapeseed oil and spread onto greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150C for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and give it a shake and a stir. Break it up or clump it together as required, then bake for a further 10-15 minutes. Once cool store in an airtight container.

That’s it my sugar free granola, great on yogurt and added to cereals.

Barbecue beans ingredients:

• chickpeas 2 x 400g tins drained and rinsed
• chopped tomatoes 1 x 400g tin
• dates 225g roughly chopped
• courgette 1 large or 2 small chopped into cubes
• ginger 1 inch finely chopped
• garlic 2 cloves finely chopped
• smoked paprika 1 heaped tsp

Barbecue beans recipe

In a large non-stick pan start by frying off the garlic and ginger in a little olive oil, adding the courgette after a couple of minutes.When the courgette is softened, throw in the tomatoes, chickpeas, dates and smoked paprika. Bring to the boil, add salt and pepper to taste, then cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

These barbecue beans taste great hot or cold with a barbecue or as a jacket potato topping. They freeze well too (if…you have any left-over).

Chicken Korma with a twist

I discovered this dairy free chicken korma recipe somewhat by accident (as many of the best discoveries are). I had a carton of longlife soya milk in the cupboard and decided to try cooking with it, for a change. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and it passed the true test when my ‘anti-soya milk’ husband went back for seconds!

Dairy Free Chicken Korma Recipe (serves 4):

Ingredients

• Chicken breast fillets x3 (or approx 350g) cut into thin strips
• Soya milk approx 300mL (I used Alpro Original long-life)
• Garlic 1 clove finely chopped
• Ginger 1inch piece finely chopped
• Courgette 1 medium, chopped
• Okra 10-15, sliced
• Turmeric 2 tsp
• Cinammon 1 tsp
• Cumin 1tsp
• Ground coriander 1/2 tsp
• Cashew nuts - large handful (optional)

Start by stir-frying the garlic, ginger and vegetables in a little oil until slightly browned. Remove from the pan and keep aside.

Now heat a little more oil and fry the chicken with the spices until cooked right through.

Return the veggies to the pan together with enough soya milk to just about cover it. Throw in a big handful of cashews and bring to a simmer.

Cover and simmer for about half an hour whilst you sort out some wholegrain rice.

Love to know what you think about my dairy free chicken korma and any of your own experiences of cooking with soya milk.

Sugar free courgette chutney recipe (makes 1-2 jars):

Ingredients

• 1 large courgette, chopped
• 1 red apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 1 large handful mixed raisins and sultanas
• 50mL cider vinegar
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
• 2 tbsp agave nectar (or you could use honey)
• salt and pepper

Simply add all ingredients to a pan and simmer for around 45 minutes or until thickened. Taste along the way and add seasoning / agave nectar to taste. Store in an airtight container in the fridge – lovely courgette chutney done!

Homemade mushy peas

Now I have never tasted mushy peas before so this was a first for me. I checked out a few recipes and came up with my own Fussy Foodie version.

Homemade Mushy Peas ingredients: Just some frozen peas, lemon juice and dairy free spread.

In a pan cook some frozen peas, enough for how many people you are serving (my favourites are petit pois, as they are slightly sweater). When ready drain the peas and add to a food processor, then season with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon and a good spoon of dairy free spread. Blitz the peas to a mush and taste for seasoning. If they need more liquid add some more lemon juice or dairy free spread and blitz again. You will need a bit of play to get the consistency and seasoning right.

That’s it my homemade mushy peas done – I love them a real compliment to fish (no batter) and chips!

Recipe for sugar free chocolate spread (makes a small pot):

• Nuts x100g (I used a packet of mixed nuts but you could just use hazelnuts, almonds or whatever you prefer)
• Banana x1 medium
• Cocoa x2 tbsp
• Agave nectar  (or honey) x1 tsp

Put the nuts in the bottom of a blender/food processor and blitz for 20-30 seconds until they start to become pasty. Now add the banana, cocoa and agave/honey and blitz some more!
You might need to shake up the blender or get in there with a teaspoon to keep it moving. It should end up looking something like this…

heaven in a pot – loving my sugar free chocolate spread!

Massaman Beef Curry is a slow-cooked Malaysian dish, which is not too hot but very aromatic. It usually includes potatoes but not in my version! You will need some Massaman curry paste and fish sauce – both available in many supermarkets and worth purchasing for a fantastic Massaman Beef Curry.

• 800g beef brisket or stewing steak, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks
• 1 onion chopped
• 1x 400mL can Coconut Milk
• 1 sachet / 2-3tbsp Massaman Curry Paste
• 8 cardamon pods
• 3 star anise
• 1tsp cinnamon
• small knob ginger sliced
• 2 cloves garlic chopped

Ingredients (in two stages):

• 1tbsp peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1tsp sugar or squeeze of agave nectar
• handful cashew nuts (and extra for garnish)

Recipe for Massaman Beef Curry

Start by frying the beef in a little oil to seal and then tip the contents of the pan into another dish.

Now fry off the onion, garlic, ginger and spices before adding the beef (but reserve the juices separetely) back to the pan with the massaman paste. Now add the tin of coconut milk, cover and simmer gently for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.  The meat needs to be completely covered in sauce so if you need more liquid add the reserved juices from frying the beef.

About 20-30 minutes before the end of the cooking take off the lid and add the peanut butter, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar/agave and a handful of cashew nuts.

Serve the massaman beef curry in bowls on top of jasmine rice with a side dish of steamed mange tout. Here’s one I made earlier!

As this was only meant to be an experiment and I didn’t really want buckets of the stuff I only made one jar, but you could easily scale up the quantities. I really recommend the cider vinegar (I used Aspell’s cyder vinegar) – it has a lovely sweet taste. I’m not even sure whether the agave nectar was essential so I’ll have to try it without next time to see if it’s just as good.

Sugar free chutney ingredients:

• Dried apricots x10 chopped
• Almonds x12 chopped
• Cider vinegar x6 tbsp
• Orange juice x8 tbsp
• Garlic 1 clove finely chopped
• Agave nectar (or honey) 1tbsp
• Ground ginger, cinnamon, curry powder 1/2 tsp each

Sugar free chutney recipe:

Combine the cider vinegar and orange juice in a small jug. Then in a small non-stick pan fry the garlic, nuts and spices for a couple of minutes and then add the apricots, Agave nectar and half of the vinegar / orange juice mixture. Simmer for 20-30 minutes adding a little more of the vinegar / orange juice mixture whenever the liquid gets soaked up. Pour into a jar that has been heated in the oven and cover when cool. Enjoy with cold meats, cheese and other savoury nibbles. Fabulous, let me know what you think of my first sugar free chutney!

So I dusted off my Wagamama Cookbook from the bookshelf to try something new. I have never been to an actual Wagamama restaurant as my problem is most of the food includes sugar and wheat but with a few tweaks and some classic Fussy Foodie ingredients you can make some really tasty Wagamama meals at home.

Dareen loving the Chilli Beef Ramen

The chilli beef ramen recipe is for 2 people but I made it for 4 people, if you are just having this as a main meal I would make it for 2 people:

• 150g (5oz) beansprouts
• 256g (9oz) thick rice noodles
• 350g (12oz) sirloin steak
• a little vegetable oil
• a splash of teriyaki sauce (optional – contains wheat) or Wheat Free Soya Sauce
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock – I got some fresh stock from Waitrose
• 2 tablespoons of chilli ramen sauce (see below)
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
• 1 red chilli, trimmed, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1 lime quartered
• Thinly sliced red pepper
• 6 sprigs of coriander

Chilli Ramen Sauce:
To make sauce mix all ingredients in a small bowl to combine:

•  2 tsps Agave Nectar
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (optional – check for sugar free version)

Blanch the beansprouts in a large pan of boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain, reserving the water, and refresh in cold running water. Cook the noodles in the reserved boiling water for 5-6 minutes or until just tender (depending on the noodle instructions). Drain thoroughly and refresh under cold running water.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes until hot and almost smoking. Lightly rub the steak with oil, then cook for 2 minutes on each side until medium rare. Remove from the griddle, brush with teriyaki sauce and keep warm in some foil while it rests for 3-4 minutes. Slice on the diagonal.

Divide the noodles between your bowls. Heat the stock, stir in the chilli ramen sauce and then ladle over the noodles. Top with the sliced beef, beansprouts, sliced pepper, spring onion, sliced chilies and coriander. Serve with a lime wedge for squeezing.

I am loving noodles at the moment, they have a really fresh taste and once you have the basic ingredients in your cupboard you can make some tasty meals in minutes. Give this Chilli Beef Ramen recipe a try and you won’t be disappointed. Just make sure you have a spoon on hand so you can slurp down the tasty juices at the bottom of the bowl.

Sugar free satay chicken recipe

Satay sauce ingredients:

• Sugar free peanut butter - 2 heaped tbsp
• Finely chopped fresh ginger – inch
• Coconut milk – 200ml
• Juice of a fresh lime
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional)

Satay sauce recipe:
In a small (non stick pan), add the Sugar free peanut butter and  coconut milk, over a low heat gently melt and combine the ingredients.

Once mixed to a paste add fresh ginger and chilli flakes, stir to combine and heat through.

Take off the heat and add the juice of 1 lime, stir to combine. Taste the mixture for seasoning and where required add extra lime/ginger etc.

We used the satay sauce recipe on some chicken drumsticks and also kept some sauce back for dipping. It also works really well with small pieces of chicken covered with the sauce on kebab sticks, which once cooked make it really easy to dunk them in extra satay sauce once cooked.

Just naked salad in all its goodness and a few healthy toppings, tastes fab. So to jazz up a salad these are some of my topping ideas:sesames seeds, pumpkin seeds (great with avocado), chickpeas, salt and pepper, grated carrot and my all time favourite some fresh Thyme leaves.

What goes into  a salad is the making of it, and most dressing can just disguise the taste of the main event. A combination of healthy toppings can really add a different taste sensation to a plain salad. So give it a go and try out a No Salad Dressing option.

Homemade sweet chili sauce

Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe

NB. Serves 2 people

• 2tbsp Agave Nectar
• 1 Red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 Large clove of garlic crushed
• Pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 2 good pinches salt

Add all ingredients to a small bowl and stir to form a sticky sauce, taste for seasoning and spiciness – that’s it one tasty sweet chilli sauce ready to serve.

I used my sweet chilli sauce in a prawn stir fry with brown rice noodles – tasted fantastic a real treat.

Gluten free bircher

Using Gluten Free Porridge from Kelkin which is a mix of millet flakes and rice flakes, this provides the base of the Gluten Free Bircher.

For one serving you will need:

1/2 cup of Kelkin Gluten Free Porridge
1 cup juice ( I used pineapple juice )
1 tbsp dessicated coconut
Small handful of dried fruit and seeds
1/2 apple or pear, grated
2 tbsp of soya yogurt (or other yoghurt)
Slices of kiwi (or fruit of your choice)

Gluten Free Bircher Recipe:

Put the gluten free porridge flakes, coconut, and juice into a bowl. Mix together, cover and leave in the fridge to soak overnight. If you are making larger volumes you need twice as much juice to flakes.

In the morning stir the mixture and if needed add a small amout of juice to loosen. Grate the apple/pear and add to the mixture, then stir in the yogurt, dried fruit and seeds. Mix until all the ingredients are combined. Serve into individual bowls, add slices of your seasonal fruit and enjoy!

The ingredients can be adapted to suit your personal tastes – a whole array of dried fruits, nuts, seeds and fresh fruits can be used to create different flavours, I am really pleased with first Gluten Free Bircher attempt and the texture works much better than I expected, so if you need a gluten free tasty treat for your breakfast then give this ago.

Thai is great for Fussy Foodies as its easy to adapt for most food intolerances.

My bite sized thai fish cakes

I adapted my recipe from Delia’s – Thai Fishcake recipes – thanks Delia for the inspiration!

Thai Fish Cake Ingredients:

• 1 lb (450 g) any white fish (cod, haddock, hake, etc.) weighed after boning and skinning - cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 spring onions, very finely sliced into rounds (including the green parts)
• 2 heaped tbsp Thai paste
• 1 green chilli, de-seeded
• 2 tbsp groundnut or seasame oil for frying
• Salt

Thai fish cake recipe steps:

1. Place the chunks of fish, the coriander leaves, lime juice, spring onions, Thai paste, chilli and a little salt in a food processor and blend till you have a finely minced texture – don’t blend it to a fine purée, else it will go sloppy.
2. Transfer to a mixing bowl, take dessertspoons of the mixture and form them into balls, squeezing the mixture together.
3. Place them on a flat surface and flatten them out with the palm of your hand into small cake shapes about 1½ inches (4 cm) in diameter. You should get 16 in all.
4. Put fish cakes on a plate and cover with clingfilm and leave them in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up.
5. When ready to cook the fish cakes, heat 2 tbls of preferred oil in a frying pan and, when it’s very hot and beginning to shimmer, fry the cakes for about 1 minute on each side, then drain on kitchen paper. Serve whilst pipping hot!

To accompany the Thai Fish cakes I made two dipping sauces, prior to cooking the fish cakes…

Cucumber dipping sauce:

• 2 inches (5 cm) unpeeled cucumber
• 2 shallots or salad onions
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small green chilli, de-seeded
• 1 level tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 level tbsp roasted peanuts
• 1/2 tsp agave nectar
• 4 fl oz (110 ml) rice vinegar or wine vinegar (0ptional)
• 1 tbsp Wheat Free Soya Sauce
• 1 tbsp seasame or groundnut oil

N.B Due to the vinegar this dipping recipe contains yeast.

Cucumber dipping sauce recipe steps:

1. Place the cucumber, shallots or salad onions, carrot, chilli, ginger and peanuts in the a food processor and whiz till very finely chopped.
2. Transfer the chopped vegetables to a bowl. Next mix the agave nectar with the vinegar to dissolve it, then pour it over the vegetables along with the soy sauce and oil. Mix thoroughly – chill until ready to serve.

Sesame and lime dipping sauce:

• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 dsp Thai fish sauce – sugar free version
• 1 tbsp wheat free soy sauce
• 1 medium red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped

Sesame and lime dipping sauce recipe steps:

1. To make this dipping first step is to toast the sesame seeds. Using a small, solid frying pan, add the sesame seeds and toast them, moving them around in the pan to brown them evenly. As soon as they begin to splutter and pop and turn golden, they’re ready – this will take 1-2 minutes.
2. Remove sesame seeds from the frying pan to a serving bowl and simply stir in the rest of the ingredients – chill until ready to serve.

Thai Fish Cakes verdict:

If you fancy something Thai and tasty for an evening meal this week give thes Thai Fish cakes ago.

The recipe takes it’s inspiration from the classic pho bo a traditional Vietnamese dish.I back packed around Vietnam for a few weeks with my sister a few years so was really excited last night to try this classic Vietnamese recipe.

Pho Bo in action from hotel

Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Broth – Serves: 2

• 1 litre fresh beef stock
• 2 salad onions
• 30g fresh root ginger, sliced
• 1 star anise
• ¼ small cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 175g lean beef steak, very thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (optional)
• 1 lime, juice
• A few red chilli slices, bean sprouts, mint and coriander

Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Broth Recipe Steps

Soak the rice noodles in boil water 5 minutes (or as directed on packet).

Meanwhile, bring the stock, salad onion trimmings, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick and bay leaf to the boil with 200ml water in a pan. 

NB. I added a small amount of a gluten free stock cube here for added flavour and only used 500ml of beef stock as it seemed enough to me.

Reduce the heat and simmer the broth gently for 15 minutes.

Drain the rice noodles, divide between two bowls; top with the sliced beef. I was a bit confused here as the beef was still raw, this is correct though. So it’s imperative to make sure the steak is a) good quality b) really thinly sliced (my butcher sliced mine for me).

Strain the hot broth; return it to the pan over the heat. Stir in the fish sauce (optional – check this is wheat free etc where required) and lime juice. Ladle the broth over the beef and noodles, adding the salad onions to finish. Top with the chilli slices, bean sprouts, mint etc.

My Vietnamese Beef and Rice Noodle Broth

Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Broth verdict:

If you fancy something different for an evening meal this week give this Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Broth ago.

Gluten Free Squash Bread

It was pretty much a resounding success and really beefed up my lunch and was really easy too.

Gluten free squash bread ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash or other variety
• 300g Gluten-free flour
• 2tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1tsp herbs
• 2tbsp olive oil

Gluten free squash bread recipe steps

Preheat oven to 200c or gas mark 6

Place squash in oven on a baking tray and roast for 45 mins until very soft. Remove from oven and cool.

Peel the skin and remove the seeds from the squash. Transfer to a bowl and mash well. Season to taste. You will need around 375g of squash for the ingredient rations above, so adjust ingredients where required so as not to waste any squash.

Add the flour, baking power and herbs to the squash and mix well. Add mix to a food processor and blend. Add in olive oil and enough water to make a doughy texture (65ml water). Remove mix from food processor and place on a lightly floured board and knead until soft and spongy. Adding a little more oil or flour to get the right texture.

Form the dough into a round loaf. Place on a lightly oiled baking tray. Make a cross on top of the dough with a knife and sprinkle with some sesame seeds (optional). Bake in oven at 200c for 30-35 mins.

To test to the Gluten Free Squash Bread to see if it’s ready remove from the oven and tap the base, if it sounds hollow it’s ready.

Gluten Free Squash Bread  recipe challenge verdict:

This gluten free squash bread is a great little recipe and I am looking forward to trying other recipes from You Are What You Eat cook book.

Free from cheesecake photo not doing it justice

 
This makes a large free from cheesecake I think I will have mine in the freezer for a month. So feel free to half quantities.

Free from cheesecake ingredients:

• 3 cups of almonds
• 1 cup of pecans
• 2 tablespoons of raw carob powder or cocoa
• 2 cups of dates, soaked and stoned – check to make sure they are free from sulphur etc
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 vanilla pod
• 5 bananas, chopped thinly and frozen for at least 12 hours
• 4 kumquats – I used whole shanon fruits here as easier to get hold of (optional)
• 1 large mango – peeled and stoned

NB I used 3 cups of peanuts and 1 cup of macadamia nuts so can play around with nuts you prefer and can tolerate.

Free from cheesecake recipe

First step is prepare the cake tin, use a loose based round cake tin and cover the base in cling film, the cake base is pretty sticky so well worth taking a few mins to do this.

Add the nuts, soaked dates, an inch of the vanilla, a sprinkling of nutmeg, the carob or cocao powder and the juice of the orange to a food processor. Process gently to start with, and continue until you get a cookie dough-like consistency, but still chunky. Place in the cake tin, and flatten down and place in the fridge.

Clean your food processor and add the chopped frozen banana and kumquats or shanon fruit, and the mango to the processor. Slit the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the processor. Add most of the rest of the nutmeg. Add a couple of chopped dates if you like, too. Process for several minutes, until the whole mixture turns to white fluff. Don’t be tempted to process this for less time, but do stop for a minute if your machine gets hot. It needs to go white and fluffy. Scrape it down every now and then so everything gets processed. Add this to the cake tin, on top of the nut base and smooth it all down.

Return it all to the freezer for at least an hour. Once ready to serve, turn out the cake by pushing the loose base out and up. Take the foil off and place on a serving plate. Voila tasty Free From Cheesecake. 

Free From Cheesecake challenge verdict:

Really excited have found a new dessert recipe to add to my portfolio and this Free From Cheesecake will be made again. Might have to get a piece out of the freezer for an afternoon treat.

Spicy Squash Soup

Spicy Squash Soup Ingredients:

• Medium onion – finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
• Cumin Seeds – 1tsp
• Coriander Seeds – 1tsp
• Sesame Seeds – 2tbsp
• Fresh ginger – 1cm (1/2″)
• Green Chilli - seeded and chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• Butternut Squash – 340g (12oz)
• Sweet Potato (optional replace with more butternut squash) – 340g (12oz)
• Runny Honey (optional) – 1tsp
• Vegetable stock – 2pints (1.2ltrs)
• 400g (14oz) Tinned Chickpeas (drained)

Definitely lots of chopping involved in this recipe but it’s worth it for a really different, spicy and tasty soup. A great way to liven up a squash soup, one I think will become a classic in our home. Anyway less of the chat, here is how the Spicy Squash Soup is done:

Sweat the onions and garlic in a pan very slowly for 10 mins in a small amount of olive oil, be careful not to brown them. Meanwhile in a small pan toast the cumin, coriander and sesame seeds until lightly browned. Then bash together in a pestle and mortar until lightly ground.

Once the onions are ready add the toasted seeds, lime zest, chilli, ginger and honey (if using) and stir for 30 seconds.

Add the sweet potato and squash, lime juice and the stock. Cover and simmer for 10 mins, until veggies are almost tender.

Taste and season if required. Add the chickpeas and simmer for 10 mins until chickpeas are soft.

Blitz in a food processor adding more stock or hot water if necessary to get required thickness. Grab a bowl and serve – delicious Spicy Squash Soup ready to rock and roll.

Covent Garden Spicy Squash Soup challenge verdict:

On top of the Spicy Squash Soup recipe there are lots of great soups in the New Covent Garden Soup Company’s Soup and Beyond recipe book so I will be sure to check some more of these out.

Yeast FREE and Dairy FREE Spelt Bread ingredients:

• Spelt Flour 400g (14oz)
• Bicarbonate of Soda 1tsp
• Salt 1tsp
• 2 Medium Eggs – beaten
• Soya Milk (can use goats or other alternative) 320ml
• Optional: Mixed seeds 5tsp (linseed, pumpkin, sunflower, seasame, poppy)

Place flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and seeds (if using) in a bowl mix well. Add beaten eggs and milk mixing to form a soft dough. Mixture is ready to bake

Baking with a breadmaker: I used a breadmaker for mine and if you are someone who buys alof of special bread I would recommend investing. For breadmakers, line tin and remove any blades. On a bake only mode set to bake for 45mins.

Baking in an oven: Line a small loaf tin and load in the mixture. Bake in an oven at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 35 to 45 mins.

Spelt bread

 
After baking test with a skewer to see if the bread is cooked. Bake for an extra few mins if required. Remove the spelt bread out of pan to cool or if you are like me and you love hot bread then just tuck in.

Chicken tikka masala via Cook Along live website

In the past I have found Gordon’s (yes we are on first name times) recipes a little bit complex and not something you can whip up mid week, this however isn’t difficult. The recipe teaches you the basics of curry making which can lead to many other great recipes, also you can see how easy this one is to adapt. If you are not eating tomatoes, as I didn’t for a year or so this recipe is a no no.

Chicken tikka masala ingredients (for 4):

• Olive or Groundnut oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 fresh green chillies – deseeded and sliced
• 1″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled (if not tolerated can exclude)
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 4 boneless chicken breasts (approx 150g each), cubed
• 10 dried curry leaves (optional)
• 4-6 tbsp natural yoghurt 4-6 tbsp goats yoghurt (if tolerated)
• Handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
  

Chicken tikka masala steps:

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry onion in the oil, once browned a little add the chopped chili, chopped ginger to the pan, crush in the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften.

2. Next is an important step in curry making, toasting off the spices so they release there oils and flavours.  So add the chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala, cook for 1-2 minutes. Next, add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes to the pan and allow them to cook for a further few minutes.

3. Transfer the sauce to a food processor and blend until smooth – this gives the sauce for the curry. Taste and season where appropriate, as we are excluding the sugar a little salt is required here.

4. Rinse your pan, add a tablespoon of oil into the pan and fry the chicken pieces until lightly coloured on all sides. Pour in the blended sauce and add the curry leaves. Simmer gently for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

5. Take curry off the heat and stir in the goats yoghurt (if using, but not required.  I had it without last night and was delicious) to the chicken curry along with half the chopped coriander. Serve with the brown rice and garnish with the remaining coriander.

NB If you are not eating rice of any kind top tip for curries is that poppadoms are made with lentil flour and for most people I have found easy to digest so check them out.

Chicken tikka masala recipe challenge verdict:

Gordon what can I say with my few tweaks, your Chicken Tikka Masala is fab!

NB. Recipe makes – 4 to 5 chocolate brownies

• 125g soya spread (could use goats butter here)
• 100g cacoa (100% chocolate) – broken up (removed after more baking trials)
• 100g beetroot finely grated (half a large beetroot)
• 1tbsp desiccated coconut (not needed)
• 40g cocoa powder
• 35g rice flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF/gas4. Line a small deep baking tray (6inch length) with baking paper.

In a pan gently melt the soya until smooth. Mix in the grated beetroot to combine.

In a seperate bowl sift together the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Add this to the soya mixture and stir well.

Beat the eggs and mix into the rest of the ingredients until you have a silky consistency.

Put mixture into the tray and bake in oven for around 20mins. Unlike cakes you don’t want a skewer to come out clean. Once ready the brownies should be slightly springy on outside but gooey in the middle. Allow to cool and  cut in to squares to serve.

Chocolate and beetroot brownie

Chocolate sugar free brownie recipe challenge verdict:

Thanks for all comments recipe has now been updated and trialled (2nd February 2009). Hope you all enjoy the chocolate sugar free brownies and let us know how you get on.

Mayo free coleslaw ingredients:

• A mix of fresh veggies: e.g carrots, fennel, beetroot, red onion, cucumber, radishes, red cabbage,
• 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Some fresh herbs – mixed but mint is great
• 1 cup of goats yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons mustard (check ingredients as a lot of mustard has sugar in and other things)
• Salt and pepper

First step is to prepare all the veggies, I think you need atleast 4 types, I used: beetroot, carrot, red onion, cucumber and radish. Clean and peel and cut veggies ready to slice.

The veggies then need to be shredded ideally in a mandoline, or use the julienne slicer in your food processor. I used the thin slicer in my food processor didn’t look as glam but still tasty and fast.

Put the veggies into a mixing bowl and combine.

In a separate bowl, combine half the juice of a lemon, a glug of olive oil, any chopped herbs, goats yoghurt and mustard. Then season to taste.

Pour dressing over the veggies and mix well. Enjoy!

Credit for this mayo free coleslaw recipe goes to Jamie Oliver for his winter coleslaw recipe which I have tweaked to be Fussy Foodie friendly.